NOW!

 

NOW!

What now?

It is time to wake up o sleeper and live!

You might say how do I need to wake up?

Please let me explain how the churches of Australia are in general and see if you or your church fits into the general picture.

As I have said in a few of my previous posts, “judge your own tree by it’s fruit”. Therefore what fruit are you or your church bearing to God? Are you a witness of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ in this dark world? Are you even interested in being a witness of the Gospel of Christ? Are you any different in your behaviour to the worldly people around you? Do you fear what they think of you more than how God will judge you?

 

MARK 8:34-38 NKJV

34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

From verses 34 and 35 above Jesus makes it clear that unless a person surrender their whole life to Him to be led by Him for His sake and for the sake of His gospel, that person will lose their life. That person has no salvation! So then surrendering to God to do His will is not optional for someone who calls themselves a Christian. Now that may seem a bit too hard for someone who believes that they are saved, because they have been lied to over and over and over again, being told that they are saved.

Many who attend church regularly are doing the same pattern of things week in and week out, year in and year out. Many who are preaching are preaching similar messages week in and week out, year in and year out. So why is not much changing? People do not want to change and they do not believe that there is any apparent need for them to change.

MATTHEW 2:21-23 NKJV

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

First of all one must know God in order to be doing His will. Secondly one has to stop sinning or that one will be cast into hell. Note those that Jesus is speaking of not being His are also walking in the power of God and are clearly not saved! Are you even walking in the power of God?

How well do you know God?

Are you on the journey of being saved from your sin by The Holy Spirit? Are you even born again? Do you know what that means?

ROMANS 8:13-14 NKJV

13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

You might believe that what I am saying is just my opinion, but it is not my opinion, it is The Word of God!

How much do you love God? Do you Love Him with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind and with all of your strength? If you do love God like that then all of your life is about Him and this is His commandment to you, yes He expects no less.

MARK 12:30 NKJV

30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

 

Do you see these expectations that God has for us as burdensome or unreasonable? That we should have to stop living our lives the way of our choosing and instead obey God in all things and live our lives in total devotion to Him and in service of His Gospel? Well that is what God expects and if your heart is not inclined to that then you are not a Christian.

How then can one change?

As a sinner, cry out to God for His salvation and then pursue getting to know Him, seeking the empowerment of The Holy Spirit in all things.

JEREMIAH 29:13 NKJV

13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

God Himself guarantees that when we seek Him with all of our hearts that He will be found by us. Now that is a great promise! But do you even really want to know Him or are you ok with praising Him in a service to get your good feeling from Him and the rest of the week doing your own thing? God sees all things and God knows all things.

Now God does not make it hard for us to surrender to Him, in fact He promises that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He also promises abundant life to His true disciples. Therefore if this all seems too hard to you, whose yoke are you in? And if you do not really want to get close to God or to give up your sin, then how do you ever believe that you will escape hell for eternity?

If you do not want to get to know someone, is it because you have formed an opinion of that someone? What is your opinion of God? What do you think of His Plan? How do you see what He is doing or not doing in the world today? If you believe that He is any less than  infallible in all things, then you have been deceived. The problem for many in the churches of today is that they are lukewarm towards God. Are you one of those? Perhaps, if you are sincere, you could ask God to show you whether or not you are lukewarm towards Him? The Lukewarm are not saved! You may believe that you are going well with God, but is that how He really sees it? It is better to find out now and repent, than to find out on the day of your judgement when it is too late and you are cast into hell for eternity.