Survival Mode or Pursuit Mode
January has come to a quick close but revival fires continue to burn!
God is moving mightily across our land awaking people's hearts and their spirits to the need for God and the need to get closer to Him!
Already a highlight for my year came last night as I was asked to conduct the first chapel service for the Alabama Girls Ranch outside Camp Hill, Alabama. This was the first chapel service they have had in a long time and I was honored to be the one to re-start it!
I preached on Survival mode vs. Pursuit mode. Survival mode is doing the minimum required to get by; I believe this mode of thinking is a part of the victim mentality that is so prevalent today. It affects young people as well as adults.
But pursuit mode comes from a decision to chase after God with all your heart! I have had the privilege to travel almost all the way around the world in the last five years preaching this Gospel and I can tell you three simple things:
1. People are people wherever you go. Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Indian, Kenyan, Indonesian, people's skin may be a different color on the outside, but on the inside there is a special place formed in the shape of Jesus! You can force and cram other things in that little spot, but it will not last because that place belongs to Jesus! And when He takes that place in your heart, true satisfaction begins!
2. The devil is the devil everywhere you go! In every country of the world there are drug problems, rebellion problems, and alcohol problems, marriage problems that are all a result of a sin problem! It's not a religious cliché: Jesus really is the answer to every problem in every country of the world!
3. Jesus will be LORD everywhere you go if He can only find someone who will let Him!
There is a cry in people's hearts all over the world to really know that God is for them and not against them! You can know Jesus in a personal way! I make this statement almost every time I preach because I've come to know the reality of it:
"Jesus didn't come to this earth and give His life so I could have a job; so I could be a preacher; He didn't give His life so I could travel around the world: He did not come to start another religion or a denomination: He came to this earth and gave His life so His Blood could restore the relationship mankind had with Father God in the garden of Eden!"
If your relationship with Jesus has been reduced to a smoldering ember, stop right now and ask Him to renew and revive the dying flame of passion for Him! Watch as He begins to breathe new life into your prayer life, your time in the Word and watch as He empowers you to be a fresh witness for Him!
It all begins when you decide to move from a survival mode to pursuit mode!
And by the way, six young ladies responded to commit their lives to Jesus and the pursuit mode at the close of last night's service!