Saturday, April 24, 2010

LIWD :: day 58 :: Behavior Patterns

Part of reckless abandonment is realizing how much our culture has affected our behavior patterns.  You want to be Christlike, but your lifestyle is a reflection of Vogue magazine or Cosmopolitan rather than a new creation in Christ.  A.W. Tozer said, "A whole new generation of Christians has come up believing that it is possible to 'accept' Christ without forsaking the world."  Ruth had to forsake the familiar and comfortable in order to receive God's best for her life.

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One single was persecuted, not by non-Christians but by Christians, because she chose to spend her summer studying at a Bible Institute rather than playing in the sunshine with her friends.  They actually accused her of thinking she was bettter than them because she planned to study the Bible intensively for eight weeks.  Unfortunately, our self-centered culture in America has penetrated the Church so much that a young woman not only has to choose against the American culture, but sometimes against the more subtle, worldly Christian subculture tainting the Body of Christ.

Part of reckless abandonment is realizing how much our culture has affected our behavior patterns.
 
'The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is christians - who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and get on with another lifestyle - that is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.' I've quoted this in past posts, I know, but it so aptly fits todays devotional.
 
It's so easy to seperate God from the rest of our lives. It's so easy to 'put God away' when it's not convenient for you to christian. Proclaiming the love of Christ isn't always easy. Nonbelievers make it difficult. Other believers make it difficult.

Sharing Gods love takes courage. It takes will. It takes strength. It takes compassion. It takes Gods help. He will give you the courage, the strenght and the compassion...if only you will ask for it. We might seem odd to our friends when we speak out for our God. It may make us unpopular to forsake the way of the world for His will. That's a risk I'm willing to take...how about you?

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