When Jesus spoke and said, “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 in heaven.” He was warning us, our faith must be real.
Today in our Nation and Europe we see monuments of faith but not much real faith, great cathedrals, or church buildings are nothing more than markers for the dead anymore. How much faith does it take to sit in a seat or a pew on Sunday? Zero, how much faith does it take to give money to a cause so you don't have to serve? None! Jesus said, our faith is tied to our obedience / our actions! We think because we said a quick prayer asked Jesus in our heart that we are guaranteed heaven, oh please don't miss this, there is more to it than this! This is sometimes the beginning of God drawing us to Him, but it is more than mere words! I grew up in church, and I asked Christ into my heart a hundred times or more, I struggled with doing good and doing it my way until I gave into my flesh and walked away, you see I had fake faith, for 33 years I lived the opposite of what God said, then He started drawing me back, little by little and when the evangelist asked if you died tonight where would you spend eternity, I heard God say to me clearly ”Brian you would spend it in Hell for rejecting me” Fake faith will lead you to hell, real faith in Christ will lead you through it. I broke down right there, I knew the truth, I repented, asked Christ to fill my life with His and use me as He saw fit. Now I would like to tell you my life is and has been perfect since that day, but that would not be true, it has been a barrage of trials and testing, proving who God is in me daily at times, He alone is perfect and my only perfection. I have failed Him so many times but He lifts me up and says let's do this together, on my own I could not make it. Faith that is untried, is untrue, faith that lives in disobedience is nothing more than lip service. We have generations of people who put on their parade uniforms on Sundays to show off their faith who have never used their faith in battle, who have never had to stand in their faith, they are not battle ready for they are not in the battle. The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God, that the just shall live by faith, that we walk by faith and not by sight! Faith is found in our attitude of obedience, our responding to the word of God and the will of God. God's word cuts the bone from the marrow, my heart breaks when I see men and women who call themselves Christians live their lives outside of the will of God, as leaders we must disciple them, be truthful with them about the level of commitment they need to give God, He gave us His all, and demands our all there is no such thing as a Sunday Christian this is an eternal commitment and the gospel of Christ commands our all for Him. God's word says this: “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit. “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 in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers! ’ “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.” When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, because he was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes.” Matthew 7:13-29 CSB “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 CSB “The Lord answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie. Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late. Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity. But the righteous one will live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:2-4 CSB .“Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 CSB “Now without faith, it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”Hebrews 11:6 CSB
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
Archives
May 2020
Band Of Brothers
|