My hubby and I have been going through a class together at church. It is an advanced discipleship class. Basically, we are in deacon training. This past class, got me thinking.
I don’t want to be defined by my religion affiliation, i.e. Baptist, Assembly of God, Pentecostal, or even non-denominational. I want to be known as a Christ follower and that is it. Labels seem to define who we are, by what others have been before us or it seems to give us rigid rules to live by, that even God has not ordained.
There is only one person who I want to follow. I follow Him {Jesus} because I love him not because it is the “right” thing to do or my family says I should. I also KNOW Him and He is always been faithful even when I have failed and boy have I FAILED. Thankfully, for His grace and not by any works – He LOVES me and even you!
This was a song that we used to sing as children and fits me to a T.
I am a C
I am a C-H
I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N
And I have C-H-R-I-S-T
In my H-E-A-R-T
And I will L-I-V-E E-T-E-R-N-A-L-L-Y
If you feel I am wrong or cynical about this – just ask Him to show you the truth. I believe He is powerful enough to show you what you need to know. I don’t have to lead you in some prayer – just talk to Him. He is a loving Father! He also is the Great I AM! He already knows you inside and out.
I would say one thing – since there are sooooo many false prophets on every corner – get yourself a BIBLE and start reading it yourself. You might want to question EVERYTHING you hear just to see if it aligns with the WORD of GOD.
A good website for this is Bible Gateway. They have over 100 versions and translations. (The Bible was not written in English to begin with, so every Bible has to be translated. I was raised thinking that KJV was the closest translation. Let’s just say – that wasn’t totally accurate.) Unless you can read Hebrew, Arabic and Greek – look at many translations to get the feel of what God is saying to you. A Strong’s Concordance is also a wonderful reference for this, it gives you the Hebrew definition for each word. For example, LOVE has 3 different meanings. Unless you know which LOVE is used, it might not be exactly what you think.
Isaiah 40:8
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.
Enjoy your adventure – God truly loves you!
I agree about knowing the Bible for yourself. There is incredible power in the Word of God. Something you will not get from a sermon.
Thanx 4 posting. Good thing to think about.
I definitely agree about not wanting to be defined by your affiliation. Sometimes I cringe when people ask “what” I am or what “kind” of church I go to. There is always some kind of stereotype with whatever you say. I always start with a “bible believing” or “Christ following” church and see if I can leave it at that. =)
Amen! So true I rather be known as a Christian than anything else. I love the I am a C song…its one of our favorites. :>