Stagnant, Wednesday, June 1 2011

Stagnant
 
Reading:Zephaniah 1:6, 12, I will cut off… 6 those who have turned back from following the LORD, And those who have not sought the LORD or inquired of Him." 12"It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil!'

Men, the scary thing is… this describes most churches today. The emphasis of this devotional, as is no surprised based on the title, is being stagnant; BUT, before you dismiss this as something that you don’t need because of how busy you are, please understand… the greatest cause of a Christian’s stagnancy is business. We immediately associate “stagnancy” with sitting still and not being generally busy, which, in the secular world that is very true. Being busy does not constitute the absence of spiritual stagnancy. Oh, how often I see more and more people involved in sin, disregard the Word of God and excuse it as, “[they] feel closer to the Lord or more at peace” then they have in a long time. They “say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do evil”, or discipline me. “I feel good about where I am right now”, without including God in their life. By the way, “including God”, is not simply by going to church. Notice the strong language, “I will cut off”… “those who have not sought the Lord or inquired of Him.” You know what, men… to put these verses in laymen’s terms, it would simply be… they are just living life. They may even be really busy; but, they’re just living life. They don’t seek God and inquire of Him… and they don’t pursue God working in and through their lives, in the good and the bad. Over the years, I’ve seen many churches and many ministries and I’ve seen how we have slipped within the description of these verses. Churches are filled with really good people but they are not filled with really godly people. God calls us to shatter that stagnant spirit and arise to a life of godliness. Yes, it requires leaving that comfort zone… but, the reward is unlimited.

Where are you? Even though you may be busy… are you stagnant in spirit? If so, how can you break that today?

REVIEW
 
How were you able to shatter the spirit of stagnancy?


How were you able to seek God and inquire of Him throughout the day?