Regardless of whatever your beliefs are concerning the ‘afterlife’, and/or what it means to ‘enter the kingdom of heaven’...our personal opinions as to who actually ‘goes in’ ... or ‘how’ one enters...really don’t matter in light of what God’s word has to say on the subject. And Jesus sounded rather firm when He made it known:

“Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES THE WILL of My Father in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21)

I know...that’s a tough one to get around or ‘spin’; although I have heard on occasion some suggest Jesus was talking more about ‘living the abundant life’ when He speaks of entering the kingdom...and that He was most likely not talking about being ‘saved’ and ‘going to heaven’ after you die. Yeah...whatever....

Now for anyone who has even a remotely sincere interest in understanding truth and don’t feel compelled to water down or ‘deconstruct’ God’s word, one would think that understanding what the ‘will of the Father’ is... might be worth looking into given how significant it sounds. I could be wrong, but I don’t believe I am on this one.

Which is why Paul wrote to the Ephesians (and us) saying: “Don’t be foolish- but understand what the will of the Lord is...” (Eph. 5:17). Just a few lines before that we are encouraged to ‘find out what is pleasing to the Lord’ (10) (and then do it). And in case you overlooked that line in Romans 8:8, Paul informs us that ‘those who remain in the ‘flesh’ (continue to live according to the carnal nature and impulses)...they cannot please God’.

And guess what?- those who ‘belong to Christ...have put those fleshly carnal desires and such to death’...meaning they no longer live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit’ (Gal. 5:24,16; Rom. 8:4). If you do continue to ‘live according to the flesh- You. Will. Die.” (Rom. 8:13). So for all those who tend to make light of how their ‘old fleshly man got the best of them once again’...you might want to stop laughing over that, sit up...and take a few notes here. I don’t mean to sound harsh or lacking compassion, but this is really serious stuff.

Which takes me back to what we discussed yesterday when Jesus told His disciples that ‘His meat was to do the will of the One who sent Him here...” (John 4:34). So if you are interested in eating the same ‘meat’(food) that Jesus did, understanding what the will of the Father is ...would certainly be worth investigating and understanding; not to mention followed up by ‘doing’. What say you?

And let me help you out here: You don’t have to run to some man/person and ask them what God’s will is for your life; you can read for yourself right there in 1 Thess. 4:3: “This is the will of God - your sanctification...”

I know...big religious word there, ‘sanctification’. Let’s break it down and make that easier to understand, and I promise you- I’m not taking any liberty here with God’s word. ‘Sanctification’ means to be ‘separated and set apart from sin’, and/or...to ‘be holy’. And God did not mean to be ‘holy’ based on some denominational HQ’s version or standard of what it means to be ‘holy’. We are told to “be holy for HE (God) is holy’ ...and (are you ready for this?) ...we are to be holy in ALL OUR CONDUCT!” (1 Pet. 1:14-16; Matt. 5:48)

But don’t stop there...let’s read what Peter goes on to say in vs. 17- “And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work...conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear...” Isn’t that an interesting use of words for those who quickly want to dismiss anything associated with words that would suggest ‘works’ or ‘fear’. Maybe this would be a good time to flip back to Revelation 3 where Jesus was strongly ‘nudging’ the church at Sardis, saying He had not ‘found their works perfect, (or complete) before God’, despite what all those in the town thought of their ‘lively’ church’ (Rev. 3:1-2). Jesus flat out told them: ‘You. Are. Dead!” And remember, you should know what brings ‘death’ to any person or congregation- Sin does. (Rom. 6:23; 8:13; Eph. 2:1)

I don’t know who needs to hear this...but being ‘holy’ is not an option for any of us. Would you please go read (and underline) Hebrews 12:14 that instructs us to “Pursue peace with all people, AND holiness/sanctification...for without which NO ONE will see the Lord.”

Let’s be clear here: Does your Bible tell you plainly that ‘without holiness, no one will see the Lord’? Would you like to have a hint as to what ‘holiness’ looks like? Go take a look at Matthew 5:8; I’ll wait here for you. Oh, and take your time with that one as you allow the Holy Spirit to ‘connect a few dots’ for you while you’re at it.

I’m not claiming now to be having ‘visions’ here at the moment, but I can almost see some of you sitting there reading, and then taking a long deep breath of self-reflection (2 Cor. 13:5) and maybe even saying to yourself...”Why does this sound so alarming and serious to me all of a sudden?” You know, maybe almost wanting to go back and read this post again, look up a few scriptures...as you push back those thoughts that are trying to hurry you along so you can get about your day with all those other ‘important’ things that are clamoring for your attention and time now.

Friends...it is serous; far more serious than any of us could have imagined. Does anyone think that I could come close to arising every morning and crank out these messages on my own...for the past 1400 days, nearly?

And here some of us thought it was more important to figure out what all these other ‘distractions’ were about, all that other ‘red meat’ I wrote about yesterday...was worthy of your time and energy to get to the bottom of. Maybe that’s why Jesus cautioned us about ‘laboring for the meat(food) that spoils...but to concentrate on the food which endures to everlasting life...” (John 6:27). “Seek ye first...the kingdom of God’ (Matt. 6:33) with the reminder that His kingdom is ‘not of this world’ (John 18:36 Col. 3:1-2). See you tomorrow?