Flexing Your Spiritual Muscles

Hi everybody, welcome back to Ignite. I want to talk to you for these next few moments on the subject of spiritual atrophy, okay? Now, I got to tell you, I'm very thankful for atrophy for my business. Have you ever seen an old car that sat out in a barn or the field for years and years and get a picture of what that car looks like? That's because of atrophy and that's why people need car wax. I thank for the paint finishes, etrifies, okay? I thank for the bright work goes dull. The tires go dull, the interior is going down to nothing. I mean, they just rotten fall apart. So, if it wasn't for atrophy, I would not have a business day. So, I'm very thankful for atrophy. That's the physical side of it. So, it's also from a medical side of it. You know, I was in a hospital for two and a half weeks and wasn't a terrible long time, although most people they try to get shout within two or three days. After two and a half weeks, they finally told me, I go, I couldn't stand up. I had to use a walker. I said, give me another night, let me walk around the hospital. I walked that whole hospital for one end of the other with a walker trying to get my strength back. The fact of the matter was it was probably a year before I got my strength back from being in the hospital for two and a half weeks before I could run upstairs and do all the things that was normally used to doing. So, that's where this all over the place, but I think spiritual attributes, not a term that's been used, but I think it's appropriate. I think it's more than appropriate. James 1, 22 says, be doers of the Word. Not just hears only deceiving yourself. You can't just be listening. Most Christians just listening today, if you're listening at all, when's the last time you took notes on your sermons from your pastor? Most people listen, they can't even tell you the next Sunday what the pastor talked about the last Sunday. Most Christians don't read the Word anymore. Most Christians evangelicals don't pray anymore. It's spiritual atrophy. And if you don't use what the Lord has told you, it's still in you, but you're not profiting from it. You're on your way to heaven, but you're basically treading water, okay? You know what? It's red water and you walk with the Lord. You might have been able to get by with that these last, depending how old you are, but for those who are older, for the last several decades, as we've been trending down without really realizing it, you can get by. And the America was solid. The church was solid. We're on a way to heaven. But also, do you find yourself where you have atrophied and not ready for the attacks that are coming right now? There is this verse at all of us know quite well in Revelation 3. I think it's 3, 6, 8 where he says, better that you are hotter cold than lukewarm. If you're hot, obviously it's better that you're hot. If you're on fire for God, you're going to move people closer to Jesus. Quite frankly, if you're cold, you do that in an odd way because when you see bad people doing bad things, I don't want to do that. It's when you're lukewarm, it's yet the problem, and that's where most of the church is today because they're living lukewarm lives. Most Christians are quiet. They're living in fear. 80% of all Christians are living in fear today. If you're living in fear, you're not living in faith. Without faith, you can't please God, without faith, you can't share your faith. We're just going through the motions. The church is just going through the motions. And God warned us that this is going to happen. That verse, I've been to the Seventh Karen. I went to the Seventh Church as a book of revelations and each one has such a poignant message. But the one to the church's emphasis speaks this message so clearly about how we've left our first love and we're no longer doing the first work. I'm talking about those of you who are going to heaven. You know who God is. You love you, but you're worrying and you're not having fun and you've left your first love. You no longer having the zeal for God, the excitement for God. And when you do that, you're no longer talking about him. You want to have a self-tester where you stand with God today. How often do you tell people about Jesus? You realize that whatever you're excited about, you talk about. I don't care what it is. It might be a meal you had and events you went to, your team one last night, the championship, whatever it is. But you're excited about that and you tell people about that. If you're not talking to people about the Lord, you're not excited about God. I'm not saying you not going to heaven. I just said you lost. You're in that Warruc warm zone, right? When they asked Jesus, what's the greatest commandment? You remember what he said. Love me and love your neighbor as yourself. I mean, you just need to say with that for a moment, if you love your neighbor as yourself, you're as concerned for their salvation as you are your own salvation. And if that's the case, then you're going to do everything you can to get them to heaven. And so now you're not just going through the motions. Now there's purpose to everything you do. And it affects probably how you dress and where you go and what you look at and what you laugh at. And what you indulge in. Is that really helping you get people to Jesus? I know you can go to heaven and do that. It's fine. You're living in the grace. But think of the things in your life are is everything you're like moving everybody every day closer to Jesus. Romans 8 20. I probably said in every podcast, but of course, I get he says for now until you get to heaven, I'll make everything in your life work together for good. If you to those who love me, to those who live for my purpose, that's the opposite of recipe. When you're living for his purpose, you're as concerned for everybody's salvation around you as you are your own. And you're in the full-time game. You know, when he says that, he says, when you do those two, you fulfill all ten, right? Are you telling me that I don't have to worry fulfilling all ten of the commandments? I just have to focus on two. Actually, yeah, Jesus said that. Because if you're focused on leading everybody every day closer to Jesus, you fulfill all ten, not out of law, not out of judgment, not out of worrying if I mean God's favor or not. He gives you favor. He loves you. He loves you the same no matter what you do. You're doing it out of joy. And when you do that, things just open up. And I love this scripture again. Price, second only to Romans 8, 28, do I give you this scripture again? Isaiah 43, 10, which says, why you should be in the game and not look warm. If you're lukewarm right now, both you, let's see right now are probably lukewarm. More than half. You know, over 80% of Christians are lukewarm. They're not living by faith. They're living by fear on your way to heaven. I'm talking about some of you are not there. You are not there. I'm talking to those of you who know God, who know He died for your sins, know you're on your way to heaven, but not having fun and complaining about everything and worried about the elections and this. You know when we get to heaven, it's not going to matter who won the elections. You realize that? It's not going to matter who won the next presidential election. It's not going to matter if you were Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese, not going to matter. The only thing it's going to matter is, did you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? That's why everything's going to matter. Okay. So Isaiah 43, 10 brings a full circuit looking through the world, our lives through his eyes. He says to us, I have punished you as my witness so that you will believe, so that you will believe. That's the opposite of atrophy. That's being an action. That's when you're doing something. You're not, you're being a doer of the word and not a hear only. How do you do that? Things happen all the time. If you just have your eyes open, God just puts it right in front of your lap. It's so much fun. When he does that, he speaks through you. You can't prepare for these conversations, folks. You just can't. You have no idea what that person going to say to you, but God does. And then he gives you the words to say back. He gives you the words. He, the Holy Spirit, Luke 12, 12, he'll give you the words to say when you need them. And when you do that, you feel God working through. You realize, God, you're just using me to reach this person. There's nothing else than the human experience like that. I was just going. I was having lunch with Dave Trebekki, great baseball player for the giants who lost his arm. And now, this is a great testimony. He just loves the Lord. It's a big inner life, faith sharing kind of guy. And my friend, Jay, who was taking me there for lunch, we pulled it. It was 130. It was after the lunch hour. So the parking lot was wide open. He could have parked anywhere. And we just would have walked right in. But as it happened, as it happened, he pulls up right in front of a car in front of us, and the hoods open. Okay. And also a black guy walked out with a great big, like a sparkling water bottle. You know what I'm talking about? He's grieving bottles. And it was about half full of water. And he started pouring the water into his radiator. And so I mean, I just, you know, you just do that. When you live just all in, you're always looking for the slightest provocation to talk to people about Jesus. And now I mean, I was just off and right. I didn't have to think about it. I was just right there. Hey, what's going on here? Anything I can do to help you? He said, no, no, I just have a leaky radiator. And I had to keep it filled with water. I just got here. I just drove into town from Alabama, Alabama. You drove here from Alabama? Now, mind you, this is a black guy. He's got tattoos. He's at a tank top. He's got dreadlocks. We would not normally be seeing hanging out together. Okay. If you might say, but God let us all the same. I don't, I don't care what they look like. In fact, the more they don't look like me, the more I like to live on them. And they always say, boy, this old white guy's level under what's that all about? So he's, well, I have my wife and a daughter are in Alabama. And I can't find a job. And so to support them, I have a friend out here who has a trucking job. He's a truck driver. And he said, if I came out, he'd get me a job. Wow. That's amazing. That's amazing. Have you ever drove a truck? No. And you just got here. Yeah. Or are you a little nervous about that? You think? I said, you know, I was kind of, I improvised. I said, I was kind of where you were about 50 years ago. And I had this wonderful experience. And he said, say what? I said, well, I was trying to get into retail with a car wax of all things. And I didn't have a clue what I was doing. And I discovered the scripture. It's a trust in the Lord with your whole heart. And don't depend on your own mind, what you're thinking, all your fears and ambitions. Don't think about that. And always acknowledge him. And he gives you this promise. God gives you this promise. He'll direct your steps. Well, man, his eyes opened up. It's like he could not have heard that message at a better time, right? He was just so excited. So I just talked a little bit more. And finally, I gave him a card. We have these seeking God cards. They're just wonderful. We give to him. And I said, everything you want to know about God is right there. How much he loves you. He had a guy in direct life. He said, Oh, that's fantastic. Is it kind of pray for you? He says, sure. Please pray for me. And so here we are in the middle of this parking lot. And I'm praying, a Holy Ghost prayer. I just praying. God just poured out on me, brushing this man and and dressing his steps and giving purpose at all. So he got down. He looked at me. And he just hugged me. He had hugged me. He said, thank you. Thank you. I said, thank you. God bless you. And I walked away. Wow. That's the opposite of spiritual atrophy. See you next time.