I have legitimate concerns today that so many of us failed to get the memo on how serious God was when He made it known that ‘coming to Him’ involved coming to Him with ‘ALL our hearts’. I cannot stress the fact that this ‘faith walk’ really can’t even begin...until we lay it all down at His feet. Did you catch my post about the rich, young ruler a few days ago (Monday)?

And if/when we do come to this point of surrender, only then...can God begin... to do a work of making us a ‘new creation’...where ‘old things are passed away and behold, all things become new’. (2 Cor. 5:17) IF there is any confusion as to what that ‘new work’ looks like, you can refer to Rom. 8:29, 1 John 2:6; 3:2-3 along with Eph. 5:27 & 2 Cor. 7:1.

I mentioned yesterday how God is not going to compromise ‘quality’ for ‘quantity’. There’s an interesting story found in Luke’s gospel where ten lepers had an ‘encounter with Jesus’, actually being blessed with a physical healing from their ailment (Luke 17:11-). And in the blink of an eye...all ten took off running before one stopped...and turned around and ‘came back to Jesus’. One...out of the ten. Not a very impressive percentage there for sure.

I’ve been around for a few years now and I’ve seen more than my fair share of sincere believers who set out to make their mark to be ‘used by God to do great things’, only to ‘crash and burn’ along the way. It’s a sad tale for sure and there is no shortage of carnage out there; trust me...I know...I too was among that crowd. And you have no idea how grateful I am of God’s unfailing mercy who still knows how to raise up ‘beauty from the ashes’.

But this idea of God requiring our ‘whole heart’ cannot be underscored enough, in my humble opinion. And here’s the thing: He’s going to test our hearts, up front, to see how serious we are about ‘doing His will’. Clearly, ‘not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of the Father who is in heaven’. (Matt. 7:21) There were lots of folks who just opted to walk away, as you know. (John 6:66; 2 Tim. 4:10) And what did Paul say would happen at the end? There would be a great.... what?...(2 Thess. 2:3)

Were you aware that before Jesus was ever endued with power from on high so that He could go out and do all those wonderful works that He did (works that He said we too would do if we are true followers John 14:12; Mark 16:17-18; Acts 10:38)...that His heart was first tested? (Luke 4) And only after... He ‘passed the test’, demonstrating that He was fully committed to doing the will of the Father...that God then entrusted Him with ‘power’ and His ministry began (14). Where do we come off thinking we can bypass that testing process? He is still testing hearts today. (1 Thess. 2:4)

So what’s involved with this ‘test’? Well, Jesus was tested in the three areas that Adam and Eve failed in the first go-around- the ‘lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life’. And this is where all sin originates from. (1 John 2:16). This is why I state that dealing with our old carnal nature, as in putting it to death, is imperative... before God can even begin...to ‘use us’. (Rom. 8:13-14).

It’s NOT an option! Just where and how do you think the ‘ spiritual forces of darkness’ work in and through? (Eph. 2:1-3)