This is a question we all have to ask because unless your heart has changed are you really saved? Bill Graham once said that out of a 1,000 people coming forward to the altar, only 10% had a heart change. That is CRAZY! Why go through the motions if you are not surrendering to God? Unless you surrender to God you can’t experience a changed heart.
Some people will disagree with me on that but when you look all through the Bible, a changed heart changes lives. You know when someone changes because it is undeniable the change you see in them. How do you explain the life they were living to the life they live now? When a life transformation happens, you can’t deny God in that change.
This is why we don’t see many things happening in the US when it comes to the Christian community but see all kinds of things happen overseas that we can’t explain. You see those of us have been taught this lie that if you follow God, you will live your best life now, but that is not the truth. You are going to struggle because sin controls this world. We USA Christians have been so comfortable for so many years that we don’t even see or feel Jesus like we used to. We just go through the motions. We have become so complacent that our lives no longer matter in the thick of things. We now strive to live the most comfortable life we can because we are taught that’s how to be a Christian.
Here is the problem, God never says your life will become problem free in this world ever. He never pretends that you won’t struggle. When I hear stories from overseas and see so much life change there but only see some life change here, I always ask but what’s wrong with this picture? Aren’t we as Americans called to spread the word to the world? What has happened and why?
Comfort is what has happened. You see the Christians overseas when they pray they are literally praying for their lives but when we pray many times we are praying for more comfort. Do you see the problem yet? We lost our way because life has been easy. I am not saying your struggles don’t matter, because yes they do, but when you compare the struggles of Christians from other countries to the struggles of Christians of the USA, you see one of the problems.
Our struggles are usually materially based or just life based, their struggles are usually if they will be able to eat or will they even live without being killed? We can’t imagine the struggles they go through overseas, but yet Christianity is on fire over there! Why is that? I believe it’s because they have realized that God is all they have and they now know God is all they need. Those of us here in America have not come to that conclusion because survival has not depended on God.
Am I saying that we have to live like them in order to fully surrender to God? Of course not, but what I am saying is it is time to wake up to the comfort we have and decide that we will start following God anyway. God knows what makes you comfortable and he’s getting ready to make you uncomfortable because he knows that is where you will grow.
Are you ready for a heart change? Are you ready to live differently? Are you really ready for a transformation? Then ask God to come back into your life. Ask him to help you see where comfort has destroyed your fire for God. Ask him to give you the courage to do what you need to do in order to get that fire back. Some people may have to give up comfort and some people may not but by asking him and listening to what he says, you will be on your way to a fully changed heart! Ask him to help you see things in your life that he knows need to be changed. Ask him to show you the lessons he wants you to learn from your struggles. Now follow him fully! AMEN!
Living a God-Inspired Life,
Chris Benton