I am currently going through Beth Moore's book Believing God with my friend,
Angela. I don't know why I always act surprised when I go through a book or study and think, "this is what I needed!" Again, God is using Beth Moore to radically shake me. This doesn't mean I have figured it all out and have mastered perfection. I am far from both! I will tell you that I have never felt as close to the Lord more than I do right now. I am learning so much about who He is which in turns tells me a lot about myself... most of it is not good.
I have simply finished chapter one and feel like my life will never be the same. Chapter one talks about Promised Land Living. All along God intended for His children to succeed. We were challenged with: "Are our Christian lives successful? Are they achieving and experiencing what scripture said they would?"
So many of us, my self included, have or are currently living the unsuccessful christian life. Stuck in the same rut. Bored with worship, sermons, bible study, and at times other Christians. We are bored and ineffective because we choose to be! We must completely surrender our will to Jesus. Who cares if we don't like the sermon or style of worship. Who cares if someone is talking about you behind your back. Who cares if we don't really like the bible study choice. It's not about you or me! We must get over ourselves. The Christian life is about dying to self. That is the only way to be real.
The book talks about this, but D actually said it Sunday in his sermon, "The only way we are going to reach the next generation is to prove that our faith is real." No one wants anything to do with fake Christianity. I know its real! The question is do we have the fruit to back it up? We can't convince others about a faith that isn't working for us. It will take genuine surrender. The giving up of sin and self. We may highlight or underline every verse in our bible, but if we don't flesh it out...what good is it?
God never meant for us to merely get by as Christians in this life. "We're getting by, but getting by was never our destiny. We were meant to be profoundly effective. Why have we accepted average?"
Why for 25 years of my life have I accepted average?!!!
She said this about herself, but as I read it I knew it was me too! "I finally came to a point in my Christian walk where I grew bone weary of inconsistency being my only constant. Occasional wisps of authentic spiritual living only multiplied my frustrations. I then knew a place of fullness and effectiveness in Christ existed, but at best I was a drop in. My soul needed a place where it could live. I longed for my defeats to be infrequent visitations, not my victories." She goes on to say..." Our personalized lands of earthly promise are places we're invited by God to dwell in Christ. It's high time we stopped dropping by and starting taking up residency."
We were meant for so much more! Beth gives a great analogy...I love good analogies! She was walking one morning and saw several ducks splashing in a mud puddle on the sidewalk. Sadly there was a large pond just over the hill. They were settling for a mud puddle! She immediately felt the Lord speaking to her, "That's my church. My blood bought, Spirit promised church splashing in a mud puddle with a sea of living waters within reach just on the other side." Let's stop splashing in mud puddles!
"Your Promised Land is the place where God's personalized promises over your life become a living reality rather than a theological theory."
