The other day my pastor posted this question on facebook:
“Should the word of God influence people’s lives or should the lives of people influence the word of God?”
This is a straight forward question and most answered correctly, which is the word of God influences people’s lives. Unfortunately not all answered this way. The answer they presented was this convoluted response that ended equally saying it was actually both.
Here is what Jesus says on this question:
Revelation 3:15-16 – I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
These are verses I keep coming to time and again as I type out my posting. Why? Because this is something not being taught within many churches today. They teach you that God and Jesus loves you and wants you, but they do not emphasize the need to grow in your faith.
Now why do I say grow in your faith? Because it is an ongoing ever changing process. Do you go from a newborn babe to an adult in one day? No you do not. It takes years. I know men that are in their fifties that still behave like they are in their early teens. It is this believe that once you reach a certain point you do not need to do anymore.
This is the furthest thing from the truth. A truth I had to learn the hard way. A truth that cost me all my personal possessions and the disillusion of my second marriage.
God makes it perfectly clear it is either black or white. There is no grey area. You follow His word and you are changed or you are not and you stay the same which is of the world.
You cannot be both of God and of the world. You cannot serve two masters.
Jesus makes it very clear the result. He would rather you be cold or black for Him then to be a grey a lukewarm. Now really try and think upon this. Jesus would rather you deny Him then to have asked Him into your life and you choose to live in the grey areas of your relationship with Him.
Here is an extreme example just to get the point across. Say someone is a striper, female or male, and becomes saved. They must now make an extremely hard choice. They must now decide to follow the entire Bible or to ignore this verse or that verse. This is equal to the adulteress which was going to be stoned and Jesus stepped in and stopped it. He then turned to the woman and said “Now go and sin no more.”
The striper who makes thousands of dollars in a week must now give up this job for a minimum salary job, because they did not bother to improve their minds to get a better paying job. Following the Bible cost them in the world, but the hardship that is to follow strengthens them and makes them ready for the next struggle. For if God wishes to use us He will place us through many trails. Each one tearing away a sin that is within us. Ever striving to become as pure as possible even though we shall fall short. It is when we live our life’s like this is when we are seen with favor form Him, for He sees that we are moving up the narrow and winding road, filled with its rocks and nails toward Him and our final reward which is an eternal life. A life that will last billions of years and all for His glory.
So to reaffirm the answer to the question my pastor posted you must be white and hot for God by letting the word of God influence how we are to live our life for Him as is prescribed for us within the word of God… the Bible.