Take The Lid Off 7-Day Reading PlanSample

Today, the trend toward self-indulgence is accelerating. Modern technology gives us incredible opportunities to communicate, but the subtle message underneath is that we should have everything we want whenever we want it. 

The message of the gospel of Christ stands in bold opposition to this trend toward self-indulgence. But God doesn’t shake His finger at us and demand that we change. He invites us to go with Him on the adventure of bringing a spiritual revolution to the hearts of people in the next bedroom, around our communities, and across the globe. 

The upside-down kingdom begins with us, but it doesn’t end with us. After we’ve taken the lid off by looking inward, we need to take it off again by looking outward. As we saw in the first two chapters, God has to work His grace and power into our lives first so that we have something to offer those around us. When our hearts are full, we naturally and instinctively want others to experience the fullness of God too. .

We don’t manufacture the streams of living water that flow from us. We simply drink deeply of Jesus, and the springs flow. The water quenches our thirst, and as it flows out of us, it quenches the spiritual thirst of others who are parched and dry. Jesus explained that this new power and new purpose is the work of the Holy Spirit, who lives in and through every believer.

We can’t be whole and fulfilled unless we’re in a right relationship with God, but we also can’t experience the vitality God wants for us unless we’re overflowing into the lives of others. Giving, serving, and caring for others activates our best motives and efforts. Living outside our self-focused comfort zone is a challenge. It’s much easier to be self-absorbed and live only for ourselves. In the quest to help others, it’s easy to give up because often others don’t appreciate our efforts, or it takes too much time. But there’s nothing like seeing God use us to touch a person’s life. We all have different gifts, talents, personalities, and experiences, but we all have the same calling: to represent our Savior and King in a lost and broken world. . When we see the power and mercy of God flow from us into another person’s life, we complete the circle of grace.