How do you KNOW?

How do you KNOW?

Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV)
²¹  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
²²  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
²³  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

I’ve decided that if I was a real preacher, I would probably be one of those “fire and Brimstone” preachers.  That, by the way, would be a good thing. J  I’ve talked several times on the above verses, but everytime I hear or read them again I always come away with words that I feel  need to be spoken.

One of the biggest decisions you have already made at this point in your life is whether you believe in Jesus as the Son of God and whether you have started a relationship with Him.  Hands down, that is the biggest decision you have made.  Believe it or not, if you have not made a decision to follow Jesus then you HAVE made a decision to follow the world.(Satan)  Ok let’s dive into today’s verses…..

In verse 21, He makes it clear that not everyone who claims to be a Christian will enter into Heaven.  He follows it up with, only the doers of God’s will are saved.  In other words, you can say a sinner’s prayer 20 times per week if you want, but if you are just reciting a prayer rather than turning your life over to God…….you may have cause for concern.

Now……Who will claim to be a Christian at the end, and not really be one?  Well, it won’t be the Atheist….it won’t be the Hindus….it won’t be the Muslims….it won’t be the Buddhist.  Then who is He talking about that will claim to know Him, but really won’t?  By common sense reasoning one would have to think that it will be the ones in church.  They are the only ones who would think that they knew Him. Right?  People that said a prayer, but never read His word, or talked to Him in prayer.  Basically those that never had a relationship with Him.  It says “ whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life”.  It doesn’t say “whoever says a prayer in 4^th grade…ect…” 

Only YOU know right now whether you have a relationship with God.  Think about relationships you have in your life.  If you say you have a relationship with someone, but never spend any time with them….is that really a relationship?   If you say you know me, but I have never met you or talked to you…I probably won’t know you…Right?  My point is this….Jesus says “depart from me, for I never KNEW you”.  We have to have  a relationship with him.  If we don’t, it should be easy for us and others to see that we don’t know Him.  Our fruits will tell us anything we need to know about our salvation…Remember this verse….”you will know them by their fruits”.

So at the end when you are standing in front of God ….What will you say?  Are you going to say things like…”I went to church every Sunday”  “ I tithed 10% every month”  “ I taught Sunday school”?  All of these are good things but  they will not get you into heaven.  He knows you or He doesn’t.  In the end, no amount of pleading will get you out of judgement for not being saved.  If you don’t know if you are saved, it may be that you are not….Tell God you are sorry for your sins….Tell Him you want to know Him…Thanks him for sending Jesus to take YOUR punishment…Thank Him for giving you the chance to live your life for Him.  Now imagine all of your sins are in a bag and you have been dragging them around your whole life……Now, just drag them to the foot of the Cross and leave them there because that is where they were taken care of by Jesus’ death and resurrection.

If you just said that prayer, you will find that you will have an inner desire to get to Know the one that saved you.  Because of that inner need, you will get to know Him and He you.  You no longer will have to wonder whether you are saved or not!

Praise God!

What are you eating?

 What are you eating?

Matthew 4:1-4 (KJV) ¹  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
²  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
³  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
⁴  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
I love my quiet time in the mornings, when I'm able to have it.  I heard these verses this morning while drinking my coffee and verse 4 got me to thinking.  I've talked to many christians about many different things, and the one thing that seems to be the same with everyone is that most Christians do not spend enough time in the Word.
  You have to think about this like any relationship.....When you met your spouse, or girlfrind/boyfriend....didn't you try and spend as much time with them as possible?  You made note of their likes, dislikes, favorite songs, colors, ect....  The same has to be true with God. God invented the relationship!  Therefore, it is a very easy to understand that He wants to have a Relationship with His children.  Ok that being said, let's look at the verses.
In verse 4 Jesus says "Man shall not live by bread alone".  Do you know what He meant.  Does he mean we need water also, instead of just bread?  Of course not, He is giving us very insight into the life of a truly saved Christian.  If you are saved, and not reading the word, there are many reasons that your life isn't fulfilled.  The one that is of importance today though is that you were designed for a relationship with God.  You grow in that relationship by prayer and reading His Word.  If you are not growing toward Him, then you are growing away from Him.  We are to "feed" on the word.  It can and does fullfil a spiritual need that we as christians have.  I promise that if you are not feeding on God's Word, then there will be other things in your life that you will attempt to fill that spiritual need with.  Anything other than the Word though, will bring on more judgement rather than peace.
My point is this.......As a Christian, it is not a chore to read the Word, it is an honor.  I'm unable to read it sometimes myself, but it is soo fulfilling when I do.  Remember, we want a relationship with Him.  Just saying a prayer isn't going to get you saved.  It is a decision you make to turn your life over to God.  You have to have felt truly sorry for your sinful life.  If you feel that you are not saved, and you are sorry for your sins, then turn from SELF to God's will for your life.  Tell God you are sorry for your sins.  Thank Him for Jesus.  Leave your old sinful life at the foot of the Cross becuase that is where all sin was taken care of.  Now go and tell people about your conversion.  You should want to tell others about what just happened to you.  People will listen to you, especially when they see a true change in your life.
God Bless! 
Book News.....The first quarter of this year has been good for "30 Days  of Conviction"  I am currently working with my publisher on getting it ffeatured at the Women Of Faith Conferences.  Keep me and my family lifted up in prayer.   Oh Yeah, I almost forgot....Buy a Book!  ;)

Why o Why

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

Ever sit back and wonder why you are where you are in life?  What you do, where you live, who your friends are ect....?  I do.  I often wonder things like....why did my wife and I have such a bad year  last year?  What sense does it make that as I got closer to God, my life started spinning out of control?

I know these are deep thoughts for a Sat. morning, but they have been on my mind.  Being a Christian, especially one that is OCD, I always look for the exact reasoning for things.  I typed in my bible search bar this morning " verses on doing God's will", and Proverbs 3:5-6 was one of the sets of verses that came up.  

After looking at it for a while, I realized that I am not to try and understand why things are what they are sometimes.  I am merely to trust in Him and know that He is doing everything for His glory.  This gives me comfort.  It even goes as far as to say that if we live for Him, He will make the path we should take be easier to find.  Praise God!  

Short and sweet this morning, but I've learned to write what is on my mind no matter what.  

Remember guys and gals, if people around you don't know you as a follower of Jesus then it may be that you are not. 

 If you feel God talking to you right now and you know you are a sinner in need of salvation, just tell God you are sorry for all of your sinful life.  Ask him to forgive you, and thank Him for sending Jesus to take your punishment.  Now, turn control of your life over to Him.  Imagine being at a fork in the road.....one road leads to death and the other leads to life eternal with Jesus......Congrats because if you are now saved then you are now on the path to eternal joy! 

God Bless!

BUY A BOOK!  :)  :)  :)