the Heart and Peace

Highlights - Francis Chan, Living Sacrificially

2 Timothy 1:7
God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power, love, and self-control...

the Bible says we are a slave to that spirit, the spirit is beating the believer to submit to their potential... Why do we feel conviction? because the spirit that lives in us is not thriving... believers want to live boldly, it bugs you when you don't because you know that you are capable of more

When you are alone... not within an American church or fellowship, but when it is just you and the Bible... do you feel at peace with your life? It is easy to feel at peace when you are around other American Christians, but do you feel at peace with a watered-down version of the Bible that is lived? We often know the right things to say in our Christian environment... it is when we are dealing with God directly that we know there is more... 'I know that I can be more bold, more loving, have more self-control'... While people say their Christian feel-good phrases like "everyone does this and that" and "God understands" does it still comfort you when you are alone? When you are alone with God we know that we are destined for more...

Peace before God is when you are zeroed in on God... there is a big difference between having peace about something and ignoring something... there are certain things we are convicted about, and when we don't think about it we can temporarily ignore it, only when we are overwhelmed with God in our life is peace felt... a spirit that wants to break out is inside... often times sermon on evangelism means you just try harder... do church, do community... do evangelism or love people!... love God and love our neighbor as ourself, that is what it all comes down to...

our most courageous times are when we are zeroed in on God. When we are beyond others and are thinking about the creator, 'whatever you want God because it is you who chooses if i live or die, you are the only one that matters'... if i am in love with God, I just want to live how He wants me to, whatever happens happens with people is fine. 'i could care less about anyone else, it is you i want to please!!' ...

it is in these times that we are most courageous! The story of Stephen: People were enraged with Stephen as he preached, but he did not back off! Full of the Holy Spirit he gazed into Heaven and saw the glory of God... As he was pelt with rocks, he saw Jesus and everything happening to Him suddenly did not matter! He didn't care, he was in his own world. He saw Jesus, he was that close... "Fall in love with Jesus, get so close to him that you can see Him and it won't matter, courage will come in life! ... this is not about being tough, it is about being that in love with Jesus... We are most courageous when we are not into ourselves, being so insecure, but into loving God (obeying His command to love)...

Love people so much that you cannot help but tell them. We don't need to "evangelize", "preach" as Christians... we don't need a speech planned. Scripture speaks out against heartless religion and doing things because we are suppose to. Out of love it comes. we try to do church, do community rather then being so in love with people that everything you have is theirs. Just because you love them that much. it is not forcing people to give. Genuine caring for others, for orphans, Genuine love from a spirit given by Jesus overflows freely.

So much of our failure in evangelism in the Christian world comes form a lack of sincerity. We often have little tracks and speeches... but people can see through that!! People can see when you do things out of a sense of duty and when you genuinely care about them. words are often not influential, it is often the heart. if you show that you genuinely love them then they will at least listen. if we love God with all of our hearts, and if we loved our neighbors as much as ourselves then we would never have to teach how to evangelize. Love others! It just comes out. it is not forced. if you loved others as much as yourself then we could be visual presentations of Jesus to the world...

The mouth speaks out of the heart's overflow. whatever is in the mouth will come out of the heart. Watch your heart, not the external action! We miss the issue when we say don't cuss, etc! When we know the slogans it makes it fake. Deal with the root of the problem rather then trivial external factors.