Finding God beyond a World of Technology and Screens. UNITE.

You never know what you need (and don’t need) until it is gone.

I knew I was in trouble when a small, aqua colored light flicked on and off from the right-hand bottom side of my computer.  Like a game of peek-a-boo, the light fleeting fast the moment I connect to the internet.

Off and on.  Off and on.  A game of cat and mouse, for hours.

Finally, I give up.

“O.k. God, I get it.  You want me to spent some time with you”.  Aggravation mounting, trying to act, willing.  Control tactics failing to connect me to the perfect online illusion of carnal words propped up in a place where others can’t see us, fully.

And I am left, just me and God.  There, at the dining table; the noisy silence, almost deafening.

Reluctant, I sit down.  Welcoming this God that seemed to demand my attention, there, behind the fortress.  “I get it God, what do you want to say to me.  I am listening.”

And like a furious child, arms crossed, me demanding my own way, I plunk down on the sofa, looking away from the Bible, music, and anything else that might make God think I could possibly want to be here…in the echo chambers of my own soul.

But after two days without the internet, the anorexia of the spirit couldn’t help but start crying out, Ezekiel bones needing to live again…

And when our soul cries, the Jealous One we were once so in love with, calls us to abide in Him.

So, I listen; insisting again, “God, if you are here, I am listening.”

But something stirs again.  The remembrances of five hours a day I once was with the one I so desperately loved.  Fasting for days.  Not loving my life to even get rest….because He drew me, this love of my life that I would sacrifice anything, anyone, and everything for.

What happened?

And almost as soon as I get that question, a reflection of Christ dances before my eyes.

• First, Him bending, praying in the garden.
• Second, Him with His disciples.
• Thirdly, Him ministering in the world to other people.

And then, I hear Him. “Your getting things all mixed up.”

• I see myself in the world.
• Second, with believers.
• Then, if I have time, a few minutes sporadic throughout the day, I spend a few moments devoted to God.

Then the verse, “those that love the world are in enmity (or are at war) with God”, pops into mind.

And I find, our biggest battle in modern day Christianity is not overt sin of lies or murder…but the lukewarmness of our very own souls. 

For in scripture, God pursues the sinner, the lost coin, the one in the ninety-nine….but is not so kind to the lukewarm whom Revelations tells us, He will spit out of His mouth.

And yet, don’t we dress up and disguise our lukewarmness; hiding it even from ourselves….as love, tolerance, acceptance and grace…while in reality it’s our own inner sins that separate us from an all or nothing God?

I can’t breathe….because I know now, not only does the God of the Universe see me…but He has revealed the truth behind the veil of my heart.

I pick up the Word. Not trusting my instincts…opening it randomly.

And there in the commentary I read in the Spirit-filled Bible from Jack Hayford, “Jesus calls His people to be fully separated from the worlds value system and to be fully committed to Him.”  I read on…“The believer is to gauge success by the measuring rod of God rather than the world’s social and financial standards.”

Much more hesitantly now, I read on…

“Give your love for Jesus first place in your life. Commit yourself emotionally and intellectually to Him.”

And finally, as if what I had just read was not enough, “Avoid lukewarmness, stirring up zeal for the Lord.”

And who of us have looked to the internet as if it were God?  Resurrecting a savior in a person, a friend, a spouse, or a belief system?  Who has hunted God down and dissected Him through intellectualism?  Or worse yet, mixed him with the world…still in hopes that He might stay holy?

Fear lukewarmness.

Fear lukewarmness more than sin.  Stir up the faith. Fervently pursue Him….I “get” it, after relishing in the internet-less hours of tranquility with a loving and patient God.

Still yet, how do we find God in a world that hides behind screens, mixing a theology of complacency with a God continually longing to be….

First.  In a long list of, must do’s.

UNITE

As I am slowly designing this new website, please click on the “About” page, then the “UNITE” page to read more about UNITE. I am not sure why I keep coming back to this theme of “UNITING with Christ”, but I guess I just find that unless we are rooted and grounded in Him, led by His Spirit…..we can never truly attain perfect UNITY.

All other fellowship will eventually pass away, but the fellowship with have with one another, is a product that we all are going to the same place and have the same Father.

Will you join me for UNITE this week?

Link a post, then send a link back.  Then, take some time to read and comment to as many posts as you can.

Thanks for sharing in this mission at UNITE, and offering your words, pictures, thoughts, poems, recipes, or just sweet fellowship!

Ready, set, link below now.