Disconnected

 In Joshua, chapter 1, God tells Joshua, who's been selected to lead the people into their "Land of Promise," to be "strong and courageous." He tells him this 3 times. A central part of the message of the Gospel is that Christ came "to give life, and to give it abundantly." As I survey the landscape of the church and of my own life, I see more evidence that we are anything but strong and courageous, and that the lives we live are not only non-abundant, but barely mediocre. I am not being judgemental but merely facing the reality of a professing church that seems unable to live on a level much better than the world it is supposed to have come out from.

We, the church, have been commissioned to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Instead of being light in the darkness we seem to be overwhelmed by that darkness. The afflictions of the world, divorce, addiction, and its value system and worldview, are as much a part of the church as it is of the world. The culture around us has had a far greater impact upon us than we upon it. The result has been a casual approach not only to the authority and truth of His Word, but towards His holiness and Person as well.  The cost of all this is growing steeper by the day.

The Hebrew word for "strong" used in Joshua means "to be connected to." God is telling Joshua that he'll be strong and have courage so long as he stays connected to Him. The power is sustained by the connection and the degree of intimacy in that connection. This point was so important to the Father that He emphasized it THREE times. The importance of this to God has never lessened but too many have ceased to hear and obey it. We've become disconnected people living disconnected lives. Chip Anderson has written, "If your soul is disconnected from its Source, it will die." Friends, how disconnected from Him have we become? How much dying has gone on, continues to go on in our lives? How can we stay connected to Him with 5 minutes of daily prayer with a few random verses of Scripture thrown in? Day by day we grow more fearful, weaker, and see our lives withering....and dying. 

Such things never happen all at once. It starts with letting some part of the connection with Him fade. "Just this once" we tell ourselves. We'll get back on track tomorrow. He understands. Or the day after that, or the day after that, or....Soon, the victory we once had turns to defeat. The vibrant life we enjoyed becomes dry and listless. Life becomes existence, which is not life at all. All the while He calls us to come back, to join with Him anew, to once again be able to "do all things through Christ who strengthens us." 

How is the connection with Him in your life and spirit today? Writing this, the light in my office flickers, even goes out briefly. Somewhere there's a bad connection. The power flow is hindered. Where is our spiritual life flickering? Where is it in danger of going out? In the Old Testament, we are called to "follow hard after God." That is, to be so completely attached to Him that we are as one. Have you such a connection, or is it flickering....inching ever closer to going out?

Blessings,
Pastor O