Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Lukewarm?















Lukewarm:
1) lacking conviction or enthusiasm,indifferent 2) warm
I have to admit, this has been me in the past. Although, I tried my best to find a different word to describe it. This pretty much sums it up. Lukewarm.

God says in Revelations 3: 15-17 "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

Spit you out!!!??? (*gulp*) This is serious! How could I have been living such a life that God would want to do this? 
One of the best books Ive ever read is Crazy Love by Francis Chan.
In this book, he describes this incredible crazy love that God has for us and that we should have for him.  The love that constantly pursues His heart and His time. He talkes about lukewarm christians and gives examples of how lukewarm can creep into different parts of your life. Chan speaks of the love of God and how we are to let God do the work in us and make the changes in our heart. We cant assume we are living on "good" soil. We cant believe the lies that good deeds is what the Lord wants of us.  A person’s faith is shown through his actions. Chan says, “The world needs Christians who don’t tolerate the complacency of their own lives.”
 
I have lived so many years being lukewarm in certain areas of my life. It took me meeting my husband to fully see the depth of Gods grace.  It took seeing my husbands actions and example in my life, his reverence, his accountability, and us talking about the foundation we want our marriage built on. I get it now. And its good. God is good. How could I have missed it all these years?  Im still a work in progress. Im still cleaning house.
And I still pray that God continues to reveal the ugly places in my heart and fills them with his love. But its good.
 

"Teach me to be humble
Call me from the grave
Show me how to walk
with you upon the waves
Breathe into my spirit
Breathe into my veins
Until only love remains"
Only Love Remains, JJ Heller







 

3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for that! I always have thought that lukewarm was bigger, but to know that (yes) they really can start small and creep up! I'm so guilty of that too! Thank you for your gentle reminder!

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  2. Love that book, Ash! Incredible to hear how God is at work in your heart - just beautiful! Thanks for sharing!! Sarah

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  3. Great post Ashley!! Trust me, I think we all struggle with that from time to time. We're always going to be "cleaning house" the important thing I think is being aware that we'll never be done...to always keep trying to better ourselves. :0) Hope you're having a great week! Again, great post...thanks for sharing!

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