Mentoring, Podcasts / Devotionals
Taking Out the Trash
Mentoring Reflections / Neil Baker
#WorshipDevotional
Worship Leaders: Are you spending enough time in prayer? Our prayer time with the Father is the most valuable time of our day. If we are too busy to pray, then we need to determine what can be removed to allow time with God. The same can be said about our focus of worship – what is in the way?Recently, my wife and I began a diet. We wanted to start a new healthy path in life. As we researched the different diet plans we discovered that more than half of the food we consumed in our regular diet was processed food, such as mac and cheese, pasta, sauces, our drinks, even the sugar we put in our tea.
We were constantly loading our bodies with caffeine, sugar, and enormous quantities of carbs. We were not consuming enough fruits and vegetables.
Our diet was a mess. There’s an old saying, “You are what you eat.” We dove into our cabinets and refrigerator and began to purge all of the garbage from our diet. We took out the trash. This had me thinking a great deal about my spiritual life and the need to examine it as well.
If you are what you eat in your physical body, then likewise, you are what you eat with your spiritual body! It doesn’t matter if you are a preacher, worship leader, deacon, elder, congregate or parishioner…if you are a Christian, you should take time to evaluate where you are in your walk with Christ.
Romans 10:17
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
We can’t very well hear it if we don’t read it. How much time do we spend in front of the television, computer screen, tablet, or cellular device?
If we say we don’t have time to study our bibles, but we have time to watch a two to three hour ball game, watch our favorite drama, or spend countless hours skimming through Facebook, we may need to examine our values and priorities. I love this quote:
” The word of God is the food by which prayer is nourished and made strong.” E. M. Bounds Do you give yourself an excuse to sin? Think about that for a moment. Have you ever messed up and said, “I’m a Christian, but I’m not perfect?” I have. Where does that come from? We are given no liberty to sin because we are saved through the blood of Christ.Paul addressed this very issue.
Romans 6:15-18
“Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.”
[ctt template=”10″ link=”WmXw5″ via=”no” ]Don\’t deceive and justify sin. Throw that stinking thinking in the trash![/ctt]“If you will not have death unto sin, you shall have sin unto death. There is no alternative. If you do not die to sin, you shall die for sin. If you do not slay sin, sin will slay you.” C. Spurgeon The world around us is quite hedonistic and getting worse by the day it seems. Everything around us says, “If it feels good, do it.” Be careful what you allow into your soul. Stand on the word of God.
James 4:7
“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”
There’s no place in scripture that Christ or any of the apostles made excuses for sin. Sin was always confronted head on and dealt with swiftly.
Christ on two occasions, when dealing with sinners, told them to “Go and sin no more.” (John 5:1–15 & John 8:3–11). If there are parts of your life that don’t align with God, box it up and kick it to the curb for trash pickup.
Remember who you are and who you are called to be! Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:7, “For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.” John writes in Revelation 1:5-6, “…To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”Stand, lift your heads and hands and worship God with all of your mind, heart and strength! Neil Baker / Worship Team Training Neil is a graduate student of our Ministry Mentoring Program. To find our more, please visit our Mentoring page and sign up today with a Mentor.
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