Love, Joy, and Peace

God has been doing such a work in me over the past year. It seems like every time a turn around he is showing me the difference in the Christianity that we have created compared to that of the Bible. At the end of last year God was teaching me about why people really come to God. Most of the time there is a hidden motive or agenda. "My live is a wreck!" or "I don't know how to love of my wife and kids." or "I need help with my job and finances." On and on it goes. There are as many reasons for coming "to find grace and help in the time of need" as there are people. What I learned at the end of last year is that very few times to people come to Christ because they are seeking a personal relationship with the one that created him or her. As we have been in preparation this year for Celebrate Recovery I began to understand the need that every person has to feel accepted and loved. I sad thing is some come to Christ because of the acceptance and love of the Church they attend. Although this is not a bad thing it should not be the reason someone makes a decision for Christ. In one of my leadership meeting someone mentioned that some of the hardest times of temptation is after a great service at Church. This showed me that a person and actually experience somewhat of a high on the Lord. You want more, you need more. Before to long a normal service is not good enough it must be bigger and better to get the endorphins flowing.
This weekend at the conference in Pampa, God taught me yet another reason people come to the Lord. People desire "the good life;" a life filled with love, joy,and peace. There is no doubt that these things are benefits of salvation, but they should not be the reason for the decision. When I was selling accounts and loans for the bank I used the benefits to close the deal. It is the features that determine how something works. People should come to Christ because they have come to the understanding that they are guilty before God, and the need is not for a better life but for righteousness before the Judge. When and if we ever come back to the real reason for coming to Christ, repentance will be revived among true believers.