SATISFIED CHRISTIANS
"The
Christian is always in the process of becoming" - Martin Luther
"No matter
how full the river, it still wants to grow" - An African proverb
"Be
dissatisfied enough to improve, but satisfied enough to be happy."
-J. Harold Smith.
Show me a thoroughly satisfied man, and I will show you a
failure
– Thomas A. Edison
The word' satisfied'
is a simple one, but it has a lot of significance. It denotes the conclusion of
a struggle or conflict. In its broadest definition, satisfied denotes the
completion of a task, the achievement of a goal, the fulfillment of a hope, and
the completion of an assignment. In a less honorable definition, however, it
connotes a static state, a halt, or stagnation in human or spiritual matters.
If you've had the good fortune to attend meetings where great speeches were
given, excellent papers were presented, great responses were given, and many
unique insights were shared, you've likely heard about the Church's weaknesses
and strengths, as well as several good suggestions for improvement. You'll
notice that these are primarily our thoughts, rather than what God says. We
have progressed to the point where we no longer refer to the Bible. The world
is hungry to hear and see new things, and I feel that they want to hear what
the Bible has to offer.
"I believe I
slept too near to the area I got in," a tiny boy said when asked why he
felt out of bed. That is the story of many Christians today; they did not
mature as Christians after becoming Christians. Their lives are littered with
"failures." But you'd better understand that it's time to put your
childish tendencies aside and grow up. Why, despite all of today's preachings
and teachings, do we see such minimal changes in people's lives? Amid so much spiritual effort, there is a spiritual dryness. The devil will allow
us to accomplish many good things if we set aside a portion of ourselves for
ourselves. So long as we do not completely surrender to Jesus Christ, the devil
will allow us to preach, teach, give from our abundance of material blessings,
witness, pray, read our Bible regularly, and be good and kind.
Preaching that kills is more common than preaching that saves. It's no surprise
that when we talk about becoming better Christians, it sounds strange to so
many people.
"To them
Christians are alike, all have been justified and forgiven, and all are
children of God," writes A. W. Tower (1960), "so to make the
comparison between them is to suggest division and bigotry and several horrible
things." Many people have been in a state of suspended growth from
childhood to old age and have been completely unaware of it. To be a satisfied
Christian, you must have reached a point where you no longer desire change. You
become complacent, at ease, and uninterested in achieving the glory that God
intended for you. A contented Christian is a self-assured individual. He has
faith in himself, in his intelligence or wisdom, as well as his dexterity and
comprehension. Such self-assured Christians are frequently arrogant and
rebellious. Competition and comparison are a part of their lives.
"For we are the
circumcision, who worship God in spirit and exult in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh," the Bible says (Phil. 3:3).
Nathan, Abiram, and
Dothan were confident in themselves and compared and compared themselves to
Moses, God's servant. "The Lord will show who is His," Moses
murmured, and the ground opened its jaws and swallowed them up. When Miriam
looked down on Moses, God smote her with leprosy. To put us into action for
Jesus, we need the Holy Spirit's unction. This is the sole force that will allow
you to overthrow Satan's dominion and fulfill your master's expectations for
your lives. This is not the time for complacency. While in this mortal body, we
will never reach a point of total growth beyond which there is no further
progress.
"The Christian is
continually in the process of becoming," says Martin Luther. What exactly
are you transforming into? Every day, I strive to be a greater saint. Our
entire lives should be devoted to becoming practical men of God. "Great
minds have purposes; others have wishes," Washington Irving once stated.
As a Christian, your daily ambition must be to fulfill God's tremendous
purposes for your life; this is why we are always evolving, growing, and
ascending to new spiritual heights of victory.
Aim
for the Moon
Less "Shoot for
the moon; even if you miss it, you'll land among the stars," Brown
advises. Some people set their sights so low in life that they never achieve
anything. Because our calling is a high calling, we must reach for the moon and
aim high. You are constantly being called from inside to reach greater heights
in the heavenly realms. You are not intended to be earthbound if you have
answered the holy calling. You are expected to soar to the high places, to that
height of splendor never before experienced. Those who govern with Christ must
lead from the throne in the skies, and if you are content with everyday life,
you will become disabled in the kingdom. Your destiny is to soar high, not to
dwell in this miserable realm. We must sing the praises of Him who has brought
us out of the darkness and into His wonderful light. We should fix our gaze on
things above rather than on things below, seeking first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness. This mind that is in Him must be ours. God's desire is for
us to become one with Himself. No wonder Jesus prayed and said, "that
they all may be one as thou, Father art in Me, and I in thee, that they also
may be one in us . . . I in them, and thou in Me, that they may be made perfect
in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent Me, and hast loved
them, as thou hast loved Me.”
It's what we were
made for. The "travail of His soul" for us will not be satisfied
until we have cognitively comprehended it and deliberately consented to embrace
it, nor have our hearts found their destiny and absolute peace. We must get to
a point in our lives when we no longer exist, but Christ crucified on the cross
of Calvary lives in us. Then we are transformed into "Partakers of His
divine nature," Christ-like and Christ-centered. The self-life has been
entirely extinguished and obliterated.
Is it your soul's
desire to soar towards such a fantastic destiny? You were formed for such a
wonderful place, and you have been instructed to enter it. Elisha, the prophet,
pleaded for God to open his servant's eyes to see the unseen. We need to be
"raptured" away from the low, worldly, groveling plane of life, where
everything hurts since the world around us is full of God's horses and
chariots waiting to bring us to places of beautiful victory. Everything is
unhappy until we ascend into the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, where we can
triumph over everything below. When you are well above sea level, you can see
far ahead, but not when you are 'below sea level.' It's now time to soar into the
"hidden life with Christ in God."
"Things look
extremely different depending on the position from which we perceive
them," Hannah W. Smith says. The caterpillar's vision of the world as it
crawls along the ground must be vastly different from that of the identical
caterpillar once its wings have evolved. It soars through the skies, soaring
over the spots where it once crept." The Christian who is crawling sees
things differently than the Christian who has mounted up with wings. When the
valley below is enveloped in fog, the mountain top may blaze with sunlight, yet
the birds whose wings can lift them high enough can mount at whim from the
obscurity below into the joy of the sunlight above. We are born to conquer and
control. We must "come over" rather than be "crushed under"
if we are born to overcome. Your soul was created to "flee on horses"
rather than "mount up with wings." Flying upwards, rather than east
or west, is the only way to escape the bonds and miseries of life down below.
It's perilous to be a contented Christian. To be a contented Christian is to
slam on the brakes; you become dead and inactive. The Christian life is like a
man riding a bicycle; he either cycles and keeps moving or stops and falls. As
soon as you stop growing as a Christian, you begin to deteriorate. You die when
you stop living. Is it necessary for us to mature into the "measure of
Christ's stature?" How much longer will you be a baby in need of milk?
It's past time for you to develop the kind of robust meat you'll need to be
complete in the word of righteousness and differentiate good from evil. For far
too long, the Church has been subjected to "spiritual kwashiorkor,"
but how much longer can this be tolerated? How much longer will we be helpless,
disabled, and irresponsible? We require genuine and progressive progress into
the Promised Land. Have you been spiritually growing since you were reborn? How
much more unworldly and devoted to the Lord are you now than you were when you
first became a Christian? Selah.
Allow God to
transform your mindset from one of failure to one of victory. Never be pleased
with yourself. Always be on the lookout for new horizons, understand your
destiny, and keep invading.
Do Not Take us over the Jordan
1. "When Israel
arrived in the land of Jordan and Gilead, the tribes of Reuben and Gad (who had
large flocks of sheep) noticed what a wonderful sheep country it was.
2. So they came to Moses
and Eleazar, the priest and the other tribal leaders, and said,
3 & 4” The Lord has used
Israel to destroy the population of this whole countryside- Ataroth, Dibon,
Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon. And it is all wonderful
sheep country, ideal for our flocks.
5. Please Let Us Have
This Land as our portion instead of the land on the other side of the Jordan
River”
6. "You mean you
want to sit here while your brothers go across and do all the fighting?"
Moses demanded.
7. "Are you trying
to discourage the rest of the people from going across to the land that the
Lord has given them?” (Num. 32:1-7 TLB).
Many Christians today
can relate to these few verses. The Reuben and Gad tribes have completed their
journey and are currently in the land of Jazer and Gilead. Their target is
Canaan, but while they were here, they believed they had arrived and gave up
their efforts to move to the location that God had planned for them to possess
earlier. They settled beside the Jordan opposite Jericho after conquering the
nations in the plain of Moab. Because Jordan stood between them and the
promised inheritance, it was also to serve as a springboard for an invasion of
Canaan. The offspring of Gad and Reuben, on the other hand, chose not to carry
forward with God's plans for their lives. They were content in the land of
Jazer and Gilead. All they wanted was a property that was ideal for animals.
But I'm not going to give up my gloves half-heartedly like a half-hearted man
in any other situation "I'm going to fight till I get into
"Canaan-the land flowing with milk and honey" and refuse to go into
"Jazer-the land of beasts." Many Christians today are content with
replacements and are no longer on the lookout for the greatest and ultimate. As
a Christian, though, this is a tragic and sad conclusion to arrive at. Others,
on the other hand, might choose to "While their brothers go across and do
all the fighting, they sit here." Gad and Reuben's children presented
their requests humbly and sensitively.
"Therefore, if
we have found grace in thy sight, let this country be given to them for a
possession, and do not carry us over Jordan," they begged (verse.
5).
They exclaimed,
"If we have gained grace in thine sight." Many people, including
them, misunderstand and misinterpret grace. Grace is viewed by them as the
ability to do whatever they choose. I read something about grace a few weeks
ago that I will never forget. Though grace is our savior (Eph. 2:8), I
discovered that grace not only saves but also teaches us. Grace, on the other
hand, can only be your teacher if he has also been your savior. Before you may
achieve your entire destiny, you must be a student who must pass through the
school of grace.
11. "For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all,
12. Teaching us that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and
godly, in this present world” (Tit. 2:11, 12).
All men have access
to God's grace, which leads to salvation. Grace begins to educate you to deny
ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in
this present world after it has saved you. Gad's and Reuben's children had no
understanding of the teaching dimension of grace. They didn't live to please
the Lord, but to satisfy their own desires.
Despite Moses'
description of the land, they should possess as "the land you are crossing
the Jordan to own," they begged Moses not to take them across the Jordan. "Please
give us this land instead of the land on the opposite side of the Jordan River
as our portion." (TLB).
This is really a dreadful request. Instead of the best the Lord has intended
for them, they were content to receive some lowly good-looking replacement. God
has the best plans for your life, but consider how many times you've requested
strange things instead of the best God has in store for you. God never makes a
mistake in His plans for your life, but we often insist on the opposite, which
is to our detriment. Everything that has ever occurred to you and everything
that will happen to you in the future is all part of His flawless plan. He lets
them purify you into the vessel He intended for you to be. Do not be like Gad's
children, who will choose the good over the best.
The descendants of
the Gad tribe, mentioned in Mark 5:1, expel Jesus from their land. They were
residing on the wrong side of the Jordan River and had also gotten into the pig
business, and when the demoniac of Gadarenes was healed, it saddened them so
much that they expelled Jesus from their territory since they had lost all
their pigs.
"And they came over unto the other side
of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes... and they began to pray him to
depart out of their coasts” (Mrk. 5:1-17).
Any child of God who
does not cross the Jordan into the land of promise generally becomes enslaved
to some "pig business." He becomes a slave to some humdrum tasks,
possibly even religious rituals, but without Jesus and the Holy Spirit. May we
never be satiated, but rather be filled with new passion every day to be a
distinct people who have broken free from our time's dead and dry religiosity to
soar like eagles into His bosom.
1. O Lord, you have
examined my heart and known everything about me.
2. You know when I sit
or stand when far away you know my every thought.
3. You chart the path
ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment, you know where I
am.
4. You know what I am
going to say before I ever say it.
5. You both precede and
follow me, and place your hand of blessing on my head.
6. This is too glorious,
too wonderful to believe.
7. I can never be lost
to your spirit! I can never get away from my God.
8. If I go up to heaven,
you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there.
9. If I ride the morning
winds to the farthest oceans
10. even there, your
hand will guide me; your strength will support me.
11. If I try to hide in the darkness, the night
becomes light around me.
12. For even darkness
cannot hide from God; to you, the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and
light are both alike to you.
13. You made all the
delicate inner parts of my body and knitted them together in my mother's womb.
14. Thank you for making
me so wonderfully complex! Marvelous-and how well I know it.
15. You were there while
I am being formed in utter seclusion!
16. You saw me before I
was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.
Everything was recorded in your book.
17, 18. How precious it is,
Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly. I can't even count
how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I awaken in the
morning, you are still thinking of me!
19. Surely you will slay
the wicked, Lord! Away, bloodthirsty men! Begone!
20. They blaspheme your
name and stand in arrogance against you--how silly can they be
21. O Lord, shouldn't I
hate those who hate you? Shouldn't I be grieved with them?
22. Yes, I hate them,
for your enemies are my enemies too.
23. Search me, O God,
and know my heart, test my thoughts.
24. put out anything you
find in me that makes you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psa.
139:1-24 TLB).
God knows everything
there is to know about you. He drew up the map and planned to go ahead of you
and tell you where to rest. He created all of your body's delicate inner
workings and knitted them together in your mother's womb. You've been created
in such a way that you're both complex and clear to Him. He has planned each
day of your life since before you were born, and He has a record of each new
day before Him. He is constantly thinking about you and will do everything in
his power to slay the dragon that is attempting to take your life. What an
amazing God we serve.
Grow in Grace and Knowledge
"It is a wretched taste to be gratified with
mediocrity when the excellent lies before us” Isaac D. Israeli.
"But grow in
grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” The Apostle Peter
in 2 Peter 3:18
Many of you have felt
lost in life's wilderness. You've learned that after so many years of wandering
aimlessly and shamefully away from the center of life, you're no closer to the
Promised Land than you were at the start.
"Peter
stated," "grow gracefully" Growing in grace is being more like
the Lord Jesus while growing in knowledge means learning more about Him and
His atonement. Life is never predictable. Even in its most basic form, every
living thing in our cosmos is in a perpetual state of flux. According to Chuck
Swindol, "Grace will teach you compassion, and knowledge will teach you
discernment. Grace will help you smile; knowledge will help you think. Grace
will result in vulnerability, and knowledge will result in instability.[1]"
We must strike a
balance between grace and knowledge. Grace is the most fertile soil, and the
plants that thrive there have enormous growth potential. They are nurtured by a
divine husbandman and are warmed by the sun of righteousness and refreshed by
divine dew. They will, indeed, bear fruit, some a hundredfold, sixtyfold,
others thirtyfold. Choose between being a well-known Christian or a practical
Christian, an 'A' level Christian or a contented moron. Growth is essential to
life, and when it stops, degeneration sets in.
Any Christian who is
content with his experiences and craves no greater fullness of God, no higher
purity, no greater love for souls, and no greater need for the pruning,
purifying, watering, and caring of the great and skilled husbandman will soon
show signs of spiritual decay. Christianity and greatness should go hand in
hand, but it's a shame that today's churches are full of mediocre, lukewarm,
half-hearted Christians. We are a failure and a defeat, which is why we have
become unimportant in our society, yet God is calling you to radical
Christianity. Even though many individuals hear the gospel, the
majority have little willingness to follow it.
"What good is it
to speak learnedly on the Trinity if you lack humility and thereby offend the
Trinity?" Thomas A. Kempis asked. High-sounding words do not make a man
holy, but a decent life does. I'd rather feel contrition than be able to
articulate it. How would knowing the entire Bible and all of the philosophers'
teachings benefit you if you didn't have God's favor and love?[2]"
Keep constantly in
mind the saying, "the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with
hearing” (Ecc. 1:8). Strive
to withdraw your heart from the love of visible things and direct your
affections to things invisible.
If we are to fulfill
God's demands for our life, we need His grace now more than ever. This is the
time to act our age and progress to greater heights. "Many present-day
Christians appear to have experienced three stages of life, condemnation,
salvation, and stagnation," writes Leonard Ravenhill, author of the
classic book "Why Revival Tarries." That, I believe, is the case. We
have condemned criminals before we came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior since
we were born sinners; but, even after redemption, there has been no growth but
stasis. Examine your life; if this is your Christian witness, you should
continue on to the lovely abundant life in Christ Jesus. "Babyhood is a
beautiful thing, but continuous babyhood is awful," Ravenhill added.
Perpetual spiritual infancy is a source of shame for God." My buddy, don't
be "casual" or "sold out" to anything; instead, be a strong
fighter who is all in for God's glory and nothing else.
Just
"casual"—nothing is set in stone
The Laodicean Church
was accused of being at rest and satisfied, not of sin, wrong theology, or any
other crookedness. God has given you a warrior spirit, and He wants you to be
militant, dedicating yourself to prayer, evangelism, and other Christian tasks.
"I am satisfied and increased with goods, and have no need of
anything," the Laodicean Church declared. They had no idea that they were
"wretched, unhappy, impoverished, blind, and naked" in God's eyes.
"I'm interested in everything a little bit," a Hollywood actress once
declared. That is to say, she isn't particularly invested in anything. She is
uninterested in a wide range of topics. Are you like that, unconcerned about
anything? This spirit manifests itself more clearly in the religious sphere,
which is why we have so many casual Christians. Sunday-morning saints with only
a rudimentary interest in the "Church"—along with clubs and lodges,
football and development associations, and tribal gatherings—and they only
manage to include some religion. They are just Christians who are chilly, meek,
and unpretentious.
Casual disciples have
no place in our Lord's plan. When people saw Jesus' miracles, they believed
him, but He didn't keep track of them. He had not expected them to show up. He
didn't put his faith in them. It's time to either serve God with everything we
have or never serve Him at all.
24. "But Jesus did
not commit himself unto them because he knew all men.
25. And needed not that
any should testify of man. For he knew what was in man” (Jn. 2:24-25).
You are known to
Jesus. Everything changes when you decide to let Him guide your life.
Everything works for His greater glory and your good. A preacher or teacher who
is content with the level of power and competence with which he preaches or
teaches the gospel has achieved the pinnacle of his or her ministry. And such a
person will not improve and will lose God's favor. We've remarked previously
that following Jesus is like riding a bicycle: you have to keep going or you'll
tumble. We must have a vision since we will perish if we do not have one.
Vision is a desire to achieve something that is yet to be realized, such as an
unrealized object or a goal that has yet to be accomplished. God has imbued
everyone with a feeling of eternal destiny; everyone possesses an unlimited
deposit, and he must be assisted in recognizing it. Vision offers direction,
vision creates and prepares you, vision produces faith, vision keeps you going,
and you need a vision of God for your life if you want to progress as a
Christian.
"He has made everything beautiful in its'
time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men. . .” (Ecc. 3:11 NIV).
The poorest guy on
the planet is not one who lacks money, but one who lacks vision. It needs the
Holy Spirit to reveal this profound truth that God has implanted in our hearts
for all eternity. He brings us into His expectations when we surrender to Him.
Paul Was not satisfied
"That I may know Him and the power of His
resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering being made conformable unto
His death” (Phil. 3:10).
Many Christians
frequently declare, ""All I want to be like Paul is to be like
him." They have made the apostle Paul their highest standard, using
passages from the Bible midway through in which Paul says, ""Imitate
me..." and stay at the same level. The Christian life is one of
participation rather than mere imitation (Heb. 3:14). We are to walk in the
footsteps of Jesus (1 John 2:6), love our adversaries (Matt 5:44), and forgive
as Jesus did (Col. 3:13). Not apostle Paul, but Jesus must be our ALL in ALL.
I'm not trying to diminish his efforts, but I do want you to be aware that
there's a lot more to Paul's story than you may think. Paul is a wonderful role
model for us. His transformation was extraordinary. The intimate revelation of
Jesus revealed to him all the wonderful plans of God's salvation for a lost world.
He reaped a higher number of souls than all of the apostles put together. He
had experienced Jesus' sufferings in a way that no one else had. One would
assume that the elderly Paul would be at peace and content, yet his hungry,
burning soul was always pushing forward. He said, "I count not myself to have
apprehended, but this one thing I do forgetting those things which are behind,
I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus.”
"I am not
satisfied; I forget my past successes and mistakes, my broken promises because
today is a new day, and I still have a chance to do better for Jesus as long as
I am alive," Paul was saying.
Is
It True That Our Salvation Is Satisfying?
Yes, there is
enormous joy in having sins forgiven and being regenerated. But there should be
a divine discontent with our progress in the grace that keeps us yearning for more
and pressing on for all of God's fullness.
"The righteous
shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those
that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our
God. They shall bring fruit in old age, they shall be fat and flourishing” (Psa.
92:12-14).
Insatiate to the
spring, I fly, I drink, and yet I am extremely dry, as Charles Wesley put it.
Many Christians who are satisfied are folks who are stuck in their ways.
"Woe unto them who are at rest in Zion," declares the Bible. Such
Christians are spiritual burnouts, bystanders who have succumbed to exhaustion.
They are no longer inspirational and enthused; they are living below their
potential. Life appears to be insipid, colorless, and squandered; they require
an infusion and a lively exchange.
S. S. Scull, a man of
God who has been in ministry for 67 years, was asked if he is content with what
he has seen and experienced thus far on his pilgrimage. "The genuine
report is quite dismal in terms of progress—too poor for me to be
satisfied," he remarked. He claimed he was shocked while singing this song
a few years back.
"I'm pressing,
on the upward way,
New heights I'm gaining every day
Still praying as I'm onward bound
"Lord, plant my
feet on higher ground.”
"He recognized
that he wasn't singing the truth; if he had been gaining ground every day for
the preceding sixty-seven years, he would have been much higher in the heavenly
than he was," Rev. Scull explained. He had to rewrite the song and perform
it as follows:
"I am looking on
the upward way
I think I will climb it every day
Still praying as I
crawl around
Lord, lead me on to the higher ground.”
"This is not so
good--but this was the truth," he said. "But there is another hymn
that somewhat encourages me," Scull continued:
“I can see far down
the mountain
Where I wandered
weary years
Often hindered in my
journey by the ghosts of doubts and fears
Thickly sprinkled all
the way, but the Spirit led unerring
To the land I hold today.”
Looking back, he
said, "I can see that as the spirit has led me, I have made some progress,
though most of it has been attained by crawling instead of bouncing on the way,
to the land I hold today.”
I see the light of
that city so bright, My home, sweet Home.
My cry is like that of David, "As
for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I
awake, with thy likeness” (Psa. 17:15).
Oh, what a struggle
this is for my life, knowing that there is yet higher ground to be reached and
that as long as I live, I must not let doubts and fear keep me from pursuing
God's vision for my life. Every day, as long as I live, I shall look upward and
climb higher. I will continue to pray until the Lord places my feet on higher
ground in that celestial city, where I will see His face in righteousness and
be satisfied when I awake in His likeness.
A contented Christian
is spiritually deficient and stagnant. We were created to grow and
progress, therefore order the buckler and shield (Jer. 46:3) and march forward
like arrows in a powerful man's hand.
6."Let the high
praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand
7. to execute vengeance upon the heathen and
punishments upon the people.
8. To build their kings
with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron.
9. To execute upon them
the judgment, written; this honor has all his saints praise ye the Lord (Psa.
149:6-9).
[1]Charles R.
Swindol, Conquering through conflict (Insight For Living, 1990), P. 82
[2]Thomas A. Kempis, The Imitation Of Christ, (Cox
& Wyman, Ltd, London, 1952), Pp. 27
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