Friday, October 2, 2009

Weekend Wish

I came upon an article written by R.C. Sproul this week. It's titled "The Sensuous Christian" and in it he explains: "The sensuous Christian is one who lived by his feelings rather than through his understanding of the Word of God. The sensuous Christian cannot be moved to service, prayer or study unless he "feels like it." His Christian life is only as effective as the intensity of present feelings. When he experiences spiritual euphoria, he is a whirlwind of Godly activity; when he is depressed, he is a spiritual incompetent. He constantly seeks new and fresh spiritual experiences and uses them to determine the Word of God. His "inner feelings" become the ultimate test of truth."

We've all seen this type of believer. Great highs and lows - they can actually be fun to be around when they are on a high, but we may just avoid them when they're down. But ladies, the sensuous believer is more common than the extreme friend - unfortunately, I am afraid it has become a way of life in the church.

Do we live by our feelings? Is that our rudder? I guess a better way to ask it is this: Can we be obedient to God when we don't feel like it? Can we worship even when we've had a bad morning? Do we let our feelings dictate our behavior? Because there is no difference between us and the world if we live by our feelings. In Ephesians 4:17-32, Paul reminds the church that they are no longer like unbelievers who have "...given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness...," but rather we are new creatures, which "...in the likeness of God have been created in righteousness and holiness of truth." The root of the word "sensuality" is "sense" or "senses". In other words, we are not guided by our senses but by truth.

And what is truth? It is the Word of God. Before He went to the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed for His elect, asking His Father to "...sanctify them in the truth. Your Word is truth." (John 17:17) We have the complete Word of God to be our guide, and we are called to walk by faith (believing the Word of God and acting on it, no matter how we feel, because God promises a good result).

Ladies, it's a miserable way to live your life if you let your feelings be your guide. Now don't get me wrong - we were created with emotions and feelings, so they are a huge part of us and we must learn how to live with them. But if we truly love the Lord with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength, we must understand the call to obey and follow Christ, whether or not we feel like it. We must understand that His way is best, that there are consequences for not walking by faith and that ultimately...God is good. He loves us and He knows what's best for us.

Sproul ends his article (which, yes, you will get a copy on Tuesday!) with a plea for his readers to get into the Word - to study and know truth. The only way the truth can guide you is for you to know the truth. Sounds pretty elementary, but in our feelings-led culture, it is vital to stay grounded in the Word.

Okay...off my soapbox...my weekend wish for you is that you purposefully chose to please the Lord with your life this weekend - the words that come from your mouth, the expression on your face, the work of your hands - give all of these to Christ this weekend and see what happens...I think you'll have a great weekend if you do...

See you Sunday!

7 comments:

  1. If you don't mind, I think I will pass the article out to my gals on Thursday as well. It goes nicely with Psalm 19, don't you think?

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  2. I think it's a great article to pass along...and yes, Beth and I will both see you Wednesday...can you believe it?

    Psalm 19 is one of my favorite psalms (if it's possible to have a favorite)...

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  3. You know...I find it easy to read an article such as this and think, "oh..yep..Sproul is right on." because I've been at Grace/Harvest long enough that I've been taught this many times over. It's another thing all together to stop and take the time to really look at my life and see where I might be giving myself over to my emotions and letting them lead the way. Sadly, not only do I let my emotions lead me into sin, I even find myself justifying my sinful behavior (my cross words, lack of patience, lack of diligence)because of how I feel.
    I remember Christie L. teaching us to be students of ourselves..so that we know our weakness..the areas Satan will use to try to get a foothold.

    Thanks for giving me something other than food to chew on today!
    Beth

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  4. Food...what's that? You mean that stuff you don't have to add water to when you eat it?

    (Long story, friends...)

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  5. Wow, another great challenge. The weekend is over and having reviewed how I did on the challenge I must admit I find myself lacking. I had great intensions but find that when push came to shove emotions won out over my faith more times then I wish to admit. I am grateful that I serve a God of second chances, who is faithful to forgive my sins when I confess.(1 John 1:9) The power of that forgiveness when I am repentant is amazing. I was also reminded of why I need to pray without ceasing, it was only by God's power that I was able to be of success at all this weekend. When I tried on my own power it equaled failure, through God and the reflection on his word brought success. What a great eye opener to my need to realize that the Christian life is in the minute to minute moments of my life not just the big events. All things must be put under his control to truly walk by faith. I am looking forward to keeping this challenge active and seeing a good result. I can't wait to see the change that God can make in me and my life as he conforms me to his image. I pray that I will embrace the change. Kristen keep bring on the challenges. They are a big help in pulling back the curtains to reveal my weaknesses. Can't wait for another week of study!
    Gloria

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  6. looking2him - I agree - it is quite a challenge to make your walk with Christ up front and personal. Does He really care about my words and facial expressions? Does everything I do have to be about Him? Yes, and yes. Thanks for sharing your thoughts...we'll all continue on this road together!

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