God Is Not A Slacker

A slacker is someone who avoids doing work or anything productive. They do not take responsibility for tasks while at the same time procrastinating. God is not a slacker. He is not someone who says He will do something and then doesn't do it. God is faithful to His Word, He is faithful to the task and He is faithful to us.

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)

Have you ever had a promise from a friend but they never did it? Have you ever promised something but you never did it either? God is not like us and He is not like our friends. What God has promised us before concerning our lives, He is faithful to bring it to pass. He is faithful to complete the work that He has started in us (Philippians 1:6). God is faithful and true (Revelations 19:11). Truth is the essence of who God is. Every word that God has spoken will not return unto Him void, He is not a man that He should lie. If God said it, it is!

"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV)

What are some of the things that God has promised you? Have you lost faith in God concerning the fulfillment of these promises? Remember that you are a child of God and if God is for you then who can be against you? Every plan that God has for our lives will come to pass once we continually surrender our lives to Jesus. Even though, we may not see these promises coming to pass in the time that we expected, do not lose hope, do not lose faith in God. God's ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). There will be times when we just don't understand what God is doing or how He is doing it but we just have to trust Him, we just have to believe.

We can trust God because He is our Father, a loving Father at that. He is working everything together for our good and for our benefit (Romans 8:28). He is the Alpha and the Omega and He sees far beyond what we could ever see. If He is the One who holds the water in the hollow of His hands and sits upon the circle of the earth, I am sure that He is more than able to bring every promise to pass. God's promises are sure and they will be fulfilled.

"But as God is faithful, our word to you was not Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me, Silvanus, and Timothy—was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NKJV)

In these times, God wants to reassure us that every promise He has made, He will do. Do not lose faith, do not be discouraged! Even though we can't see it, it doesn't mean it is not there. In Acts 1, Jesus told the disciples to wait for the promise that He told them about. The disciples waited and they received the promise in Acts 2. They didn't move on but they waited. If they did move on, they would have missed the promise and tons of people probably wouldn't be saved through their ministry. We just have to wait and when we wait on God, we will never be put to shame (Isaiah 49:23).

God will make everything beautiful just in time (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11). He will make it all beautiful in His time. Don't worry about your situation but just trust in your creator, the One who sees all things and who by all things exist.

Guest Post : Fully Committed Followers

Fully Committed Followers is one of our first guest post articles, the first of many. It is written by my close friend, Dominique Lovell who has a heart that longs for intimacy with Jesus and for others to have that very same passion. I'm sure that as you read it, you would also have a desire to be fully committed to Jesus. 

~~~~~~

When we look at our lives, the obstacles we face, the trials, temptations and the great effort that it takes to go against the grain of society and stand firmly in our faith, many times we ask ourselves, is Jesus worth it? Is He really worth all of the trouble and self-denial? 

 

My answer to you each and every time is YES, He is worth it. In fact, He is worth far much more because He first loved you! 

But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 

Jesus Christ is a demonstration of God’s extravagant love for us! Even though we were created for God’s glory and we were the ones who rebelled in sin and rejected Him time and time again, YET He still desired us and even dared to come in the form of man, Jesus, live a life of perfect submission to God, suffer, die, resurrect and ascend to Heaven and promise to come again, all that God could have you forever! Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the God Man died for your sins that you may be reconciled to God! And He’s coming back for all those who He has called His own, those who have received Him. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ – that while we were yet undeserving, God desired us and made a way through Jesus Christ giving us an open invitation to receive Him as our Lord and Saviour.

 When we examine what great lengths God has gone to demonstrate His immense love for us, I think it is time that we consider our response. What does the good news of Jesus Christ mean to us? Are we living lives worthy of the gospel? Paul urged the church of Philippi to live lives worthy of the good news of Christ, he reminded them of key facts: that they were citizens of Heaven above all else and that unity in the body of Christ in fighting for the common cause of the faith is necessary when seeking to live worthy lives.   

Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. Philippians 1:27

 

We ought to stand united as the body of Christ fighting the good fight of faith together!

It was necessary for Paul to remind the church of Philippi that they were citizens of Heaven, and this reminder rings through for us today because so often we forget. We spend the majority of our time, energy, resources and money on earthly things and therein forget that we don’t live for this life solely. In fact, this life is but a foretaste of the next, a transitioning point to which we work towards establishing the Kingdom of God here until it is fully come. Don’t get distracted by the cares of this world, this is not your final destination! Let your lifestyle and priorities reflect that your treasures are stored in Heaven where moth and rust won’t destroy. When you are a fully committed follower of Jesus, you set your eyes on things above where Christ is seated and rightly represent the Kingdom to which you belong. 

We ought to be united with ONE spirit and one purpose, this means that there must be a choice. Many times we find persons who contemplate being fully committed to Jesus, and they decline the invitation and make excuses to continue to indulge in their ungodly lifestyles. In fact, some of them are okay with simply appearing to be Christians while they continue to follow their own worldly desires. My friend, that is subtle deception; you cannot serve two masters, you will love one and hate the other.

You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. James 4:4

God wants all or nothing.
No reservations
No façades. 

He doesn’t want your appearance of godliness or your ‘goodness’, He wants your HEART, and until He gets that, He won’t be satisfied. Unless you truly surrender your life to God, receive Jesus and live a life unto Him, you will be an enemy of God and I admonish you to correct that for it is better to know Him as Father now than Judge then. 

Serving Christ is not a passive decision, you must passionately desire to go after Him with all that you are, you must pick up your cross and follow Him daily. He wants your time, your dreams, your desires, your love, your heart...your life. He wants it all.

34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.  Matthew 10:34-39 

Jesus did not come in the flesh so that you could remain the same! He did not come so you could continue to be comfortable in your sin. Jesus came to rescue you! To free you of your misconceptions, to shed light and truth in your present darkness. He loves you too much to leave you the same. Fully committed followers of Jesus understand that they must never love another more than Jesus, they understand that in order to find their lives in Christ, they must first lose it by giving it over to Him.

My question to you today is, are you a fully committed follower of Jesus? Are you living as a citizen of Heaven with your eyes fixed on that which is eternal? When no one else will follow Jesus, are you still willing to give Him your heart, soul, mind and strength? Will you make Jesus your choice even when He’s unpopular? Are you willing to forsake all to follow Him? 

Consider these questions and answer them truthfully, then consider this reality – He is worthy. 

He deserves a life which is fully committed to Him. I know surrendering is often a challenging and even scary request but it is required if we are to experience the fullness of life in Christ. If we are to truly encounter Him and live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ, we have to allow Him to be our Saviour AND our Lord!

I leave you with this final word of encouragement, God wants your entire heart and He will settle for nothing else and nothing less. Jesus did not come to save you simply for you to remain the same, when you receive Christ, you become a new creation, therefore put away the old man and the old way of life! Embrace the newness of life in Christ. Dare to live a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ today; every sacrifice you make is worth it. Be reminded, Jesus is looking for committed followers.

This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Prayer starter: Lord I recognize that You will not relent until You have all of me, today I surrender and submit my heart, will and mind to Your leadership. Holy Spirit, I ask that You will empower me to lead a life worthy of the gospel and that You will direct my steps in the ways of righteousness. I put off the old man and lay aside every weight and idol which hinder me from following You, I repent for loving another more than You. Lord it is my earnest desire that I never love another more than I love You, please make this my reality. All of these things I ask in the precious name of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Dominique Lovell is a talkative, ambitious and humorous Christian. She is an immense lover of people and this has fueled her choice to pursue a degree in Social Work. She believes and promotes that as Christian youths, we should be setting an example for all believers through speech, conduct, love, faith and purity. It is her desire to encourage, edify and inspire through her writing and she hopes that it will provoke your mind and stir your spirit. Read more of her posts at Heavenly Glimpses.

“You may not be able to change the world, but you can definitely change a life.” – Dominique Lovell