Saturday morning Pastor Christine Woods shared with Women Empowering Women an hour of powerful and anointed prayer full of revelation. Pastor Christine is blessed with the divine ability to see into your situation and call out the things that you need to work on. She does it with love and with authority.
She told us to study 2 Corinthians 4:17 after the powerful time in prayer. As I was sharing this experience with a sister last night my thoughts turned to the mission and vision of our ministry Urban Empowerment and this scripture opened for me and showed me that our Pastors are leading us into what it means to own your relationship with Christ through accepting His will, seeking Him first, being obedient to His call and open to His purpose all under the guise of humbling yourself in spite of what things look like on the outside. Because there could be trouble on every side, but God is looking for some Gideon soldiers.
I was reminded this morning of a story that a friend of mine told me one day while I as visiting her home. She has a curio case with some artifacts in it that belonged to her grandparents. One of those items is a bankbook. It reminded her, she said, of how hard her grandparents had worked to earn everything that they owned. They were able to purchase a home and a car, which was unheard of for African-Americans in those days, but they saved everything that they earned and used it wisely. She then said that today's generation doesn't care about owning. Today's generation only cares about how things look so they will rent an apartment full of furniture paying a lot more than it is actually worth, ruining their credit scores because they are overwhelmed with debts just so they can speed up the process and make it look like they have earned what it took her grandparents a whole lifetime to earn.
The point is this, we cannot rent a relationship with God. Some people believe that they can. They believe that on Sunday mornings they can come in and throw their hands up, wail, moan, cry and fall out and that will get for them something that they have not earned by simply entering in beyond the veil into God's presence and offering Him honest worship.
Renting is a funny thing. When you rent it looks like you have it going on. You can have the best furniture and the biggest and best tv and surround sound system, and car, and house, but behind the scenes you're paying out so much that you exhaust yourself. It's like you're out of breath. You cannot relax because you have to keep up the front. You have to keep things looking a certain way. All of your resources go to the look of wealth.
Renting religion is the same. All of your effort is in the look, but behind the scenes on Monday you cannot be reached to encourage or uplift someone else. On Tuesday you cannot be found to lift up the name of Jesus and no one can drink from your well because you are dry. On Thursday no one can find you for a hug because you're depressed yourself. On Friday when Pastors need volunteers to help promote events you cannot be found because you're tired and run down, but Sunday you're there with your weekly payment in hand!
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says this:
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
She told us to study 2 Corinthians 4:17 after the powerful time in prayer. As I was sharing this experience with a sister last night my thoughts turned to the mission and vision of our ministry Urban Empowerment and this scripture opened for me and showed me that our Pastors are leading us into what it means to own your relationship with Christ through accepting His will, seeking Him first, being obedient to His call and open to His purpose all under the guise of humbling yourself in spite of what things look like on the outside. Because there could be trouble on every side, but God is looking for some Gideon soldiers.
I was reminded this morning of a story that a friend of mine told me one day while I as visiting her home. She has a curio case with some artifacts in it that belonged to her grandparents. One of those items is a bankbook. It reminded her, she said, of how hard her grandparents had worked to earn everything that they owned. They were able to purchase a home and a car, which was unheard of for African-Americans in those days, but they saved everything that they earned and used it wisely. She then said that today's generation doesn't care about owning. Today's generation only cares about how things look so they will rent an apartment full of furniture paying a lot more than it is actually worth, ruining their credit scores because they are overwhelmed with debts just so they can speed up the process and make it look like they have earned what it took her grandparents a whole lifetime to earn.
The point is this, we cannot rent a relationship with God. Some people believe that they can. They believe that on Sunday mornings they can come in and throw their hands up, wail, moan, cry and fall out and that will get for them something that they have not earned by simply entering in beyond the veil into God's presence and offering Him honest worship.
Renting is a funny thing. When you rent it looks like you have it going on. You can have the best furniture and the biggest and best tv and surround sound system, and car, and house, but behind the scenes you're paying out so much that you exhaust yourself. It's like you're out of breath. You cannot relax because you have to keep up the front. You have to keep things looking a certain way. All of your resources go to the look of wealth.
Renting religion is the same. All of your effort is in the look, but behind the scenes on Monday you cannot be reached to encourage or uplift someone else. On Tuesday you cannot be found to lift up the name of Jesus and no one can drink from your well because you are dry. On Thursday no one can find you for a hug because you're depressed yourself. On Friday when Pastors need volunteers to help promote events you cannot be found because you're tired and run down, but Sunday you're there with your weekly payment in hand!
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says this:
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
This scripture pierces the very meaning of ownership of a relationship with God. It says this, I might be really going through, but I see it only as a minor thing that lasts for a short time because what I'm doing for and in the Kingdom is storing up a treasure for me. I understand that what I'm dealing with in this world is only temporary--it's not going to last so I'm not working hard for this world, but what is real is what is unseen so my labor and my work is what I do for Christ because that will last throughout eternity. In other words only what we do for Christ will last.
Read the whole chapter of 2 Corinthians 4 and make up your mind to own your relationship with Christ through hearing the Word, obeying His commandments, taking one for the team, really understanding that it's not about us, but it is about Jesus. It's okay if folks talk about you--didn't they talk about Him? It's okay if you are sometimes misunderstood--did they always understand Jesus? It's okay if people scandalize your name and speak ill of your intentions--it will happen sometimes--you are not exempt. As we are learning to own we must learn discipline. We cannot react to everything that the enemy throws our way, but we must be like a tree planted by the waters--determined not to move--flexible, but not breakable. It is important to be flexible because a relationship means you'll have to take correction--you'll have to take criticism and direction and teaching and guidance and pruning. When you own your relationship with Christ you recognize that He chastises those whom He loves so you humble yourself no matter who He uses to correct you.
Make a down payment on a real relationship with God and stop wasting your earnings on renting religion.
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