Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the animals out. So the dog wanders in and sits and scratches himself for awhile in the back of the room. The cat from next door slithers its way under the chairs, rubbing unexpectedly against your leg. A mouse got stranded under the communion table cloth and wants out. Every other alliterated point, he pokes his wiggly nose out to check on things and swiftly withdraws again. Maybe he smells the cat. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep your children in. You watch your children like a hawk when they play near the railing. You are four floors up and the railing bars are wide. Things happen. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the noise out. And the church is on a main road. The preacher has to compete with the traffic four floors below. You know heat rises (boy, does it ever!), but you didn't realize noise rises too. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the rain out. So everyone has to move away from the side (or the back) of the church when it rains. In the middle of the sermon. They just pick up their chairs and move. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the heat out. So whatever temperature it is outside, it also is inside. And it is HOT outside. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the air conditioning in. That's okay. There isn't any air conditioning anyway. Just fans. Lots of fans. The preacher has to compete with the traffic, and also with the fans. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To separate the different Sunday School classes. So you hang curtains from the rafters. The curtains billow in the breeze and flap against you while you listen to your Sunday School teacher. The curtains don't keep out the noises, only the sights. So the Sunday School teacher learns to compete with traffic noises, fan noises, and the noise of fifty children in four different age groups singing four different songs. Imagine your church has no walls. . . For a nursery. No softly padded floor. No crib, no toys, no swings. Just your arms. And the railing with the wide holes, of course! When your baby is tired or hungry, the Sunday School teacher has to compete with the traffic, the fans, the children singing on the other side of the curtain, and the baby crying in your arms. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To separate you from all the people outside. All that you do or say or sing is clearly seen and heard by those around you. Even if they weren't intending to attend church that morning, they were there. . . just outside your non-existent walls. Praise God! Imagine your church has no walls. . . To separate you from the great big huge needy hurting population outside. So you reach out your arms and invite them in. The poor ones, the rich ones, the tiny ones, the sick and hurting ones. The ones aching with sin. All the ones who need Christ so badly. For some of you this is so normal that you wonder why I would even mention it. . . . But there are others of you who can't wrap your minds around this. You sit in your padded pews with the air conditioning (or heat) keeping the sanctuary at a delightful predetermined temperature. Your babies are safely and happily playing in a fun, soft playroom. Your preacher wears a funny metal piece on the side of his face so that you can hear him even when he moves away from the pulpit. Your piano is protected from floods, heat, humidity, and mice, and thus churns out music fit for the heavenlies. You don't even know it is raining until you leave the building. There is nothing wrong with that! That is a marvelous blessing! Do you appreciate it fully? Walls can be wonderful, protecting things. In many parts of the world, walls are a necessity. But sometimes walls also keep the people out. The very people you are trying to reach. They drive past your walls and wonder what you are doing in there. People, aching with sin, needing a Savior. You have the answer. But you have to invite them in to hear it. You have to go to them with the truth that will set them free. Jesus preached on the mountainsides. He knew rain, heat, and cold. He reached people. His kingdom was not of this world, and He wasn't concerned about building walls. He was concerned about people. Sometimes we are too content with our walls. God has equipped you to fight your worst enemy. Don't join his side. Our enemy is sneaky.
He is sly. He is slimy and despicable. Some people don't realize this. They have joined his side. Instead of being on guard against him, they have cozied up and become friends. They watch his movies and laugh at his jokes. They surf his internet sites. They dance to his music. What they don't know is killing them. Spiritually. And the whole armor of God just sits there in their closet. Unused. Why put on armor to protect yourself against a friend? They don't understand the nature of this enemy's warfare. But Paul did. That is why the first thing Paul tells us about our enemy is the nature of his warfare: his warfare is one that employs deception, cunning or scheming. In other words, he is not going to fight fair. He will not fight like a gentleman. He will lie, deceive, trick, and use any manner of slimy schemes in order to unseat us from winning the war to walk worthy. Satan has a whole arsenal of unscrupulous tactics:
God has equipped you to fight your enemy. Don't join his side! Armor up and go out to fight against him! Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on, Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son; Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His mighty power: Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror. --Charles Wesley Your morning is the most important part of your day. How do you spend it? 5:00 am. Coffee is brewing. Notebook and pen are on the table. I open my Bible and read. Usually it is 5:00 am. Sometimes, if I am up in the middle of the night with a child, it is 5:30. If there is much to do and the day is unusually busy and I have company and have to start cooking breakfast early? 4:00 am. But I try not to skip. I rarely skip. This is the most important part of my day. How can I LIVE if I am not reading the words of life? Search the Scriptures, for in them . . . ye have eternal life. So, even though there are baskets of folded laundry waiting for my attention and emails sitting unopened in my inbox, I read my Bible. Even though I could get a great head start on cleaning or could begin dinner prep or catch some extra sleep. . . I read my Bible. I can't live successfully without it. And yet, people try. An informal survey of a Sunday school class showed that out of all the women in that class, only one or two had ever read their entire Bible. A pastor friend of ours says that a general survey of his church showed similar dismal results. (Yes, I read my entire Bible. I need every word. It is ALL pertinent to my life. Even Zechariah.) Are people too busy? The busier they are, the more wisdom they need! Are people too undisciplined? Funny thing: they are very disciplined about checking Facebook. Is it too hard to get up in the morning? Maybe some people need to go to bed earlier. This whole thing is very uncomplicated, actually. So here is what I do each day: I talk to Him. I usually start out at 5:00 by talking to the Lord. I'm still a little groggy and blurry-eyed, until that caffeine kicks in. So I bury my head in my arms and talk away. I share my day. I ask forgiveness for my failures the day before--they are so many, and so shameful. I express to Him my inadequacies for the tasks before me. I ask for His words to fill me, change me, prepare me for my day. And then. . . I listen to Him. I open that Word and listen to His voice. No, it is not audible; it is legible. Those words. . .they are His breath. He breathed them out for me. He knows what I will face today. And He knows what I will read today. And somehow He matches my trials to His promises, my weaknesses to His strengths, my needs to His provisions. He is sovereign over my reading time. How amazing is that? And while I am reading, I write what I learn. I am using a "What do I know about God" notebook this year that has been life-changing. In the first half of my notebook I record verses that teach me about the many facets of God's character. In the second half I record what I learn about what this God Who Breathes Words And Fashions People wants those people to do or to live like. In the first half of my notebook, each page says, "My God is . . . " I fill in the attribute of God and then write out verses below it. In the second half, each page says, "My God wants me to. . . " Again, I fill it out and each day record verses for those things. I started in January and already my notebook is bulging. I desperately want to know my God. At the end of my time with God, I close my notebook and Bible and lay down my pen. I rinse out my coffee cup. Now it is time. . . To start the day off right. Living for Him. Life is not all about me. It is all about Him. It is hard to get that part of living right when I don't take the time to learn about Him. And how do we know HOW to live, if we don't know the Words of Life? So tomorrow. . . Wake up! Talk to Him. Listen to Him. Live for Him. Your life will be different. It will be glorious. MORE ABOUT CULTIVATING A PERSONAL DEVOTIONAL TIME:
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Tim and LauraTimothy and Laura Berrey are missionaries with Gospel Fellowship Association. They share a passion for missions which has taken them to several countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They currently minister in the Philippines. Want articles like this delivered to your inbox?
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