Colossians 2:6 says, So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him.

This is such an awesome scripture for it says that the way we were saved is the way we must live. You didn't get saved by trying and struggling; likewise, you can't live your life on your own strength.

Every believer is saved simply by believing (and receiving) God's love, grace, and mercy. Therefore, live each day of your life by receiving God's strength and walking in His grace and mercy. Remember, the same way you're saved is how you ought to live.

In most businesses, success is measured in numbers: amount of profit, number of customers, volume of sales, percent increase in revenue, etc. In the church, it can be easy to slip into the mindset of measuring success by numbers: number of members, amount of donations received, total square footage of the church building, number of regular attenders, etc.

However, God desires that His people adopt a different definition of success. In the church, success should be measured by transformed lives--not big membership, big budgets, or big buildings.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with being a big church; however, a big church doesn't necessarily mean a successful church. That's because filling a church with people means nothing if lives are not transformed.

Transformed lives are lives that are on fire for God. In Revelation 3:16, God is talking about that spiritual fervor and fire: "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm -- neither hot nor cold -- I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

Rather than filling a building with lukewarm people -- people who play spiritual charades -- God desires that His people live transformed lives that worship Him wholeheartedly.

The Israelites lacked the genuine and sincere worship that results from transformed lives. In Isaiah 1:10-14, God rebukes them for their lack of true, heartfelt worship: Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! "The multitude of your sacrifices -- what are they to me?" says the Lord. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations -- I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

The Israelites served God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him. Similarly, rather than filling a church with people who can feign worship, God desires that His people live transformed lives.