Hot Coal, Pew Warmer, or Cold Fish?

Romans 8:11-14 says this: (The Message)


It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!  So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?"


If you are a follower of Christ and you are not asking “what’s next Papa?” you may be living a stale, watered down version of Christianity.


Hey, I have been here! Many times! I am not here to pass judgment, but I know that the alternative is so much better. I have heard people who have been Christians over 30, 40 years, say, ‘O, look at the new Christian, all fired up for Jesus, isn’t that sweet?’ (If you didn’t hear a Southern accent when you read that, there must be something wrong….lol) Well, I have been a Christian for exactly 30 years and in that time I have been a hot coal, I have been a pew warmer and I have been a cold fish (caught by the love of Jesus, just not living the way I should).


I think of so many Christians that have taken off since their re-birth and I start to feel that twinge… you know the one: jealousy, covetousness, envy…. And I have to stop and repent every time. Listen you are you, not someone else and I am me. God expects us to compare ourselves to no one except JESUS! So when I wonder about my “place” in the kingdom of God, first I remember that God chose me to live my life. Jeremiah 1:5 says He knew me while I was still in my mother’s womb. Secondly I have to remember that envy is something I can have no part of. (James 3:16) I don’t want to open the door to confusion and evil in my life. 

Been there, done that, did not buy the T-shirt.

Everyone has a place in the kingdom. We each have different talents, and callings. I Corinthians 12:4-8a says God's various gifts are handed out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. 5 God's various ministries are carried out everywhere; but they all originate in God's Spirit. 6 God's various expressions of power are in action everywhere; but God himself is behind it all. 7 Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! 8 The variety is wonderful!


I once watched Joyce Meyer explain this at a church service in my area and I have never seen a better example since. She took off her ring, her shoe, and her glasses and she put the ring on her eye, the shoe on her hand and rested the glasses on her foot. These items all have a function on her body. But in the wrong place, they hinder more than help. A ring should not want to be a pair of glasses, or a shoe a ring, etc.… When you find your calling you know. How? You will fit, you will excel, and you will be excited to do what you do. Be blessed and be a blessing. Remember, go is a verb!