Yikes!

This morning, as I sat near my open window, listening to the cars rumble into the city for another work day, I read the following:

"Hidden among you, O Israel, are things set apart for the Lord.  You will never defeat your enemies until you remove these things from among you. (Joshua 7:13)"

Because I've gotten used to and have asked for the volume of the Holy Spirit's voice to be turned up in my life, I've come to recognize a "moment".  Usually there is a stirring deep within me that tells me to pay attention.  This was one of those "moments".

I let the words sink in and then picked up my pen and wrote:

"Hidden among you, Church, are things set apart for the Lord:  money, buildings, talents, sins of idolatry, lusts, materialism, power, lack of knowledge of the Holy Spirit, who you are in Christ, God's word, accountability, legalism, systems, passiveness, lack of purpose, the need to fit in.  You will never defeat the enemy or be attractive to anybody until you remove these things from among you."

I believe these words to be thoughts the Holy Spirit has toward us - those who are followers of Christ - those who are "the Church".  The people driving their cars to work outside my window need to see that following Christ makes a difference in your life.  Having an encounter - daily encounters - with the living God of the Universe makes life attractive.

Yet, the Church seems ineffective.  Why?  I think I'll let Joshua answer that ... we've never removed "these things" from among ourselves.  Somehow its OK to not be holy, spend a lot of money on buildings, hold up a standard that is impossible to reach, look down our noses, condemn one another, judge, criticize, spend so much time in a bubble that we forget our purpose.  If we could "remove" the hidden things ... starting first with ourselves ... could we see "the Church" becoming an attractive component to society?

Don't get me started on what that would look like!  I will say it wouldn't be a building that gets filled up on Sundays and stays empty all week.

Forgive the rant ... I was having a "moment"!  But in my ranting, I hope we all stop to inquire of the "hidden things" in our own life's that if exposed would bring a whole lot of victory!

Doing my own inventory,
christina