God kicked me in the rear ...

There are very, very few things that are like getting a good, solid kick in the rear by the Holy Spirit ...

So, I'm having a little personal worship time after practicing a couple songs for this Sunday's worship service ... and after listening to Francis Chan of Cornerstone in Simi Valley preach on 2 Timothy 3 and 2 Timothy 4:1-5. I mean, those messages were convicting as the Lord would have it. (You can download the podcasts through iTunes ... just search for Francis Chan and the series called "The End of the World.")

Anyway, so after going through a couple of this weekend's songs, this, for some reason, popped up, and having it on iTunes, and having the music from worshipcentral.org, Taylor and me just started playing it ...



"Adoration"
Brenton Brown © 2008 Thankyou Music/Adm. by worshiptogether.com songs
From the CD Because of Your Love

We bow our hearts, we lift our hands,
We turn our eyes to You again,
And we surrender to the truth
That all we need is found in You.

Receive our adoration, Jesus, Lamb of God.
Receive our adoration; how wonderful You are.

We choose to leave it all behind
And turn our eyes towards the prize.
The upward call of God in Christ;
You have our hearts, Lord; take our lives.

Every soul You've saved sings out.
Everything You've made resounds.
All creation's standing now,
Lifting up Your name.

We're caught up in the angel's song.
We're gathered to Your ancient throne.
Children in our Father's arms,
Shouting out Your praise.

So this was the kick in the rear, a combination of Francis Chan's messages and having the lyrics of Brenton Brown's song just penetrate my very core:

If I'm to adore our Lord and Savior with my life (Romans 12:1-2), shouldn't I be leaving behind my comfort zone and finding ways to reach out to "the least of these" with His love and grace?

How sad if all I do -- if all we who are followers of Christ do -- is just sing ""God songs," attend church and Bible studies, and never leave our little Christian bubbles to reach the lost, the lonely, the needy, the poor, the hurt, the broken, the unlovable.

If we're (I do include myself here) afraid, why? The same Spirit that rose Jesus from the grave is the same Spirit the Lord gave us to live within us when we surrendered our lives to Him. If we believe that -- I mean truly believe that -- imagine the power that is in us to do the good in His Name, to share His love and saving grace, if we would only just get out of His way and let Him work in us and through us.

If we're not afraid, then why are we not out there? Could it be that we (I include myself here, too) don't care? If that's the case, we need to be honest before the Lord, tell Him we're sorry and that we want His Spirit to give us the power to be compassionate, to be loving people and to be like Jesus to the world.

If we truly call ourselves followers of Christ, and if we truly live the way He wants us to live according to his Holy Scriptures, I think we, including me, need to get out of our comfort zones, our little bubbles, and be about our Father's business ...