Heart Tracks - Life Or Death?

19 “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! 20 You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This[a] is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20....."I have to consider when the Holy Spirit last took me to a new level of understanding of God's Word. When did I last come out of my time with God so excited about what He said to me that I could hardly wait to tell someone? When was the last time others were deeply impacted by something God said to me? Eloquent words don't change lives. Divine ones do....People don't need another sermon. They need a divine message." Richard Blackaby...."No one has trouble finding a light when all else is dark." Chris Tiegreen

I read an article recently that said that 92% of those sitting in church pews each week don't have a biblical worldview. When it comes to millennials, the number climbs to 96%. Though this is shocking, it shouldn't be to anyone who follows what is said by many professing believers on social media. The fact that they are obviously far more influenced by what they hear in the popular culture they are a part of, than by Kingdom culture they say they belong to, is painfully obvious. People not only don't know the Word of God, they don't know His voice either. In the Old Testament it was said of an era of the people of Israel that they heard from God only sparingly. Small wonder that their views and belief system took on that of the surrounding cultures, and that their hearts drifted very far from Him and His Words of Truth. His response was to send them His prophets. They were rarely welcomed, but they were deeply needed. So it is today.

If you read the Scripture above, and Blackaby's words about it, how do you respond? When was the last time you or I really came away from our "devotions" knowing we had really heard His voice? When has He been able to reveal something deeper about Himself, about you, in the time you say you are spending with Him? How many "aha" moments have we had with Him lately? When we carry this over to our corporate times of worship, do we come away thinking we've just heard a good sermon, or have we received a divine word from Him? Did we attend a lecture, or did we hear from God? The church will accept leaders, team builders, vision casters, and all may have their place, but the need of the day is for His prophetic voices to stand in the midst of His people and say, "This is what the Lord says." To my understanding, every message has to be a divine word from Him. Every message must have the element of choice; choice between life and death within it. If it doesn't, than we only give them what we think, what our words are. They have no eternal value. Only His do.

Take a look at those above stats again. We're looking at a combined total of 6% of His professing church seeing the world as He does. It should shake us, frighten us. It should bring us to our knees. Does it bring you, me, to ours? He is raising up His prophets, and you don't need an actual pulpit to be one. Your "pulpit" is where you stand and live right now. The culture around us desperately needs to hear what He is saying. You and I have more ways than ever to speak to that need. The words may not be welcomed, but they must be spoken. Words of life spoken into a culture of death. God is speaking. He's always speaking. Can you hear Him? If you do, dare you speak His Words of light into the deep darkness around you?

Blessings,
Pastor O