Sunday, May 24, 2009, 7:30 a.m. – I woke to this song:
Much Too High A Price / Jesus Paid It All / Phil McHugh and Greg Nelson
Your love endured the cross, despising all the shame,
That afternoon when midnight fell Your suffering cleared my name.
And that sin-swept hill became the open door to paradise
Because You paid so high a price.
You paid much too high a price for me, Your tears, Your blood, the pain –
To have my soul just stirred at times yet never truly changed.
You deserve a fiery love that won’t ignore your sacrifice
Because You paid much too high a price.
Your grace inspires my heart to rise above the sin
And all the earthly vanity that seeks to draw me in.
I want to tell a jaded world of love that truly saved my life,
A love that paid so high a price.
Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe,
Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed me white as snow.
www.excite.com Daily Bible Verse - Mal 4:5-6 (NIV)
"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Revelation 3:1-6:
My Understanding: Before the Lord returns for His bride, He is going to send someone(s) in the spirit of the prophet Elijah who will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. There are varied opinions or interpretations as to what this means, yet the common understanding appears to be that, before Jesus comes back, God is going to send (or has already sent) a messenger or messengers on whom is this spirit of Elijah (perhaps the two witnesses of Revelation) and that, as a result of their messages and/or witness, people will repent of their sin, will turn back to God and thus the hearts of people will also be toward one another in right relationships, where there may have been broken relationships before.
I do know that God has called me to such a ministry in these last days, and I know that there are many others of his servants who also feel called to such a ministry in these last days, so perhaps a correct interpretation is that this “spirit of Elijah” will be poured out on numerous people who will say “Yes” to the Lord in preparing His bride for the Lord’s return. Whether you agree with that interpretation or not, it is clear to me that: 1) God has called (is calling) many of his servants right now to such a ministry; 2) These are the last days we are living in before the return of the Lord; and 3) The Lord is calling his children to repentance and to return to Him as their “first love” before the Day of Judgment on the earth.
I love the words to this song:
You paid much too high a price for me, Your tears, Your blood, the pain –
To have my soul just stirred at times yet never truly changed.
You deserve a fiery love that won’t ignore your sacrifice
Because You paid much too high a price.
That really says it all. Jesus endured all of this for us so that we could be free from not only the penalty of sin, but the control of and the bondage to sin in our day to day lives. He did not call us out of darkness into his wonderful light so that we could continue to walk according to the flesh and to the ways of the world. No! He called us to be free from sin, death and the devil’s influence in our lives.
I find a general apathy, by and large, in the church of today to spiritual matters of the heart. So many times when I get together with other professing Christians, the conversation is about everything and anything but the Lord. And, if you try to bring up a spiritual topic of discussion, it seems to be met with resistance and with a general sense of discomfort, as though Christians today are generally not comfortable talking about the Lord unless they are in a Bible study or Sunday School class where it is acceptable to talk about the Bible and about Jesus.
What I find often permeates topics of discussion among Christians in the USA are rather sports, movies, entertainment, computers, news, jobs, relationships, cars, stereos and TV’s and TV shows, such as American Idol (big hit among Christians). So, what separates us from the world? How are we any different? The world and the church and Christians are so blended in together these days that there is very little obvious separation. God, the Bible, Jesus, our relationship with Him, our personal times of devotion with the Lord, obedience, etc., all seem to have gotten lost in the world of entertainment and having fun. There is nothing wrong with having fun, mind you. But, when it becomes what consumes our lives and our conversation, then we need to take personal inventory of our relationship with Jesus Christ.
John, in the power of the Holy Spirit, wrote these letters to the seven churches. There are many interpretations (commentaries) on what these seven churches represent, as well. Some people believe they represent the historical periods of the church overall, and that now we are living in the time of the church of Laodicea. Well, I definitely agree that today’s church here in the USA definitely reflects this Laodicean church, and yet, I see that all seven churches’ scenarios apply to today in one way or another. And, the Church in Sardis is no exception.
The passage begins by stating this:
I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.
I definitely see this in today’s church here in the USA. I think most believers, or at least a good majority of believers in today’s church see the church in the USA as alive. That appears to be the modern theme among today’s growing churches – to have worship services that are ALIVE! They think that if the music is lively and professional sounding, i.e. they have a really good band, and the preaching is fun, i.e. that it is interspersed with lots of video presentations that are fun, and that we make sure that we have lots of fun activities going on all of the time that it means that the church is “alive” instead of “dead” like the old traditional churches out of which many of these people came.
But, they could not be more far from being wrong. Those are superficial things that give the appearance (reputation) of being “alive,” but that is not what is meant by being spiritually alive. You can be one of the dullest people I know on the face of the earth and still be spiritually alive. The key is in the next verse:
- Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard;
- obey it,
- and repent.
Remember: keep in mind; commit to memory; take into account; memorize
Received: been given; obtained; accepted; welcomed; gathered; collected
Heard: listened to; paid attention to; heeded; took notice of (opposite of ignore)
Obey: Do as you were told; follow; comply with; act upon; abide by; conform
*The above definitions were taken from Encarta’s Thesaurus
In conclusion, in order to wake up and to be alive spiritually, we must turn back to God - to the right away - in obedience to the Lord and away from living according the world’s standards and according to our fleshly desires – repent and obey!
