Periphery

Hosea 4:6 says, "My people perish for lack of knowledge." Oh what a Word from The Lord this morning in studying His Word!

Firstly, this is NOT a political post in any matter;this is a personal, life introspect post. Ephesians, Chapter 1, is so powerful. I encourage you to read it for yourself. I read from The Message translation this morning. Read this....”The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church.” (Ephesians 1:23)

Do you know that the term amnesia is derived from the Greek meaning, “they have forgotten”? Church- we have amnesia.

We have forgotten who we are and Whose we are. We are perishing due to our lack of knowledge. Let me explain. The church universal, the entire group of people claiming Christ regardless of denominational boundaries, has forgotten our call. We have lost our goal as a people and we have turned a deaf ear to the insturction of The Word of The Lord by negating the discipline of studying His Word and truly gleaning from it.

In Chapter 1 of Ephesians, we are given a breakdown of what it means to believe the Message of our salvation. We are further taught that to believe, or accept, this reality means we embrace the reason on earth for it; “—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers” (Ephesians 1:17-19). How can we become “intelligent and discerning” if we do not heed His Word or recognize our own personal need for it?

The chapter goes on to tell us that church is not to be on the periphery of the world, BUT the world should be on the periphery of the church. Can you just let your mind wrap around that for a moment and pull that in? Isn't that exactly what is happening? Church! We have made ourselves look so much like the world, that, indeed, now the world is a mirror reflection of the church! We've watered down, entertained, side stepped, “graced” ourselves into a place where the world and the church no longer have clear instructional lines. The lines have become water colored and blurred to the point where there is no longer a difference. We have dividing churches, agenda-driven clergy and laity; we have politically-correct mindsets while spiritually we suffer amnesia.
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We MUST get back to what we were called to be - children of the Mighty God! We were made in His image, to “go into all the world and make disciples of Christ”. We were made to show His love, spread His Word, teach HIS agenda and dust off our feet from those who do not listen and accept. It's God’s job to clean them, change them, touch them; it's our job to introduce Him, nurture them, and show them His love and help them “be transformed” by it. It is NOT our job to conform to the world’s likeness!
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Yes, we have amnesia as a Christian people. Let us be so bold as to look in the mirror and start there. We need God’s instruction; we need His Word to seer into our hearts a fire so bright that it draws those around us out of the dark. We need to remember Whose we are and why. We need to realize that our salvation is to be lived out and that it was not a “get out of hell” card. We need to remember that we are not on the periphery, wringing our hands at the events of the world; we are to BE the event of the world! Let's get busy about THAT agenda, Who's with me?