Day 2770 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Psalm 105:38 NIV

Why the weakness? Why so much fear? Why have we allowed this fallen world to tell us who and what we can be? Why do we allow humanity to define the limits of our faith? Why do we still fall for this foolishness that tells us that God has to fit into some box that we can fit in our minds that does nothing but limit the true power that our faith in Him brings? Why do we refuse to let ourselves see beyond the scope of what we think is possible and continue to live our lives with this almost hollow concept of who Christ really is?

I was reading through a few chapters in Psalms last night and this one just really seemed to fit with everything we've been discussing lately. Our fear of mankind has caused us to water down our faith to the point that we just meet up once a week for an hour and quietly talk about it in our fancy little buildings where we're surrounded by only those who agree with us. We've forgotten those who came before us along this road following Christ. We've forgotten that we only have one Master and He is not confined to this ball of dirt.

We've become so afraid of even speaking about our faith that we've just settled for largely keeping it quiet and living it out in secret. Our society has fallen so far from God's commands and desires and requests that evil has overtaken control of nearly everything. And rather than remembering who we are and the power we've been given, we've just allowed the evil in this place to shove us into a corner where we cower in fear of accidentally rocking the boat and finding ourselves on the receiving end of the poisonous rebuke of those enslaved to the king of lies.

It's almost like we've only managed to grasp the beginning half of all the stories in the Bible. We're still Jonah trying to run away from having to do something scary that God's called us to do. We're still the woman at the well talking to Jesus yet completely unaware of Who it is that we're with. We're still Joseph being dragged in chains toward a land far from home. We're still the slaves who are stuck in Egypt suffering under the heavy hand of our over-lords. We're still seeing ourselves as the powerless victims who are completely at the mercy of the situations that we're currently facing.

When did we decide to forget about the power our faith gives us? When did we become terrified of entering the lion's den? When did we lay down our sling and stones and just let Goliath go on talking his trash? When did we decide that we have to abide by the crooked desires of those who we're actually supposed to be trying to help find salvation in Christ? If we were Noah, we'd have laid down our hammer and stopped building. If we were Joseph, we'd have settled for calling an Egyptian prison good enough. If we were Ruth, we'd have wished our mother-in-law good luck and watched her ride away.

Friends, it shouldn't be this way. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of a power this world can neither contain nor deny. God hasn't placed us in this world for us to succumb to worrying about getting hurt or being hated but to overcome evil with good. Somewhere along the line we decided it was okay to quietly wait our entire lives for Jesus to come back so we didn't ruffle any feathers along the way. We should be waking up every morning only to ruin the devil's day knowing that he has to contend with us sharing the truth of God once again!

But that's not what we see is it? We don't see a church willing to be thrown in prison for speaking against the evil we see. We don't see people who are willing to face hatred and persecution if it means someone hearing the name of Jesus. We don't see a faithful army who gets back home every night "rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name." We see a bunch of talking, a bunch of fearful avoidance of the vile mob controlling our world, a bunch of people simply waiting to die so they get a reward they never once did anything in their lives to even pretend existed for everyone else as well.

The Egyptians didn't agree to let the Israelites leave their enslavement. They didn't ask them nicely to go ahead and take their pilgrimage to go and worship God. THEY DROVE THEM OUT OF THEIR COUNTRY!! They were ecstatic when the Israelites finally left because God was tearing their nation to the ground! That's what our faith is! That's who our God is! That's who we're called to be! But it's not. We've stopped short worried that if we go a little too far then the world will hate us or hurt us and we're not willing to face that kind of pressure or pain.

Luke 10:19 tells us that God has given us authority to trample snakes and scorpions but instead we've decided to walk softly so we’re not noticed by the vengeful. We have a God who shuts the mouths of lions but we've allowed a wicked society to shut ours. We claim to believe in a Savior who overcame death in order to destroy evil's hold on us but we're apparently worried that He can't protect us from what the evil in this world may do should we go against them. We've been given a power unlike anything this world can imagine and yet we’ve just given it away so that nobody gets mad at us.

What are we doing? Are we living to make Christ known or to ensure that the wicked don't know us? Are we here to make disciples or to just make people like us? Are we fishers of men of living in fear of them? Are we living like we have the power of the Holy Spirit or are we cowering in the corner afraid of the power of a fallen society?

Friends, it's time to take our voice back. Time to take our faith back. Time to take hold of what the Bible tells us and stop living like it's just a bunch of old stories in a book. When we allow Egypt to define us and to determine what's allowed, we can be sure that we'll only be able to do and say what they agree with so that we have no power to stand against them. And make no mistake, Egypt is still here. People are still slaves to fear. People are still slaves to hatred. People are still more than willing to let others control them. Are we?

We have to stop treading so lightly that the world only knows of a Jesus that fits comfortably inside the widely accepted terms settled upon by those in control. We have to quit allowing the world around us to silence the faith inside of us. Friends, we're here to shake the world, to change the world, to help change others, to help save others. We can't do that if we're afraid of the side who doesn't want to be changed. We can't accomplish anything if we continue to live in fear of the evil that is running this place.

The problem with modern religion is that nobody wants to kill the preachers. The evil in this world isn't afraid of us because we've become afraid of it. Nobody feels the need to crucify us in order to stop the spreading of the Gospel because we've taken it upon ourselves to shut up about the truth He gave us to share and instead only share a bunch of feel-good sunshine and puppies drivel that does nothing but make everyone comfortable right where they are and affords the wickedness in this place the freedom to continue keeping our brothers and sisters in chains.

This world has always wanted to steal the power of our faith, and for long enough we've played along. Don't know if you realize it or not, but there are still sheep who are lost and need to be saved. There are still people who need to hear the name of Jesus so that He can shatter their chains and set them free from the darkness that's holding them hostage. And He put us here to help. Time we get to it because time is running out.

When all is said and done, I don't want to live a life that makes people comfortable while I'm here. I want to live a life that makes the wicked happy that I'm gone. That should be all of our attitude. Because we're called to fight in this battle not try to avoid it. This world should be driving us out of it just as Egypt drove the Israelites away. Not because they hate us, but because the power of God is flowing through us tearing down the evil that has long held too much power over those who've been too afraid to stand against it.

We are not made to be fearful but to be faithful. And God hasn't given us the Holy Spirit only for us to have some company along this lonely road of faith. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that it would ignite a fire in our hearts to help others find that same salvation and that same desire to help others as well. It's time to stop living as if this is our home and remember that we belong somewhere else. So this place doesn't get to tell us what's acceptable. Rather, we get to show this place a kind of power that will make the sinful desperate to get rid of us so that they can once again be left alone and not have to endure the wrath of the God we serve.

Just remember what 1 Corinthians 4:20 tells us, “The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” The time for weakly whispering about our faith so as to not gain any unwanted attention is over. It’s time for us to be the army God calls us to be that shares a message the world is desperate to silence. Let’s show the world who our God is and stop allowing them to tell us who He’s allowed to be.

#LeaveNoSoulUntold