May 2, 2022 by

“Regardless of waking up in the morning, brushing your teeth, and getting dressed expecting for God to do nothing different in your life, it is time to recognize that our God can work in any situation, any person at any time and redeem and renew. It’s time to actually believe in the power that we have professed since our youth. It’s time. He is waiting.” 

These words come from Pastor Joel Wayne who spoke in Chapel on March 16.  

Beyond a doubt, chapel has been one of the highlights so far during my journey at Cedarville. But occasionally, I leave chapel saying, “Wow, chapel was so good today,” yet I find myself forgetting about it and never turning back to my notes to even remind myself of what the speaker said, let alone attempt to apply it to my own life. But the Lord used this speaker to convict and get ahold of me, so THIS TIME I want to remember and apply this one.  

 

Pastor Joel preached from Hebrews 5:11-14 (ESV): 

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” 

 

This passage warns followers of Christ to not fall into apostasy (the abandonment of a belief), yet all Christians do. We not only forget, but we choose to live against God’s Word and adopt worldly passions. By doing this we step away from the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us, not wanting God to work through us because we are scared to oppose the world or decide to satisfy our worldly flesh. For believers, this refrains us to mature spiritually and causes us to struggle in living with and knowing God, leading to a transformation of sin and an abandonment of righteousness. 

In Pastor Joel’s message, he lays out the text and reasons why we as Christians are not maturing:  

 

 

The point that caught my attention the most was being dull of hearing. Pastor Joel elaborated on this idea from verse 11, explaining that dull referred to being lazy and just going through the motions of the day, waiting for the end of the day to go to bed and wake up with a whole new day, living without an expectation to see God work in us each day. I recently have become sluggish and apathetic day by day in expecting to see God and grow closer to Him. Even though I have had a desire for Him to use me in some exciting way, as well as grow closer to Him, I have not taken any initiative or even considered asking Him to use me and draw me closer to Himself.  

This chapel message sparked memory of a goal I personally had to grow in my joy of the Lord through meditating and living out Psalm 1:2, which says “… his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” In all honesty, I have not lived this out.  

There have been seasons of my life where I have had to rely on God’s Word to even get up in the morning and function, and furthermore do any schoolwork. Yet recently I had lost joy from Him as I became lazy and lost sight of how much I desired to grow in spiritual maturity this semester.  

This idea connects to point #3, which comes from verse 12 emphasizing that as Christians we need to move from drinking milk to eating solid food. Pastor Joel gave great imagery explaining this idea, comparing it to a child who gets their height marked on the wall as they grow up. If it’s been a year and they have not grown, there would be some concern. As Christians, if we don’t grow in spiritual maturity, how can we adapt to changing life circumstances and allow the Lord to equip us through every day to live glorifying Him? 

With these ideas and verses, two questions arose for me from this chapel message:  

Will I heed the call of Christ in my life? 

How can I stand for Jesus in a greater way than yesterday? 

 

I encourage those who have not watched this chapel to do so! While you’re at it, take clear notes if you can. Not only did this chapel leave me encouraged, but it has challenged my faith by asking my soul if it was willing to battle my flesh, to take initiative and fight to live everyday according to the Word and expecting God to work in my life. It’s time. 

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