The Seductive Power

The Seductive Power of the

Familiar or the Comfortable or the Habitual

Once we get used to something, and especially if we are born into it, it becomes a stronghold and an entrenchment. And many times that which we practice with regularity is accepted without question. And on top of that, when those with whom we fellowship as well as those who we respect practice the same things, the acceptance is usually unchallenged. It happens to all of us. What we learn from parents and elders is usually deposited in our consciousness as “correct”.

When we lose the spiritual efforts it takes to be led of the Spirit, and we rely almost exclusively upon what we think we know and what we have seen practiced and have emulated, that is a strong deception. And the western church operates in that vein. And even some pockets of evangelicalism which seek to break free of traditional thought seem to wander into grievous error and even heresy. Just being dissatisfied with the norm does not guarantee a journey into a deeper knowledge of Christ.

Tradition becomes stagnation and eventually drifts away from the spiritual journey to seek Christ. Cars still park, lips still sing, hands still lift, and bodies still fill seats, but the hearts are far from God. Believers find accommodating solace in the same church services and the same church structure and the same church messages. But where is the hunger, the thirst, and the power? The church has evolved into little more than ecclesiastical fellowship.

But it is familiar and comfortable and habitual, and in that confinement it becomes very difficult to step away and ponder, meditate, and pray. Fasting and prayer are no longer the life blood of the church. Those spiritual practices have given way to entertainment and excitement and the promise of the new. And when all fails we can fall back on our doctrinal orthodoxy. And yet the faith called Christianity exists in this hedonistic culture with no more impact than the Moose Lodge.

But how do we find our way back? The first step is to ask, yea beg, God to instill in you a thirst for Him set forth with a good dose of personal repentance. If you can live with the spiritual depth and revelation you live with now, you will. If you are satisfied with comparing yourself with others with whom you respect, then you will continue as you are. If you say that no one is perfect and with that you soothe your own conscience, then you will remain precisely where you are and perhaps drift further into your own world.

If we remain enthralled by the material world and by the thrill of self fulfillment and entertainment, then we as the church cease to be the church and become followers of Christ in words only and not in deeds. Wake up! What the Scriptures teach is no fairy tale. These are eternal matters of great and climactic importance, and one day we will all stand before a consuming fire. I fear millions of our offspring have been born into an ecclesiastical system that is void of the power and presence of Christ and have made assembly line professions of faith that will be found vacuous on that great and terrible day.

And that is precisely the most perilous aspect of the western church - that there are perhaps millions of people who attend church but have never been born again. And the treachery of the evil one will be proven most effective. The office of the shepherd has become sometimes organizational, sometimes administrative, sometimes idolatry, but surely not the self denying position where a called man gives his very life for the sheep and feeds them out of the threshing floor of his time in the Word and the prayer closet.

Millions of unsuspecting sinners have been lulled to sleep by the flashy preacher or the well groomed shepherd who offer a well crafted message that appeals to the flesh and carefully avoids any authentic unpleasantness. Its redundant drone allows the masses to leave just as they came and just as they came and went last week. It is both superfluous and gratuitous. The hearts of men continue to grow cold and their consciences remain in a deep sleep.

But this is what we have always done. This is familiar and comfortable to us. The devil works tirelessly to insure no one actually sees this spectacle for the hollow religious exhibition it is in reality. And anyone who speaks with a prophetic correction is labeled as a trouble maker. And round and round it goes. But let me make one thing absolutely clear. Without a resounding awakening and a wholehearted and even fanatical movement of prayer the church will continue its slide into the cultural abyss.

That, my brothers and sisters, is the only way to a revival of what is now dead and a journey deeper and fuller revelation of the Lord Christ. A rejection of the kingdoms of this world and a surrender to the kingdom of God will lead us into the light. And that can only take place through a massive return to sacrificial prayer. We all have enough Bibles and know a lot of theology. But without the illumination of the Spirit they are no more than religious writings. And the Spirit will not illuminate the careless and the prayerless and the worldly.

Throughout the Scriptures the word “seek” is used many, many times. The life in the Spirit is no joy ride offered without labor or commitment.

Matt.13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

You desire that treasuer and that pearl of great price? Then go and buy it, however you must sacrifice all first. Perhaps that is far too great a price. Then just coast and arrive on that great and terrible day as you are. Millions will be there rolling the dice along with you. And the tragedy just might be that you have been seduced by the familiar, the comfortable, and the habitual. And millions upon millions will have sacrificed their eternity for a mirage.