If we are alive, and we are living on this earth, then it is
because God has blessed us with life. And, He brought us to life for a purpose.
And, that purpose is that we honor and glorify him with our lives, and that we
worship him alone as our only God, and that we not give our hearts to other
gods.
For many of us, we have also been blessed to have been
brought up in the gatherings of the church where we were taught the Word of God
from early on in our lives to the age we are now. And, some of us have lived a
very long time. Thus, we have been blessed with much knowledge of God’s Word
and of his will and his purposes for our lives.
We have known God’s many provisions, too, and his leading
and direction for our lives, and we have even seen him work miracle after
miracle in our lives and in our circumstances. And, we have known his grace and
his mercy, too, in that we didn’t always get what we deserved when we went
astray, and when we didn’t listen to him, but we did what was evil in his
sight.
His patience was amazing as he waited for us to come to our
senses and to return to following him as our only Lord. And, for some, he is
still waiting. And, he is still waiting because many of them are still playing
games.
Playing Games
There are many people in this world, maybe mostly in
America, who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but it is surface
only. They give the appearance of being clothed in Christ’s righteousness, but
it is all an act, a clever performance. For, it is something that they can put
on and take off at will. It is not permanent. It is not part of their
character.
Their true character (manner, conduct, behavior, attitude)
is coarse, harsh and crude (indecent, licentious, lewd, and shocking –
appalling, outlandish), and it is dangerous, tricky (cunning, crafty, devious,
and scheming) and treacherous (unfaithful, traitorous, and deceitful).
Although they have known the way of righteousness, perhaps
for 50 years or more (or less), still they have not surrendered their lives
over to Jesus Christ. Even though they have witnessed miracle after miracle of
God’s grace in their lives, still they will not give up ownership of their own
lives to God. They still want to be the ones in control. They are too
emotionally attached to their self-life to surrender to God.
But, they want to appear righteous to others, and so they
fake it when it suits their purposes, and when they want to impress others.
And, so they play-act the role of a true believer in Jesus Christ while they
still hold on to their old sin nature. But, in order to not be discovered, they
disguise themselves as followers of Christ in order to not be discovered as the
hypocrites that they are.
So, they perform in order to hide what is deep down inside,
and to hide what they are doing in secret when no one else is watching. They
may seem all smiles and laughter on the outside, while deep down inside they
are spiritually dead, involved in all sorts of wickedness. For, their faith in
Jesus Christ is not real. It is put on, but it can be just as easily taken off.
And, that is when they are doing their wickedness in the dark when no one can
see.
And, this is spiritual suicide!
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15 ESV
Let me state up front here that, although this is Old
Testament, this is also taught throughout the New Testament, so we are not off
the hook here.
We need to walk in the fear of the Lord. And, what this
means is that we need to honor him as the holy God that he is. We need to take
him and his Word seriously, and we need to walk in obedience to his ways and to
his commands for us, his church.
We need to show God respect and honor by not disregarding
his wisdom and his instructions to us. And, we need to not take his grace for
granted by thinking we can keep on sinning and that our sins don’t matter. For,
he says that if we walk according to the flesh, and not according to the
Spirit, that we are going to die in our sins, not have eternal life with God
(Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Jn. 6:35-66).
And, we need to serve him in sincerity and faithfulness, not
in fakery and hypocrisy while in the dark we engage in all sorts of evil and
wickedness.
We also must put away from our lives all other gods, the
gods of this world – the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride
of life.
We must not hold on to any sin. We must not maintain the
self-life. We must not be engaging ourselves in what is of the flesh, and in
what is evil and wicked in God’s sight. These things must be put away from our
lives. We need to surrender our pride to the Lord, and we must get rid of all
bitterness. And, we must cut out of our lives all that is leading us into sin,
and all manner of wickedness.
And, instead, we need to serve the Lord with our lives,
doing what he has called us to do, and being who he has called us to be. We
must be walking in obedience to his commands rather than ignoring them or
finding ways around them. And, we must seek his face, and ask for his leading,
and then we must follow in the path he leads us on, not one of our own making.
Choose this Day
God has given us all a choice. He did not make marionettes.
He made people with minds, hearts and souls, and with the will to choose him or
to reject him. So, he is making his appeal to those who are still holding on to
their flesh-life, and to those who are faking their walks of faith while they
engage in all manner of evil behind closed doors.
And, he is saying, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
Either serve God in sincerity (in truth) or choose to follow after the gods of
this world, but don’t pretend to follow God while you live like hell. But, know
that if you make the wrong choice, you will pay dearly with your life for
eternity. For, God does not lie. And, he says that we will all reap what we
sow.
I made my choice. I am serving the Lord. How about you? Are
you truly serving him? Then, the fruit should be there to show that you are. If
you are not, but you have been faking it, fearful of letting go of your sin and
your pride, then I pray you will surrender your all to Jesus Christ today. For,
if you don’t, then you are committing spiritual suicide, for you are sealing
your own fate, and you may not live to change your mind.
So, let Jesus truly be your Lord today. Throw away all that
is hindering your walk of faith and all sin which so easily entangles you, and
then run with perseverance (in truth) the race God has marked out for you to
run. And, the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding will be
yours in Christ Jesus, your Lord. Don’t delay! No one is guaranteed tomorrow.
So, choose today whom you will serve – your flesh, or God.
Your choice! Don’t make the wrong choice. It will cost you your life for
eternity!
Unshakably
An Original Work /
November 29, 2018
Based off various
scriptures
Cast your cares upon your Lord.
Come to Him
All you who’re weary.
Know that He will
Give you rest.
Take His yoke upon you
And learn from Him
And you’ll find your rest.
For His yoke is easy
And His burden’s light.
It’s His to bear.
Find the peace of Christ in heart.
Let the peace of Christ
Rule in your hearts,
And be then
So thankful.
And, the peace of God
Which is beyond all
We can comprehend
Will guard your hearts
And your minds in Christ,
For He is Lord of all.
Hope in God will not betray.
Let us hold
Unshakably to
The hope that
We now profess.
For the One
Who promised hope
Is faithful to
His ev’ry word.
Therefore, with minds
That are sober,
Set your hope
On Christ’s return.
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