2/19/2006
First of all, let me say "thank you" to all of you that have been inviting and bringing friends to Sunday nights recently. Keep it up, and remember to ask them what they thought, what they learned, and most importantly where they stand with Jesus. Make sure you check out the upcoming events on "The Wall" and invite people out so we can fill up the living room, and see more people surrender the the Kingdom of God!
Now, to Sunday night.
Separation of Church and State is a battle that believers love to fight. We love to debate having prayer and bible study in school and having the 10 Commandments in courtrooms and on public property. While I agree that the idea of Separation of Church and State seems to be leaning heavily toward the state slowly taking away the rights of the Christian church, I am concerned with a much more sinister form of Separation of Church and state...
That is the removal of God from certain areas of our life.
In the very same breath that Christians are fighting to put God's influence back or keep God in all areas of society, we are fighting to keep God's influence out of certain compartments of our life.
Haptoon's gives a good picture of this:
http://www21.brinkster.com/Haptoon/089.htm
So, what areas of your life have you decided to separtate "church from state"? What is the state of your walk.
Think about all the different "compartments" of your life.
- Who your Friends are-Are they making you more like Christ or less like Christ
- The Music You Listen To-Does it honor God and cause you to Praise Him or hinder your praise?
- What you watch/look at-Is it causing you to lust or even waste time that could better be spent?
- What your Hobbies Are-Does God approve of the way you spend your time?
- How You Treat Your Parents
- The Effort You Put Into Your School Work
- The Way You Treat the Traffic Laws
- What You put Into Your Body-Food, Drink and otherwise
- How you Use Your Talents
- Where you Spend Your Money-Are you honoring God with What He has Given You?
- Who You Choose to Date-Are they a Christian or are you sinning by dating a non-Christian?
There are HUNDREDS of compartments in our lives, and we so often exclude the influence of the church, God, the Bible, Jesus, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit from many of those compartments. Allow God to have control of those areas that you have been holding onto. Don't sit on the throne of your life anymore...make Jesus LORD over ALL!!!
Rom 5:20-6:7
Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
For he who has died is freed from sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment