Wake up

"I know your works.  You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, then, what you received and heard.  Keep it, and repent..."-Revelation 3:1-3


I have never thought of myself as spiritually dead, but listening to a sermon yesterday I found myself questioning.  Where does my heart lie?  With this world or with God?


A particular part of the talk caught my attention.
The preacher began to talk about the church of Sardis which had begun to acclimate to the culture all around them.  Jesus had called them out, spelling out the consequences for falling away from Him.  Connecting it back to our world today, he asked us hard questions that led me to question beyond what he had even asked of us.


Had we become so adjusted to a world apart from Jesus that we are failing to live out the radical demands of our faith?  A world where cheap pleasures, worldly pain clouds our hearts, and our own selfish desires direct our steps...
Have we lost the uniqueness of a live devoted to Jesus?
Choosing instead to follow the crowd, and accepting that this world will never truly change into a place where God's kingdom can flourish.
Are we striving to finish the work God has given us as if doing it only for Him?
Or are we checking things off our list without fully completing tasks in our work, relationships, and daily lives.


If we are struggling to make it through our tasks, are we forgetting the motivation?
The motivation that above all shines comes with a light so strong that nothing can put out the eternal fire burning through our darkest nights.


Revelation 3:5 says, "The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot out of the book of life.  I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.." 

Isn't this enough?  


For Jesus to look you in the eyes, and acknowledge the work you completed to the best of your abilities on this Earth as you lived to glorify the name of Christ?  How could it not be?


At the end of the sermon we were challenged to reflect.  
As Christians, we are called to rip the lies out of our heart and replace them with truth.  
No matter whether you are in college, at work, or simply out in the world, God moves us to action.


To live out a radical faith apart from the crowd, 
to keep yourself accountable for the words and actions you put out into the world, 
to develop relationships that run deep and are rooted in Christ, 
to finish the work Christ has given you individually,
to never give up hope,
to pray continually for opportunities to stand up for Christ,
to love as He loved.


If you are feeling alone in your walk through life, remember.
Jesus walked with enemies rising up against him, God was with him.


"Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise against me, yet I will be confident." -Psalm 27:3


The work we do here on Earth for Christ shall never be in vain.  It is through this work that we come to know Christ and awaken our hearts to see and know Jesus.  If you are at a point right now where God seems distant, close your eyes and remember.  Remember a time when you felt Him in the center of your heart and how you felt.  Every day a flame burns brighter inside of you when you decide to breathe and live out God's call.  Continually seek God, He has never given up on you and never will.  He will plant courage in your soul, and help you flourish into the truest version of yourself you were always meant to be.


"...assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." -Ephesians 4:22-24


God, you restore the burning fire we carry for You every day that we choose to seek you.  Remind us never to settle for a way of life less than what You have called us to.  Separate us from the cultural norms, the bad habits and the little things that create even more space between us and You.  In our decisions, turn our eyes to Heaven and keep them fixed on the mission You have breathed into our hearts before the day we were born into this Earth.  Awaken the eyes of hearts to see You for everything that You are, and give us courage to face the new day with the full armor of Your love and strength.  In Jesus' name, Amen.