I got an interesting email today. The pastor of a previous church of mine decided to start something new, a Bible verse exchange. Basically, it’s a chain letter of scriptures. Copy 20 people, send your favorite verse. When I read it I just shook my head. I can’t say that I know what it is, but this isn’t it. I’m sure there’s some good points to this, but really, is that the best we have. I’m not trying to play down this pastor, or that church, because it’s most of us. In one way or another we all do these things. I can’t even place a name to it other than it was started by man. We take something good from God, we spin it, but a name on it, and ship it out trying to do God’s work. When will we realize that God’s work is just that, His. And as long as we are making up the plans, it’s not really His work.
I think I’ve got down the rabbit hole a little too much. Basically I’m tired of the life we have made. I’m tired of playing these church games. I’m starting to see it a bit more here, I feel like pieces are slowly coming into place.
What is our purpose? What did God make us for.
If you look at how our churches go, it was for salvation, giving, or even entertainment. The churches I’m often around it’s salvation. Eternal life as we tend to call it. We want to spread that good news. But tell me this, what were Adam and Eve made for? There was no one to save. There was no poor to feed. There was no one to spread God to.
It seems to all be coming back to Eternal Life. Jesus came to bring us eternal life(John 3:16 tells us). But we are treating it the wrong way. We look at eternal life as Heaven, as the end goal we’re all pushing toward. We put all our efforts at crossing that finish line and bringing as many as we can with us. We praise God that He gave us a chance to go to Heaven, but we’ve forgotten where we began. Like I said, Adam and Eve weren’t looking to Heaven. The already lived there. God had a different plan for them. Sin came in and messed it up, so Jesus came to fix it. Remember that. Salvation was not an end goal, but a fix to get us back on track.
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. – John 17:3
Adam and Eve knew God. Eternal life isn’t about getting to Heaven, though that’s a consequence of it. It’s not about having our sins wiped away, although that is also part. It’s about knowing God, truly knowing Him. Not this religion we have made. It’d be like reading 20 biographies of Abraham Lincoln and telling others we know Him. Knowing God means something personal. It means a two-way street of communication, talking, seeing, being with. That’s not the Christianity many of us live today. Adam and Eve were made to be “Sons of God”. God made them like Himself, He put them on the Earth as a training ground. A place where true Sons of God can be made. This life isn’t an accident but a training ground. We have one life to live to prepare ourselves for destiny. God placed destiny in each of us. A destiny to know Him, to be used by Him, to do great things and to come home into our place with Him. But how we live this life determines how close we end up to Him.
This has built up in my heart the last few weeks. I’m not doing my best walk, but I can feel my spirit crying for this. Crying for more. I can read my bible, pray, fast, and do so many other good things, but they are all just religious activities without the person at the heart of it all. Jesus. I feel in a way I’m coming back to Practicing His Presence. That I want all my day to be walking in His presence. I want to bow down and in humility find the Lord at the beginning of each day, then walk the day with Him always in my thoughts. Each spare moment I pray to Him, in the Spirit and without. I want to put aside my fantasies, my fictions and my daydreams and take up Jesus. I want to stop this stupid business of pushing Him aside when He comes in the way of what I need to do, whether that’s work, family, entertainment. Either God is all, or I am.
Waiting upon the Lord 