Going deep with God. That’s important, right?
But it’s almost like we’ve equated going deep with being weird. So we’ve gone the other way. For fear of being weird, we’ve kept ourselves from diving headfirst into Jesus. From allowing His lordship to permeate our speech, our time, our entertainment, and our choices.
But we need to go deep. Especially if you want to be a lead in any way. Especially if you want to make a difference, Depth is not a question.
Depth doesn’t have to mean weird, stuck up, fake, pretentious. But it must mean that you are moved by the God that you worship.
This is what we need more than anything. Those who aren’t content with being a good musician and putting on great performances.
Because it’s really easy to fake it. No one sees you waking up early to seek God. No one sees your intercession in the middle of the night. No one sees the money you give and the sacrifice it is to pay your tithe every month. With each new day, it has become increasingly easy to fake the real thing. Instagram allows us to present the best version of our looks and experiences. We can cause people to envy us while inwardly we are dying.
So let me ask: how is your health? How is your life, really? How deep are you going with God?
I’m not asking how big the budget is that you manage or how many people you supervise. I’m not asking who thinks you’re the greatest or how many compliments you receive on a weekly basis.
I’m asking…how are you, not what others think of you.
For a moment, stop concerning yourself with how much money you have in the bank and how “successful” you are. For a moment, take inventory of your real relationship with Jesus. If you stood before Him right now, how would His 2016 review of your life be? This isn’t to shame you. This isn’t to heap on the guilt and regret for past mistakes. It’s just to get honest. Because the most important thing about your life isn’t all the externals that culture values. It’s about the inner life.
As the great Puritan writers would say,
God of my end, it is my greatest, noblest pleasure to be acquainted with thee and with my rational, immortal soul; It is sweet and entertaining to look into my being when all my powers and passions are united and engaged in pursuit of thee, when my soul longs and passionately breathes after conformity to thee and the full enjoyment of thee; No hours pass away with so much pleasure as those spent in communion with thee and with my heart.”
Your credibility as a minister will always come down to living the real thing. It’s not your leadership skills, talent, or charisma. It’s the crossroads of what you say and who you are.
I don’t know about you, but that’s how I’m approaching the new year.
I want my greatest joy to be the time I spent with the Savior – a heart surrendered, fully committed, and centered on His will. How about you?
Let’s talk about it in the comment. You can leave a comment by clicking here.
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
Chris Johnson says
It’s so good to get honest with our hearts and God. Yes it can be uncomfortable, but it’s always comforting to know God already sees it and He is the One who both knows us the best and yet loves us the most! Christ in us, the hope of glory means we can face our failures of 2016 with hope for Grace to grow in 2017. Great read, and thank you for the hyperlinks to your other 2 articles. Perfectly supported the point. If we just focus on our private history making with God, the public history making He wants to do through our lives is substantiated and balanced so that we may always give God greater glory!
One of the ways I want to go deeper with God this year is through my THOUGHT life. I want my worship to go deeper than “mouth-level” but to be “thought-level” as David prayed in PSALM 19:14 “May the words of my mouth and the THOUGHTS OF MY HEART be acceptable in YOUR sight, O Lord my strength and my redeemer.”
Happy 2017 – May He get the glory He deserves through each of us!
Douglas Walker says
I want to go deeper with God in my prayer life. I don’t feel I spend enough time studying his word. I want to get to know him better, so that I can live out my purpose and please him.
Thanks for the inspiration.
darlene acton says
as i was cleaning out my email box, i came across this and was moved to read it. You are so right…the ONLY thing that matters is our “heart relationship” with Jesus. out of the abundance, what we fill our hearts with, does the mouth speak. and the thoughts, wow, taking every thought captive, looking at it, does it glorify God. that can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. my prayer this year is “search my heart” period. thank you for being real and not religious.