Forward Friday: Full Steam Ahead

“They are going to throw you to the wolves and kill you, everyone hating you because you carry my name. And then, going from bad to worse, it will be dog-eat-dog, everyone at each other’s throat, everyone hating each other.  In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes. Staying with it—that’s what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be saved. All during this time, the good news—the Message of the kingdom—will be preached all over the world, a witness staked out in every country. And then the end will come.” Matthew 24:10-15 MSG

I think it’s safe to say these verses describe our present times. We can’t control the vicious gnashing of teeth, especially on social media sites. In fact, there isn’t much we can control. We gape in horror and mutter, “Lord Jesus, come.”

It’s frightening. Shocking.  But what grips me most isn’t what the world will be like (is like) it’s what happens to Christians in these times. That’s the horror show. 

The KJV version says, “…the love of many shall wax cold.”

The phrase ” shall wax cold” in the Greek is psychō. Now, I know it seems fitting. Yes, people are going psycho! It’s true. But that word doesn’t mean what we think it does. Kinda like in The Princess Bride. “I do not think that words means what you think it does.”

It actually means, “to breathe, blow, cool by blowing, to breathe–voluntarily but gently, reduction in temperature by evaporation to chill.” Wax. Cold.

Psychō differs from the word Pneo–which means to breathe hard, blow.

I see two pictures in my mind. One is of a wax museum. We visited the Ripley’s Believe it or Not and it’s crazy how real-to-life those wax figures are.  But they don’t breathe.

Our hearts wax cold…all that movement forward ceases. We become like wax figures. No life left.  It’s a gentle reduction in temperature. Gradual. Quiet even. Like those last dying breaths. Shallow. Stretching out in between the next one until none remains. Lifeless. Gone. Cold.

Maybe you aren’t deceived by lying preachers. But isn’t the evil abounding overwhelming? The political climate is ripe with tension. Infighting. Add one natural disaster after another and it’s enough to make one want to crawl in a hole and never come out.  

I’ve seen a few posts lately that say, “Just because it isn’t happening to you doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.” Why do we need this kind of statement? Because our hearts grow cold, we shut down. We turn off the TV and live in our bubbles. Why? Many reasons. One of them is because it feels so big and we feel helpless. So we shut it all out. It’s too much. Too fast. Our hearts grow weary before they grow cold. We stop doing good. Harvests can’t be reaped.

We lose our passion. But Jesus says to stay with it to the end. Keep on keeping on. How? For one, there is hope in the next words. All during this time, the Good News will go out. Lives will be eternally saved. God hasn’t given up on us. Or forgotten. He’s working. Moving.

The second picture I see is a steam engine. A steam engine in an interesting thing. In their cycle, water is heated which turns to steam to propel these engines forward. Slow at first, then faster…faster…gaining momentum. The higher the heat, the more steam. Until it’s full steam ahead!

But it takes water to heat it up! “…just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word.” Ephesians 5:25-26 NLT

It’s going to take continued washing in the water of God’s word to heat us up. Passion = heat! You’ve heard the phrase, “on fire for God.” Passionate about God. About the things of God. The word ignites our faith. fuels our strength. Gives us direction. And increases our momentum to keep us going forward. To stay it out until the end. 

I don’t want someone looking at me and wondering if I’m alive or not. I want people to be inspired and motivated by my love for Jesus, by my passion for Him. What about you?

Forward Challenge: Make it a priority to get into the Word. Find one verse and study it. Memorize it. Chew on it. Get it in the marrow of your bones and live it. Watch God ignite a new fire in you!

Forward Scripture and Prayer: 

 

Forward Friday: Watch that Mouth!

Hey everyone! It’s been awhile. How are you? What have you been up to? I’d love to hear in the comments. I’m gearing up to do something new. It’s called Forward Fridays. Each Friday, I’ll share a small devotion, a forward-thinking challenge, and a forward prayer with you. Because let’s be honest, no one should be moving backward spiritually! So let’s get on it with it, shall we?

“Sshh! My Mom or Dad might hear.” Ever tell someone that growing up? I did. I can also remember watching my mouth at church, in front of my grandma, and around my parents. But away from them, the things I said weren’t always pretty.

My parents had standards on what kind of talk could come from our mouths and when it was anything but acceptable, we knew! I can’t remember ever having soap shoved in between my gums, but I bet some of you may have.

This morning I was reading Ephesians 5:3-5: “…Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style…” MSG

In the NKJV, the word is “foolish talk” and I had to wonder exactly what is foolish talk, because I can say all sorts of ridiculous things. So I headed to find the Greek word. It’s mōrologia and it comes from a compound word made up of: mōros which means impious (irreverent or godless) and legō (this has nothing to do with those tiny plastic devil-made toys that kill your feet in the night) which means to point out with words, to intend, to speak, to call…

Not too long ago, my daughter facetimed a friend while I was in the room. The minute her friend answered, my daughter yelled, “My mom is here. My mom is here!” She didn’t even lead in with, “Hey.”

The Lord reminded me of this scenario this morning and His words to my heart were: She didn’t want you to be offended by what her friend might say. She respects you. But I still hear. I’m still offended. And my heart wept. Because I’m guilty of this. I might say something in front of one person that I wouldn’t say in front of another. But God still hears. And it still might offend Him! It still might disrespect Him. Maybe you’re guilty of this too.

The good news is, God’s mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). He’s not holding a grudge and planning on smiting us for being irreverent or disrespectful. But He is offering grace and He does expect us to get ahold of ourselves, repent and not do it again. Grace isn’t tolerance. Grace isn’t a license to keep sinning. It’s a humbling reason to repent and honor God.

Forward Friday Challenge: The challenge to myself and to you this morning is to be consistent in your speech. If you wouldn’t gossip, make a snide comment, tell an inappropriate joke in front of say a pastor or a particular friend who might be offended, then don’t say it to anyone. Because either way, God hears and let’s honor Him. Be reverent.

Forward Prayer: Lord, you are worthy to be revered and glorified. Help us through the power of your Holy Spirit to think before we speak and that what we say is always respectful to You.

Forward Scripture: “…Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.” Ephesians 5:3-5 MSG