Being Lukewarm

Have you ever been so nervous to meet someone for the first time, whether it be someone you met on a dating site, someone your friend set you up with, whatever the circumstance? Or even to go on a first date with someone you know. Those feelings you get in your stomach. The excitement of it all. Or once your first date is over and it goes well and then you continue going on dates, and you continue to grow in the fondness of that person and each time you feel more excited around them. Then eventually you start dating and years pass by, and you start to feel lukewarm around them. You're not doing your hair and makeup every time you see them. You're not sending the long cute messages at night for them to wake up to the next morning. You get comfortable around them and are no longer doing the things you did before to keep them. This happens. You become lukewarm. The same thing can happen with our walk with God. This blog is me mainly speaking to myself, but maybe someone else needs to read this as well. You see when quarantine began, I started this blog because God placed it on my heart. I started making Tik Tok's with messages God placed on my heart. I was studying my Bible daily and God was speaking to me like never before. I was growing so close to God just through listening to worship music, reading His Word, and expanding my knowledge of Him while sharing it with others. It was going so well. I was writing blogs twice a week. I was making Tik Tok videos talking about God daily and sharing them. I made Youtube Bible study videos. I grew a small following on Tik Tok. I was reaching people with my blogs and the views were remaining steady. I felt good. As time went on though, I felt like that fire began to weaken some. I went from writing blogs twice a week, to once a week, to now whenever I feel like it. I went from reading the Bible daily to reading it a couple of times a week, to now I'm lucky if I'm studying it twice a week outside of church. I went from posting Tik Tok videos daily, sometimes multiple times a day, to posting a few times a week, to now I haven't posted in weeks. I grew lukewarm for God. You might be reading this and you might feel like you've grown lukewarm towards God. You might feel like the fire you once had is no longer there. It's not that you love God any less and you think any less of Him, it's that you have switched up your priorities in your life. You have stopped doing the things you were doing to become on fire for God in the first place. You aren't opening your Bible as much. You aren't studying the Word as much. You aren't spreading the Word of God as much. I am here to tell you I feel lukewarm today. I feel like my fire is weakened. I am telling you that it happens. I want to share a letter with you from the book of Revelation. I did a Bible study video over the seven churches in Asia that John sent letters to, after God gave John the message to write to each one, and one of those churches is what I want to talk about, the lukewarm church. This was the church of the Laodiceans. Revelation 3:15-16, "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth". This is God speaking directly to this church. He is saying that he knows that this church is neither cold nor hot in their walk with Him. God makes it clear what will happen to this lukewarm church though in verse 16. He tells the church since they are neither cold nor hot, he will vomit them out of His mouth. You might be thinking okay, so I know that God tells us not to be lukewarm, but how do I stop being lukewarm and ignite that fire I once had? I have been asking myself that question lately. Here is the answer I have for both myself and for you. You must continually feed your Spirit. That means continually read your Bible and learn about God. Learn more about who God is and it will make you want to draw closer to Him. You must talk to God. Talk to Him daily, no matter what is going on in your life. Even if you feel like nothing new is occurring in your life, you can still pray to Him and thank Him for all the goodness he has provided in your life. You don't need to pray to God only when things are going wrong. You should have a relationship with God. A relationship means talking and communicating daily to grow closer to one another. It means being vulnerable. It means being honest. It means spending time together. You must surround yourself with people who want to also grow in their walk with God and will help you keep that fire ignited, just like you can do for them. Once I find myself studying my Bible, talking to God, worshipping Him, and being around my Christian friends, I find my fire igniting more and more. I am here to tell you that we as Christians are not perfect. I am not perfect. I have times where I feel lukewarm for God. I have days where I can't remember if I talked to God at all. I have days where I find myself spending more time on my phone and Netflix than I do in the Word. I have days where I find myself allowing things other than God to take priority in my life when I know God should always be a priority. Since when did being busy become an excuse for not spending time with God? I know I have been using that one. God wasn't too busy when He sent His son to Earth to die on the cross to grant me the free eternal gift of salvation. I need to stop being too busy to spend time with My Father who loves me, who is eternal, who will never leave me, who will never let me down, and who will never stop wanting to spend time with me. I need to stop letting things of this world take priority over the one who holds the whole world in His hands. I wrote this blog today for myself. This message is something I needed to hear. It's something I am struggling with. It's something maybe some of you are struggling with too. Don't let yourself become lukewarm for Jesus. Allow yourself to be on fire for Jesus. Allow yourself to be so on fire that you can't help but let it spread to those around you. I am making it a priority to make Jesus a priority every single day. When I start to feel the fire die out some, I will go back to the source of the flame, the Word of God, and spending time with God. I pray you do the same. We are all in this together. We got this. I pray each person who needs to see this message does. I pray if you are feeling this way too, you know that you are not alone. I pray we all make Jesus the priority. I pray our fire starts blazing. I pray we continue to grow closer to God daily. Love you guys!