PRUNING PEOPLE TO BEAR FRUIT
The family tie is often the strongest relationship that we have in this world. Even the toughest and hardest among us still honor that commitment as a brother or a sister in blood. The church is also built upon family, and upon a single bloodline that flows through the veins of all of us who are true believers in Christ.
Most people today feel that the Christian life is simply proclaiming that they believe in Christ as their Savior and that "POOF" they are a child of God...but the scriptures never really uphold that concept. While the word does simply state that all we need do is to believe, confess , repent, and be baptized; within those elements are some pretty difficult things to do. These steps are all equal in nature, and all of them can be very traumatic to deal with. I believe that most people are still dealing with the very first one today; which is belief. I don't think that many have gotten past belief to confession, or repentance and therefore certainly are not seeking that even closer relationship with God as a family member through baptism into the church; (or into the family of God).
My concern is in the fact that the teachings from our church's are not complete enough to show people the great difference in saying something nice about God every Sunday, and true worship of God as it is found in His word. I believe that much of the apathetic attitudes we see in today's churches are because we have only scratched the surface of what it really means to be a part of Christ. God is starting to prune those who do not bear fruit in this age from the vine that have claimed Him...yet shown no life at all. I believe that is why we are seeing a dip within the attendance of many churches where the truth is still proclaimed. In the book of Acts 5: we find this purging coming from God's hand as He begins to prepare those of the church family to bear greater fruit. The simple truth is that we need to get rid of some dead wood within the churches that have been hanging on not for the work they can do in Christ but because they want the protection of Christ yet they refuse to get involved in the family business of loving one another.
No one has to do anything great within the body, but we all have to do something that we can to provide that life giving spark of witness to the world around us. I believe we are all called on to give great praise to God, but it goes much deeper than that. It may start with the ways we treat our own blood family , but then when we have gotten far enough that our family is good we need to reach out to our heavenly family and begin to see how we can impact their lives with the help and problems of life they have. It won't be long before the world around us sees that witness we give to what God is doing in our life. It is my prayer that we all can follow the examples of what it means to go beyond belief, and into a series of steps that help us to bear great fruit in Christ through our love for one another. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Most people today feel that the Christian life is simply proclaiming that they believe in Christ as their Savior and that "POOF" they are a child of God...but the scriptures never really uphold that concept. While the word does simply state that all we need do is to believe, confess , repent, and be baptized; within those elements are some pretty difficult things to do. These steps are all equal in nature, and all of them can be very traumatic to deal with. I believe that most people are still dealing with the very first one today; which is belief. I don't think that many have gotten past belief to confession, or repentance and therefore certainly are not seeking that even closer relationship with God as a family member through baptism into the church; (or into the family of God).
My concern is in the fact that the teachings from our church's are not complete enough to show people the great difference in saying something nice about God every Sunday, and true worship of God as it is found in His word. I believe that much of the apathetic attitudes we see in today's churches are because we have only scratched the surface of what it really means to be a part of Christ. God is starting to prune those who do not bear fruit in this age from the vine that have claimed Him...yet shown no life at all. I believe that is why we are seeing a dip within the attendance of many churches where the truth is still proclaimed. In the book of Acts 5: we find this purging coming from God's hand as He begins to prepare those of the church family to bear greater fruit. The simple truth is that we need to get rid of some dead wood within the churches that have been hanging on not for the work they can do in Christ but because they want the protection of Christ yet they refuse to get involved in the family business of loving one another.
No one has to do anything great within the body, but we all have to do something that we can to provide that life giving spark of witness to the world around us. I believe we are all called on to give great praise to God, but it goes much deeper than that. It may start with the ways we treat our own blood family , but then when we have gotten far enough that our family is good we need to reach out to our heavenly family and begin to see how we can impact their lives with the help and problems of life they have. It won't be long before the world around us sees that witness we give to what God is doing in our life. It is my prayer that we all can follow the examples of what it means to go beyond belief, and into a series of steps that help us to bear great fruit in Christ through our love for one another. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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