it was about what it looks like to be a lukewarm Christian. these are some that were specifically hard-hitting:
1) "lukewarm people give money to charities and to the church as long as it does not impinge on their standard of living." p.69
--"Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, "Truly, I tell you,this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on." Luke 21:1-4
2) "lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they only want to be saved from the penalty of their sin. they don't genuinely hate sin and aren't truly sorry for it; they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them. lukewarm people don't really believe that the life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one." p.70
--"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10b
--"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Romans 6:1-2
3) lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act.
--"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." James 1:22
--"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin." James 4:17
4) lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed, a part of their lives. but only a part. they give Him a section of their time, their money, their thoughts, but He isn't allowed to control their lives." p.72
--"As they were going along the road, someone said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'" And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. To another he said, 'Follow me.' But he said, 'Lord, let me first go and bury my father.' And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' Yet another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'" Luke 9:57-62
another thing he said really REALLY hit me in the gut:
"I think most American churchgoers are the soil that chokes the seed because of all the thorns. Thorns are anything that distracts us from God. When we want God and a bunch of other stuff, then that means we have thorns in our soil. A relationship with God simply cannot grow when money, sins, activities, favorite sports teams, addictions, or commitments are piled on top of it." p. 67
today has been a hard day where i just felt like that's exactly what i've been doing: piling things, activities, relationships, sins, etc etc on top of my soil, so that my relationship with God can't grow. i just keep remembering that saying "you are what you do". i can keep talking about the things that i want to do, but how do i really spend my time? it hit me hard. i need Jesus. i am failing at faith, letting the things of the world choke it out. Jesus forgive me. it is only by your drawing me unto yourself that i will be found faithful.
Jesus, come be the gardener of my heart. uproot the thorns of this world that are in my heart; thorns of sin that are deeply rooted. i long to be faithful, but i don't think i've counted the cost. i must be willing to give it all up, everything that tries to set itself higher than Christ.
