How can you tell that you are headed for Spiritual Trouble?
From time to time I have been asked if there were spiritual symptoms that could be relied on to foretell impending spiritual trouble. A Christian’s spiritual health is not unlike his physical health in that there are warning signs of impending spiritual trouble. In the physical world a person can usually tell when he is coming down with a cold. He will experience a “tickle” in his throat (or something similar) which is a warning sign of an impending “full blown” cold. Just so, in the spiritual realm a Christian can tell when he is “coming down with something,” when he has begun to go down a path that will lead to open sin and rebellion. He can know that he is heading for spiritual trouble. Unlike the physical realm however, where once the preliminary symptoms are felt the illness will invariably manifest itself, in the spiritual realm a preliminary spiritual symptom does not mean a “full-blown” spiritual meltdown is inevitable, it is always avoidable.
The spiritual symptoms that are easiest to see and most people point to as symptoms of spiritual trouble are actually symptoms of the end result of spiritual neglect, they are like those that show up when a physical illness is “full-blown.” Most people can tell if someone has succumbed to the flu because the symptoms are easy to see. The spiritual signs most people recognize and take notice of are those symptoms which appear only after the spiritual crisis is ignored and the situation has become critical. For example unrepentant sins such as lying, cheating, swearing, fornication, adultery, gossip, anger, pride and bitterness are symptoms of a spiritual condition that has been ignored to such an extent that it manifests itself for everyone to see. People can see when you have the flu, and people can see when your spiritual troubles have become publically recognizable.
What is needed is to identify that symptom which precedes the ones associated with the onset of a “full-blown” spiritual crisis or failure. If a person can do that he will not get to the point where his life openly manifests the symptoms of spiritual failure. There is a symptom that warns us all is not well with our spiritual health. What is this symptom? It is our love for God growing cold. The things that nourish and guide our relationship with Him become a chore. When a person’s relationship with God becomes burdensome he is “coming down with something.” How can a person tell if his relationship with God is growing cold? A person’s relationship with God is dependent on two things to keep it vibrant and alive. Those two things are reading God’s Word and prayer.
From time to time I have been asked if there were spiritual symptoms that could be relied on to foretell impending spiritual trouble. A Christian’s spiritual health is not unlike his physical health in that there are warning signs of impending spiritual trouble. In the physical world a person can usually tell when he is coming down with a cold. He will experience a “tickle” in his throat (or something similar) which is a warning sign of an impending “full blown” cold. Just so, in the spiritual realm a Christian can tell when he is “coming down with something,” when he has begun to go down a path that will lead to open sin and rebellion. He can know that he is heading for spiritual trouble. Unlike the physical realm however, where once the preliminary symptoms are felt the illness will invariably manifest itself, in the spiritual realm a preliminary spiritual symptom does not mean a “full-blown” spiritual meltdown is inevitable, it is always avoidable.
The spiritual symptoms that are easiest to see and most people point to as symptoms of spiritual trouble are actually symptoms of the end result of spiritual neglect, they are like those that show up when a physical illness is “full-blown.” Most people can tell if someone has succumbed to the flu because the symptoms are easy to see. The spiritual signs most people recognize and take notice of are those symptoms which appear only after the spiritual crisis is ignored and the situation has become critical. For example unrepentant sins such as lying, cheating, swearing, fornication, adultery, gossip, anger, pride and bitterness are symptoms of a spiritual condition that has been ignored to such an extent that it manifests itself for everyone to see. People can see when you have the flu, and people can see when your spiritual troubles have become publically recognizable.
What is needed is to identify that symptom which precedes the ones associated with the onset of a “full-blown” spiritual crisis or failure. If a person can do that he will not get to the point where his life openly manifests the symptoms of spiritual failure. There is a symptom that warns us all is not well with our spiritual health. What is this symptom? It is our love for God growing cold. The things that nourish and guide our relationship with Him become a chore. When a person’s relationship with God becomes burdensome he is “coming down with something.” How can a person tell if his relationship with God is growing cold? A person’s relationship with God is dependent on two things to keep it vibrant and alive. Those two things are reading God’s Word and prayer.
Psalm 119:47 And I shall delight in Thy commandments, Which I love.
Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
If these two things have become a grind then we are in trouble. When Bible reading and study along with prayer become a chore we can be sure that our love for God is growing cold. If our love for God becomes cold which is a sin, a further slide into sinfulness is not far behind. It was Joseph’s relationship with God that kept him pure.
Ephesians 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
If these two things have become a grind then we are in trouble. When Bible reading and study along with prayer become a chore we can be sure that our love for God is growing cold. If our love for God becomes cold which is a sin, a further slide into sinfulness is not far behind. It was Joseph’s relationship with God that kept him pure.
Genesis 39:9 “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil, and sin against God?”
David also saw his sin in relationship to God and Him alone.
Psalm 51:4 Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done what is evil in Thy sight, So that Thou art justified when Thou dost speak, And blameless when Thou dost judge.
This correlation between spiritual health and our relationship with God can also be seen in the greatest commandment.
Mark 12:29-30 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
I hope all of us will also take into consideration to the words of Jesus to the church of the Ephesians.
Revelation 2:1-5 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
The church was doing great things, at least on the outside, persevering against evil men, exposed false apostles, but their relationship with God had begun to grow cold. Jesus considers this of the utmost importance. Repentance was required and if it was not forth coming Christ would dissolve that church. A red hot love for God is obviously important.
Our relationship with God is the place where our spiritual vitality is anchored. If your love for God grows cold your spiritual vitality begins to wane. Here are more thoughts from the Scripture along the same lines.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
Those who are God’s love Him and keep His commandments willingly for they are not burdensome to them. And yet they also can hold a warning about maintaining our day to day love for God. We must not let our love grow cold, we must not let anything else come between us and the Lord, not even things generally thought of as good. Things such as, Sweethearts, spouses, jobs, possessions, hobbies, vacation, and money, all of which are not evil in themselves but can become and an evil influence when they begin to replace God as our priority and our first love.
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
If you begin to find your love and joy in things other than God and His Kingdom then you are coming down with a spiritual crisis. You have been warned.
One of the easiest ways to tell if your love is slipping and your priorities are skewed is to examine how you feel about reading His Word and prayer. If your love is warm and alive you will delight in His Word and you will have a habit of secret extended prayer. These will be your priority and delight. You may say, “But these two things have always been a grind and a chore for me!” Then I would say that you have always had a low-grade fever (spiritually speaking) and you are probably always struggling against sins that others have overcome and have never been satisfied with your relationship with God.
Most Christians spend their lives masking this shallow, cold relationship with God by appealing to the flesh. What do I mean by that? Well, they will go to churches that have a “great praise band” or a “killer youth group” or some similarly appealing and emotionally engaging service. The sense of “worship” and “praise” is relieving. It is like swallowing a spoonful of honey when you have a sore throat. It takes away the pain for a moment but the sore throat is still there.
Christian concerts are also very popular for the relief of a cold spiritual relationship with God. Many Christians who are lukewarm or cold in their spiritual walk with God report amazing feelings of worship during the concerts, but their day to day walk never changes. Those who have a vibrant love life with God require little in the way of external props to gush forth in heart-felt praise. Those who go to a church and judge it as “dead” because it does not help them by ushering them into a worship experience are saying more about themselves than they are about the church they condemned.
The only way to have a vibrant walk with God when it has grown cold or lukewarm is to acknowledge the sin, repent and open the door to Jesus.
Revelation 3:15-21 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
It is interesting that many Christians think verse twenty is an evangelistic appeal, but it is an appeal to a church to return to be hot for God. They had grown cold in their love for God and yet still thought all was fine. Some how we think God will accept less than our hot fervent love. We live as though a lukewarm love is more than enough. Is there any wonder our Christian lives do not measure up to what we know they should.
Is there a quick fix? Nope. Paul said maintaining our love is tough and a struggle that will go on till we are finally cleansed from all fleshly influence.
1 Corinthians 9:23-27 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it. 24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
If we have been born again our heart will cry out “Abba Father,” and we will not be satisfied with a less than stellar Christian walk. How can we tell if our walk is starting to be a stumble? How can we tell if we are walking in God’s will? Answer these two questions.
1. Do we DELIGHT in reading, understanding and applying God’s Word?
2. Do we have a CONSISTANT and FERVANT time of prayer?
An honest “yes” to these means we are on the right track and are probably spiritually healthy. A “no” to these two questions means our spiritual health is failing. We need to take action to avert a spiritual crisis. Remember Jesus does see this as a crisis, something in need of repentance (Rev. 3:15-21).
One further word of warning, failure to change a “no” answer to question 1 & 2 into a “yes” may give evidence that such a person is not a Christian. We should also notice in Revelation 3 above, that Jesus expects the church to respond and overcome!
If I can be of service let me know.
For You …
Pastor Jeff
Mark 12:29-30 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
I hope all of us will also take into consideration to the words of Jesus to the church of the Ephesians.
Revelation 2:1-5 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 ‘Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
The church was doing great things, at least on the outside, persevering against evil men, exposed false apostles, but their relationship with God had begun to grow cold. Jesus considers this of the utmost importance. Repentance was required and if it was not forth coming Christ would dissolve that church. A red hot love for God is obviously important.
Our relationship with God is the place where our spiritual vitality is anchored. If your love for God grows cold your spiritual vitality begins to wane. Here are more thoughts from the Scripture along the same lines.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 15:10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
Those who are God’s love Him and keep His commandments willingly for they are not burdensome to them. And yet they also can hold a warning about maintaining our day to day love for God. We must not let our love grow cold, we must not let anything else come between us and the Lord, not even things generally thought of as good. Things such as, Sweethearts, spouses, jobs, possessions, hobbies, vacation, and money, all of which are not evil in themselves but can become and an evil influence when they begin to replace God as our priority and our first love.
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
If you begin to find your love and joy in things other than God and His Kingdom then you are coming down with a spiritual crisis. You have been warned.
One of the easiest ways to tell if your love is slipping and your priorities are skewed is to examine how you feel about reading His Word and prayer. If your love is warm and alive you will delight in His Word and you will have a habit of secret extended prayer. These will be your priority and delight. You may say, “But these two things have always been a grind and a chore for me!” Then I would say that you have always had a low-grade fever (spiritually speaking) and you are probably always struggling against sins that others have overcome and have never been satisfied with your relationship with God.
Most Christians spend their lives masking this shallow, cold relationship with God by appealing to the flesh. What do I mean by that? Well, they will go to churches that have a “great praise band” or a “killer youth group” or some similarly appealing and emotionally engaging service. The sense of “worship” and “praise” is relieving. It is like swallowing a spoonful of honey when you have a sore throat. It takes away the pain for a moment but the sore throat is still there.
Christian concerts are also very popular for the relief of a cold spiritual relationship with God. Many Christians who are lukewarm or cold in their spiritual walk with God report amazing feelings of worship during the concerts, but their day to day walk never changes. Those who have a vibrant love life with God require little in the way of external props to gush forth in heart-felt praise. Those who go to a church and judge it as “dead” because it does not help them by ushering them into a worship experience are saying more about themselves than they are about the church they condemned.
The only way to have a vibrant walk with God when it has grown cold or lukewarm is to acknowledge the sin, repent and open the door to Jesus.
Revelation 3:15-21 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
It is interesting that many Christians think verse twenty is an evangelistic appeal, but it is an appeal to a church to return to be hot for God. They had grown cold in their love for God and yet still thought all was fine. Some how we think God will accept less than our hot fervent love. We live as though a lukewarm love is more than enough. Is there any wonder our Christian lives do not measure up to what we know they should.
Is there a quick fix? Nope. Paul said maintaining our love is tough and a struggle that will go on till we are finally cleansed from all fleshly influence.
1 Corinthians 9:23-27 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it. 24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 And everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I buffet my body and make it my slave, lest possibly, after I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
If we have been born again our heart will cry out “Abba Father,” and we will not be satisfied with a less than stellar Christian walk. How can we tell if our walk is starting to be a stumble? How can we tell if we are walking in God’s will? Answer these two questions.
1. Do we DELIGHT in reading, understanding and applying God’s Word?
2. Do we have a CONSISTANT and FERVANT time of prayer?
An honest “yes” to these means we are on the right track and are probably spiritually healthy. A “no” to these two questions means our spiritual health is failing. We need to take action to avert a spiritual crisis. Remember Jesus does see this as a crisis, something in need of repentance (Rev. 3:15-21).
One further word of warning, failure to change a “no” answer to question 1 & 2 into a “yes” may give evidence that such a person is not a Christian. We should also notice in Revelation 3 above, that Jesus expects the church to respond and overcome!
If I can be of service let me know.
For You …
Pastor Jeff
