Many are discouraged in their local churches; they don’t like what they see; they don’t get what they want and they jump from church to church seeking what they want. Even as the church is not where it is supposed to be; whatever takes place on Sunday mornings all around this nation should not be the center of our Christianity. We are the church, however; the ignorance of this truth is our problem! The Sunday morning service has become our “fix” for the week. So, if that particular Sunday, the Worship Team did not sing the songs that we like or if that particular Sunday, the Pastor preaches a sermon that exposes our mess or if the pastor did not preach with the “style” of preaching that we are used to…we find ourselves in great trouble.

            To make matters worse, we have false Apostles out there that would make you and me think that the church is going under; that we will never make it, that we messed up so, bad that there is no hope for us. They are always speaking negative about the church; but the problem is that they are unable to see that they are a part of the problem and that we are unable to realize this as well.

            We must seek the Lord in our secret place; our homes ought to be open to glorify God with our families through songs, through Bible Studies, Devotional Times, Prayer, etc. Intimacy, intimacy…intimacy with God is what we desperately need. We need to get to know HIM personally and stop being satisfied with what others say about Him. In Mathew 7:21-23 Jesus Himself tells us:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

            Many repeated a prayer some years ago, but their hearts was far away from what they were saying. They walk around thinking that they are saved; some are even leaders in our churches, but they are not really saved. We know these things because the Word tells us that we shall know them by their fruit. Jesus specified that only those that do the will of the Father will enter into God’s Kingdom. That is very specific. Do you have a heart after God? Do you prefer God’s will over yours? That does not mean that you are not going to error, that does not mean that you will be perfect, but this is a matter of the heart; either you are after God and His ways or not?

            Many will bring forward their little job history and the things they done, supposedly, for God; they will talk about how they open this great church, how they have this wonderful prison ministry, fed the homeless, etc. But Jesus will tell them: “I never knew you!” That means that whatever they were doing had a form of Godliness, but they did it for their own glory…help us Jesus! That means that they never developed a personal relationship with God; they relied on their own abilities and so misused the gift God gave them. They did not spend time loving on God, waiting in His presence, listening; they just went on exalting themselves!

            To hear the Lord saying: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” allows us to see that even as they were doing all those wonderful things, deep inside, in the places where nobody is watching, they were actually doing evil things. I believe that we will see more and more preachers being exposed in these last days.

            So, in conclusion, how is your personal relationship with God going? Are you spending time with HIM? Or Are you too busy to pray? Beloved, there is nothing more important on, in, or beyond this earth for a human being to do than to develop intimacy with Christ. What are you waiting for? Start right now! Cut the TV off, go to your room and tell God you love Him, take a walk and talk things over with Him; repent for your cold ways. It is not too late…HE is waiting! God is waiting for you and He can’t wait to spend some quality time with you. Get to know Him; it will change your life forever. From that relationship, you will see a more powerful Sunday Service as you will begin to move in His anointing and look with His eyes and not with yours!