No Reception

No Reception

"If you remain in me, and my words remain in you,
ask whatever you want and it will be done for you."
John 15:7

Losing the signal to my cell phone during the ride to winter retreat reminded me of our trips through Canada and always losing the signal on Highway 402 as we traveled from Sarnia to London, Ontario. You would be in a conversation and the voice would begin to break up before being lost completely. Or you would be trying to make a call and there would be absolutely no reception, no bars on the phone, no service whatsoever to get through. The term used now is "dead zone", the place where no signal is being received by the phone, and, as a result, no calls can be made and no messages received.

The passage in John 15 where Jesus talks about our abiding in God has always been one of my favorite sections of scripture. Early in my Christian walk, I read the biography of Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China, and of his struggles in Christianity. Taylor continually battled the sense of never being good enough, and never doing enough, until God unlocked John 15 to him. Taylor received the revelation that all he had to do was stay connected to Christ, like a branch to a vine, and God would do the work in his life. That simple yet powerful truth changed the life of a man credited with starting the largest missionary sending effort to China that had ever existed. The realization that it was not our constant trying to be and do better that was the key but our relationship and connection to Christ brought a life long breakthrough.

Many sincere, committed believers go through spiritual"dead zones" in their Christian walk, times of not hearing from God, of losing vision and purpose, and of not feeling a part of what God is doing in His kingdom. And while they make it through that time, the cycle is too often repeated of going in and out of touch with God. Like Hudson Taylor, their seasons of success and apparent victory are soon followed by bouts of frustration and a sense of distance from the Lord.

What then is the answer? It is to make our dwelling and home in Christ, to make our relationship with the Lord the primary focus of our lives, and to allow His life to flow into us just as a branch receives from the vine it is connected to. Jesus made it clear that apart from Him, apart from being vitally connected to Him, we can and will accomplish nothing. If you've been trying to serve God in your own strength and by your own effort, now is as good a time as any to "let go and let God". We are to place our lives in the Savior's hands, to trust Him fully to make us fruitful believers, and to receive from Him the enabling we each need so desperately.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church