By Marni Montanez
Revelation 3:16 Complete Jewish Bible
16. So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you
out of my mouth!
This message is pretty severe. What does lukewarm mean? Synonyms for
lukewarm are: indifferent, cool, halfhearted, apathetic,
unenthusiastic, tepid, perfunctory, noncommittal, lackadaisical, and
couldn't-care-less. These are words that describe someone sitting on the
fence. Someone who has no conviction and who barely exerts any effort to
live a Holy and disciplined life. Surrender is out of the question and
submitting to God’s will is too frightening.
Lukewarm means to show little or no interest or enthusiasm. It is to be half hearted, and having or producing a comfortable atmosphere.
God gave His all for us and it is a slap in His face when we give only a portion of ourselves to Him. The lukewarm believer lives the status quo lifestyle. They do not want their boat rocked and they surely are not getting out of the boat. Everything in their world is safe and controlled (as safe as it can be outside of the kingdom of God).
In the midst of this mindset is someone who will never stand up for what is right or unjust when there is a cost.
If it doesn’t directly affect them they will not get involved.
These people easily buckle to the intimidation of others who say that the Biblical standard that determine ungodly behavior is judgmental or critical. Some even use the world’s term….intolerant.
A lukewarm Christian is a target; defenseless against the enemy. They won’t lift up their weapons nor will they use the power and authority given to us by God through Jesus Christ.
They may go to church every Sunday, and say their prayers, but their presence and prayers have no power. These people are spiritually dull and inactive. The enemy is able to easily trample upon those who will not fight and God cannot use those who will not obey.
Lukewarm Christians are ineffective and self-seeking.
A Christian who is not passionate about something is a defeated Christian. They are those who have not allowed God to heal and grow them. They are those whose territory the enemy takes with little to no resistance. This happened during the Jewish persecution in Germany and it happened when prayer was taken out of schools in our country. One woman, Madalyn Murray O’hair, took prayer and Bible reading out of our schools and there wasn’t much of a fight against it.
Lukewarm Christians dare not look at what is obvious around them. Evil thrives when good people do nothing and as long as they don’t look, they cannot be held accountable. Their "lamp is hidden under a bushel" and their talents stay unrevealed.
Challenge: God has given all of us a mission with gifts and the ability to fulfill our mission. Find out what yours is. Ask the Lord to awaken your heart and show you great and mighty things.
He is ready and willing to fan your flame into a roaring fire.
God bless
Marni
Go on to: Romans 8:1 No Condemnation
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The
purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate,
and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through
Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord
require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your
God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or
crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the
standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for
the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not
Christian.