The Hard(er) Way

Reforging the Fellowship of the Burning Heart… “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not.” (Isa. 35:3-4). In a generation of postmodern thought, doubtful Christianity, and defeat, there are a few who rise up to take the harder way and walk the straight and narrow path that Jesus took.

            Some statistics about our generation:

·      By the time an average American dies, he will have slept for 18.75 years of his life.

·      By age 18, a U.S. youth will have seen16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence.

·      The average youth living in the U.S. watches TV 25 hours a week and plays computer games an additional 7 hours.

·      The average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day.

·      The average U.S. internet user spends more time of Facebook than on Google, Yahoo, YouTube, Microsoft, Wikipedia, and Amazon combined.

·      The average American woman will have spent 8 years of her life shopping for clothes.

·      YouTube says that 24 hours of new videos are uploaded to the site every minute.

·      The YouTube video “Charlie Bit Me” was viewed 386,279,767 times (November 2011), or 734 years of human life spent on this video alone.

It’s not bad in and of itself to watch “Charlie Bit Me” on YouTube, or to sleep, to shop, or watch a movie. But it’s how much time is given over to what has no eternal value. What do you go to for your rest and entertainment? Does it rule your life and distract you from time in God’s presence? There is a dying world out there. There are over 27 million girls trapped in slave prostitution. There are more than 365 million orphans. Are we interceding for revival in the nations and for freedom of the oppressed? Or are we too consumed with the latest movie release? Many people feel they don’t have the time to seek God and spend hours in the Word and prayer, but what if we were to eliminate the down time laziness. Too many people can’t imagine giving those things up, because it’s part of their day and they have an addiction. It’s sad that we spend so much time on worldly things when we have an eternal inheritance to gain. The main reason of our life is to please God. Is how you are spending your life pleasing to Him? Are you delighting yourself in His presence? Are you weeping with Him in Gethsemane over the injustices in our day? Are you crying out for the salvation of our leaders? Are you being Jesus’ hands and feet to your community? Is your life leading to a breakthrough in revival? In light of the cross and eternity, isn’t it a scandal the way we live? We must all appear someday soon before the judgment seat of Christ. I want to hear Him say to me “well done, my good and faithful servant in whom I am well pleased.” We will be examined on how we lived our life as a believer. Our works, our words, our motives, will all be examined. We will either receive rewards or suffer loses. What we do with the cross determines where we’re going to spend eternity. However the way we live as believers determines how we’re going to spend eternity. Jesus, stamp eternity on our eyes. May we not squander away our precious time here on earth on worthless things when we could be saving souls and working for God’s glory.

Christianity, walking as Jesus walked, is the harder way. They persecuted Jesus, so too will we be persecuted (John 15:20). Jesus must be preeminent in our life (Matt. 10:37). It is blessed to be persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:10). The narrow gate is difficult but leads to life (Matt. 7:13-14). He who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worth of Me (Matt. 10:38). The cross is painful and it hurts to deny self, but what comes after the cross is glorious. It is a resurrected life, true life. Are we living as Jesus lived? Jesus:

·      Befriends and spends time with the culturally misfit.

·      Goes against the established religions, cultural, social order of the day.

·      The religious leaders plotted to kill Him.

·      One of his best friends betrayed Him.

·      Denied by another.

·      Mocked, scourged, then placed upon the cross.

·      His whole life was a lifestyle of living out the cross (pouring His life out).

There is no such things as a “special version” of Christianity. The Bible says that Elijah was a man just like us. Through Jesus and His Spirit reigning in us, we can walk the narrow path. And that is not radical Christianity, or another given term, that is plain Christianity. It is a deliberate choice to live the holy life. Study the lives of the fools for Christ (The Mighty Ones) such as C.T. Studd, Hudson Taylor, Jonathan Edwards, Adoniram Judson, George Muller, Amy Carmichael, Jim Elliot, Samuel Brengle. They walked the harder way. And they had the same thing, the same Spirit of God, that is available to you and me, the same Spirit that rose Christ Jesus from the dead, the Spirit that enables us to walk with power and victory and overcome sin and every principality of darkness. Count all things loss for the sake of knowing Christ.

(content from message of www.ellerslie.com)