Are You The Real Thing?

Mike-P1020072-200Dear Friends,

Earlier this week I was looking over some of what I had written in my book “Before You Get Here,” and it struck me that in light of where we are in our nation there was never a time when we as believers needed to be more real than the time we are currently in. We are in the midst of a pandemic; hundreds of thousands of lives lost, massive unemployment, with fear, anxiety, and hopelessness running rampant among us. My question would be, in the midst of this, what about trust and faith in God? Do we as believers truly live what we profess or do we simply follow the herd? Do those we are in contact with daily, see us respond in fear and anxiety or faith and trust? Certainly, we need some common sense in following the guidelines to stay safe but we don’t need to live in fear.

There was a slogan some years back that Coca Cola used in its marketing campaign. It was, “Coke, It’s The Real Thing.” Whatever that means in regards to cola, we bought it and drank it knowing that it was the real thing. In regards to your faith and walk with God are you the real thing? If you are the genuine article then those around you will notice that you are different in many ways.

Francis Frangipane in his book “The Three Battlegrounds” wrote, “Our experience of Christianity must go beyond just being another interpretation of the Bible; it must expand until our faith in Jesus and our love for Him becomes a lightning rod for His presence.”

A lightning rod attracts. It says throughout the Word that we will do the works that Jesus did. When we examine what Jesus did we see clearly that He walked in holiness and power. People were attracted to Him. He did not slip into the impostor role to fit in. He was what He spoke and lived. He did not fake anything. He was the “real thing”. We, however, can easily fake “being the real thing.”

In “The Three Battlegrounds” Frangipane further wrote, “If we have been indoctrinated to believe that the Kingdom of God, and Christianity itself, does not really have to work, or if the absence of holiness and power fails to trouble us, something is seriously wrong with our concept of truth.”

If you are not drawn to holiness, if you do not see power manifested, if your prayers are not answered, then it would seem logical to ask why. Do you expect your prayers to be answered? Do you expect your Christian beliefs to work?

We like familiarity, we like routine and we don’t like to step out into unfamiliar territory. There is nothing wrong with the familiar, but the familiar is often too comfortable. Staying comfortable with those things that are normal and ordinary often keeps us from experiencing that which is extraordinary.

So, rather than move into a place of faith, expectancy, and obedience, a place where we are drawn closer to knowing and loving Jesus, we compromise and slip into being impostors. Before we realize it we are not the “real thing.”

Stop for a moment and consider this: If Christ is within us, we should be moving towards living holy, powerful lives; lives that attract others. No excuses! Christianity is not just accepting some doctrine, going to church regularly, being a part of a small group, and faithfully paying our tithe. It is living daily in the reality of Christ’s presence where we live and work.

YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE YOU’RE REDEEMED

Oral tradition from the nineteenth century tells the story of the atheist philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who was said to have reproached a group of Christians with the words, “You make me sick!” When their spokesman asked why, Nietzsche replied, “Because you redeemed don’t look like you’re redeemed!”

Do you look redeemed? Are you the real thing?

For a copy of my book “Before You Get Here” checkout the Wholeness Ministries Catalog right here or go to Shop > Catalog.

Thank you for your continued faithfulness to this ministry. We are truly blessed.

God bless,

Mike

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