Our Ambitions
This may be a shocker, but as CHRISTIANS our #1 ambition is to be LIKE CHRIST.
It seems that as simple as this is, we as Christians (all of us) tend to loose sight of this call/goal.
In the busyness of life and all that it offers us our focus gets off of Jesus (pleasing him and becoming like him) and on to SOMETHING ELSE. The SOMETHING ELSE is different for each person and can be a combination of things. It may be be pleasing our ego (through relationships, physical appearance, material possessions, economic status, social status, being tougher, being smarter, getting the last word in a fight, having the funniest comeback or joke, saying the meanest and most hurtful thing, putting others down to build you up, etc.), or maybe our flesh (though food, drink, sex, drugs, being violent, or just being consumed with getting our own way), but the bottom line is our focus is NOT pleasing and becoming like Jesus, it's on pleasing ourselves. It's like the scripture says, "1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight." James 4:1-2.
Then we wonder: Why am I not experiencing what God says I should experience in this walk with Jesus? Why don't I hear his voice, experience his manifest presence, see him do miracles in me and through me? Why do I still feel empty and feeling like there must be more?
The answer to these questions is an issue of our priorities. It is an issue of what is our #1 ambition in life. If it's anything other than Jesus, you have your answer.
I pray you'll have ear's to hear what the Spirit is saying. Listen to the words of Jesus... "These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." Revelation 2:1-7
It seems that as simple as this is, we as Christians (all of us) tend to loose sight of this call/goal.
In the busyness of life and all that it offers us our focus gets off of Jesus (pleasing him and becoming like him) and on to SOMETHING ELSE. The SOMETHING ELSE is different for each person and can be a combination of things. It may be be pleasing our ego (through relationships, physical appearance, material possessions, economic status, social status, being tougher, being smarter, getting the last word in a fight, having the funniest comeback or joke, saying the meanest and most hurtful thing, putting others down to build you up, etc.), or maybe our flesh (though food, drink, sex, drugs, being violent, or just being consumed with getting our own way), but the bottom line is our focus is NOT pleasing and becoming like Jesus, it's on pleasing ourselves. It's like the scripture says, "1What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight." James 4:1-2.
Then we wonder: Why am I not experiencing what God says I should experience in this walk with Jesus? Why don't I hear his voice, experience his manifest presence, see him do miracles in me and through me? Why do I still feel empty and feeling like there must be more?
The answer to these questions is an issue of our priorities. It is an issue of what is our #1 ambition in life. If it's anything other than Jesus, you have your answer.
I pray you'll have ear's to hear what the Spirit is saying. Listen to the words of Jesus... "These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." Revelation 2:1-7
posted by Pastor Mike @ 6:23 AM
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