WHAT WILL THIS GENERATION DO?

 

            The generation that God miraculously brought out from Egyptian slavery was ungrateful, unbelieving and rebellious against God and His commandments. Because of their rebelliousness, they were a generation that died in the wilderness without completing their journey. They had seen all the plagues that came to Egypt while they were kept safe in nearby Goshen. They saw the miracle of the Red Sea parting and actually experienced walking through it on dry ground. They saw their enemies destroyed. They received manna to feed them in the wilderness, quail to give them meat, water from a rock and countless other miracles. No doubt, God was providing for them and protecting them. Yet they chose to blind their eyes to the miraculous provision of God and focus only on the hardships they encountered. Most of their “hardships” were caused by their rebellion against God. After all the miracles He showed them, they still didn’t trust Him.

This is what God says to us about them. “Today, if you will hear His voice: Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.” (Psalm 95:7-11)     

            I began thinking about that lost generation who wandered in the wilderness until they finally died, and I compared it to our generation. They were constantly looking fondly back at Egypt, the place of their bondage. We keep fondly looking back at the world, the place of our bondage. Instead of submitting to God and trusting Him, they took things in their own hands time after time. I see some of the same rebellion, unbelief and sense of entitlement among us today. Are we going to settle on being a lost generation, or will we rise up and do something about changing our idleness, rebellion and unbelief before we go to our graves?

Several years ago I was talking to a pastor, and I told him that I was tired of “church”. He was a little shocked until I explained what I meant. Then he understood. I told him I was tired of church politics, people trying to push their way to top positions, seeing powerless lives, witnessing performances instead of worship and watching as the Word of God is set aside for a more up-to-date, comfortable version. Just because we are active in church, it doesn’t mean we are pleasing God. Our generation seems to have a form of godliness, but denies the power of true godliness. When will we shake ourselves and see that the power of God has departed from us just like it did from Samson? When will we see that we are weak and have no effect on the world? Instead they are having a profound effect on us. When will we catch sight of the multitudes around us that are dying and on their way to hell because the church is sequestered in their four walls and is no longer shining the light of love and compassion into the world? There is a tremendous difference in “church-goers” and Christ-followers.

Please don’t come to the conclusion that I have written off the church. Much to the contrary, I want to see us rise to our rightful place and see the power of God returned to our lives. I love and need the church and God’s people, but if we are honest, we will admit the church in general needs to be awakened. The church is made up of the people who are united with God and with one another. But we have become separated from the power and purpose of God and desperately need to return to following the example of Jesus Christ.

One of the books that I read often is “In His Steps”. I am moved every time I consider the magnitude of the promise those people made when they purposed in their hearts to make no decisions without first asking, “What would Jesus do?” Yet shouldn’t that be normal life for every follower of Jesus? Isn’t that the pattern the first disciples followed? And they changed the world. Those who made that decision in the book found that it made a drastic difference in how they saw themselves and how they lived their lives. It turned their lives upside down. It changed their city and then went beyond that. Things they had never had a second thought about doing were suddenly being examined through Jesus’ eyes, and the results were startling. Some lost jobs, some their position in society, others gave up luxury to work among those who were in dire need of a Savior. These people realized they were not their own, but were bought with the price of Jesus’ blood. Their determination to follow Jesus cost them their reputations, their cash flow and their own desires, but they found when they became selfless, it was actually freeing instead of restricting. There was a close camaraderie among those who chose to walk like Jesus walked, and they experienced the Spirit of God in their midst when they gathered together, just like the early church. Where are the prayer meetings where there is actual earnest, effective prayer? Where are those who have a strong desire to know more of Jesus, to the point of putting aside other things? Where is the selflessness that Jesus taught His disciples? Even they, like many in the church today were arguing over who would be greatest in the kingdom of God. They were missing the point. They were thinking of the kingdom of this world rather than the kingdom of God. I would like to see us challenged to take up our possession in God’s Kingdom so we can begin to move in the power of the Spirit and change our world.

            Many people say they are following Jesus, but they are walking apart from His teachings, and they are not serving others. If we think of everything that happens in light of how it will affect us, we are walking the wrong road. We are to think about how it will affect the kingdom of God and the lives of others. Jesus said we are to be the servants of all. We are here in this world, not to partake of its glory, but to point others to the glory of God. If we work for our own glory, once again, we are walking on the wrong road. Jesus was not self-serving. If he had been, we would still be lost.

There is an urgent need for people who are lost to see who Jesus is, and that can only be done through God’s people. He has entrusted His mission into our hands. Our greatest desire and purpose should be to bring glory to God and to actively participate with Him to bring about the salvation of souls and the teaching of the gospel so others can grow in Christ once they come to know Him. How can that happen unless God’s people live in surrender to His will? What gets in our way? Is it selfishness, ego, love of money, prestige, or rebellion against God? Let’s lay aside all the weights and the sin that keep us from doing God’s will. Let’s ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?”

We live in a dark world that is looking for purpose in the wrong places and not finding it. We know the answer, yet they remain in darkness because our light has grown dim. Are we failing at our purpose? After all, where does the light come from? Jesus said we are the light of the world. So, why is the world dark? Because God’s people are not shining the light of Jesus Christ. It’s time to wake up and fan the flames of Jesus’ light within us. Just imagine the darkness that can be dispelled if every child of God will enlighten their part of the world! I realize that not everyone will come to the light, but we are to shine anyway. There are some who are waiting to hear our message. If we are not letting people see the kingdom of God through us, we are not glorifying God. But all that can change. Even Samson was given another chance to redeem himself.

Will we be the generation that takes their ease and lets souls slip into eternity lost? Will we be the generation that is hardened by the world and slips into the darkness? Will we be the generation who leaves no link to the gospel for the next generation? We don’t have to be.

We can change the world with truth, justice, love, compassion and the power of the gospel message. We can renew our vow to follow God’s Word no matter the consequences. Are we willing to humble ourselves and empty ourselves of all self-will and allow God to give us a fresh anointing? Are we willing to give ourselves to Him completely? We need to keep in mind that we are in the kingdom of God for the purpose of showing God’s glory to the people who don’t know Him so they can come to Him and be saved.

Psalm 92 says, “I am anointed with fresh oil [for Your service].” If we will choose to be who God has called us to be and do what God has called us to do, we can experience that fresh oil. And we will find that it is consistently replenished by the Holy Spirit as we pour it out to others. Let’s ask God where we can be of service to Him. In what mission is God inviting you to join Him? Don’t hesitate. Go with Him.

Those who have the fresh oil for His service will “flourish in the courts of our God. [Growing in grace] they will still thrive and bear fruit and prosper in old age; They will flourish and be vital and fresh [rich in trust and love and contentment]; [They are living memorials] to declare that the Lord is upright and faithful [to His promises]; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” (from Psalm 92, Amplified Bible) 

 

It’s time for the Church of Jesus Christ to rise up and be seen as His glorious Church, showing God’s glory to the world!