I go through periods of unrest in my walk with God. Those periods of unrest are usually when God wants to shake me out of a rut. A few years ago I had one of those unrestful periods.
I had gotten tired of all the self-help Christianity.
· How to have your blessings today.
· Five steps to becoming a man of faith.
· Seven steps to being a destiny fulfiller.
Nothing is wrong with these things as long as they keep their priorities clear. I think that is where the unrest came from. After listening to some of these people I felt like something was missing and then one day it hit me.
Philippians 3:7-11 (NIV) But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
The gospel cannot be obtained through human wisdom.
My calling as a follower of Christ is to be a witness – testifying to the revelation of Christ. As one organization proclaimed, “To know Christ and to make Him known.”
That was Paul’s strategy.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (TLB) Dear brothers, even when I first came to you I didn’t use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God’s message. For I decided that I would speak only of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. And my preaching was very plain, not with a lot of oratory and human wisdom, but the Holy Spirit’s power was in my words, proving to those who heard them that the message was from God. I did this because I wanted your faith to stand firmly upon God, not on man’s great ideas.
A strategy he passes on to his protégé.
2 Timothy 4:1-4 (TLB) And so I solemnly urge you before God and before Christ Jesus—who will someday judge the living and the dead when he appears to set up his Kingdom— to preach the Word of God urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and out, when it is convenient and when it is not. Correct and rebuke your people when they need it, encourage them to do right, and all the time be feeding them patiently with God’s Word. For there is going to come a time when people won’t listen to the truth but will go around looking for teachers who will tell them just what they want to hear. They won’t listen to what the Bible says but will blithely follow their own misguided ideas.
I must admit that in today’s Christian culture, I have grown weary and disillusioned by our emphasis on everything else but Jesus.
We are encouraged to…
We are given instructions on how to appropriate our best blessings now.
Change your words, change your life.
Eleven and a half promises to speak over your life. Just declare it.
Listen, don’t get me wrong – I don’t think that there is anything inherently wrong with any of those things except that they have begun to replace what is most important – knowing Jesus and doing His will.
IT’S NOT COMPLICATED
Knowing Jesus and doing His will is not complicated. In fact it really is a simple thing.
2 Corinthians 11:3 (NASB) 3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
Paul writing to the Corinthians tells them that the devotion to Christ is simple and pure, don’t make it complicated. Keep it simple sweetheart!
The word simplicity carries the understanding of singleness of purpose. Not complicated.
Our fulfillment in Christ has nothing to do with doing more or less, it has everything to do with becoming. Becoming more like Christ. Recalibrating to just Jesus.
Coming back to just Jesus requires of us the simplicity of being open and exposed to His scrutiny. It is a deepening of intimacy. Pursuing Him with openness and honesty. A willingness to live openly before Him makes knowing Him much more attainable.
Reorient to just Jesus - it is so refreshing!
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