A WORLD IN DISARRAY
Lots of us are overwhelmed by what’s going on in the world today.
There’s war between Israel and Iran, and between Russia and Ukraine.
Syria recently had a massacre of Christians reported.
Related Christian atrocities are happening in other parts of the world.
There’s the conversation about the “Globalists” or the “Elites” versus the rest of us stirring up controversy and fear.
We’ve got trust issues with false media. Not to mention famines, earthquakes, and rumors of future global war.
On and on it goes.
There’s a lot to take in. But Jesus told us we would have trouble. He warned that in the last days, these are just the beginning of birth pains (Matthew 24:8).
CALLED TO BE THE SALT OF THE EARTH
The Devil is picking up speed too, particularly through AI, because the world is in its last days; distracted and looking for “teachers to suit their passions with itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3) . Satan knows his time is short, so evil is abounding: warfare is increasing; hatred is rising—the Bible is mocked and the invitation to know Christ as Lord and Savior is constantly rejected. It’s getting harder to know what’s real and what’s fake, and it’s easier to be deceived by AI because of its realism and intelligence.
In light of all that is taking place, Christians are called to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). Jesus told us to keep our lamps full of oil (Matthew 25), and He added that those who endure to the end would be saved (Matthew 24:13).
We must continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), pressing into God and trusting Jesus with each new day. While the world grows colder and lawlessness increases (Matthew 24:12), we love even harder. We pray more boldly, and we hold fast to Christ!
WHAT ARE WE BUSY DOING?
Christians are to stand out and be different by how we love. Jesus said the world would know we are His by how we love (John 13:35). That means loving sacrificially; loving those who are hard to love. We fight for biblical truth, righteousness, and the Gospel by how we love and are devoted to God.
While everything is unfolding before our eyes, we must be diligent to remain in prayer; continually glean from Scripture, and constantly practice surrender to the Holy Spirit.
TURNING TO CHRIST IN ALL AREAS
This isn’t about living perfect lives. If we were able to do that, Jesus wouldn’t have had to come. We’re talking about intentionality, or heart posture. We’re talking about genuine priorities; we turn to Christ and not to works, for instance. During tribulation we seek His presence, not a screen.
Honestly, we’re not trying to become better Christians, we’re aiming to seek God with all our hearts, minds, soul and strength by pushing harder into the Word and being conformed into Jesus.
Fight for intimacy with God.
IMPORTANCE OF CHURCH TODAY
Furthermore, in regard to having intimacy with God, we need to think of churchgoing as a way of becoming closer to God through meeting with His sons and daughters (believers) (Hebrews 10:25); a way of nourishing one another through communal worship, prayer, and encouragement. Church is meant be our way to collectively praise the Lord, to lift one another up, and to carry one another’s burdens. (Galatians 6:2)
Remember, there is no “lone shark” Christianity; no man is his own island and no Christian is their own Church. If we’ve been transformed and are being conformed to the image of Christ, we will seek to serve and love others by the name of Jesus; not on our own, apart from community, but by searching for ways to give our efforts and time to the church by being used within the church to bless the world.
CHURCHGOING IS OBEDIENCE, NOT A WORK
To be clear, churchgoing, while it’s important, isn’t a work—it’s obedience. People who believe churchgoing saves souls has the purpose of church backwards: we don’t attend church to believe we’re saved; we attend church to thank God that we are saved! We go to church to celebrate God’s amazing love, grace, and mercy by worshipping Him for the love He’s given us through Jesus.
When we go to church, it is obedience to the command not to forsake the assembling of followers, and to walk together in the same direction as Jesus, spiritually. We need this more than ever today.
MORE PIVOTAL THAN THE CHURCH BUILDING
Nevertheless, more pivotal than churchgoing is having a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus we are actively building. When no one is watching, how do we see Jesus? How important is He? Just how much do we rely on Him? How much of our lives are still ours, and how much have we really given to Him? Live intentionally; put Jesus first.
If we don’t treat Jesus as Lord, we can easily slip into making churchgoing an idol; serving, same thing. Whenever we think church or service (works) saves us, we make churchgoing the equivalent of Jesus’s death and resurrection. But churchgoing doesn’t grant salvation, it’s just a lifestyle habit. Jesus’ blood is what paid for us, and His resurrection is what slammed the gavel down on sin. Church attendance doesn’t have an impact on our eternity. Only faith does.
Faith without works is dead, granted, but works are evidence of faith, not a substitute for grace.
JESUS IS OUR ALL IN ALL, OR JUST A RABBI
Those who go to church but lack the intimacy with Jesus have chosen to view Jesus as an option, but not their one and only lifeline. He is either our salvation, or a false prophet. He cannot be a nice man who wasn’t God; His claims were too radical to leave that possibility open. If relationship with Jesus hasn’t changed us from the inside out, it’s not a real relationship. Truly seeking Jesus won’t land us in a lukewarm life of apathetic churchgoing and casual Bible reading. It will galvanize our spirit into a journey of spiritual growth (not instant perfection), or it’s dead.
PRIORITIZE JESUS AND WORKS WILL ALL INTO PLACE
Those who go to church, but lack this, will receive a “depart from me, I never knew you.” When we think we know Jesus, but He doesn’t know us, it’s because we spent time doing the “things” without knowing Him. We prioritize works instead of making the works a way of loving Him for saving us; we prioritize church—not because we care about Jesus, but because we don’t want hell. God doesn’t care that we’re consistently at church if we don’t really care about Him. If our love isn’t sincere, He knows.
In this day and age, not only is works-based salvation a crucial topic, it’s also one we must be vigilant and mindful of, because as we prepare and work to spiritually be the salt of the earth and the light of the world Jesus called us to be, we must beware of not turning the above descriptions into the reasons we believe we’re saved. We’re saved FOR works, not BY them.
LIES FROM THE DEVIL
With the world at odds with itself, time speeding up, wars brewing, and the antichrist spirit rising, we cannot lose focus and view works any differently than what they really are. What’s most important is how we love. If we are merely disciples of works, then we are disciples of the Devil who deceives us into believing we are saving ourselves by doing good things.
That’s a lie that will land many of us in hell, because many of us spend so much time being hard on ourselves for not being more perfect that we aim to make ourselves “feel” better about salvation by trying to “earn it back” through works. But Jesus already did the work, so it’s only in our heads to think anything less than Jesus’ blood on the cross makes any difference on our eternity.
TURN BACK TO GOD NOW WHILE HE IS NEAR
Stop trying to be perfect. Don’t be anxious about mistakes. Rely on Him and repent. Turn back to Him in prayer and keep going. Be on alert, spiritually. Don’t allow churchgoing to become what Jesus is supposed to be. Rely on His love and not on your talents, efforts, or successes. They don’t build credit. They just say thank you for the free, real credit Jesus’ blood gave on our behalf.
Pray for a heart of flesh. Pray for a heart that seeks God. Pray for Him to break yours if you’re not sure you love God the way He deserves. He will break it in such a way that only He can restore you to really live, and not just go through the motions while actually dead inside. He doesn’t need seat warmers at church; He wants Christ-followers to BE the Church outside the church building—to shake the world into realizing the Kingdom of God is at hand! Jesus is coming back, and everyone needs to be ready.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT
Are you ready? Do you still have oil in your lamp, or do you need to spend time with God and get the fire back?
Do you know Jesus? If you’re not sure, repent while God is still near! Seek Jesus and be baptized. Only He can save. Turn to Him before the trumpet blows. You might not ever get another chance. Call on the name of the Lord and become right with God. If you’re still breathing, God’s grace is still upon you.
Don’t waste it.
CONNECT WITH ME
Readers, I would love to read your thoughts. Please don’t be nervous to message me if I can be of help to any of you. I’m praying for all of you to know Jesus personally!
My contact page is there for anyone who wants to send a private word—maybe a question you want to ask about the faith, or something you’re struggling with that you need prayer for. It would be a blessing to read from any of you!
Thank you for reading! If you’d like to receive future articles, please subscribe to this blog, and/or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Threads, and Pinterest. If you know anyone this article might bless, would you share it with them also? God bless you all!
Image by Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay
Image by smokefish from Pixabay
Image by fszalai from a Pixabay
Image by Arnie Bragg from Pixabay
Photo by adrianna geo on Unsplash
Photo by NATHAN MULLET on Unsplash
Photo by NATHAN MULLET on Unsplash
Image by Noelia Demaria from Pixabay
Image by Vilius Kukanauskas from Pixabay
