The Lord wants radical Christians --- those that are head over heels IN LOVE with Jesus, and are intensely focused on Christ, His beauty, His character, His grace, His love and His person. His great desire is for us to draw near to Him in an intimate, loving relationship (see James 4:8 and 1 Corinthians 6:17). God delights in us when we seek Him for His PERSON, not simply for what we can GET from Him.
He longs is for His children to be madly IN LOVE with Him and be willing to do anything for Him.....because that's exactly how He feels about them.
The Apostle Paul felt this way about the Lord. His fixation was on Jesus Christ (see Philippians 1:21), and on advancing the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 9:23 in the NASB Paul said, "I do ALL things for the sake of the gospel." Then in two places Paul commands the Christian to imitate him, that is, to imitate his ATTITUDES (see 1 Corinthians :16, and 1 Corinthians 11:1 in the NASB). We also need to develop a sharp focus on Christ, His kingdom, and the gospel.
Have you considered a light bulb and how its light rays diffuse or spread to light an entire room? Now take those same light rays and bring them into a super focus. Presto! You now have a laser beam that is powerful and cutting and can even be used in surgical procedures. The same goes for us, if we will focus our energy and talents on Christ and on advancing His gospel (see Mark 8:35), we will find ourselves on the cutting edge of evangelism.
But in order to be motivated to act or do something, we first have to be ABLE to SEE the REWARD or goal. As Christians we especially need to be ABLE to SEE with our spiritual eyes as contrasted with merely the eyes of our mind.
In II Corinthians 4:18 Paul told us to fix our eyes not on what is seen with our physical eyes, but what is unseen (that is, on eternity and on the rewards we can win in heaven). In this verse, Paul tells us what is seen with our physical eyes is temporary, but what is unseen (the rewards in heaven) is eternal. Paul also clearly says this in Colossians 3:1,2 which reads like this:
"Set your hearts on things above, where Christ
is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds
on things above, not on earthly things."
In other words, have the focus of your spiritual eyes on eternity.......the realm that is unseen to your physical eyes.
We see in Hebrews chapter eleven (the faith chapter in the Bible), that the ancient men of great faith were commended by God because they saw the invisible heavenly city with their spiritual eyes. Verses 13-17 say: "All these people were living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.....instead were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them." these great men of faith had true heavenly vision of the kingdom.
In Hebrews 11:26, 27 concerning Moses, it says, "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the King's anger; he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible." Observe how Moses forsook the pleasures and physical prosperity of Egypt because he saw the eternal riches of Christ. He longed to be close to Christ in His eternal kingdom and to know Him intimately.
We also need to be able to see with our spiritual eyes and not just in theory the REALITY of an eternal heaven and hell. That will motivate and impel a person to share the gospel and to be used of the Lord to win the lost.
Suppose you had children that were trapped in a house burning in flames. I know you would rush into that house to save their lives. You would do it because you love them and you saw the danger that threatened them. Yet so many Christians never share the gospel with friends and loved ones that they know are lost and on their way to hell. They don't faithfully share the gospel because they do NOT SEE the majestic glory of Christ and His kingdom in contrast to the burning fires of an eternal hell. That will come when we ask the Lord to show us this REALITY and when we meditate on the Scriptures concerning eternity.
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