23.Oct.2007 Staying Connected to God and Reconnecting with the World
Psalm 1 1-3 (NKJ)
1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
Whatever that person does shall prosper. Verse 1 is a progression of connection. The lost connect to the world. We love the world. Why? Because God does. Sometimes we need a season away from the world, especially at the time we get saved. We begin moving toward the future: our dreams, our goals. We begin to move. You make a decision to shift your life and make it happen. Your change your priorities & focus for a while.
Everyone is going somewhere. If you are stagnant, you are going nowhere. When we come to Christ sometimes we translate that into pulling away from the world. It is good to do so for a season because it allows God to plant a seed of new life. But there are people in this world who need to be reached. Once you get established in your faith and your walk, you are on a different pathway. It is time to reconnect with the world to reach the lost. Reconnecting doesn’t mean to walk with the world; allowing their counsel dictate how you live, your life, your values. Sometimes when we connect we begin to walk with the world. We find ourselves progressing like in verse 1. First, we walk with them. Then we begin to stand. We need to be able to self govern. Be in the world not of the world. We can’t allow it to dominate us.
On the other hand, I can’t think of anything worse than alienating ourselves from the people that God loves. What are our motives for separation? Disdain? They aren’t as good as us? Do we look down on them? That they aren’t as together as we are yet? “God so loved the world.” How can we reach the world if we do not love them? If we walk in pride? We are not to walk, stand, or sit. Notice each step we become more comfortable. Sitting means being at their table, eating what they serve. We are not called to reject, but we are not called to eat what the world has to offer, either.
We are called to love them, but the difference is influence. In every situation, someone is always influencing someone else. The connection dynamic in relationships is alive. What are we to do? Stand and grow. We become strong so the world will not influence us, but we will influence the world. “Blessed is the man whose delight is the law of the Lord.” There is life in our heart. So we must protect our heart. It should be soft to God but protected from the stuff of the world.
It isn’t commonality but connection that creates the environment for the supernatural to happen. We come to God to connect heart to heart. We should feel the emotion of our heart in church. We want to bring the lost into that same connection with God, but guard our heart from the contrary influence of the world. Connection is influence transfer. Influence flows both ways. Heart connections are awesome. Share moments, have heart connections, but don’t allow them to influence you. Stand in your values and beliefs. Ask yourself, “Am I influencing what’s going on rather than the other way around?”
”His delight is in the word”. This word trumps all other words. Nothing spoken is higher than God’s word. Teaching puts the word in our hands but it is echoing because it is spoken out of God’s spirit. It gets into our hearts and influences us. God’s word is changing me, feeding me. Having love for God’s word is our strength and ability to fulfill His call in our world. We get that by reading or meditating on the word. It doesn’t matter how, but find a way to meditate on His word. Chew over it & speak it into your world.
Strength? Meditate on the word. Love the word. Then you will be planted like a tree. Like the giant sequoia tree, not just any tree. The tiny seed in the pine cone is opened by fire. Then it is planted and grown. That’s what we are. Seeds have to be planted in the soil to flourish and grow. Being born again is like having abundant life planted by a river. The Bible refers to the river as a channel – a man-made waterway. The church is a channel for the rain of the Spirit and God’s river of life. We can’t exist “just me & God”. We must exist with others. Planted by a man-made river means to be submitted to the house of God. We prosper in all areas of our lives – spiritually, marriage, family – when we are planted by the river. Then we have the kind of life that attracts the lost to the God in us. Prosperity is not about money – it is about fullness in all areas of our lives. The lost have hearts that are hurting. They will be drawn to lives that are full and whole.
We must be able to stay connected to the lost, but strong enough to not allow the world to dictate what we think. Meditate on the word to shift and change. We are a million miles from where we were when we got saved. Our strength and ability will influence those who come into our world. Then we will prosper.
