Lately I've been watching movies on Netflix by this picture company called LoveLight, and each one has greatly impacted my heart. The movies I have been watching are so authentic that I find myself in tears praising God and worshipping from my heart, praying for impacted lives by these films. I cry and rejoice at the work, the gift He laid on someone's life to draw people to Him, and the beauty of how the story comes together, drawing you in and lifting you up. The people in the stories and the stories themselves are so believable and relatable that you can't help but feel like you know these people, and it moves the heart more deeply because of that. It's the brokenness and reality of our imperfection and need for God that we our heart responds to because we know that it is truth. It's this authenticity of the brokenness of this world and how God moves to heal us that I see in these movies and that I think we are often missing in the church today.
I'm not saying in anyway that these movies are better than church, what I am trying to say is we need to be authentic to reach hearts. We need to be honest with each other and most especially ourselves about our faults and give them to God admitting our weaknesses and seeking Him to overcome. We need to admit where we struggle; where we are tempted and seek counsel and encouragement in each other and God. We need to be honest and lay aside our pride because with pride comes many dangers, many areas where we can be influenced and oblivious to it. Pride will lead you to feel more righteous than others, and blind you to the counsel of those trying to help you. Pride will lead you to believe you can do it on your own, and even cause you to take offense to those who are trying to help you. Pride will wrap itself around your heart and weigh it down without you seeing it until too late.
Honesty however, sets us free. When we are honest we can stop pride before it begins and we give God a chance to work because He is truth(John 14:6; 2 John 1:2). When we are honest we are working in God, because God is truth, love, harmony, and hope. God is every good and perfect thing and when we act according to those traits we allow Him to work through us and in us. When we walk in His ways we are abiding in the Spirit, and we are allowing the Spirit to pour out of us to impact others. This is how we bear fruit, by walking in the Spirit of the Lord. Jesus said in John 15 "5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."
To abide in Him we must walk in His ways, we must stay in the Spirit and make the choices that honor the spirit over the flesh. Sometimes that means momentary pain, but trusting God means understanding that the pain is just that, temporary, and that God will in time use that pain to bring glory to Him, through you. Honesty is an act of trusting God, trusting the plan He has for you and making yourself totally open for His use. When we are honest we make ourselves vulnerable and are relying totally on God which is why I think it scares so many people. We don't like to feel weak, we don't like to admit that we can't make life work without Him, that we can't experience completeness without Him. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12 "9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." When we are vulnerable God works, when we are vulnerable God pours out of us to others and things are moved by His grace, people and hearts are touched. We may not see it right away but if the Bible shows us anything about the character of God it is that the Lord waste nothing, He is true to His word, and we will bear fruit when we stay in Him. Be blessed, today and always in the name of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
Proverbs 12:22
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
John 8:31-32
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
1 John 5:20
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
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