We’ve all been there. Times when we’ve stumbled in our walk with God, and through our own actions removed ourselves from His presence making it feel like He was far away from us. But He was always right there for us, waiting patiently for the prodigal to return.
In a recent message, Pastor Vlad Savchuk of HungryGen ministries expressed how the Lord wants to begin breaking this pattern of backsliding that has tormented the church for generations. No position, no matter how lofty, is safe when we cave to the temptations of the flesh, as we have seen with many high-profile Christian names falling from the calling God placed on their lives especially over this past several months.
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Savchuk breaks down five ways where we kill the fire of God in our lives and abandon the straight and narrow path He has us on.
- When you focus more on your love for Jesus than His love for you. “The only light we project is the light we reflect. The only light we give is the light we receive,” Savchuk explains. “We don’t love God because we are loving. We don’t love God because we have an amazing personality trait called fire for God. We love God because we are aware of His passionate pursuit of us and as long as our eyes are on Him, our heart is burning for God.”
- When your prayer life goes to sleep. “Anytime you go into prayerlessness, you wake up your past life. Your past is dead. Prayerlessness is the power that raises the dead. Your past is gone. When you stay in prayerlessness, your old habits begin to be quickened and begin to wake up. Things you were delivered from, things you’ve testified to God and to the church and said, I’ve been set free from this,” Savcuk says.
- When we follow Jesus at the distance avoiding sacrifice. “At a distance means I’m going to follow Him as close as I can that I don’t lose my life,” Savchuk reveals. “You’re not backsliding. It’s just between me and the Lord is a safe distance. I don’t want to sacrifice. I don’t want to give. I don’t want to crucify my flesh. I don’t want to lay my sin on the altar….You cannot be on fire for God if that fire cannot consume you. That fire cannot consume you if you and the Lord have a distance.”
- When we numb ourselves with the world’s fire. “There is a desire for something real and authentic and if you do not go 100% send into Jesus, you’re going to have to drift into the world’s fire and pretend to like it,” Savchuk says. “The world’s fire is addictive…The world’s fire is annihilating because it broke [Peter’s] intimacy with God.”
- When we return to our old life. “Some call it deconstruction. Some call it drifting. Some call it backsliding, apostasy. It’s where we go back to where we were,” Savchuk shares. “What you remember about your past life, when you go back to it, it will no longer have exactly same the feelings and experiences….Why? Because as a child of God, when you walk away from God, God will discipline you.”
Thankfully, God is always ready to welcome us with open arms, no matter how far we’ve strayed. God is eager to forgive us, offering grace and love beyond measure. His mercy is unending, and His heart overflows with compassion for those who turn back to Him. In a world where forgiveness can be hard to come by, we are blessed to have a heavenly Father who is ever-patient, understanding and quick to restore us when we seek His forgiveness.
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
