Jesus reminded those followers of His: “IF...you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)

In other words, IF...we love Him, we will do what He says. “Why call me Lord and then not do the things I say?” (Luke 6:46). Do you think it’s possible that many sincere folks who started out following Jesus...failed to experience genuine transformation in their lives because they were unwilling to ‘do whatever He tells you’? (John 2:5)

Oh, I bet you were told somewhere along the way that when you ‘accepted Christ’, that your ‘spirit was made perfect and righteous’, which was good enough to get you saved; and if you wanted to really live the ‘abundant life’ (John 10:10) then over time your ‘flesh man’ would be refined but not totally until you got to heaven.

No wonder Paul expressed concerns that many might be ‘deceived as Eve was’ and end up following another Jesus and gospel, even receiving another spirit’. (2 Cor. 11:3-4). That, my friends leads to nothing better than walking in a ‘form of godliness’ but denies the power’ (of God) to truly transform us. (2 Tim. 3:1-5)

Now maybe that part where Jesus talked about how ‘few would find this narrow path that leads to life’...while ‘many would be on the broad road that leads to destruction’ (Matt. 7:13-14) will begin to make more sense? And when you read a few more verses down, you come to that part where Jesus taught: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven but those who DO...the will of My Father in heaven...”. (21-23)

So you were taught that all you had to do was ‘say that prayer’ and you were ‘eternally secure’, correct? Were you not told about how if you were unwilling to ‘take up your cross and follow Him daily...you could not be a disciple of His’? (Luke 9:23; 14:25-33). That is unfortunate if you did not get that memo, but trust me, you are not alone. Why do you think we are living in a time where God is sounding the alarm and trying to wake us up? (Matt. 25:6-11; Rom. 13:11-14)

Those ‘fiery trials and tests’ that we were told to ‘think it not strange’ and to ‘count it all joy’, were designed for a reason. (1 Pet. 4:12-13, James 1:2-4) They are used to reveal what is in your heart that still needs to ‘come out’ and be repented of. Who convinced you that you could never conquer anger or lust or pride or greed, etc? How weak is the name of the ‘Jesus you are following’, not to mention the power in His shed blood’, that you are not capable of being set free from it so you can ‘go and sin no more’?

Friends...we’ve been deceived. And the sooner we ‘wake up’ and begin truly following Him, the sooner we will be conformed to His image and likeness. (John 10:27; Rom. 8:13-14,29) He's coming back for a church that looks like Him. (Eph. 5:25-27; 1 John 3:2-3)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  I can’t walk on water.  I have not yet....tried changing water in to wine. ;-)  And if you ask my wife, I still leave clothes on the bed instead of hanging them up regularly, which she would prefer; and I don’t shave every day, another thing she wishes I would do.   I’ve not swung a golf club in a while but doubt I could shoot a perfect par game if I went out and played this weekend; and I doubt I would beat anyone in a game of H.O.R.S.E. on the basketball court.   But I can tell you that I am walking in more freedom than I ever have walked before. And I only have one person to thank for that and it is Jesus.   I would in no way suggest that He has ‘completed’ His work in me but the more I study, the more I experience, and the more I write and share with you here, the easier it gets for me to declare with no hesitation or apologies...”He whom the Son sets free, is free indeed”. (John 8:36)   We were called to be free. (Gal. 5:13...
Read more
Image
  “If ...the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” I don’t know where you will find in scripture, a more powerful and strategically placed use of that two letter word ‘if’...than right there in Romans 8:11. The word “if” hints at a question, something that is uncertain and not clearly established yet. And are you ready for this? The question of ‘if’ is not directed here at the fact of whether Christ was raised from the dead...or not. What is being called into question...is whether or not that ‘same Spirit’ dwells in us. Take a moment with that one, if you would please. I’m guessing that is why we are encouraged to: “examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail the test.” (2 Cor. 13:5) Can I speak some truth here, in love...with you today? ...
Read more
Image
  I don’t know who needs to hear this, but let me again…shout it from the rooftop: Islam and Muslims are NOT… your ‘enemy’. The ‘left-wing-liberal-media’…is not your enemy nor are ‘communist and democratic socialist’ or the LGBQT+ community. And if you find yourself trusting in some president, or any political party for that matter…to ‘protect’ you from an enemy who wants to ‘destroy’ you and your family/country…your state of deception is showing in a bad way. I’m speaking now to those who claim or profess to be ‘believers’ or followers of Jesus. The Apostle Paul could not have been more explicit when he wrote to inform us that our conflict or struggle is NOT…with flesh and blood…rather with ‘spiritual forces of darkness and wickedness’ (Eph. 6:12). Peter tells us rather plainly who our ‘enemy’ is and calls him out as the ‘devil who goes about like a roaring lion seeking to devour’ (1 Pet. 5:8). That would be the same ‘devil’ whom Paul said we are to ‘give him no place or foothol...
Read more