All or Nothing: The Watch Letter
A father instructs those he loves. He makes sure that they know the value of the Word and, most of all, the value of salvation. He teaches them not to value the things of this world but to value the things of God.
My father and our Pastor Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn instructs us every week. Not just from the pulpit or the weekly broadcast but by all means. He calls the saints day in and out, sets up meetings and counseling time, and sends us group messages to keep us focused and inspired. He never asks for anything in return (but we should be willing to sow into him as he sows into us). All he asks of us is to pray, obey the Word and take the teaching back to our homes and pass it on to our children and others. None of us can say we have never been helped, loved or encouraged because the way our pastor treats and teaches us represents all of that.
But after we hang up the phone, after we turn off the broadcast, after we leave the church doors: How far does what he has invested in us go? Does the way our lives and homes operate reflect how we have been taught and poured into?
Last week, Chief Apostle Gunn asked us the question: Is your life all about God or is it a social experiment?
Social experiments are based on how people react to things that get their attention or how they make decisions based on their personal desires or points of view.
If we are coming to church, asking help of our pastor or claiming to be saved only in response to what gets our attention, sparks our interests or makes us feel good then that is not what being saved is about. And that is why God has asked Chief to encourage us to examine whether our "Christian" or "saved" life is all about God or is it just a social activity.
When our life is all about God we are not focused on just participating and doing things that we want to do or that pique our interests, we are focused on doing everything that God requires, no matter how we feel or think. And if our life is all about God, we throw our personal opinions out the door and replace them with what God says and his Word says. If we find ourselves ignoring the preached word or counsel of the pastor because it doesn’t align with our personal goals then yes, we are simply participating in a social experiment. We are just testing the waters to see what we can get out of going to church and from interacting with the pastor. If we are only looking for the benefits of the church or being saved and not what we can offer and do then we are choosing a social experiment.
But here is the lie we need to see that the devil is telling. He wants you think it’s okay to treat God, the church, the pastor, and the saints as some type of social club or experience that just enhances your life or makes you seem like a respectable person. The truth is all social experiments have an expiration date. A social experiment is designed on purpose to take what it needs from you and then come to an end. You will not last and make it to the kingdom of God if you are operating under a social experiment, because when the devil is through with you he simply throws you to curb and picks another test subject. Would you rather let the devil experiment with your life like a lab rat or let God make your life whole, stable and eternal?
This week, my pastor enriched me. No, it wasn’t about money. It was him sharing the wisdom of what God gave him. He shared with me the critical importance of prayer and how nothing that matters happens without prayer. He said: Jesus couldn’t have made it to the cross without prayer. He would have asked for the angels to come get him. Prayer gave him the humility, strength, mind, faith, willingness and obedience to make it to the cross. So, if Jesus who is perfect, needed prayer to accomplish his calling and God’s will, what are we doing? Now I understand even more why the Bible says pray without ceasing. Because we are weak and incapable of doing God’s will without prayer. We can't love without prayer. We can flourish without prayer. We can't think clearly or make good decisions without prayer. We can't stay away from sin without prayer. We can't live healthy lives without prayer. We can't care without prayer. We can't be fruitful and good parents, spouses, siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents without prayer. You can't even be a good employee or boss without prayer. And the list goes on.
If you don't pray with your children, God's will will be missing. If you don't pray with your spouse, God's will will be missing. If you don't pray over your givings, your career, your travels, your day-to-day activities, your attire, your thoughts, etc., God's will will be missing. Jesus showed us that prayer is the door to invite God's will in. If you feel like your family, your life, your ministry, etc., are out of whack look for where you left prayer and look around to see if the people in your life have given themselves to prayer or have rejected it. I am going back to look.
Chief Apostle Gunn also shared with me about how God is emphasizing that if we seek him first in everything then our life will be added to in a way that we can't do ourselves. The reason God is emphasizing it is because he is letting us know that the saints are not seeking him enough. We should be seeking him, his mind, his will, his plan, his desire at all times. If we engulf ourselves in his will then everything we could ever need would be available to us, because his reward is with him. But we must seek him while he may be found. God makes himself available to those who are willing.
One man put it so simple: He said the Lord is not supposed to be a part of your life but he should be your (whole) life. Another person once said: Give more than you take in life. Are we giving to God more and to others more than what we are asking for?
So, this is how we know if we are in a social experiment or if our life is ALL about God. If he is just part of who we are or all of who we are. If we just listen to and do part of the Word or do all of the Word. If we just take money from the pastor but don’t take his counsel. If we deal with some of the church members but not the ones God has called to help and instruct us or correct us. If we are saved on Tuesday and Friday night and Sunday morning but not saved at work, school, home and in the public or even on the phone. If we are allowing the lifestyles of ourselves and children to contradict the teaching but never bend our lifestyles to God’s commands and teaching. If we are absent when it comes to the instruction of God but present for the blessings. If we have no follow through or accountability but always want God, the pastor and the saints to take care of us.
In a social experiment people behave a certain way based on the environment they are in. And that is the tell tell sign. Do we behave differently based on who we are around and where we are? God is constant and consistent. So, if our life is all about God where is our constant? Where is our consistency?
Either we give our all to God or we are giving God nothing. I must examine me to see if the all I think I’m giving or doing means nothing to God. If we are truly living for God, then we will care if what we do, say, and participate in counts to God.
Many times we say I trust in the Lord. But do we really? Trust means to be certain about something. Are we certain about God and who he is? Are we certain about wanting to serve and live for him? Are we certain about his Word and who he sent? A trust also means to entrust someone to hold and manage all that you own or possess. Do we allow God to do that? Trust also means to depend on wholly. Do we depend on God for everything or do we take the control out of his hands to do what we want and give back when there is something we think we can’t do for ourselves?
Psalm 37
3Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
I would like to end with this prayer.
Father, you are all knowing and all loving and all powerful. I thank you for your grace and your majesty. I thank you for the opportunity of today and the opportunity to pray.
I am coming before you asking that you forgive me for my spiritual inconsistency and my absence when it comes to the things of God. You are always present and available and as your child and your creation I want to be the same.
Show me where I have been unreliable, unstable, unwilling, unfocused and uncaring and wash me. Lord, today I choose to want you more than anything, any person, any feeling, any opportunity, any material thing… and if you find that I don’t, show me and don't let me rest until it is dealt with. I ask for your grace and your Holy Spirit to help me.
Forgive me for abandoning you and not loving you with all my heart, all my mind and all my soul. Forgive me for treating my relationship with you, the church, my pastor and others like a social experiment. You deserve better and I want to do better.
Social means to be informal and I have treated you just like that.
Forgive me for not respecting who you are and not respecting your Word. Forgive me for treating you and your expectations of me like they are optional. Forgive me for treating the pastor, the saints and the Word like they are there for my entertainment and enjoyment. I thank you for a chance to break free of the wrong mindset and exchange my thoughts for your thoughts and my ways for your ways.
Forgive me for allowing compromise in my life and my home because I have been unwilling to surrender all to you. Thank you that through Jesus and his sacrifice I can be unbound from sin and renewed in my mind. I receive new sight, new hope, new desires, and new satisfaction in you. In Jesus name, Amen!
Listen to the following recent messages on FORREAL Radio Broadcast with Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn.
Don't Let It Be In You!
Is My Life All About God...Or Is It a Social Experiment?
Our leaders are preparing for an important move of God on the West Coast later this month. If you have been impacted by the ministry of Chief Apostle Gunn and The Body of Christ, Inc., I encourage you to sow back into the ministry by sending a seed here.
Psalm 50:23: Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.
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