The Lukewarm DeceptionSample
Following Jesus is not a game
The enemy of our souls hates us, but hates Jesus even more. He knows that if he can’t get us to abandon our faith in Jesus, if he can just get us to slack off and become lazy and lukewarm, he has us. Deception is his game, and he has a lot of success getting people to slide into lukewarmness.
Jesus gave everything He was and everything He had, so that we would have the opportunity for life everlasting with Him, as John 3:16 declares so clearly. But Jesus said just as clearly in Revelation 3:15-16, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. (The Complete Jewish Bible and The Message say “vomit” in place of “spit”). That is serious and spoken by our Lord Jesus who loves us more than we can imagine.
1 John 1:5 says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we expect to be in Him, redeemed by Him, and live with Him forever, we cannot mix light and darkness in our daily lives.
Nothing breaks our blessed Lord’s heart more than half-hearted Christian lives. He wants to bless us but requires our whole heart submitting to all He is. He demonstrates this in Jeremiah 29:11-14, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord.”
Reflection: Have we taken our relationship with Jesus for granted? Jesus has so much more for us, if we will just allow Him the place in our lives that He deserves! Take a few moments to bring your heart before our Lord, to tell Him how much you love Him, and to commit to following Him with all your heart.
About this Plan
Half-hearted, lazy, who cares? Don’t you hate that attitude? Jesus hates it more, as He declared in Revelation 3:16; but how easily we fall into the deception that makes Him want to vomit us out of His mouth! Let’s look at ways we become lukewarm without realizing it, and how to move with our whole hearts into the joy and security of knowing and being known by Him.
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