"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and not do the things I command you?"
That is the ultimate question Jesus asks each one of us today. And there are just two answers.
1) We don't want to.
or
2) We want to but do not know how.
To the latter, to you who find your battle with sin and a self that sometimes seems like a traitor, frustrating, demoralizing, exhausting, filling you with guilt and condemnation, not from God but from your own hearts, may I gently comfort you and encourage you to not give up your desire to please God, to be the person, the child of God that in your heart of hearts, you long to be... that God has called you to be?
You see, it is this (what seems a never-ending) battle that reveals God deep inside you. Oh, I know, the battle might seem lost, hopeless, and flat-out impossible as it did for me almost 15 years ago now, but you know the saying about it being darkest just before the dawn? Well, your day is soon about to dawn and the dayspring.... Jesus Himself..... is about to arise in your heart. Your God will NOT leave you comfortless. Thank you, dear Lord, thank you.
But there was another choice, wasn't there? Those who simply are disobeying because of their 'weakness', their 'humanness'. They profess Jesus as their savior, and declare that since they believe Jesus was God in the flesh, that He died for their sins, they are forgiven of their continued disobedience, their willful sin, regardless of if there is repentance or whether they want to give it up.
You will hear them declare that once a man is saved, God sees him as holy and righteous no matter how grievously he may sin. They put forth a twist in the gospel that they declare magnifies the grace of God, so great is His love for us. They are wrong and in deep danger, but how many there are who have swallowed this poison pill.
They declare that their prayer of faith makes everything else a moot point, and that any call for a child of God to DO anything.... anything.... is a subtle form of legalism. They ignore the fact that God tells us in the last day, legalism would not be the issue. Turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, a license to sin freely with absolutely no consequences.... that would be the great deception.
Remember the original question Jesus poses to each one of us? Why do you call me Lord and yet not DO... or even want to do.... what I command you? Great effort has been put in by the enemy to bring God's church to buy into this critical error, and the church, made up currently of both wheat and tares, has been led to a place of deception where even God's elect have been led astray from the truth. All that is about to change. A split is about to occur in the body, and it will start over the issue of Lordship.
You see, we are not our own. God has redeemed us. Remember the prodigal son? He went merrily on his way, frivolously using his inheritance for pleasing himself. But the blessings ceased and the reality of what he did brought him to the place he was eating from the hog trough. As the Bible tells us, he finally "came to himself" and thought 'I am a son, but even the servants in my Father's house have it better than me.'
And we know the rest. He repented....thought differently.... and returned to his Father... broken, ashamed, humbled and needing safety from a world that cared nothing for him.
And guys, many here will find themselves in the exact same situation. It will not be pleasant. Brokenness never is. And yet.... and yet, amazingly, the Father will not be angry but rather relieved and joyous, for His child who was dead has returned, and is alive forevermore! That is the God we serve!
What happened to this prodigal, this child of God who saw no benefit in obedience, no call to seek God's will and not his own. He realized that his heart had been deceived and that he trusted in the pleasures of sin..... for a season.
And yet, when he returned, with his repentance giving him a renewed perspective, he found himself willing to just be a servant, convinced that he was unworthy of being called a son, it was then that God let him see the depth of the grace and forgiveness of the Father.
Guys, God has spoken to me in no uncertain terms, we have all, in one way or another, been prodigals, lukewarm to truly walking as a living sacrifice. Unbelief has blinded us to our high calling and for many, as the world continues to have our hearts, we do not see that the world is not our friend.... yet. But again, all that is about to change.
God has spoken. Shakings are coming, far beyond what we have experience. It would be wonderful is His children could read these words, admit that their hearts are far from Him, and return without have a big, heaping helping of pig slop. LOL. And for a few, it will be. But many will have to be brought face to face with their corrupted old nature..... self.... and arrive at the place where they truly hate themselves outside of God.
Thank God, either way, his children, every single one of them, will be brought to the point they see how wonderful it is to surrender, absolutely, completely, no hidden 'off-limits' rooms in our mansions.
Is this scriptural? You bet. In Ezekiel 36, God discloses the benefits of the New Covenant, and tells us He will not only forgive us, but give us new hearts, and CAUSE US to walk as His very joy-filled, obedient children.
He tells us that there is something however that we must know. Because of our shallowness, our disobedience, our religiousness, we have misrepresented and sullied His name to the world we called to be witnesses to. We have brought shame to the name above all names and in essence, given the world reasons NOT to draw near the Lord.
And when He opens up our eyes to the real truth of grace, that it can only be enjoyed with yieldedness, with a true desire for holiness and righteousness, we shall be filled with brokenness and shame, and yet, watch in amazement as the Father throws his cloak around us and welcomes us into our eternal abode with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Glory to God!
blessings,
Gids
Next, the tares....
That is the ultimate question Jesus asks each one of us today. And there are just two answers.
1) We don't want to.
or
2) We want to but do not know how.
To the latter, to you who find your battle with sin and a self that sometimes seems like a traitor, frustrating, demoralizing, exhausting, filling you with guilt and condemnation, not from God but from your own hearts, may I gently comfort you and encourage you to not give up your desire to please God, to be the person, the child of God that in your heart of hearts, you long to be... that God has called you to be?
You see, it is this (what seems a never-ending) battle that reveals God deep inside you. Oh, I know, the battle might seem lost, hopeless, and flat-out impossible as it did for me almost 15 years ago now, but you know the saying about it being darkest just before the dawn? Well, your day is soon about to dawn and the dayspring.... Jesus Himself..... is about to arise in your heart. Your God will NOT leave you comfortless. Thank you, dear Lord, thank you.
But there was another choice, wasn't there? Those who simply are disobeying because of their 'weakness', their 'humanness'. They profess Jesus as their savior, and declare that since they believe Jesus was God in the flesh, that He died for their sins, they are forgiven of their continued disobedience, their willful sin, regardless of if there is repentance or whether they want to give it up.
You will hear them declare that once a man is saved, God sees him as holy and righteous no matter how grievously he may sin. They put forth a twist in the gospel that they declare magnifies the grace of God, so great is His love for us. They are wrong and in deep danger, but how many there are who have swallowed this poison pill.
They declare that their prayer of faith makes everything else a moot point, and that any call for a child of God to DO anything.... anything.... is a subtle form of legalism. They ignore the fact that God tells us in the last day, legalism would not be the issue. Turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, a license to sin freely with absolutely no consequences.... that would be the great deception.
Remember the original question Jesus poses to each one of us? Why do you call me Lord and yet not DO... or even want to do.... what I command you? Great effort has been put in by the enemy to bring God's church to buy into this critical error, and the church, made up currently of both wheat and tares, has been led to a place of deception where even God's elect have been led astray from the truth. All that is about to change. A split is about to occur in the body, and it will start over the issue of Lordship.
You see, we are not our own. God has redeemed us. Remember the prodigal son? He went merrily on his way, frivolously using his inheritance for pleasing himself. But the blessings ceased and the reality of what he did brought him to the place he was eating from the hog trough. As the Bible tells us, he finally "came to himself" and thought 'I am a son, but even the servants in my Father's house have it better than me.'
And we know the rest. He repented....thought differently.... and returned to his Father... broken, ashamed, humbled and needing safety from a world that cared nothing for him.
And guys, many here will find themselves in the exact same situation. It will not be pleasant. Brokenness never is. And yet.... and yet, amazingly, the Father will not be angry but rather relieved and joyous, for His child who was dead has returned, and is alive forevermore! That is the God we serve!
What happened to this prodigal, this child of God who saw no benefit in obedience, no call to seek God's will and not his own. He realized that his heart had been deceived and that he trusted in the pleasures of sin..... for a season.
And yet, when he returned, with his repentance giving him a renewed perspective, he found himself willing to just be a servant, convinced that he was unworthy of being called a son, it was then that God let him see the depth of the grace and forgiveness of the Father.
Guys, God has spoken to me in no uncertain terms, we have all, in one way or another, been prodigals, lukewarm to truly walking as a living sacrifice. Unbelief has blinded us to our high calling and for many, as the world continues to have our hearts, we do not see that the world is not our friend.... yet. But again, all that is about to change.
God has spoken. Shakings are coming, far beyond what we have experience. It would be wonderful is His children could read these words, admit that their hearts are far from Him, and return without have a big, heaping helping of pig slop. LOL. And for a few, it will be. But many will have to be brought face to face with their corrupted old nature..... self.... and arrive at the place where they truly hate themselves outside of God.
Thank God, either way, his children, every single one of them, will be brought to the point they see how wonderful it is to surrender, absolutely, completely, no hidden 'off-limits' rooms in our mansions.
Is this scriptural? You bet. In Ezekiel 36, God discloses the benefits of the New Covenant, and tells us He will not only forgive us, but give us new hearts, and CAUSE US to walk as His very joy-filled, obedient children.
He tells us that there is something however that we must know. Because of our shallowness, our disobedience, our religiousness, we have misrepresented and sullied His name to the world we called to be witnesses to. We have brought shame to the name above all names and in essence, given the world reasons NOT to draw near the Lord.
And when He opens up our eyes to the real truth of grace, that it can only be enjoyed with yieldedness, with a true desire for holiness and righteousness, we shall be filled with brokenness and shame, and yet, watch in amazement as the Father throws his cloak around us and welcomes us into our eternal abode with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Glory to God!
blessings,
Gids
Next, the tares....
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