3 Thing To Do When The Light Goes Dim (3)

"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works..."(Rev.2:5)
Could you please cast your mind back to the days when you were following hard after God, days of sharp sensitivity to the Spirit of God, when soul-winning was the major preoccupation of your soul; days when you were flowing in the gift and power of the Spirit while you stood as an encouragement to fellow saints. You had a great vision for the work of Ministry and you were ready to go all-out for it at all cost ...you were a vibrant gospel ambassador until distraction sets in!
How do you get back to where you fell from; where is the way-out?
You may wish to read through my last two posts wherein I explained the first two points: Number One, GOD DOES NOT FEEL THE WAY YOU FEEL, and Two

SHED THE WEIGHTS
and lastly, THOSE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES YOU WERE DOING, START DOING THEM AGAIN.
Ardent study of the word, constant and consistent labour in prayers and at times in solitude, association with men of like minds, attendance at Bible seminars and prayer conferences - these are some of the things you were doing and gradually you started making progress, passion was building-up in your heart, you were getting more and more intimate with God, revelation in the word was abounding and your love for the Lord was growing.
The idea 'here' is to make you see that the progress you made was not a mere coincidence, and even if you think it is, can't you see now that the coincidence has stopped since you wane in your commitment? The progress was actually a result of laborious and relentless input you made.
God has not changed His mind about His purpose for your life (Rom.11:29), He still want to use you for a great exploit and so you have to "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and DO THE FIRST WORK..."(Rev.2:5) blessed?

3 Things To Do When The light Goes Dim (2)

" Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Heb.12:1)

This is not an admonition for people who have never been down-to-earth with God; people who take Christianity as one of those things and have never been committed to Jesus in absolute surrender.

It is on the other hand meant for people who once had fervent love for the lord and was serving the Lord unreservedly until the light went dim. One thing led to the other, and consequently, passion and drive to walk with God and to do His will at all cost has waned. Am referring to people who were running well until they were distracted and their christian walk has turn-out to be a shadow of what it used to be.

Having stated in my previous post that the FIRST THING to do in such situation a

s this is to realize that GOD DOES NOT FEEL THE WAY YOU FEEL;

The SECOND THING to do is to SHED THE WEIGHTS - and weight 'here' does not mean sin only but everything that could obstruct progress in the christian course.

The word that readily came to mind is "preoccupation". Things that occupy your attention, things you spend time doing.

Your work/career could be a weight, sport, association with friends, internet, pinging, soap opera, novel, gratification of the flesh, sin and other legitimate things like sleep among others.

Once you place premium and priority over a particular activity or activities in your life above your commitment to the Lord, you are already carrying weight(s) and that will not only hinder your spiritual progress but it has the potential of short-changing your destiny if you bear it/them long enough.

In case, you are wondering why your love and passion for God is waning, then I charge you to check the 'weights' you are carrying because until you shed them there is no way forward.

I admonish you to first IDENTIFY the weights and then SHED them.

Why should you loose-out on God's best because of the fleeting affairs of this world ...think on these things!

3 Things To Do When The Light Goes Dim (1)

"But when he came to himself, he said... I will arise and go to my father" (Luke 15:17-18)

On the note of fervent and burning love for the Lord many started out the Christian life; but somewhere along the line 'the light got dim' due to such things as cares of this world, crave for riches, pleasures of life and  lust of other things.

Many in this state of waning fervency have resorted to self-condemnation and are wallowing in guilt which has led them deeper and deeper into sin.

In such a situation as this, the FIRST THING you must realize is that GOD DOES NOT FEEL THE WAY YOU FEEL.The love of God does not fluctuate with the attitude of men.Even when you are faithless, He still remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself. You are the one that is feeling guilty, God is not condemning you... He sure doesn't like your sin but yet He is not condemning you (Rom.8:1).

Harboring guilt and self-condemnation in your heart thinking you could impress God by so doing is nothing but self-righteousness and that wont get you anywhere.
You will do well to study the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).

One of the reason the New testament is far better than the old is because the new replaces human's sense of guilt with a strong sense of boldness and righteousness through faith in Christ (Heb. 9:6-9; 10:1-4,18-22).

Hence, it is not enough to feel bad about your backsliding state; you must 'arise' like the prodigal son did and turn back to the father. Even if you think you have blown many opportunities, yet He has not given up on you; that great mission is still Possible, that purpose can still be accomplished, that dream can still come to reality, you can still write those books, you can still compose those songs, you can still reach the world, you are still needed for the expansion of His Kingdom - YOU STILL MATTER TO GOD!  ...to be continued subsequently

Persistence in Evangelism (Spurgeon, Charles)

"If we do not see souls saved today or tomorrow, we will still work... We are labouring for eternity, and we count not our work by each day's advance, as men measure theirs; it is God's work and must be measured by His standard" - Charles Spurgeon

Persistence in Evangelism (Spurgeon, Charles)

"If we do not see souls saved today or tomorrow, we will still work... We are labouring for eternity, and we count not our work by each day's advance, as men measure theirs; it is God's work and must be measured by His standard" - Charles Spurgeon

Trust the Word!

"The LORD said to me, "You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled."(Jer.1:12 NIV)
Human mind cannot possibly fathom the extent to which God can express himself in and through someone who is totally dependent on His word - someone who takes Him at His word without wavering (Rom.4:19-21).
Once the heart is committed to totally believing His word, God makes Himself responsible for the performance/fulfillment of His word (Jer.1:12).
Once we do the trusting, He does the performance (John.11:40)
He is a performer of His word: He cannot deny His word - ever faithful, ever sure!

The Gospel Described (REINHARD BONNKE)

"Calvary was the crucial moment of the cosmic drama of redemption. Here was the ultimate confrontation of righteousness and evil. Jesus Christ was the battle center. He carried the fierce tensions of hell and heaven, right and wrong. I'm told that the nucleus of an atom bears the strain of positive and negative forces. Split the atom, and those forces are no longer stable, held in equilibrium. The

y are released and fly apart. Nuclear fission takes place in a chain reaction. Matter turns to energy in a vast eruption of power. Nuclear physics is not my field of study, but I do understand that on the Cross was the One who upholds all things by the Word of His power. There He took the strain of the positive force of righteousness and the negative force of sin. He emptied evil of its potency. This let loose upon the world the positive power of righteousness. In the tomb that generating power waited and then burst upon us. From that Tomb the energies of Divine righteousness were released - Resurrection power! It has rocked the world ever since. Spiritual explosions happen everywhere, in man's lives, shaking cities and nations. The Gospel “is the power of God”. REINHARD BONNKE

Fervency

"not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;"(Rom.12:11-12)
There is no alternative to fervency of spirit when it comes to commitment to the Lord.
When your passion begins to decline, you already start to die because you were born(saved) to burn. The soul of the believer is intended by God to be a furn

ace of burning zeal for His glory (Matt.5:16).
The power that raised Jesus from the dead with which we were endued was not given to us for interior decoration or for a mere sense of belonging.
We have received the ability of God for the accomplishment of His purpose and fulfillment of His will.

Consider Acts 1:8 " But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and YOU SHALL BE WITNESSES to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Wake up from your slumber fellow soldiers of the cross, banish excuses, and dethrone carnal interests and proclivity from your precious soul...
"You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier." (2Tim.2:4-5)
Strengthen the feeble kneels, be on guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous and be strong as we usher in the second coming of our Lord, Jesus the Lord!

Distraction

" For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica..." (II Tim.4:10)
I know people who in yesteryears walked with the Lord in singleness of heart, with absolute commitment and undivided attention; they were ardent students of the Bible, copious at quoting scriptures and were people given-over to much praying.
As a result of such unreserved commitment

to the Lord, vision and passion was 'birthed' in their hearts for heralding the gospel at all cost, whether by life or by death. They talked about their evangelistic vision and plans to impact the world with d word of truth.
Alas, today many of them could hardly remember if they ever had such passion. They now have different vision, ambition and values. The passion to herald the gospel for which they lived and were ready to die has become to them one of those childish ambitions garnered in the days of' 'ignorance'.
They have been distracted!
...ends have to meet, certain social status must be attained, the pinnacle of career must be reached while support for football teams is not left-out. Though they re not wrong in themselves, yet in the quest for such legitimate affairs brass have been substituted for gold (Luke 8:14).
There is little or no time for communion with God; days of protracted study of the word have gone: hence, lack of sensitivity to God, dis-inclination to the cause of the gospel, loss of God-given vision are few of the apparent results.
Hmnn! distraction! - one of devil's most terrible and most subtle end-time means of robbing believers of their effectiveness has become the order of the day.
Time is short, Jesus is coming back soon, the world is dying and interestingly, God has not given-up on you, He is still counting on you. You are still very relevant in God's end-time agenda.
I charge you to "Remember therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works..."(Rev.3:5) will you?