Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
-John 3:3
Oswald Chambers taught at a Bible college for missionaries in the early 1900s. In one of his talks he said,
If we simply preach the effects of redemption in the human life instead of the revealed, divine truth regarding Jesus Himself, the result is not new birth in those who listen. The result is a refined religious lifestyle.
This made me think of my kitchen cabinets. Painting the cabinets myself saved us a lot of money, but I'm constantly having to touch-up paint them around the knobs and handles because they do not have a professional finish on them. Chambers went on to say,
The spirit of God cannot witness to [a religious lifestyle] because such preaching is in a realm other than His. We must make sure that we are living in such harmony with God that as we proclaim His truth. He can create in others those things which He alone can do.
Like my renovated kitchen we may look like we were born anew if we talk the talk, but unless we walk the walk through the power of the Holy Spirit it won't last like my kitchen cabinet paint job.
What happens all too often is we are attracted to the way the Gospel is preached to us--through charismatic preachers, beautiful buildings, exhilarating music, and lots of feel-good social gatherings. Chambers points this out,
If a person attracts through his personality, that becomes his appeal. If, however, he is identified with the Lord Himself, then the appeal becomes what Jesus Christ can do.
Down through the ages people have flocked to leaders who tell them what they want to hear. Religions have been born but people have not been born anew. Their hearts have not been crucified with Christ and given new life in Him.
Father, in the age of the Internet and social media it is too easy to be taken in by deception and feel-good messages. May we all be wary of falling into this trap.
Link to scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:3-6
Take action:
I just watched one of the episodes of " The Crown: in which Prince Charles has been sent to Wales to learn Welsh so he can give a speech at his investiture as PRINCE OF WALES... in Welsh. His mother , Queen Elizabeth , and the Parliament have made him spend three months in Wales learning enough Welsh so he can pull off seeming to love the Welsh and have more suitable dons with the Welsh people ...though they are under the rule of THE CROWN.
ReplyDeleteWEll, during that time, he grows to LOVE the people, the language and the country as its own. He speaks the speech in Welsh and those in the audience from his family do not know what he is saying. What he is saying is...he LOVES the land and people of Wales. He sees their individuality. He hopes they can be independent of THE CROWN and run their own country"
He leaves being loved and him loving their values and country.
Like your kitchen cupboards if he had not told the truth he would have been merely a follower of dead lies.. of just patching up the cupboards. so to speak.. but he was true.. he ripped out the cupboards and built new ones. ..and was TRUTHFUL.... that is what I LOVE about Prince Charles. GUTS to be different. and not care about pomp and circumstance.. Principle in life is as good as the people who abide by it.. it they do only in words. it is useless.... but if they abide in their hearts. it creates a heaven on earth for everyone to experience. A whole new kitchen..... what glory in Truth comes out from telling it.. and using it all the way coming out from the HEART. Merri
AMEN !!
ReplyDelete❤️
DeleteCathy that is such a wonderful insight into knowing that we are here to share Jesus' love and truth - it is so easy to be deceived - Only the Holy Spirit can do the changing of the heart - may he use his true believers to be His instrument of love. Thanks for sharing these beautiful thoughts. Hugs!
ReplyDelete