I prayed this weekend to fit in; to be a ‘cooler’ Christian. This morning, God gave me the steps to make this happen. What I’m about to share with you is the truth. I’m not proud of it, but it’s true. So here goes...by now you know that I’m a Christian Life Coach. I used to be a Corporate Professional who was nearly void of God in any capacity in my life except for what I was learning via popular culture. Then, a few years ago when I was 44, I changed. God changed me. I gave my life to God and I’m becoming who He intended for me to become. Since giving my life to Christ in the way I have, I no longer go to bars, drink alcohol daily nor do I have the desire to participate in pop culture "things". None of it appeals to me anymore. So that’s the stage for the scene I’m about to share with you. Over the weekend, my husband and I went to dinner with friends. Before they arrived, we enjoyed hanging out and listening to 90's music which reminded us both of our youth. Of College. Of the time in our lives when we drank, went to concerts and just lived life to the fullest. It was SO awesome! In this state of musical reminiscing, I felt so oddly confused. I left that dinner feeling like a total reject. The entire weekend, in fact, I felt completely aware of just how weird I’d become and how I seriously fit in with but a few people. I longed for the days of going to concerts and just having fun. As I wrapped-up my weekend, I prayed and asked God to show me how I could be a cooler Christian. To fit in more with other people. Basically; to have the best of both worlds. And then it happened; he answered my prayer. He responded to me. Not audibly; but he responded. So this morning, I woke up and did my 5 minute workout, made my coffee, prayed and came into my office to read the bible. I’m still in Genesis and I opened to where I’d left off yesterday; Genesis 19. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah. I’d previously never read this before. It just never appealed to me or seemed relevant to my life. But now that I’m reading the Bible cover to cover, it’s just time to learn about it. I was FLOORED. Not only was it a shocking story but GOD’S timing was NOT lost on me. Clearly, I had prayed what I prayed and now was reading what I was reading all as a part of Gods plan for my life. There on the pages of the bible were the answers I had prayed for just hours ago. HOW to be a Cooler Christian. These are the 10 things that God impressed upon my heart on HOW to do just what I desired to do:
1. Do NOT become hardened to the evil acts around you or you will become a part of it. Genesis 19:8
2. Do NOT become so contented among ungodly people that you are no longer a BELIEVABLE witness FOR God. Genesis 19:13
3. Do NOT allow your environment to shape you rather than YOU shaping your environment. Are you KNOWN as being a Christian above all other things? Or do you just blend in and therefore your Christian nature isn’t obvious? Genesis 19:14
4. Blending in causes you to be useless to God! Genesis 19:14
5. BECOME a voice that people follow and TRUST because you speak truth and WALK IT OUT. Genesis 19:14
6. STAND OUT & BE who God is making you to be. Do NOT conform to the patterns of this world. Genesis 19:14 & Romans 12:2
7. When you WANT to fit in; it is coming from the false attractions of our culture and its pleasures. Genesis 19:16
8. Becoming a Righteous person and Seeking GOD IS being a COOLER CHRISTIAN where it matters the most. (In Gods eyes; in His Kingdom; NOT this world!). Genesis 19:16-29
9. Do NOT cling to the past. Be WILLING to turn away COMPLETELY. Genesis 19:26
10. You CANNOT make progress with God as long as you are holding on to the pieces of your old life. Genesis 19:26. “No one can serve two masters!” Matthew 6:24
So, there you have it. Yes, God speaks. Had I not obediently listened to HIS instructions to start reading my Bible cover to cover; these lessons MAY have been lost on me until I came to this again. What if my desire to become a cooler Christian according to the world’s standards had become SUCH a great desire that I started to backslide? That could’ve happened!! The desire to fit in is real. And I don’t fit in with this world. But wow is that AWESOME! I’m fitting in with God and my goodness does that give me a Cool Christian life; in HIS eyes. Thank you, God, for being MY Christian-life, coach!