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There’s “something better” than watered down faith. Simply obeying Jesus day after day is far more powerful and rewarding than routiene religion.
God doesn’t want people to occasionally lip sync His words with a faraway heart. (Matthew 15:8) He wants people to let His words continually burn within them (Luke 24:32) and empower them to obey Him. (John 14:15)
Open your heart to holy discontent. When God the Holy Spirit corrects something that you are saying or doing, stop it. (John 16:7-11) Then replace it with what He tells you to. (Matthew 4:17)
A closed heart has no ears to hear. (Revelation 3:22) It is spiritually blind. (Mark 8:18) A closed heart is self-preoccupied and in bondage to self-deceptive. (John 1:8) It is separated and disconnected from God’s revelation. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)
A heart open to Christ is filled with wonder and gratitude (Ephesians 5:20) and overflowing with the fruit of the Spirt. (Galatians 5:22-23) It is sensitive to and concerned about the needs of other people. (Philippians 2:3) Fully and unceasingly open your heart to the presence of the risen Jesus. (Colossians 1:27) Learn to be continually led by God the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:14)
Hearing about the real thing vs the frozen stuff made me think about the A.W. Tozer quote:
“Christianity has been watered down until the solution is so weak that if it were poison it would not hurt anyone, and if it were medicine it would not cure anyone.”
― A. W. Tozer
I see the watered-down version of Jesus as me being more of me and less of Him.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
Christ is in us!
The question is, what is the percentage? Me 80%, Jesus 20%? Thirty to seventy? 50-50? And it seems that His percentage is based on when I need Him. Not when He needs me.
Jesus doesn’t need us to be God, but we need Him to be complete and whole. We need Him to know our identity and live in that identity as His children.
So, why does Jesus need us?
Jesus needs us to spread the good news and make disciples. Because He first loved us, we love Him and others. We want the lost found, because we were once lost, and have been found. Jesus calls us to be the Google Maps that leads them home.
John 3:30
He must increase, but I must decrease.
What I need is a diluted version of me.
Staying 💪’n Christ,
Doc
Ephesians 6:10
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Grateful our Pastor is doing this series, and shared the Wake Up Call with our church family. Each day is so good, and now my favorite way to begin my day. I want the real thing.
J.D., what a blessing that you and your dad can sing these hymns together!
👍
What a blessing to hear you and your daddy sing together, along with the message you bring. Thank you.
Tang is better than real orange juice. It’s not the juice, it’s the nutrients more than the taste that matter. Tang was made because orange juice would go bad. Tang has more of what the body needs without being as perishable.
And what we believe should make sense for what we need to do in life. And so far as I can tell, we need to pay the bills and provide a way for this world to be at least as good a place for those that follow.
So what we spend our time getting others to believe should be for the benefit of others now and hopefully in the future. And that means work and being kind and maintaining things for the better. Real things that real people in this real world need.
OK, y’all. You know that I love J.D. Walt and what he shares with us via the Wake-Up Call. I generally find his teaching and writing to be very insightful and, IMHO, Spirit-led. However, acknowledging that this is a tough theological issue that scholars and theologians have struggled with since even before 1 John was written, and as much as I appreciate his orange juice analogy, I must admit a certain level of frustration with today’s entry. My heart is not to be critical or complaining. I would just like some clarity.
Given the problem put forth in the initial two paragraphs, including the main question, I think J.D. “wiffed” a bit on this one. While I thoroughly agree with everything he said today, I don’t think he really answered his own conundrum, which, truth-be-told, is a conundrum for all of us.
He wrote:
“Okay, so I know I am born of God, but I continue to sin, yet today’s text tells me that if I am born of God, I will not continue to sin. What gives?
“If I am honest, I am a living, walking denial of the truth of this text. Either I am not born of God, or I am not getting something.”
I don’t think he ever really answers the question, at least not for me. Again, I agree with everything J.D. wrote, but I don’t see the specifics of how it resolves this puzzle.
“Either I am not born of God, or I am not getting something.”
The text forces us back to ask, “If I have settled for the “Jesus Concentrate” instead of “Simply Jesus,” so-to-speak, them am I really “born of God” or not? The text seems to, not just imply, but outright say that if this is true of me, then I am NOT “born of God.”
As J.D. wrote, “Okay, so I know I am born of God, but I continue to sin, yet today’s text tells me that if I am born of God, I will not continue to sin. What gives?” Agreed, but how does the rest of what he shares today answer the heart of the problem suggested by our text?
Perhaps it’s just me, being a theology geek, but I really want to know. What gives? Obviously, we all need to go after “Simply Jesus,” but if I’ve only drunk from diluted “Jesus Concentrate,” have I been “born of God” or not? Am I a child of God in need of renewal, or am I a deluded sinner in need of Holy Spirit rebirth/revival? Does it even matter? The text seems to indicate that it does.
I have ideas about how I might answer these questions, but I’m not wholly satisfied with them yet. When J.D. raised the questions in his article, I had hoped to get some of his generally brilliant insight on the matter, but alas, such was not to be this time.
So, please, J.D., I’d love for you to directly address this. According to this passage, can I be “born of God,” and yet, still sin? I’m not looking for permission to sin, but rather for understanding. Taken at face value, this passage seems to be saying that “sinless perfection” is the sign of spiritual rebirth, and that anything less is not acceptable – is the sign of not having been “born of God” or “born again.”
If the passage is NOT saying that, and I don’t think it is, based on what we find elsewhere in Scripture, then what IS it saying, and how do we demonstrate that from the written Word?
Sorry for the rant!!
In His love,
Bruce Knight
Thank you Doc. Your choice of words spoke to my heart! I definitely need a “diluted version” of me and a “full version” of Christ in me! Hole Spirit speak to my heart and show me the way!
Very good analogy! Everyday is new!
I look forward to the wake-up call every day ! It reminds me to keep Jesus first in my life! Great singing 🎵 too! Such a Blessing