It's All Or Nothing

You can't serve two masters. You can't be double-minded. You can't have a divided heart. It is either all or nothing.

There is nothing "normal" to being a follower of Jesus Christ. There is nothing about it that the world can accept and reconcile it's thinking toward the Church. Jesus was totally radical in everything he did which was contrary to the heart of man. Love your enemy? Pray for those who persecute you? Those who are last will be first and the first last? Those who try to hold on to their life will lose it but those who give it up will save it? Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow him? If you are luke warm he will spit you out?

This is not the foundation of some new humanity make over. It is not some new world order. It is the Kingdom of God in the hearts of man. It is the visible outward sign of an incredible inward transformation. A transformation not achieved by good thoughts and good deeds but brought about by the transforming power of the blood of Jesus Christ applied to those who make the decision to give up their lives for Jesus.

I hope you heard that: Who give up their lives. Repeat: give up .

There are no half measures with Jesus. He said we are either with him or against him. To make a decision not to make a decision is to have made a decision against him.

There can be no mistaking what the Word of God clearly tells us. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot have the world and Jesus. We have to decide which master we will follow and obey. If you say to yourself, "I will serve no one. I serve myself and humanity", then you have chosen the world; you have chosen rebellion; you have chosen death. If you choose Jesus then you have chosen light, life, and love. You have chosen a new birth, a transformation, a radical change:

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

It is a decision.

It has always been a decision.

We make the decision to accept Jesus' invitation to follow. We make the decision to step into his love which gives us the power to decide to put off our old self and to put on the new self. It is nothing we can do but it is a decision we make. A work of art cannot create itself. It is our Father who transforms us through the blood of Jesus but we have to allow the transformation. We have to make the decision. We have to deny ourself to take up the cross to follow Jesus.

We can try to serve two masters but we are only lying to ourselves because the Son of God has told us that we can't do it. We can try to have both Jesus and our desires but we will be total failures because Jesus told us that it can't be done. He told us plainly and simply, it is all of us or nothing. Either everything is surrendered or nothing is. Either he has all of our heart or none of it. There are no half measures. There are no moments of our day that belong only to us. Jesus cannot accept a portion of our life, he has to have the whole thing.

And when you truly know his love, you wouldn't want it any other way.

We Mouth The Words Of A Song We Don't Really Know

I've noticed recently that many of my blogs have taken on a harsher, more urgent tone to them. It is like a desperate plea to a people who have forgotten who they are, who seem to have lost their identity. We are a generation of believers with more physical advantages than any other generation before us and yet we are one of the spiritually poorest generations that has existed. We are weak in our faith and in our understanding of God's Word. We have almost completely set aside the Spirit of God and now only do what we can in our own ability. We mouth the Words of a song that we don't really know or identify with any more.

I want to shock you with a little piece of Scripture that will either encourage you or ruin your day, depending on your priorities. I don't want us to play games any more and fill our days with pictures of cute, fluffy cats and bunnies. I want you to understand the bare bones reality of what our relationship with Jesus is. Key element number one:

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  (Galatians 2:20)

You won't believe how many Christians are waking up today with this NOT being their reality. I have been crucified with Christ! Spiritually this is our reality. Christianity is not some mamsie pamsie feel good religion that helps people who are in misery make it through yet another endless day in their sorry excuse of a life. The reality is that when we decide to follow Jesus, we set our life aside. We voluntarily become crucified with him, laying down our life, giving up our future, past and present. We are dead. Paul says it clearly here, "I no longer live".

Do you hear that? Many don't. Many think they can accept Jesus, get all the benefits and then continue doing what they want to do. But we are no longer alive. We no longer live for ourselves. We no longer pursue what we want. We no longer chase after our dreams. There is no 10% for God and 90% for us. There is only 100% Jesus, all the time, everywhere. Our reality becomes, "I no longer love, but Christ lives in me". That means that it is his will we respond to, his desires, his character, his love and compassion. Our reality is totally shifted so that what is important to Jesus is important to us. We acknowledge that we are only alive because of Jesus in us. Jesus is not someone we add to our collection of stuff; Jesus replaces even us. Jesus is not something we do; Jesus is what we are.

It doesn't take a scientific study to know that this is not the reality for the great majority of Christians. In fact, most of us don't even know how it works. We just know that our parents went to church so that we should go to church too. The new generation of Christians, those that have joined the big churches simply like the singing, the programs and they find the pastor entertaining and wise. But where is the radical Christianity? Where is the red hot, on fire for the Lord, let's go out and save the world, brand of Christians? If we have died and Jesus now lives in us, shouldn't we be out doing what he has told us to do?

We have set aside our rights to make our own decisions and to live according to what we want. We have given up the right to second guess God. Our new reality is that we trust everything that Jesus says as if it is life itself, because it is. We place our entire faith in him. Key element number two:

The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)  

It is his love that compels us. It is his great act of love on the cross that compelled us to lay down our life in the first place. His love drew us to the cross where we were crucified with him. It is his love that called us back to life where he became the source of life in us. Imagine if you would that our heart was replaced by Jesus and it is now him who sustains our breath.

If we are not living every day for Jesus, we are wasting our days. Nothing we do outside of Jesus has any value. Nothing we pursue outside of him will add to our joy or will have any eternal impact. Nothing we do outside of him has any life to it at all since Jesus is the one who sustains our life. We do not live by the rules and wisdom of this world but by faith in Jesus. We live by his promises and his instructions. We are not confined by the limits of this world as we allow Jesus to live through us.

We have to decide today that we are going to stop living such weak lives; lives without the power of God. We have to put on the realty that we gave our life up and everything that went with it. Jesus is not interested in renovating our lives, he wants to do a whole new build. We now have the power and authority to do everything because of he who lives in us. I don't speak in my own authority because I have none, but I do speak in the authority of the Son of God, and everything must obey that authority. I no longer have a right to live such a weak life because I laid down my life and I refuse to pick it up again. In fact, I can't pick it up again because it has a new occupant; it is no longer I who live but Jesus who lives through me. Are you beginning to see what we have been missing? There is a difference and his name is Jesus.

Radical Christianity - Is There Any Other Kind?

There seems to be a real disconnect in this age of mass marketing Christianity as to what it means to "follow" Jesus Christ. Following Jesus is not a convenient thing. At times it is not even a pleasant thing but it is always a joyful thing that is marked by daily surrender. Unfortunately people do not understand this because much of our spiritual understanding is now mixed with the spiritual understanding of the world. We are so full of humanism now that we find ourselves agreeing when people quote "We are the masters of our own destiny".  The only sense that this can be true for anyone is that Jesus has given us a choice of our destiny but we are masters of nothing.

The prophet Jeremiah very simply confessed to God:

"I know , O Lord, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." (Jeremiah 10:23)

If believers could understand this to be truth there would be a lot less anxiety, fear and worry in existence. Jesus spoke the only reality that we should understand as followers, the only option there is for us:

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)

"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33)

"For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?" (Luke 9:24-25)

I hear people talk about radical living and radical Christianity. Is there any other kind? If these quotes aren't clear enough then try this:

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. >>>>> FOR YOU DIED <<<<< and your life is not hidden in Christ." (Colossians 3:1-3)

The emphasis there is mine. But get what follows next:

"When Christ, >>>>> WHO IS YOUR LIFE <<<<< appears, then you also will appear with him in glory." (Colossians 3:4)

You can't be a follower of Jesus if he is only part of your life. Jesus has to be your life. He has to be the reason for you breathing, thinking, talking and doing. He has to be the very essence of life to you. We have to be able to say with Paul:

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

"I no longer live." Say that a few times and let the reality of it sink to the depth of you consciousness. There is no part time Christian or partial Christian or "I go to church" Christian. It is either all or nothing. And it isn't a sentiment. It is a radical change, a new birth, a death to self. That means everything we do must have purpose in Jesus, directed by Jesus. We do not get to control our life. We don't get to decide. It is as Jeremiah said: "A man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps."

What does this mean for you? A lot. But the exact details are only discovered as we live a daily surrendered life. We do a lot of things in our life every day that are still focused on us. It is habit. We have to ask the Spirit's help in breaking those habits. Our life is not our own, it belongs to Jesus and we must be living for his purpose. Examine your day and see what you do for your own gratification, what has nothing to do with Jesus whatsoever, how you are wasting this life you are suppose to be living in and through Jesus. Remember, you have been crucified with Jesus and the only life you have is the one Christ lives in you. To this world, the only Christian life there is is a radical one. Remember, you no longer live, it is Christ who lives in you.