The Hope of Transformation
To be featured on March/April's ASK Network International newsletter and on http://www.asknetwork.net/
The spiritual landscape among 21st century youth is undergoing a radical transformation, which is something I realized first-hand a few weeks ago at the 2012 Acquire the Fire Conference in Nashville. During the closing session, the atmosphere of the auditorium became thick with the splendor of God’s love. As the worship progressed, God directed my attention to the ceiling, where I could see salvation streaming down upon thousands of exuberant youth. With His presence raining down like confetti, a widespread sense began to resonate: God was not only being celebrated, but was celebrating with us.
Like the Samaritan woman in John 4, today’s youth are incredibly thirsty; however, they are not seeking superficial means to satisfy voids within. Instead, young people are craving the real thing. Despite all the distractions in our culture, youth are maturing in their ability to discern what is authentically God and what is not. As a result, God is contending with an increasingly gray world by sharpening young hearts to know Him thoroughly, from big picture to fine detail.
God is shaping and molding one of the most passionate youth cultures in history; young men and women to love as He loves, see as He sees and live as He lives. Many have seen the best the world has to offer, from entertainment and technology to pop trends and materialism. But none of this is fulfilling to the deep places of the soul. Yes, youth are being challenged. They are confronted with many diversions that often cause them to compartmentalize their relationship with Christ. But God is placing detour signs, rerouting their attention back to His very nature.
God is not concealing this move from the church. Rather, He is calling us, as the body of Christ, to partner with Him, and this emerging generation. The $64,000 question is, will we step up and seize the future by believing God today?
~ Cameron Fry
Photo courtesy of Lyssah Ferguson
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Ron Luce at the 2012 Nashville ATF: “Many believers give their hearts over to God, but not their entire lives.”
A HUGE, motivating factor behind Christian conversion is salvation. When a person becomes a believer, the Lord is asked to come into the heart for the sake of everlasting life in heaven. In Sunday school, we are taught that once this happens, Jesus starts to build a home inside us. While this may freak some out upon initial hearing, it’s nevertheless true. Once we become saved, Christ inhabits our hearts (Ephesians 3:17). And as He moves in, He overwhelms us with a love that never lets go (Hebrews 13:5). But that’s not all! We are also given the gift of the Holy Spirit to help stay connected to Christ through thick and thin (Romans 5:5, John 16:13-14).
Yet, sometimes an important truth falls through the cracks. To be truly saved, Christ must be both Lord and Savior of our entire lives. If God is not King of everything, then darkness begins eroding the places God should be. We know every good and perfect thing comes from God (James 1:17), but it is our sin that vetoes His will and grounds us in our own decadence. Whenever we are stuck in the mud spiritually, chances are we haven’t done well in listening to God’s voice and abiding by the Spirit.
Now, the heart is the most important organ in the body. Without it, we die; with it, our life beats on. Perhaps this is why the Bible emphasizes our hearts as God’s dwelling place and refers to it as a wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23*). It’s a clear starting point for God’s nature to spread throughout our entire being. In other words, what starts in the heart, doesn’t end in the heart! The danger with sin is that it stops this holy flow from impacting the other parts of the body. In this sense, sin is like spiritual cholesterol.
Point is: surrendering our hearts in the moment is much easier than surrendering our entire lives during an entire lifetime. This is why we have to be careful not be caught up in spiritual highs. For highs can’t sustain fire like God can. Think about it: did God intend the Christian life to be like an escalator or roller-coaster? At all times, Jesus must have it all**.
So while our hearts may be surrendered***…
Footnotes
* Proverbs 4:23 – “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.”
** What part of Matthew 22:37 & John 14:21 do we NOT understand?
*** We want the benefits of God living inside of us, but don’t want to ‘go all the way’ with Jesus.
WHY?
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
The spiritual landscape among 21st century youth is undergoing a radical transformation, which is something I realized first-hand a few weeks ago at the 2012 Acquire the Fire Conference in Nashville. During the closing session, the atmosphere of the auditorium became thick with the splendor of God’s love. As the worship progressed, God directed my attention to the ceiling, where I could see salvation streaming down upon thousands of exuberant youth. With His presence raining down like confetti, a widespread sense began to resonate: God was not only being celebrated, but was celebrating with us.
Soaking in the richness of God’s presence, I could feel a breakthrough. For decades, younger generations have been yearning for a true move of God – for revival stories of old to be realized today. In a building supercharged with holy energy, God was turning desperation and dissatisfaction among youth and leaders into a hunger to stay hungry. As glory abounded, the coldness of complacency melted away by the fire of God's Spirit.
Like the Samaritan woman in John 4, today’s youth are incredibly thirsty; however, they are not seeking superficial means to satisfy voids within. Instead, young people are craving the real thing. Despite all the distractions in our culture, youth are maturing in their ability to discern what is authentically God and what is not. As a result, God is contending with an increasingly gray world by sharpening young hearts to know Him thoroughly, from big picture to fine detail.
God is shaping and molding one of the most passionate youth cultures in history; young men and women to love as He loves, see as He sees and live as He lives. Many have seen the best the world has to offer, from entertainment and technology to pop trends and materialism. But none of this is fulfilling to the deep places of the soul. Yes, youth are being challenged. They are confronted with many diversions that often cause them to compartmentalize their relationship with Christ. But God is placing detour signs, rerouting their attention back to His very nature.
God is not concealing this move from the church. Rather, He is calling us, as the body of Christ, to partner with Him, and this emerging generation. The $64,000 question is, will we step up and seize the future by believing God today?
~ Cameron Fry
Photo courtesy of Lyssah Ferguson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Luce at the 2012 Nashville ATF: “Many believers give their hearts over to God, but not their entire lives.”
A HUGE, motivating factor behind Christian conversion is salvation. When a person becomes a believer, the Lord is asked to come into the heart for the sake of everlasting life in heaven. In Sunday school, we are taught that once this happens, Jesus starts to build a home inside us. While this may freak some out upon initial hearing, it’s nevertheless true. Once we become saved, Christ inhabits our hearts (Ephesians 3:17). And as He moves in, He overwhelms us with a love that never lets go (Hebrews 13:5). But that’s not all! We are also given the gift of the Holy Spirit to help stay connected to Christ through thick and thin (Romans 5:5, John 16:13-14).
Yet, sometimes an important truth falls through the cracks. To be truly saved, Christ must be both Lord and Savior of our entire lives. If God is not King of everything, then darkness begins eroding the places God should be. We know every good and perfect thing comes from God (James 1:17), but it is our sin that vetoes His will and grounds us in our own decadence. Whenever we are stuck in the mud spiritually, chances are we haven’t done well in listening to God’s voice and abiding by the Spirit.
Now, the heart is the most important organ in the body. Without it, we die; with it, our life beats on. Perhaps this is why the Bible emphasizes our hearts as God’s dwelling place and refers to it as a wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23*). It’s a clear starting point for God’s nature to spread throughout our entire being. In other words, what starts in the heart, doesn’t end in the heart! The danger with sin is that it stops this holy flow from impacting the other parts of the body. In this sense, sin is like spiritual cholesterol.
Point is: surrendering our hearts in the moment is much easier than surrendering our entire lives during an entire lifetime. This is why we have to be careful not be caught up in spiritual highs. For highs can’t sustain fire like God can. Think about it: did God intend the Christian life to be like an escalator or roller-coaster? At all times, Jesus must have it all**.
So while our hearts may be surrendered***…
- If we don’t allow God to have control of our minds, we will struggle to employ wisdom and discernment in our decision-making and be bound by vanity and ignorance.
- If we don’t allow God to have control of our feet and legs, we will be a slave to fear and anxiety.
- If we don’t allow God to have control of our arms and hands, we will not be able to give effectively and shine God’s compassion on those less fortunate than us.
- If we don’t allow God to have control of our habits, we will become chained to a diseases, disorders and/or distractions.
- If we don’t allow God to have control of our eyes/strength, we will give in to lusts and impurities and other corrupt desires of the flesh.
- If we don’t allow God to have control of our ears/mouth, we will fall into gossip, slander and deception.
- If we don’t allow God to have control of our will, we will disobey more often and develop a self-centeredness lifestyle.
- If we don’t allow God total control over our heart (partly surrendered), we will wrestle with deficits of joy, love and passion.
- If we don’t allow God, then we can’t cultivate have real faith. And without real faith, it’s impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Footnotes
* Proverbs 4:23 – “Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.”
** What part of Matthew 22:37 & John 14:21 do we NOT understand?
*** We want the benefits of God living inside of us, but don’t want to ‘go all the way’ with Jesus.
WHY?
- Fear of intimacy with God
- Fear of failing God
- Fear of what we would have to sacrifice to give it our all
- Fear of what others say/think
- Fear of not getting anything in return
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
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