Jesus made it clear that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). The Bible also states that darkness cannot coincide with light (I John 1:5; John 8:12; John 12:46; 1 Thessalonians 5:5). We can’t fill our lives with darkness and expect the presence of God to be evident within us. We spend too much time pursuing our desires and counting on God to bail us out when things don’t go our way. If you’ve been following Jesus for any amount of time, you realize it doesn’t work that way. As creatures of freewill, we have the ability to limit the power and presence of God in our lives. The more we fill our lives with sin and things not of God, the less room we have for Him.
Discipleship
Give Me Your Eyes
Building the Kingdom of God is accomplished by living our lives in such a way that we look just like Jesus. If you want to honor God, do the things that Jesus did. While no one I know has mastered the art of walking on water or giving sight to the blind, there are many less super-natural ways we can live that beautifully reflect the love and character of Christ. Jesus told the crowds in His day that He had come to seek and save those who were lost (Luke 19:10). That is something you and I can do in our everyday lives, no miracles required. All it takes is a willingness to see the world through the eyes of Jesus.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere you create around you will dictate the manner in which you will live. If you fill it with things that are pleasing to God, your life will reflect His beauty. If you fill it with things opposed to His will, your life will be shallow, ineffective, and virtually useless for the Kingdom. The choice certainly seems easy, but what exactly does it mean to “create the atmosphere” around you? Everything we allow into our minds adds to the atmosphere around us. The words we choose to speak add to it as well. The actions we take are the final element that goes into creating the atmosphere that surrounds us.
No Secrets
We all live with some facade. Few are comfortable allowing the world to see all their faults and failures. There are things we wish we did better and things we wish we didn’t do at all. If we’re honest, we all have secrets and things we hide from the view of others. It can range from the smallest bad habit to the most extreme action. We’re so careful to make certain these things never surface, that they do nothing to damage the picture we show to the world. Along the way, we forget one of the earliest lessons we ever learned: there is nothing you can hide from God.
In Love with Jesus
Are you really in love with Jesus? Would you do anything for Him, defend Him no matter the cost, even sacrifice your life for Him? I think it’s easy for us to say we love Jesus. I think we even mean it. The way we live our lives sometimes says otherwise. How often is it more convenient to put Him to the side for just a bit so we can continue on with what we want to do? When you’re in love, the object of your affection is the most important thing to you. You can’t eat or sleep because all you can do is think of that person. Your heart literally aches when you’re apart. Is this the kind of love you have for Jesus? More often than I would care to admit, I fall short of this ideal.