New Year, same rules, my blog, my thoughts. You don't like it, move on.
GOD IS GOOD BUT NOT SAFE
This has taken a long time to write! So let's have a little bit of hell fire and brimstone to start off the Year!
My go-to line for the past few years, God is calling His people to Holiness and separation from the world.
I recently heard a really good turn of phrase to go arm and arm with that go-to line,
"Do you belong to God?" Are you known by His Son Jesus?
It honestly doesn't mean much if you only just claim a knowledge of Jesus, even the demons believe Jesus they knew who He was, but that really doesn't matter to them right. They were there in the beginning, saw with their own eyes Jesus in all His Glory and still rebelled.
Just because you spoke a couple of biblical phrases once upon a time, it does not mean your safe from God's judgment.
The truth is found at the end of the Sermon on the mount:
Matt 5:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
That, to me, says a lot. It says to me that there are millions of people out there who think that they are "Christians" but they are far from! The fruit of their lives clearly show where their heart posture towards God is.
Let's continue where we left off in Matthew 24,
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
The key is putting the Words of Christ Jesus into tangible practice in your life, thought, words and deeds!
Now for the record, Jesus is the only perfect person to ever live, we faulty humans, with wickedness literally running through our veins are to *become* perfect like our Heavenly Father (Matthew 5:48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. More on this shortly.)
That is no easy feat, and is not over night either! It is a daily change that one must make, Decision by Decision.
As we struggle with our dead flesh vs our regenerated Spirit, we must, daily conqure little battles as we develop our heart posture before the Lord. Out of a true and sincere heart, our decisions to choose rightly will increase BUT it all starts with putting the Words of the Lord first and foremost.
Again, just saying the "sinners prayer" is not a magic incantation to heaven, how do you practice what Jesus spoke? How do you make your heart centered on the things of God vs the world? How are you living? By His ways or yours?
I tell you the truth, the moment you decide to live 100% for God is the exact moment you put a bullseye on you for attack. You are now a threat to the demonic forces of Hell and as Murphy says in his law, if it can go wrong, it will.
One of the scariest problems is being ostracized from your groupings. I guarantee you that you will be ridicule by family, friends and strangers. You may lose life long friendships, you may end up losing your family, but in the end, you gain all through God!
Choosing to walk 100% for God means stepping out of your old life and into a new one without reserve. Remember that many of those who came before us, lead solitary lives and even suffer martyredom for the Cross of Christ! All but one Apostle was murdered for their faith! You are in good company! Am I saying your life will end like theirs? Perhaps.
Temptations to run back to your old ways will be very hard to over come! Luckily for us, when Jesus went to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter! If we actually put our phones down and picked up our physical bibles, maybe He will direct our paths! God knows we need a leader and that leader resides in every born again believer, all we have to do is listen! Ask, seek, knock!
Matthew 7:17
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Ask for help, wisdom, direction. Ask how you go about practicing what Jesus spoke. Ask how you can walk this path in strength!
Seek wisdom, understanding and true Christian love.
You will be surprised at the answers!
It's going to be unbelievable hard, but through it all, we will not be alone and we can preserve!
WHY GOD IS NOT SAFE?
While God is inherently good, there are things we HATE about Him!
1. God is too Holy
2. God omniscient- we can't hide in darkness
3. Omnipotent- we can't beat Him
4. His immutablity - We hope that He has a fatal blemish but He never does, He is eternally, forever, Holy
5. God is Just
What a combination! It's more than moral, it's a complete Justice, and justice like Gods, never turns a blind eye to what is true. It would be great if God was only "fair", then we could all get a gate pass, but fair, as my mom would say, is at Disneyland. God doesn't just want a simple fairness, He is Just Perfection. We all get our comeuppance and we all deserve 100% what we get.
Consider the following two scriptures:
I reiterate: Matthew 5:48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
and the most damning for us all...
Titus 1:16 GW
[16] They claim to know God, but they deny him by what they do. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit to do anything good.
We are no more than wicked at heart.
The following is from AiG and hit me hard, how does it resound with you?
"You may have heard that “God hates sin but loves the sinner.” People who use this phrase generally mean well, but it is an oversimplification of the truth and leads to misunderstanding. God does love sinners, as numerous passages clearly state (e.g., John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:10). Yet we also read verses like Psalm 5:5, which state that God hates not only wicked deeds, but also the people who do them.
John 3:17 tells us that anyone who has not repented and received Christ stands condemned already under the holy anger of God against sin.
Although He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:10), the Lord must and will judge sinners, which includes everyone since all have sinned (Romans 3:23)."
https://answersingenesis.org/answers/biblical-authority-devotional/does-god-hate-anyone/
I WAS THAT SINNER!!! It was all about me, all I wanted, my desires, "I did it my way"! 🎵
Unfortunately for us, we are to walk a walk that sets us apart from the world. Understanding that it is a process and we don't always do that which is right instinctively, so we must train ourselves.
Like an athlete who trains their body, we need to train our minds and ways of thinking and acting.
THOUGHT WORD DEED
Can you imagine if everyone had a true fear of God! There would be no more murder, rape, injustice because we would use our freewill to fear God and worship Him.
Are you in right standing with the Lord today? Have you confessed your sins and turned completely from them? Are you trying to be Holy? Walking the walk?
Get right with God Now, tomorrow is not promised and you need to start making things right.
Train yourself mind, body and soul!
