Re-Evaluating Our Christian Walk

There are times when we need to re-evaluate our lives as born again believers and make the changes necessary to strengthen our relationship with God.

I think this is a subject we can all relate to. There are times in our Christian lives when we need to stop, think about what we've done, where we are, and what we hope to accomplish in the future.

Knowing where we've been and reflecting on the road that has lead us to where we are now is a morale booster, but we can't live on past glories. The point to looking back is to check our progress and give us the opportunity to make any course corrections that are needed in order to continue moving forward. Of course, this needs to be done through prayer, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, and through the wisdom that the Lord has blessed us all with.

The older I get, the more I realize just how important it is to use my time wisely in order to accomplish what the Lord has sent me here to do. God sent me here, to this particular point in time, to complete specific tasks. As I get older and time grows short, I understand more that my time here on earth is valuable and I need to ask myself whether there needs to be a course correction. Am I accomplishing all that I can for the Lord?

I woke up from a dream a little while ago. In this dream I was helping a brother who had turned away from the church body. I felt the power of God flowing through me as I counseled him. I brought his plea before the pastor in order to create reconciliation between him and the person I was counseling. Long story short, I found myself begging with the the pastor to listen to reason. When I woke up from the dream, I understood even more how some of the decisions I have made in the past few years separated me from the church body and from the work that the Lord had planned for me to complete.

I began thinking of how many opportunities had been wasted apart from the body, and how much time had been used for other things, sin being chief among them. Although I've repented, I still find myself separated from the body of believers that I was born to be a part of. Phone apps, world news, social media sites, online videos... all of these things had taken the place of my relationships within the body of Christ.

I have come to terms with the fact that even though the structure of the modern day church doesn't reflect how the early church operated, I need to be okay with that because even in such a setting, God works through His body of believers. I don't agree with some of the traditions, but it's the best system we have in this modern age, and to abandon it wouldn't be wise. Yes, God has brought me full circle on this issue. 

Because of this, I believe it's my responsibility to work within this framework to complete the work that the Lord has for me. I'm currently seeking out a church body where I can be an active participant. I left a particular church body, and it wasn't a clean break, so going back to that particular church body will be difficult. Although, sometimes the most difficult choice is the one that brings the best results. Fortunately for me, I'll be approaching church participation from a different perspective this time around. 

Right now I have a fire in my heart that says I needs to move forward. I need to link arms with those brothers and sisters that are truly serious about their relationship with the Lord and who are in it for the long haul. We need to stand side by side at the front line, put our shields up and advance together, step by step, into the enemy's territory. We can't be looking back and patting ourselves on the back for the amount of territory we've taken. We just need to focus on what lies ahead and constantly move forward. There will be plenty of time to look back at the efforts we put in to the battle once the battle is over and we're home with the Lord.

The church has always been filled with social butterflies, chatterboxes, gossipers, the uncommitted, the "religious," etc... We won't ever find a church body where we won't find at least one or more of these types of individuals, but we can't let that divide us or stop us from encouraging one another. We can't let that stop us from fellowshiping with one another. We can't let that stop us from praising and worshiping God as a body. Whether we gather together in a church building, at someone's house, walking on the beach, driving in a car...wherever, we need to operate as one body in support of each other and encourage one another to continue the race, growing in wisdom, knowledge and understanding of God and His word. 

If going to "church" is too much for you right now, Christian social media is a start. You may want to think about joining a Christian social media site. For full disclosure, I'm a member of Lord'sBook and Jesus.Social. They're facebook-type web sites that have a lot of bells and whistles. You might want to check them out. If you do, please friend request me. Search for Ken Souza or souzak99. I have found them to be a pretty good place to start in entering back into fellowship.

I'm in the middle of re-evaluating my choices and the direction of my walk with the Lord right now. Join me and really commit to making some of the tough choices. Consider:

-Uninstalling unnecessary apps like games and other things that are time eaters.

-Limiting the amount of television or YouTube videos that you may be watching.

-Limiting your time on worldly social media, like facebook, Twitter, Snapchat,  Instagram, etc. (I deleted my accounts with facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and G+)

-Chatting or texting with your Christian friends about positive and spiritual things instead of spending time with worldly friends talking about worldly things.

These are just a few basic suggestions to get you to think about the things in your life that may be separating you from God instead of building up that relationship and drawing closer to Him. 

Consider whether the skills you have can be used to glorify God. If you're going to be using your skills to create a product, then why not use it to create something for God? The skills that the Lord has blessed me with have allowed me to create this blog site, tract cards, after rapture packets, booklets, a DVD, etc... I don't make any money off of any of it because I refuse to charge a fee for sharing the word of God. In fact, I've spent a lot of money on the after rapture packets and on keeping this blog site operational. That doesn't mean that every skill or craft has to be given away for free. As an example, I've been thinking of purchasing the equipment to create christian themed patches for clothing. I would sell those because I wouldn't be selling the word of God, which God has freely given to us and which we are to freely give to others.

Before I get too far off the subject, let me bring the discussion back around and say that just as we evaluate other things in our lives, our spiritual walk with the Lord deserves just as much attention. You may come to realize that the Lord has taken you in a totally unexpected direction, and that some of your choices now need to be re-evaluated. 

I pray that your walk with the Lord grows daily and that you will make an effort to draw closer to God so that He can fulfill His part of the promise and draw closer to you. May we all be more like Jesus every day, and may we all rejoice in His presence together on that great and glorious day when He returns to take us all home.

If you like this article, or any of the other information on this web site, please consider following me. You'll be one of the first to be notified when I create new content! You'll find the section at the top of the right hand column on this page. It says, "Follow Tribulation Harvest by Email." After entering your email address, you may be prompted to sign in to your Google account. Thank you!!!

Repent and be forgiven! Believe and be saved!

TribulationHarvest.net