Matthew 18:1-7 ESV
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
“Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes!”
Little children have a tendency to be very innocent and trusting and humble. You can tell most little children to jump into your arms and they will jump, and they will trust you that you will catch them. And if they are taught to pray, they will usually be those who are very trusting that their prayers are going to be answered, too. And this is how we are to be when we come to genuine faith in Jesus Christ. We are to be that trusting of God that when he says “go” we will go, and when he says “do” that we will do as he says.
But first we have to turn (repent) from our sins so that we can follow our Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) with that kind of childlike faith. And then we can have the hope of entering into the kingdom of heaven because we are following our Lord in obedience with that childlike faith in him. But we need to be careful who we trust and that we don’t become so trusting of others that we allow ourselves to be led by them into sin. For there are people out there who will try to get us to compromise our faith and to sin against the Lord Jesus.
At one point in my life I was led into sin by someone who kept pressuring me to sin at a time when I was weak in my faith, and I gave into that pressure. But I was still wrong. I still made that choice to say “Yes” to the sin and “No” to God at that time in my life. But if we are not prepared spiritually to resist such pressure, some of it can be hard to resist if we aren’t strong in our faith. So please know that there are people out there who are going to try to talk you into compromising your faith. So be prepared to tell them “No!”
But for the one who tries to tempt us to sin and may even get some of God’s children to sin, God has very strong words for. And some of the people today trying to get the Lord’s people to sin are pastors of churches who are diluting the gospel message and who are telling people that they don’t have to repent of their sins and that they don’t have to obey the Lord, but that all they have to do is “believe” (not usually biblically defined) in Jesus. And then they convince them that all their sins are forgiven and heaven is their eternal destiny regardless of how they live. That is tempting them to sin!
So, don’t listen to their lies. Read the Scriptures. Read them in context. For the Scriptures teach that we must humble ourselves and turn from our sins and follow our Lord in obedience and live godly and holy lives to the glory of God, and we must not make sin our practice or we don’t have eternal life with God. So, resist all temptation to sin, no matter the source of that temptation, and be one who daily says “No!” to sin and “Yes” to God.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvwSxV2lz8Q
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Seek the Lord
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55
“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.
“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”
https://vimeo.com/379408296
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