However far you’ve gone with God there is more! God desires you to be hungry, expecting and even desperate.
Luke 1:53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. NIV
Satisfied people leave God’s presence unfulfilled. When we are full of other things we have no appetite for the things of God.
We must awaken the church to contend for a New Testament lifestyle, theology and power.
Are you spiritually healthy? If we aren’t careful we slowly grow cynical & gradually grow calloused in our faith. Spiritual depression results when frustration and disappointment lessens the fire of God in our lives.
We must refuse to allow ourselves to be defined by temporal pain rather than the eternal purposes of God.
The greatest tragedy of being distracted from God’s purposes is the life you never live and the difference you never make in other people’s lives.
God has always given “as a possession” throughout Scripture.
Ex 6:8 And I will bring you to the land I swore…I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD. NIV
Priorities aren’t priorities unless we pursue them more than other things. Pursuit is proof of passion. In the Bible we always see lists of names and genealogies but most of us do not understand the significance of these listings. The firstborn is always listed first as the primary heir of the legacy from the father. Esau was actually the firstborn over Jacob but Esau had little interest in the spiritual legacy of his father.
Gen 25:29-34 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew!...Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?"…So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. NIV
This is the turning point where the lineage of the God of Abraham Isaac and Esau became the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Esau just wasn’t passionate about spiritual things.
Rom 8:6 references this as carnally minded. The mind, much like muscle, is strengthened when exercised. If you feed the carnal mind it will flourish just as if you feed the spirit it will flourish.
Carnally minded people just aren’t “into” the thngs of God that much. Instead of stirring themselves up to take hold of things of God during worship they simply stand there disengaged pondering other things. It’s not that carnally minded people disagree it’s just that they tend to disconnect. We start praying and they wear out quickly suddenly distracted with other things.
The Bible uses analogies of farmers, athletes and soldiers to explain men and women of the faith. All three require diligent preparation and purposeful advancement. Athletes that don’t give that much to practice will rarely get to play in competitions. It’s not that they are against what’s going on but they just aren’t giving themselves completely to it.
It’s not that you’re against anything going on here - it’s just that you’ve not been engaged in the Word, in prayer and with God’s family on that level. You just don’t seem to get out of it what others do.
You’re not fighting God; it’s just that you’ve not developed your mind spiritually so you are settling for less than what God has in store for your life - not passionately pursuing Jesus.
Your body is not saved, it’s going to die. Your mind is in the process of being saved. Spirit 100% already saved. The focus of the mind determines which priorities prevail setting into motion what we will become.
It is never too late to be what you might have been. Your decisions determine your destiny. Make the choice today to go further in the things of God.
GP2RL:
Attend a Community Group to discuss these ideas further as an expression of your desire to deepen your passion for God.