Page 13 - RiseUpWarrior

4 Climbing the ladder There is a ladder that we all climb as we grow in our They have nothing to do with our outward accomplish- faith and do more for God’s kingdom. Only this isn’t ments, whether those are in the church or not. It has the same ladder that everyone climbs in the normal way nothing to do with my job, my fnances, where I live, or of Christian living. God has a different ladder! even my awesome ministry. The ladder of starting in children’s ministry, then grow- “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. ing to become the youth pastor, then assistant pastor, People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD then fnally becoming the main pastor of a church is looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 a totally different ladder that we climb. That is like a fame ladder in the Christian world. I went from making It is the ladder to climb some coloring pages to writing a VBS, to writing a full Sunday school curriculum. I went from providing ma- if you want to make a terial for 30 churches to thousands of churches. That is the Christian fame ladder. difference for eternity! God has asked me to write down some steps to the lad- der that He took me thru on my journey thru life. The There are many Christians today climbing up the wrong order of these levels that I am sharing in this book is the ladder, just as there was in the time of Jesus. God’s in- order that I lived them. Of course God will change up structions are to… the order for each person and He will always do things “Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead a little different. the blind, both will fall into a pit.” Now sometimes these ladders can overlap, please don’t Matthew 15:14 get me wrong. But the ladder I want to cover in this The people had their religious rules, including no eat- book is the one I believe GOD himself is looking for. ing without frst washing your hands, but they were still God told us over and over in Scripture that He is look- sinning in their hearts. Jesus said to them: ing at the inside of a man, not the outside. It doesn’t “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come matter how many books I have gotten to the world, if from the heart, and these defle them. For out of the I don’t have what God wants on the INSIDE, He can- heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual im- not use me in battle the way He needs to. If I am going morality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what to strive to become a general in God’s army, I cannot defle a person; but eating with unwashed hands does bribe Him with all my fame. God knows exactly who not defle them.” Mathew 15:18-20 I am, for REAL, on the inside. So THAT is the ladder to climb if you want a great post in God’s army. And it This applies to all our rules today, just as it did to their is the ladder to climb if you want to make a difference rules from Jesus’s time. Today in church, we don’t have for eternity! the religious rule of eating without washing our hands. We know it to be a good rule for health, but it is no This ladder has tons and tons of steps going up it, as far longer a church rule. But we do have a LOT of rules in as the eye can see. The steps on this ladder are ALL re- all of our churches. NONE of those rules compare with garding our inner selves and our relationship with God. what comes OUT of our hearts. 12