Lukewarm Christianity

Alright guys, time to start your weeks. Hope you all had a better Monday than I did. Well, here's a devotion from examplesyouth.org about living a lukewarm life. It goes great with Daniel's message for you guys, and I hope it brings reality to some of you, because a few of you really need to hear this. So read it, feel it, and make the change.

Teaching Teens to Decide Wholeheartedly to Live for God

What does it mean to be “lukewarm”? Let’s read Revelations 3:14 –16

OBJECT LESSON
Have a cup or small bowl of ice, a mug of hot water, and a room temperature mug of water. Have a volunteer come up to help you demonstrate the below.

When you think of being lukewarm, you think of something that is somewhere in the middle. Put your hand in this cup (the cup of ice). What does this feel like? OK, now put your hand in this one (the hot one). What does that feel like? OK, now feel this one (the room temperature one). Would you say this one is hot or cold?

When you are a lukewarm Christian, you are not “hot” enough to be living entirely for God, but not “cold” enough to say you are not a Christian.

When you try to mix the two, you only cause confusion in your life and in the lives of those around you! How do you know if you are lukewarm?

When you are lukewarm, you tend to only do the Word when it is easy, convenient, or comfortable for you. For example:

1. When you are around other Christians
2. When you really need something from God
3. When you feel bad about something
4. When you need some money!
5. When you are in danger or in trouble

Some questions to ask yourself to find out if you are lukewarm:

o When you are around certain people, do you forget about doing the Word and being pleasing to God?

o When you don’t feel like doing the right thing according to the Bible, do you just blow it off?

o When you hear the Word, does it feel like it really means something to you right then, but later or in a day or two you go back to doing the opposite of what you heard? (James 1:22 – 27 talks about being a forgetful hearer of the Word).

So, if all of this is coming too close to describing you, what are steps to take to turn this around in your life? How do our hearts become good ground for God’s Word to flourish and grow?

o First, make a decision to do the Word. Believing “in” God is not enough. The devil believes in God! You have to make a decision that you are going to do your best to live like the Word instructs you to live. (James 2:19 – 20 says that our faith without works is dead).

o Make sure you are attending church and getting fed the Word of God. You should find a church that teaches you the Word and how to live it.

o Spend personal time in the Word – every day! Get a daily devotion book, go online to find teen Bible Study Lessons (log on to www.examplesyouth.org!), buy a Teen Study Bible that makes the Word easier to read and understand. Whatever it takes, you have to begin studying and reading the Word on your own. Going to church once or twice a week is not enough to sustain your life in God. The world is coming at us 24/7. We’ve got to combat it with putting God’s Word inside of us.

o Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Psalm 5:1 – 3). Praying throughout the day as well as setting aside time to pray.

o Hang out with other kids that believe the Word and desire to live it.

Once you are doing those steps, here is what happens when we decide to seek God with your whole heart and not settle at being lukewarm (Revelations 3:17 – 22):

o You are now empowered to be successful in everything you do.

o You are now able to see and understand things you normally would not have been able to. Things you did not know how to fix, problems you were having with your family, at school, with a friend, etc. – your understanding will become clearer because you are now aligning your heart with hearing from God and His Word on how to live your life.

o You are no longer living subject to the world and its ways. When you are not living subject to the world, you are not subject to the results of living a worldly life as well. Broken relationships, sickness, lack and poverty, failure. God wants to direct us in our lives so that we are not subject to the curse of the world, but to the blessings of life and life more abundantly (John 10:10)

Carpe Diem!

            So, I’m sure some of you have heard the phrase Carpe Diem before. A few of you may even know what it means. But do any of you actually understand the meaning of the phrase? Most people realize that the actual words are from Latin, maybe even realize that they are from a poem. But hardly anyone could name that poet. Well, here’s the stuff you should know.

Carpe Diem means Seize the Day, a phrase that has come to mean something like “live like you were dying.” Below is the actual poem that made the phrase famous.

 Don't ask (it's forbidden to know) what end

            the gods have granted to me or you, Leuconoe. Don't play with Babylonian

            fortune-telling either. How much better it is to endure whatever will be!

Whether Jupiter has allotted to you many more winters or this final one

            which even now wears out the Tyrrhenian sea on the rocks placed opposite

            — be wise, strain the wine, and scale back your long hopes

to a short period. While we speak, envious time will have {already} fled

            Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.

Alright, now onto the good stuff. So, now you know all the background and stuff for the phrase, now to put it into motion. Don’t let the rambling confuse you, I do have a point to this. And here we go.

            The phrase Carpe Diem is more than just a nice thing to say to try and encourage someone or yourself. It’s a powerhouse of meaning and sentimentality. To me, it’s something that needs to be applied to our Christian walks. Everyday needs to lived like it’s the day before the end. Don’t fall into the mentality of fixing it later. There may not be a later. Sometimes you fall into the delusion of “well, I’ll have fun for now and fix my life when I’m older and wiser.” That’s the wrong idea! God doesn’t say that saying the “I accept Jesus” prayer near the end and you’re golden. He desires a relationship. One that takes a lifetime to develop and all of your will and power to maintain. So you need to seize the day and use all the time that you have to fully develop your relationship with God. There will be hard times, but hunker down, carpe diem, and fight your way through. When the devil is trying to tear you down, don’t let him, just call on God’s power to pull you out of the devil’s grasp. When you feel yourself falling into the grip of old sins, fight back. Grab hold of God’s might and let God’s Will and Majesty take you out of the temptations. He is where all of your strength must lie, and all of your focus needs to be. The best is yet to come, but so is the worst. But for now, just carpe diem in Christi nomen! (Seize the day in the name of Christ.)

Are You in God's Army?

Hey guys. Hope all of you are having a fantastic Wednesday. Here's a little challenge from the guys over at dare2share.org. Hope it hits you like it did me.

I may never march in the infantry,
Ride in the cavalry,
Shoot the artillery.
I may never zoom o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, sir! I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, sir!
I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, sir!

I may never march in the infantry,
Ride in the cavalry,
Shoot the artillery.
I may never zoom o'er the enemy,
But I'm in the Lord's army. Yes, sir!

Remember that one? It was always one of my favorites. In fact, I wish the 'grown-up' church service would have it as a worship song occasionally - just to remind us of something very important:

We are in the Lord's Army

Sure, it's a kids' song- but it has an adult message that is too easily neglected and too often forgotten. When you're a child, it's fun to think about being in the service of the Captain of our salvation...oh but then at some point we get 'mature', which often translates into 'chicken'.

So the issue at hand is: are you involved in the fight? Or perhaps at some point you were taken prisoner by the enemy. If you are a captive, you might not even know it- so let me give you a few characteristics of spiritual P.O.W.'s.

• They think that many Christians are just too 'radical' for Jesus. After all, they should settle down and try not to 'offend' people too much or too often.
• They have been led to believe that the early fire they had for Christ was just a temporary spiritual high, but that kind of feeling will probably never come back.
• They are trapped in the rut of going through the motions of church, Bible reading, and prayer...almost as if they are doing it out of duty instead of desire.
• They try to witness to others through actions only, thinking that people will understand the gospel without ever being told.

If any of these describe you, the great news is that you hold a 'get out of jail free' card right in your hands! Satan only has as much authority as you give him, so take it back, recommit your life, and go to battle!

Perhaps the old song mentioned above isn't quite enough to get you motivated anymore. If so, allow me to share a somewhat updated version that describes your position more specifically:

I am a Soldier
Author Unknown

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior, of the army of my God.
The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer.
The Holy Bible is my code of conduct.
Faith, Prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare.

I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience,
tried by adversity, and tested by fire.

I am a volunteer in this army, and I am enlisted for eternity.
I will either retire in this army at the Rapture or die in this Army;
but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out.
I am faithful, capable, and dependable.

If my God needs me, I am there.

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior. I am not a baby.
I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up, or pepped up.

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior.
No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me, or lure me.

I am a solider, a prayer warrior. I am not a wimp.
I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, praising His name
and building His Kingdom!

I am a soldier, a prayer warrior.
No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy, or give me handouts.
I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for, or catered to.

I am committed.
I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me around.
I cannot be discouraged enough to turn me aside.
I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit.

Questions:

1. Are you more passionate about the Lord and His cause than anything else? Why or why not?
2. Would Satan describe you as a soldier or a prisoner?
3. What is the first thing you need to do to get back in the battle?

Memory Verse:

Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer. (II Timothy 2:3-4)