The love of many will grow cold...

The love of many will grow cold...

It's been a few months since this phrase has been repeating in my head and I cannot ignore it. In the book of Revelation we find Jesus speaking about several churches but one stands out to me, the church of Laodicea. He says to them:

"I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth." ESV Revelation 3:15-16

Now here's a different version

"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot-far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit." The Message Rev 3:15-16

Those are some harsh words but what plays over in my head is when He says, I would rather you be cold or hot. Think about what that means, someone who is hot is someone who is after God's heart. They are living holy and are seeking after Him, seeking to please Him. They are truly in love with God and desiring His presence. They are ready to do whatever necessary to have God, to capture His attention. Now someone who is cold is the opposite, they are in the world, living life, telling God blatantly "I want nothing to do with You; I am going to do me now; I don't need You/trust You/believe in You; Leave me alone." Jesus rather you be cold than lukewarm, here is why.

Someone who is lukewarm thinks they know God, they think that they have what it takes to get into heaven. They play church and they are great at it, they attend every service, they raise their hands during praise and worship and they even pray. But they are indifferent about God's presence, they are so numb that they don't feel Him, they have played church for so long they have become desensitized and are no longer capable of feeling God. Not only are they not capable, they don't care to feel His presence. You see it is lukewarm Christians that are keeping cold people from coming to Christ. That is why Jesus says, I rather you be cold because at least if you are cold when I come near you, you are able to react.

This scares me, I don't ever want to become lukewarm. I don't ever want to become indifferent about Him. I want to know when He is the room and when He is not. I want to know that I am doing everything in my power to please Him, to seek Him. I want to long for Him, I want to need Him. The thought of living a life without God scares me. Hell doesn't scare me, burning for all eternity does not scare me, what scares me is not having Him for all eternity, not feeling Him.

I want to give Him my all, I do not want to do this Christian life half-heartily and I certainly do not want my love for Him to grow cold.

If you have grown lukewarm, there is still hope. Here is what He says:

"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anything hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on His throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches" Revelation 3:19-22

Loving Him Back

The word of God says that we love Him because He first loved us. God loved you while you were in your mess, He loves you the way you are but when He comes into your life He brings change. There are days when I wonder how can a Holy God love me? How could He want me? I am a sinner and even after I asked Him to become Lord of my life I continue to fall and make mistakes. Sometimes I feel like I couldn't possibly love Him back.

The hardest part for me is admitting that someone could love me enough to die for me, that the creator of the universe would love me enough to give all that He has to have me. My mind cannot understand why would He send His ONLY Son for me. There are times when I feel worthless, I evaluate my life and I feel like a complete failure. But His love abounds, He reminds me who I am and what I mean to Him daily. I am His beloved, I am the one He loves and continues to love even when I fall short of His Glory.

Loving Him back is the easiest and the most challenging thing I have ever had to do. How could I not love the One who died for me? How could I resist Him? How could I refuse to answer His call? I have tried, I have run away, I have ignored His voice only to find myself in His arms.

We need to learn to love Him back, we need to learn to respond to His love. We are capable of loving Him back only because He first loved us. Had He not sent Jesus to die on a cross and pay our debt we couldn't love Him back, our sins would hold us back, our guilt and shame would keep us bound but it's His love that sets us free. Free to love, free to dance for Him and sing to Him.

I challenge you to love Him back, even when you think you are not worthy, especially when you feel like you don't deserve His love just LOVE HIM BACK!!! Learn to see yourself the way He sees you, He sees you and He falls deeper in love with you. He sees you and He counts the sacrifice made on the cross well worth it. He sees you and He doesn't regret creating you.

Trying to please a Holy God

I have tried to serve God. I have spent most of my time trying to serve Him, trying to please Him, trying to make Him proud. But that's exactly what has kept me far from Him, I been trying so hard to do things in my own strengths not realizing that I cannot do it on my own, I cannot please a perfect God with my imperfect ways. My righteousness are but filthy rags to Him, I don't have the right to present myself before His presence because of all the "good" I have done. I have the right to present myself before His presence because of all that Jesus did on the cross.

I cannot please God, I cannot serve Him, I cannot make Him proud. I cannot do anything on my own, it is Christ in me who is able to please the Father, He is able to serve Him and make Him proud. It is when I stop trying to do things in my own strength that I allow Him to act through me. I am but dust, I am but a creation, the master piece of my maker.

Why don't we just stop trying to please a Holy God and just allow Him to work in us. We are humans and we will fall, we will sin and things will not go as planned but in our weakness His strength is perfected. We find Him at the end of ourselves. It is only when we realize that there is nothing we can do that He begins to move.

Dear...

Dear Church,

I come to you hoping to find a place where I can worship freely without having to think about the person next to me. I come to you wanting to be free to cry out to God and not have to worry about offending or scaring those around me. I come to you hoping to make you my safe haven, the place I come to when my world is falling apart. I come to you  expecting to find God inside...


Dear People of God,

I come to you broken and scared, not knowing who to trust and what to believe in. I call you my brothers and my sisters hoping to find in you what I didn't find in my natural family. I come to you unashamed to worship a wonderful God not worrying about fitting in but just being myself. I come to you showing you my true colors believing that you will accept me just as God has accepted me...


Unfortunately the Church and the so called people of God have failed my expectations, but I guess that's my fault for believing people could be perfect. If I can't be perfect why would I expect anyone else Christian or none Christian to be perfect. I come to church and I am judge for worshipping a wonderful God, I offend some people with my desperate cries for mercy. The place I once thought I could make my safe haven has become the place I try staying away from because I'll get hurt. I show my true colors only to find out that if the colors do not fit their particular taste I will not be accepted. Sometimes it is easier to find God in the world than it is to find Him inside the church.

Worthy God

We come to God with a preconceived notion of who He is and what He is like but just because we have read of Him it does not mean we know Him. If we have read our bibles we know that He is a God who loves us, one who sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins.

We have also read of all the miracles, signs and wonders He is capable of performing. We feed ourselves with head knowledge and sad enough we are satisfied by knowing of Him but never getting to know Him. We come to Him thinking that because He is God He doesn't need the praises of sinners like you or me and you are right He does not need our praises, our pathetic excuse of worship, He deserves it.

Our generation has gotten so use to entertainment and being entertained. We go to church thinking it's a circus, wondering what trick God will do for us today. What foolish creatures we are! Do we not know to whose house we go to every Sunday? Do we not realize in the presence of whom we are when we go to church? Well that is if HE is ever invited in. Church has become such an exclusive club, God does not meet the requirements to become a member.

We go to church once a week thinking we are doing God a favor by showing up for a few hours on Sunday but forgetting all about Him the next 6 days. As if Jesus only takes attendance on Sundays. I'm sorry to inform you Christianity is a lifestyle, a full-time job.

Like they say go hard or go home, in this case is surrender all or go to hell, not that I am sending you there it is your actions that have won you a free ticket with no way out. Let's stop pretending hell is not real, let's stop fooling ourselves by thinking that as long as we are good we won't go to hell. Good by whose standards, yours or God's? God will not be fooled, He will not be mocked.

Just because Jesus came to fulfill the law it does not make His commandments void. He said "you shall have no other god before me" and He meant it, and just to be clear a god is anything that takes His place. He commanded us not to steal or kill but we steal and kill our neighbors dreams and hopes when we gossip and speak bad about them.

To love your God with all of your heart, soul and strength and love your neighbor as you love yourself those are the greatest commandments. But many of us fall short, we might confess we love God but prove ourselves liars when we don't love our neighbors. You cannot love God if you don't love your neighbor. He said love Me with all and He meant all, not a portion. He wants it all and if you are not going to give it all then don't give anything because for Him half of something or nothing are the same thing.

Be like Me!

God has called us to be like Him, time and time again we read this, the first words He spoke in regards to men were "let's make men in our image" in our likeness, let's make him like us. And so He formed us in His image, nothing more and nothing less, He made us just like Him. Then He commands us to be like Him, to do good for He is good, to be holy for He is holy, to love one another for He is love, to show mercies for He is merciful, to be faithful because He is faith, to be righteous for He is righteous. He wants us to be like Him because it is only when we become like Him that we are able to abide in His presence.

"For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy..."

Leviticus 11:44