Do you ever have that feeling that we must be missing something when it comes to following God and finding out what it means to truly be a follower of Jesus?
We look at our world and it’s in desperate need of Jesus, yet the change agent in the world, His Church seems to be struggling in the mission. We seem to struggle to take up the fight, stand firm, and be driven by the fearless leader that is Jesus.
Instead, we fall into fear, anxiety and stress and even worse just get consumed in the world ways, values and emotions. That’s is what I see every day in recent times in our Church. We have fallen to the ways of the world, we are being coerced into a river with a under current that is more world than God.
We have compromised His ways and more to the point lost the way to His ancient paths. There was a reason that God said the things he said in the Bible.
A few months ago while in a tough spot mentally, emotionally and spiritually I was challenged with the question.
“what are you feeding on?”
This was an appropriate question given that our social media walls are called feeds. We are constantly distracted by another type of feed which often doesn’t really give us life. Instead it just wastes time and fill us our heads with mis-information based on algorithms that drive fear, and our own agendas. I believe that there is something significant about this and if we were, to be honest with ourselves we have been answering my above question with I have been feeding on its usually Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and so on.
What should we be feeding on
That question came from the person that I consider to be Jesus with skin on in my life currently. He is one that demonstrates what I consider to be Jesus like in this day and this age. He, with who I have had a relationship for nearly 20 years has always pointed me back to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit and His Word.
What we find in God’s three-pronged remedy to a chaotic world are the things that remind us of who He is, who we are and what we are called to do.
Who He is
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
Revelation Chapter 22 verse 13
This is God that has the Universe in his hand. This is the God that no one, no fear, no problem is bigger than Him. Whether you believe in the creator of the world in 6 days or not He is the one that gives breath to your lungs and He is in charge. As the Word of God says He is the First and the Last and ultimately all is in His hands. We need to remember despite the chaos that He is still in charge and we need to trust Him.
Who We are
He predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Ephesians 1:5
One of the things that my brother in Christ always reminds me about in the turmoil of life is who am I in God?
This is the sonship or daughtership question and Paul talks about this in the book of Ephesians and he says that we are predestined into God’s love as his Sons and daughters. We find our identity in the love of God through Jesus which is not based on performance, is not based on achievements, is not based on works, but is instead on Him loving you as a true father. One that accepts you, cares for you and does have good things in store for your life despite the situation or circumstance.
We need to feed on these truths in our current world because if we do we then become the change agent that our dark and depraved world needs. When these truths of who He is and who we are become the foundations of our life we then realise that we are equipped with every good gift that is needed for the adventure of life and whatever mountains and valleys we or others may face.
What we are called to do
Our confidence in Him gives us the God-fidence in this call that does not come from our own merits, our own achievements, but it comes from remembering that He, the one we spoke of is the one that lives inside us.
“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”
1 John Chapter 4 verse 4
Greater is the Spirit of God that lives in you and what the word says is that it’s greater than the one who lives in the world. When I feed on this truth and not the social media feeds I then am able to rise above the chaos and see from a different perspective. I am reminded that even though there is chaos ensuing around us we can still apply the truth that God is the First and the Last, that He is and has called you to be his sons and daughters and with this, you can fulfil our greatest call in life and that is to love.
I leave you with one last bit of God’s word that you can feed on that is the remedy to our current world’s dilemma and it’s this.
Jesus declared, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’e 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’f 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”