"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
As I was sitting in a great worship service on Sunday Morning, several things began to dawn on me. I'm sure you know the feeling you have when you hear something that you've heard many times but it is as if you are hearing it for the first time. We were worshipping and singing a wonderful warfare chorus that contains the following lines:
There's a breaking in my favor,
there's a shifting in my direction,
there's a breaking in my favor as I praise!
HALLELUJAH!
This is a powerful warfare song and praise does have the power to break walls and change things. That is truth and I do not want to diminish that fact. Praise from an open heart is one of the most powerful tools we have against our enemy (Satan).
However, as I am worshipping God, I am reminded that so much of our focus is on getting God to provide breakthroughs FOR US. Having a breakthrough is a testimony and shows the great power of our God. When things change that the natural world cannot explain and which go against the natural order of things, there can be no doubt that our God is great.
The truth of this song is that God breaks in our favor AS WE LIVE SUBMITTED TO HIS LORDSHIP. If we are submitted to his Lordship, Satan will try to thwart our life at every turn because it is hurting his plan and purpose for the world. We need the warfare forces of heaven to intervene for us.
But as I am singing this, I realize while I am observing others and thinking about my own life, we often want God to give us the "break through" while we are living life OUR way. When we don't get what WE want, we are prone to think that God is not listening to us.
Praise works when we live a radical life! Radical by the world's standards but a STANDARD life by God's instruction. He said that greater works shall WE do because He goes to the Father. The forces of darkness led by Satan will do everything they can to prohibit the spread of the Kingdom of God and they will attempt to thwart our life at every turn if we live radically for God. We are not promised a breakthrough in a quest to build our own PERSONAL KINGDOM! If our goals are not Kingdom Goals, we are not promised to have a breakthrough. The life of a radically committed follower of Christ is not limited to this current realm or world. The view from a radically committed life is one that stretches into eternity! Live or Die, my life is Christ. That is the attitude of a true believer who watches spiritual walls fall down like blocks stacked too high!
The old saints knew what they were singing when they sang, "this world is not my home." (they were saying that my home is wherever Christ leads me whether in this realm or the one to come).
When I look back at my own life, the breakthroughs have always come when I didn't care about me. Those rare times when I have just desired to follow him no matter how radical it seemed. This takes me back to a time when I was meeting with a friend in a small room, praying that God's will would be done in my life. I meant it. I made radical decisions as I sought to listen to God. Even though I could have made mistakes in the "hearing from God", it did not deter me from attempting and God gave me breakthroughs. He opened doors. He made things happen. He met my needs and the needs of my family. Can I do it again? That is the thought that kept running through my mind as I worshipped God yesterday. Do I believe strongly enough to be radical in my decisions as God leads? Do I still trust him even though I know "more" than I once did? Has my knowledge decreased my faith? Do I believe what God says despite what I see? Has my ability to see more of this natural world resulted in a decreased ability to discern that which is unseen? Waiting for the "reasonableness" of the hour is never the way of God. Being a true disciple now looks more radical than it has in the past. This is because we are more worldly than we've ever been.
The focus of a life submitted to Christ is supposed to be one of SACRIFICE. It means giving up my will for His. It means that my life is not supposed to be lived for me to have breakthroughs as I want them but rather to allow my life to be lived so that others may know Christ, however long my life is. Sometimes the breakthrough is a using up of our life so that others may know him. Sometimes people die (leave this present world) so that others may see God. This is a radical view of discipleship but the model set forth by Jesus. Let us not bring Jesus down to our standard but let us raise our standard to live as He lived. He died to give us that capacity. The sole purpose of a life who has Christ is to magnify him in this present world for as long as God sees fit. Period. It is taking the long view. We have lost this perspective in much of western society because living for Christ often does not "cost" us anything. Many who profess to be Christians today are living from a "what's in it for me" mentality. This has nothing to do with true discipleship. A true disciple is only concerned with serving others. What about you and me?
Jesus was never intended to be our "whole life insurance policy" with the benefits being drawn out for OUR benefit while we live. Rather, we are drawn to Christ in order to magnify Him so that others are drawn to him. Our life is truly not our own if we believe what the Bible says.
Remember Jesus' call to some of his early disciples (Luke 9:59). He said, "Come, follow me." At some point, some of them said, "First, let us go bury our father and then we'll come." In other words, "Let us make arrangements first." That's only reasonable right? No. Jesus replied, "Let the dead bury their dead." He was not being insensitive to their familial needs. He was simply saying, "I am calling, follow me NOW." Surrender NOW. Serve NOW. Sacrifice NOW. Change your focus and life goals NOW. True Christianity is not based on logic and what is reasonable. It is based solely on submission and obedience. Power comes when the first make themselves the last and put the last first. When the most anointed and powerful become the humblest servants. If we want to see the power of God manifest in this present realm, this is the type of obedience needed. When David slew the giant Goliath, he did it because he did not look at the reasonableness of obedience. He didn't say, "Man, that is a big dude. There is no way I'm going out there." He said, "How dare someone taunt God like that, I will face him in obedience to my Father God. The outcome is HIS. My business is to obey."
The Word of God often cuts deeply. Will we shield ourselves from the blade of radical obedience?
