Before I fell into my slump there was something that was disturbing me. I felt very strongly this subject needed to be addressed. Yet, I was so caught up in my own troubles I forgot what my purpose was. No, truth is I didn’t care about any purpose or even being an inspiration to anyone.
My biggest concern was I needed God to do something for me, but I was so caught up in my disappointment and sorrows. I was trying to figure out why it has been bothering me so much. Being entrenched in social media some of the things that I’m seeing occurring because of technology would make some believe God is like a Genie in a bottle. Some times I’ve fallen into the traps myself. I’ve been trying to figure out where in the word I can fully understand why this has become such a pet peeve for me.
It used to be before email, chain letters were a thing. They always irritated me, but out of some stupid sense of superstitions I would send them on. The other thing that was bothering me were the posts that may have a truth to the reality of God, but in order to receive the blessing you’re asked to like and share as proof as such. The idea that in order for God to hear my prayer or to bestow a blessing in my life I needed to forward a message to ten people or something detrimental would happen was beginning to piss me off.
Here is an example of one I received recently: Psalm 91 today.....please finish reading before you do anything else right now, read this to the end. My name is God. You hardly have time for me. I love you and always bless you. I am always with you. I need you to spend 30 mins. of your time with me today. Don't pray. Just praise. Today I want this message across the world before midnight. Will you help? Please do not cut it and I'll help you with something that you are in need of. A blessing is coming your way. Please drop everything & pass it on. Tomorrow will be the Best Day of your Life. Send this to 14 friends in 10min. Tell the devil you are a blessed child of God and you have more to be thankful for than to worry about. We must go through the storm to appreciate the sunshine! This is a test to see who has more followers. God or satan. If God, forward to 14 people, if satan, ignore this! God is going to fix two things (BIG).
The worst part about this particular one is the message has a little truth in it, yet I can bet it has been passed around. The saddest part is those who did pass it on did it with an expectation of God fixing something big. As if God uses an email or text message to answer a prayer if only certain conditions are met. As if writing Satan in lowercase minimizes his efforts or effects on Christians. From what I’ve learned in my journey with Christ is he wants all of us and not just thirty minutes in a day. The idea that those who don’t send it to a specified amount of people are suddenly on the side of Satan, really?
See, we’ve come so far with technology that we’ve tried to have God conform to the lifestyles we’ve become comfortable in. Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Just because the tools and ways of life have changed God still operates and requires the same from us as He always has.
One of the problems I’ve noticed is not only had I attempted to minimize the relationship with others, but was treating God the same way. It used to be communication and confrontation were usual parts of daily life and building of relationships. Please, understand I’m not above all these nuances and daily take advantage of sending text messages and emails to communicate, but I also know the relationships that mean the most I work a little harder to keep the lines of communication open.
Then I had to ask myself, what does it mean to keep lines of communication open? Like I stated before I’ve fallen into the trap, some would say I’ve had blinders on and the wiles of the devil got by me too. A truth which seems to be overlooked is 1Timothy 2:8 “I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”
Technology has allow Christianity to take short cuts and the spread of “Christian Easy speaks, rather than fulfill what Jesus commissioned us to do: Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” There are cutesy posts that make reference to the Gospel, but yet most of them are cliché and don’t have scriptural backing.
Let’s get it settled, the message God wants spread around the world is about His love, grace and mercy. To tell about the things Jesus taught in the many parables in the New Testament. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy some of the encouraging blurbs posted to social media and I admittedly will like them, even shared some of them myself.
Sometimes it takes a relationship in which the communication goes both ways. It is because of what I heard in my spirit that I felt lead to share. I’ve been admonished not to allow myself to get wrapped up in spending my time reading the catch phrases instead of diligently searching the word for myself (2 Timothy 2:15). Just like it took me some time to get it through my head that my relationship with Christ wasn’t a few times a week experience.
It took me a little while to find out that my relationship isn’t like those around me and he deals with me very differently than he does other. If having a personal relationship wasn’t important to God he would have never taken the time to express Matthew 10:30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” and Luke 12:7 “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
It wasn’t until I realized how foolish I was for allowing myself to get caught up in some of the short cuts made available by social media, that I’d forgotten one simple truth. I’m so important to God that he took the time to not just know me from my Mother’s womb, but to number each and every hair on my head; and I’ve got some pretty thick hair. It made me realize if Jesus’ father took that much time to get to know me, than the very least I could do was find out who he was and how he works in my favor. Method to my madness Monday. Smooches~~
