Lukewarm to HOT!

This week at lifegroup, we briefly talked about living out our faith in real-life situations. I have been thinking a lot about this topic throughout the week and wanted to spend some time studying what Gods word has to say about it.

James 1:22
(niv) "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

(nlt) "But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves."

(msg) "Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!"

I believe it is crucial to know what Gods word says but more importantly, we need to ACT it out. What kind of impact will your life have on others if you only have a head knowledge and do not obey God's word in real life situations?  Living out what we know to do is not easy.  It is much easier to be lazy and lukewarm Christians. In the book of Revelations, Jesus addresses the laziness of the church in Laodicea. Laodicea was a wealthy city who had become proud, arrogant and lazy for God.  The believers in Laodicea did not have a backbone- they did not stand up for what they knew was right, instead they just went with what society wanted them to accept and were neglecting what God wanted them to do.  This church is very similar to the churches of America.  How many of us have become 'tolerant' of the sin around us?  We say nothing about the rampant sin in our society for fear of what others will think or say about us.  Sin is sin! The Bible has made it perfectly clear what sin is and how God feels about it.  But why do we sit back and turn a blind eye to the evils surrounding our country? 

Revelation 3:15-16 (nlt)
"I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But, since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!"

Lukewarm water is disgusting. Occasionally I will leave a half-drank water bottle in my car and the next time I go to take a drink its lukewarm and its gross.  This is how God views us believers who have become lukewarm in our faith. He thinks we are gross and it disgusts Him.  Such strong words but He tells us this because He loves us and wants our hearts close to His.  

If we, the church, were truly living out what the Bible says, can you imagine the world we would live in? It would be on fire for God!  Our churches would be exploding with people trying to get in, there would be no more orphans or a single hungry soul alive. Why? Because God has commissioned us to reach the lost, the hurting, the orphan and the hungry and it is the churches job to be reaching these people in His name.  I do not know what area of your life you are lukewarm in but I know  most of us have become lukewarm in some area.  Many of us will go to church on the weekend but the second we get in the car to drive away, the sermon goes to the back of our brain instead of to our hearts. We usually start thinking about our next meal or the plans for the rest of the day rather than discussing what the Pastor talked about.  When we are spending time in the Word, at church as well as at home in our own personal study, we will apply what we learn to our lives, we act it out, we make decisions based upon it and we want more of it! 

Just this week I have become very aware of my lukewarmness and have already started taking steps to turn the heat up in my personal walk with God so that I can improve.  I want my time on Earth to matter eternally for God.  I want to be a doer, not just a hearer and this is something God expects me to do.  America and the rest of the world needs the local church to step it up, we have so many people who are hurting and in need and it is our job to help, not the governments!  We all have different gifts and talents so there is something you can do to help.  The number of orphans is continually rising, the number of children in foster care is rising.  Please pray for wisdom to see if you might be the one God is asking to step up and help.  Just do something! Please do not be just another lukewarm Christian, act out what you know God has instructed us to do.  Make daily decisions based on Gods word, not what society wants us to do! We must be the church in our dark world.