A New Journey Begins

Saturday, June 28, our church began a 40 day journey to become.  A little less than week prior to this, our pastor explained this journey.  I wasn’t present that day.  I just felt like I was not supposed to go.  So, instead of going to church, I stayed home and spent time praying and listening to God.

I felt God leading me to write everything that came to me.  It began revolving around John 15:5, but, as I kept writing, more verses from John 15 came to me. Through my writing, it seemed as though the message I felt God’s Spirit speaking to my heart was that the church has lost sight of her purpose. My heart has been grieving for so long because I knew something wasn’t right but I just couldn’t place my finger on the problem.  I felt a need to just pull back and clear my head and listen to God that day.

What I started to put together (as I was writing) was that God wanted to share His burden for the church and how she has lost sight of her first love.  She has become more about people and less about the Father.  Christians are so busy doing things but are we missing the point?  I have been very frustrated by this for some time and have had my own opinions on this topic, but I never took time to listen to God’s heart about his view on things. My opinion was more about me than Him. His perspective has changed that.

Christians can go to one church and hear about how worthless we are and how we fail God as Christians. They can take a pounding that leaves them feeling hopeless and defeated. This is not what God wants. Then again, they can go to another and hear about how Jesus wants us to always be healthy and wealthy and happy. People either become incredibly critical, materialistic, and/or self-focused when the messages preached are always about what “we” need to do to change the direction of our lives. This is not what God wants either. So, is this really where our focus is supposed to be?

If we want to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, (love, joy peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), then should’t we be placing our focus and worship on the Holy Spirit of God? Shouldn’t church be about the glory of God instead of people?  When did it become about us?  These were my thoughts as I pondered John 15:5.  “I am the vine and you are the branches, if you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.  Apart from me, you can do nothing.”

When Michael (my Hubby for those who don’t know) returned from church last week and shared with me the vision my pastor had and is leading us in through this 40 Day Journey to Become, I was blown away at what he told me because it was exactly what I was writing that day. The scriptures used are different but, the message is the same.  We need to stop doing. We need to become. We need to be seeking after God’s glory, not our own.  We need to become the church God created to bring His Kingdom to Earth. It’s about Him.  It’s about how amazing He is.  It’s about His sovereignty, His majesty, His power, His presence through the whole earth.  It’s about abiding in Christ as He abides in us through the Holy Spirit of God! It’s not about what we can do.  Apart from Him we can do nothing. It’s time for all of us to wake up and stand in awe of the glory of God. That’s it! That is just the end all!  There is nothing more for us to do! When we stand in awe of God, He will be glorified.  The lost will be saved!  His Kingdom comes to earth through us as we abide in Him and He in us!

With all of this said, I have felt a strong leading to study John 15 during this 40 day period.  From this point forward, I will be journaling here as I go on my personal journey with our church to become.