MY BOX OF THE FAMILIAR

PRAYER JOURNAL 10/2/2018

YESTERDAY, I made a FRESH START in my exercise program…actually I restarted an exercise program that had gone dormant and TODAY, I am feeling its effect on my sedentary body.  Yes, more often than not, stepping out of the “Familiar” will cause a temporary discomfort…but oh the SWEET REWARD YOU WILL REAP.

What is contained in your “Box of the Familiar?” Perhaps it isn’t family, friends, a house or neighborhood; it could be a religion or ideas you have always been taught or expected behavior. Whatever it is that keeps you confined in your box, God may be calling you to venture outside.

If I took a poll, most people would say that they identify with the religion to which they were born or if it differs, it is the religion in which you committed to a relationship with Jesus Christ. We attend the same, like-minded church, are friends with the same, like-minded people, go to all the same, like-minded camp meetings, conferences and seminars.

All the beliefs and religious tenets we have stuffed in our little box are constantly affirmed and rarely challenged. If by some chance, a person comes along that dares to challenge us, we rush inside our little “Box of the Familiar” and pull out a well-rehearsed defense. But what if the box is simply your own little creation and was never part of the plan; ordained by God just for you?

WHAT IF….Peter had decided, after God speaking three times through a vision, that eating things he considered unclean JUST DIDN’T FIT IN HIS BOX? I believe God would have presented Truth to a hungry Cornelius but Peter would have missed out on being a part of opening the Door of Salvation to the Gentiles.

WHAT IF…as Paul traveled through Ephesus and encountered a group of Disciples of another “flavor,” he had smiled and waved, continuing on his journey instead of challenging them with the question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

And WHAT IF….when the Disciples of John answered with, “We have not so much heard whether there is a Holy Spirit,” Paul had merely blessed them because he didn’t want to it to be thought that he was fellowshipping with someone a little different and have the title of “COMPROMISER” emblazoned upon his forehead. Would John’s Disciples have lived out their life, content in their Baptism of Repentance, ignorant to the fact that God had a Baptism of Power He wanted to give them?

WHAT IF…when Paul stood in Athens on Mars Hill surrounded by temples and places of worship to many God’s, he would have swiftly climbed down the other side for fear that being in the midst of false worship would taint the truth that was forever settled in his heart.

WHAT IF…he hadn’t stepped out of his “Box of the Familiar” and boldly made the “Unknown God” known to them. The Gospel would have still be preached first to the Jew but also to the Greek, Paul would have thrown away his opportunity to be the one delivering the message.

WHAT IF…God was calling you out of your “BOX OF THE FAMILIAR,” but it was too strangely different? It was different than what was expected. What if friends labeled you a “COMPROMISER?” The language spoken didn’t contain some of the familiar “buzz” words, the worship, the songs and even the prayer made you just a little uncomfortable.

WHAT IF…you could no longer no longer just go through the motions, snuggled under your familiar security blanket of like-mindedness?

WHAT IF…there was a group of John’s Disciples, a Cornelius or city of Athenians just waiting for someone to obey God and step out of the “BOX OF THE FAMILIAR!”