At the beginning of 2009 a co-worker called me in my office and told me that he had a Word from the Lord for me. I was so excited to hear that because I really needed to hear from God. He spoke to me about that great blessing I was going to receive that year.

         Well, March went by, April went by, we were now in the heart of the summer and I could not see that blessing my co-worker told me about it. October was here now and still no sign of that amazing blessing. By November I started realizing something; I was face to face with the nastiness of my own heart. By December I realize that receiving a revelation of the nastiness of my heart was one of my greatest blessings.

         See, when we walk around, thinking that we are good we are contradicting God’s Word. This is what the Word tells us,

10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”  Romans 3:10-12 (NKJV)

            In 2009 I was able to see that I was not righteous, that I had very little understanding of the things of God, that I was not really seeking Him like I should and that I was not really as good of a person as I pictured myself to be. I can say the same thing about me today; if there is anything good in me is the Spirit of God in me.

            Jesus did not allow the rich young man to call Him good. In Mark 10:17-18 we see the following,

17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. (NkJV)

            If Jesus did not accept the title of good, even as He was indeed good, who are we to call ourselves good? The quicker I die to myself the closer I get to His righteousness, His understanding, His love and His goodness. The dying process is what I fight daily…Help me Jesus!

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22 (NKJV)

The issue of staying in the Word is more than just reading the Word everyday; it is applying the Word for the circumstances of life we face. If you so easily and without conviction fill your soul with anxiety over every little uncomfortable situation you face in life, then your reading and studying of God’s Word is doing very little for you.  That is not because the Word is not powerful, but because you chose to go as far as just listening. Without the application of God’s Word you are just entertaining your intellect with knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but without any intention of changing your thinking.

            On the other hand, the issue of not denying Jesus must be explored also. Many will never say, “I deny Jesus”, however, with their actions, they constantly do. When we openly and publicly engage in words, activities and behaviors that are contrary to God’s Word we are indeed denying Jesus. In Mathew 10:32-33 Jesus tells us,

32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (NKJV)

            How can we effectively confess Christ, but openly deny His Word? Impossible; Jesus is the Word. Confessing is more than just what is coming out of our mouth, it is our heart, it is our thinking and it is our behavior.

            The Word of God is true, it’s all truth and it was written for us to follow. The Word represents the Way of the Lord. His way is better, indescribably better, than ours. The word challenges us to go beyond just listening; we must do. The Word also challenges us to go beyond just speaking the Word. The greatest accusation against we Christians is that we are a bunch of hypocrites. That is because they see a contradiction between our confession and our behavior.

            It is time for us, as God’s people, to realize that there is more of God that we need to get a hold of, and that there is more of us that must change.  I invite you to stretch your thinking and go beyond the walls of what you know, and go into the unlimited possibilities of a life sold-out to God’s will.

The primary reason we come together on Sundays is to worship God together. We must make time to fellowship with one another and we must make time to minister to one another the rest of the week. But on Sundays, everything about the service must point at God’s glory, at His manifested presence, his greatness, His power, His love and every quality about Him found in Scripture. It is not about us or about how to live, is about Him. He is the focus not us or anything about us.

Through bible studies, special conference, Sunday School, Wednesday Service, Home Groups and fellowships we can learn how to live holy lives, but our Sunday Gathering should be all about God. This does not mean that we ignore Him the rest of the week. All I am saying is that the focus of our Sunday teaching should be about who God is and not about what we are lacking.

If we are going to learn anything else on Sundays it ought to be how to worship Him and how to bring about His glory in our midst. Out of these kind of gatherings and what takes place in our secret places we strengthen our spiritual man for God’s glory and for the service of others.