A Christian life isn’t just about a Sunday service. Don’t get me wrong I love Sunday church. A time to get together, worship, meet with people, be inspired, equipped, be encouraged and be the encourager. We are called to meet together, instructed to even! I love church, but if church is the entirety of your Christian life I’m afraid you are missing out.
Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave. In so He defeated death and sin. Through faith in Jesus we become sons and daughters of God, we are forgiven, saved by grace. Through faith we have full access to the presence and power of God, we can come boldly and confidently into His presence, we can have abundant life and see the heaven come to earth. This is Christian life, and it is not meant to be restricted to a Sunday service. It is a life, a relationship with your Father in heaven. There is a verse I love in Romans 12:1-2
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (The Message)
Take your everyday ordinary life. You see before Jesus ascended to heaven he told the disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isn’t spooky or strange, simply God’s presence on earth. Holy Spirit is with us and within us. Bringing guidance, peace, comfort, really what we need in each situation. In our marriage, our families, our relationships, our hobbies, our work, our finances and our faith. Through the Holy Spirit we can meet with God’s presence each and every day. The Bible saids that His mercies are new every morning, that means God has something new for us every day, even if we don’t look for it. Each and every day God is ready to meet with us, transform us, bring healing, peace and guidance. We just need to meet with Him. An Everyday disciple.
I want to share a quick story. One morning I was praying and asking God for guidance for my day ahead. I felt on my heart to do the big pile of dishes. That felt more demonic than from God so I ignored it. To give a bit of context I was newly married, my beautiful wife was still in bed and that was going to be a large and annoying job for her. So I kept praying for true guidance from heaven, and you know what, more dishes. So I did the dishes. Long story short, it meant a lot to Tahlia and blessed our marriage that day. What matters to you matters to God. He is ready to speak into areas in our life, our everyday ordinary areas. Perhaps God has some wisdom for financial decisions, patience for your kids, peace for the conflict at work or strength to get through the difficult season in life. Whatever it is God’s presence is available to you each and every day through faith in Jesus. Make time to meet with God, be an everyday disciple.
Perhaps you may not have a ‘Christian life’, or perhaps you are wondering on what it all means or asking questions. Want to encourage you to just take a step, see what it is all about. Pop into church, talk to God or begin to read. Wherever you are with everything, God loves you and has a purpose and plan for your life. He is ready to meet with you where you are.
Pastor Ben