Stepping Out of the Bubble

I heard a very profound reminder over the weekend, that hit home like a slap across the face.

'Your bubble is not the world's reality'

I experienced the most wonderful times of worship over the weekend with many great women of God.  I had the blessing of hearing many anointed speakers and God spoke to me throughout it all.  However, it was the phrase above that humbled me the most.  I was challenged by this statement.  Our bubble is a comfortable place to be.  We like routine.  We like familiar environments, familiar faces and comfort.  However God has not called us to a comfortable life.  He has called us to an obedient life, one of daily obedience that regularly calls us out of our bubble.  There is a whole big world outside of our bubble.

The next profound challenge to me was:

The minute we become comfortable with  Jesus, we have made him in our own image".

Wow.  Let's explore that for just a moment.  The moment that we take Jesus for granted, answer him when we feel like it, obey him sometimes, and make him a part of our lives rather than him being our life, we have made God in our own image.  That is a powerful statement.  That draws us to account and brings us to a place where we have to repent.  We have no choice.  We do this, there is no denying it.  Even though every part of our spirit wants to serve and love God with reckless abandon, our flesh rebels and seeks what it thinks is best for us, contrary to God's plan. 

I don't want to serve a God I have made in my own image.  A God that I have put in a cage and open the door when I want to give him a cuddle and a pet.  I desire and declare that I want to serve God as he has always been, the Lord God Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, the Lord of Hosts, The Great I Am.

Although I have stepped out of my bubble in the last 5 years, it has been a sometimes slow process.  And that is OK.  Sometimes God works quickly in our lives and at other times at a much more steady pace.  It is during the journey that God develops that character that he desires in each of us.  This is good news friends;  very good news.  We don't have to struggle to better ourselves.  We don't have to beg and plead and do ten courses on 'How To Be a Better Christian'. 

ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS LOVE, LISTEN AND OBEY. 

Simple, unburdened, unbridled, unparalleled grace.

And so as I work through these things in my heart with God.  I leave you with the same challenge. 

Are you ready to step our of the bubble you have always known?

Are you prepared to let God be God of your life?

(The two profound statements above have been lovingly borrowed from Nicole Conner, of Citylife Church Melbourne)