"When you are sent and you go, you are put where Christ puts you, and nothing will frighten you.
"That is why these early believers earned the reputation of being incorrigibly happy, utterly unafraid, and nearly always in trouble."— The Indwelling Life of Christ: All of Him in All of Me, page 158
<idle musing>
I read, I believe it was in Elton Trueblood, that an Anglican bishop was reflecting that everywhere Paul went there was a riot or a revival, but everywhere he went they served tea. I know that N.T. Wright has used the saying, but I first read it back in the early 1970's, so it predates him.
Nevertheless, isn't that an accurate statement of the early church? What has happened?! — Lord! Deliver us from mediocrity and apathy!
</idle musing>
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1 comment:
I have several thoughts on this matter, but will share the central one.
The idea of "choice" has become a particularly toxic one in the Church. We can choose to obey God or not obey God. The truth is a person born of God has made THE choice to obey. A person born of God gets to choose a life of ever greater obedience. Obedience to God is simply the nature of the believer in Christ.
An apple tree doesn't bear green beans, hamsters, or rocks. An apple tree bears APPLES. A person born of God is born to OBEY. Is it a choice, sure. The choice made was made to repent, and receive Christ as Lord and savior. Then God gave us a born again spirit which is kind after Jesus' kind. Obedience is a matter of in born (again) nature. Just as an apple tree WILL bear apples, so a person born again of God WILL obey.
Obedience to God = love for God
Disobedience to God = hate for God
A person born of God does not hate God! A person born of God loves (obeys) God. Are we hand puppets for God? NO, we have a new born spirit which is the divine seed; the spiritual "sperm" of Christ. This divine seed carries the DNA of God. Since Christ is always obedient to Father then everyone BORN of God IS OBEDIENT!!! (1 John 5:3-5)
Ever see an apple tree grunting, trying to make an apple?! No the apple tree just does what it's DNA says; it just expresses it's nature.
We need to kill this toxic worldly way of thinking about choice, and put faith in God and the DNA He has put within us. We must get over "ourselves" and just get into the Godly DNA. Just ease on into Jesus and He'll grow that heavenly fruit!!!
Save us Lord God!
Lonnie
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