Balance
Balance. Isn't that a huge struggle in life? We don't want to be too far extreme in one direction or the other. It's not good to be lazy, it's not good to over work yourself. It's not good to be overly obsessed with keeping things clean and orderly, it's not good to be a slob either. We need to find a healthy perspective somewhere in the middle. It seems that pretty much everything in life is that way.
But what about as far as God is concerned? Jesus says that it's better to be hot or cold, rather than somewhere in the middle - lukewarm. I was searching around trying to find some commentary on this passage in Revelation and I found this. It's sort of a lot to cut and paste, but I liked it...
"Jesus says, "I know your deeds." In other words, "I see your actions. I know what you are doing." He says, "Because I see all, I know that you are neither cold nor hot." This is pretty heavy. Then at the end of verse 15 (into 16) Jesus says something very interesting. He says, "I wish you were cold or hot. So because you are neither hot not cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." Did you catch that? Jesus actually states that out of the 3 conditions mentioned (hot, cold, or lukewarm) - only 2 are acceptable to Him: hot or cold! I can understand HOT being an acceptable condition to Jesus - but COLD? Hot, of course, means on fire for Him. It means a fervent relationship with Him. But let's take a look at cold. Cold is the condition of being destitute because of our lack of faith, trust, and obedience to Him. But the key to this condition is that we REALIZE the condition we are in. Remember the Prodigal Son? In arrogance he demanded his inheritance early, went away and squandered it all in a foreign land with very lose living. After awhile he found himself in a pig pen, eating the pig's food he was supposed to be feeding to the pigs! It was in that condition (COLD) that the Scripture says "He came to his senses." That was the point at which he realized that he needed to change his ways. That point (COLD) is as far away as one can get from hot - but it is still acceptable to Jesus! It is the point just before a believer can be set on fire! Cold is a factor in the critical mass necessary to make someone on fire. On the other hand lukewarm is totally unacceptable to Jesus. Why? Because a person who is lukewarm really believes he/she is OK and doesn't realize that they are not OK. Lukewarm = self-righteousness and religion. It's like coffee. I like it best hot, but it's not too bad cold! I like my tea preferably cold, but I can take it hot. But I don't like either lukewarm. Yuck! Jesus said the lukewarm He will vomit out of His mouth. Why? Because it is an unacceptable condition to Him.
We must understand that Jesus writes these messages not to the cities mentioned in Revelation, but to the CHURCHES in these cities. Jesus had a very hard message to the church at Laodicea, which can easily be compared to many churches in our western culture today. But He ended with something very, very positive and encouraging for we, the church of today. Revelation 3:19-22, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" This passage is used so often to refer to unsaved people. It works for them, but Jesus wrote it to the CHURCH at Laodicea.
Finally, If you are as cold as ice, and you realize you need His fire in your walk; if you actually miss the warmth of His love in your life that perhaps you once experienced, you are in an acceptable place as far as Jesus is concerned. Your heart may be cold, but you are just a short step from the incredible fire of God! Call out to Him!" (End of quote)
It can be SO easy to be stuck in the middle. Today I was in church and Pastor Jeremiah said a lot of times we get stuck in our memories, rather than letting our memories motivate our dreams. Our dreams should be bigger than our memories. I think this is so relevant in positive and negative ways. It can be way too easy to let the past define us. We get stuck in our past sins or struggles and see no hope of ever moving beyond that. Maybe we feel labeled or that other people will never let us move beyond our past mistakes. Therefore, we see no hope of ever changing. But, no matter what anyone else's opinion is, if you choose to live like this, isn't that a cop-out? Only WE can change ourselves...only WE can exceed other people's and our own expectations of ourself. Rather than living in our own self-pity, why not let this motivate us to change? We should realize that we want to be BETTER than the past. Forget what is behind you and MOVE FORWARD.
Or maybe some people get stuck in a different fashion. Maybe you once had a close walk with the Lord and somewhere along the way strayed from that. Maybe you are SO far from who you want to be that you don't know how to get back to that closeness with God. So getting there seems impossible...therefore, exhausting to even try. Again, another cop-out. If we ever want to change, we have to take a step of faith and do something about it. Dusty told me today that insanity is continually doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If whatever you are doing is not working, do something else. Don't get lost in your past mistakes, current failures, or self-defeating nature... change. A lot of life is choices that we make. We can choose to be happy despite the hardships life brings us, or we can choose to drown in it. We can choose to be optimistic or pessimistic. A lot of life is what you make of it. We cannot control everything, but it's how we deal with what life brings us that makes the difference.
Silas is such a little perfectionist. To the degree that I'm constantly telling him to relax and that its okay to mess up. I see so much of myself in him, from his incredibly stubborn nature to his tendencies of not wanting to make a mistake or disappoint anyone. It's really scary when you see things that you struggle with in your kids. But, it also gives you a greater understanding and better perspective. I learn from Silas that I need to go with the flow. I don't have to have the house spotless and I can be more spontaneous. It's okay to do something out of the ordinary and if I make a mistake, I need to move beyond that instead of beating myself up over it. I don't have to be perfect, and no one is asking me to be. So I watch my precious little son getting worked up over SILLY little things that in the long run are not worth all the fuss and stress. It makes me want to be a better person and makes me want to work on those areas in my life. So my point is, we need to be able to look at ourselves from an outside perspective and see the areas that need to be changed....and then DO IT. Don't be ignorant. Don't be stuck in the middle. Don't be so consumed in yourself that you miss all the life around you and ahead of you.
But what about as far as God is concerned? Jesus says that it's better to be hot or cold, rather than somewhere in the middle - lukewarm. I was searching around trying to find some commentary on this passage in Revelation and I found this. It's sort of a lot to cut and paste, but I liked it...
"Jesus says, "I know your deeds." In other words, "I see your actions. I know what you are doing." He says, "Because I see all, I know that you are neither cold nor hot." This is pretty heavy. Then at the end of verse 15 (into 16) Jesus says something very interesting. He says, "I wish you were cold or hot. So because you are neither hot not cold, I will spit you out of My mouth." Did you catch that? Jesus actually states that out of the 3 conditions mentioned (hot, cold, or lukewarm) - only 2 are acceptable to Him: hot or cold! I can understand HOT being an acceptable condition to Jesus - but COLD? Hot, of course, means on fire for Him. It means a fervent relationship with Him. But let's take a look at cold. Cold is the condition of being destitute because of our lack of faith, trust, and obedience to Him. But the key to this condition is that we REALIZE the condition we are in. Remember the Prodigal Son? In arrogance he demanded his inheritance early, went away and squandered it all in a foreign land with very lose living. After awhile he found himself in a pig pen, eating the pig's food he was supposed to be feeding to the pigs! It was in that condition (COLD) that the Scripture says "He came to his senses." That was the point at which he realized that he needed to change his ways. That point (COLD) is as far away as one can get from hot - but it is still acceptable to Jesus! It is the point just before a believer can be set on fire! Cold is a factor in the critical mass necessary to make someone on fire. On the other hand lukewarm is totally unacceptable to Jesus. Why? Because a person who is lukewarm really believes he/she is OK and doesn't realize that they are not OK. Lukewarm = self-righteousness and religion. It's like coffee. I like it best hot, but it's not too bad cold! I like my tea preferably cold, but I can take it hot. But I don't like either lukewarm. Yuck! Jesus said the lukewarm He will vomit out of His mouth. Why? Because it is an unacceptable condition to Him.
We must understand that Jesus writes these messages not to the cities mentioned in Revelation, but to the CHURCHES in these cities. Jesus had a very hard message to the church at Laodicea, which can easily be compared to many churches in our western culture today. But He ended with something very, very positive and encouraging for we, the church of today. Revelation 3:19-22, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" This passage is used so often to refer to unsaved people. It works for them, but Jesus wrote it to the CHURCH at Laodicea.
Finally, If you are as cold as ice, and you realize you need His fire in your walk; if you actually miss the warmth of His love in your life that perhaps you once experienced, you are in an acceptable place as far as Jesus is concerned. Your heart may be cold, but you are just a short step from the incredible fire of God! Call out to Him!" (End of quote)
It can be SO easy to be stuck in the middle. Today I was in church and Pastor Jeremiah said a lot of times we get stuck in our memories, rather than letting our memories motivate our dreams. Our dreams should be bigger than our memories. I think this is so relevant in positive and negative ways. It can be way too easy to let the past define us. We get stuck in our past sins or struggles and see no hope of ever moving beyond that. Maybe we feel labeled or that other people will never let us move beyond our past mistakes. Therefore, we see no hope of ever changing. But, no matter what anyone else's opinion is, if you choose to live like this, isn't that a cop-out? Only WE can change ourselves...only WE can exceed other people's and our own expectations of ourself. Rather than living in our own self-pity, why not let this motivate us to change? We should realize that we want to be BETTER than the past. Forget what is behind you and MOVE FORWARD.
Or maybe some people get stuck in a different fashion. Maybe you once had a close walk with the Lord and somewhere along the way strayed from that. Maybe you are SO far from who you want to be that you don't know how to get back to that closeness with God. So getting there seems impossible...therefore, exhausting to even try. Again, another cop-out. If we ever want to change, we have to take a step of faith and do something about it. Dusty told me today that insanity is continually doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. If whatever you are doing is not working, do something else. Don't get lost in your past mistakes, current failures, or self-defeating nature... change. A lot of life is choices that we make. We can choose to be happy despite the hardships life brings us, or we can choose to drown in it. We can choose to be optimistic or pessimistic. A lot of life is what you make of it. We cannot control everything, but it's how we deal with what life brings us that makes the difference.
Silas is such a little perfectionist. To the degree that I'm constantly telling him to relax and that its okay to mess up. I see so much of myself in him, from his incredibly stubborn nature to his tendencies of not wanting to make a mistake or disappoint anyone. It's really scary when you see things that you struggle with in your kids. But, it also gives you a greater understanding and better perspective. I learn from Silas that I need to go with the flow. I don't have to have the house spotless and I can be more spontaneous. It's okay to do something out of the ordinary and if I make a mistake, I need to move beyond that instead of beating myself up over it. I don't have to be perfect, and no one is asking me to be. So I watch my precious little son getting worked up over SILLY little things that in the long run are not worth all the fuss and stress. It makes me want to be a better person and makes me want to work on those areas in my life. So my point is, we need to be able to look at ourselves from an outside perspective and see the areas that need to be changed....and then DO IT. Don't be ignorant. Don't be stuck in the middle. Don't be so consumed in yourself that you miss all the life around you and ahead of you.
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