Lord, Lord

"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23

Notice, these people have done some pretty impressive things. I haven’t driven any demons out of anybody. I’ve never performed any miracles. And yet Jesus tells these people with these impressive resumes that they won’t get into Heaven. Why?

Look at verse 23. They may have accomplished a few big and impressive things, but the day-to-day fruit of their live must not have been very good because Jesus calls them evildoers. You see, salvation isn’t something you can earn. It’s not about doing a few big things that you can put on your Christian resume. It’s about having a relationship with Jesus that so thoroughly changes you that it shows up in how you live- not just in a few, big impressive ways here and there but in the day-to-day fruit of your Christian life.

We see this illustrated in the life of Judas. He was one of the twelve disciples. He had done some pretty impressive things. Matthew 10:1-3 tells us that he (along with the other disciples) was given authority to cast out demons and heal every disease in Jesus’ name. Can you claim to have accomplished more in the faith than Judas? Probably not, but none of us expect to meet him in Heaven. Why? Because we know his faith didn’t prove true. In the end he proved to be an evildoer by his actions. He never knew Jesus in a saving way.

Sometimes, just like Judas, people hide behind big, impressive accomplishments that appear to be the fruit of a Christian life when in fact they have no relationship with Jesus at all. Being a Christian isn’t about what you have accomplished; it’s about what He has accomplished on your behalf. It doesn’t matter how many people know you and are impressed with all you’ve done for the Lord. What matters is this: Does He know you? Is your name written in Jesus’ Book of Life. Has He changed you? Has He made you a new creation, so you might live for and obey Him? That’s what matters. 

It’s truly terrifying to me that Jesus says there will be “many” people who will be shocked to learn they aren’t saved on that final day. What a troubling thought that many people think they stand on solid footing before the Lord, many people think they are headed for Glory when in fact they will end up being cast into Hell. What a terrifying thought!

It may be cliché, but you really do need to make sure that you are ready! Be SURE of your salvation. Don’t put it off until later. Don’t leave it up to chance. Don’t count on a resume of a few impressive accomplishments. “Lord, I went on mission trips for you. Lord I was a church member. Lord, I gave thousands of dollars to the church.” All of these are good things, but they won’t save you. 

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? Does He know you? Has He changed you and given you a new heart? Is that showing up in the day-to-day fruit of your life? If not, then stop kidding yourself…you aren’t saved.

I Love the Church! (W.o.W. Rewind)

 And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?

2 Samuel 7:23

What David couldn't have known when he said these words was that a community even greater than Israel would come. A people taken from every nation, tribe, and tongue. A community redeemed not from slavery in Egypt but from slavery to sin and from living after the pattern of this world. This is the church. An imperfect group of people plucked from the hand of the enemy. 

Why has God done all of this for us? "To make a name for himself!" So it's truly a shame that so many refuse to give God glory for His church and instead enjoy heaping slander and accusations on His people. Even Christians seem to enjoy saying awful things about the bride of Christ, God's church. Do they not know that Satan is the one who slanders the saints? For 'slanderer' is what 'Satan' means in Hebrew, and that is his nature. He slanders and accuses, and they cast their lot in with the enemy to attack their brothers and sisters in Christ. They accuse the church of being hypocritical, fake and judgmental all the while failing to see how they are hypocritically judging the church.  They are the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. They cast dispersion and judgment on all churches for the sins of but a handful of people they personally dislike.

I refuse to join in! Yes, the community of Christ is imperfect. We often get things wrong, and we do need to become more like Christ; but often the reason why we struggle to live up to our lofty goals is because we are so very open. We could kick all those who struggle out of the church, but we do not. We accept people as they are and seek to move them toward Christlikeness from there. This takes time and patience and grace. And often things get messy along the way.

In any church there are committed believers who were addicted to drugs just a few years ago. There are teens and children who have suffered so much that they've contemplated suicide. There are married couples struggling to hold it together. There are senior adults whose children and grandchildren have broken their hearts and taken advantage of them. And there is probably a pastor desperately trying to serve the Lord without letting his own ego get in the way.

With all this hurt and weakness and imperfection and humanness, we don't always get things right. But it sure is beautiful to watch God's people try. What a sight it is to see a community of people offer one another grace and forgiveness and encouragement to keep moving forward when they fail.

I love God's church, and no matter how often we get it wrong I know that eventually we will get it right; because I believe in the power of God. Ultimately, it is His Spirit who is conforming each of us individually and collectively into the image of the Son; and He will complete the good work He has begun in us (Philippians 1:6). So don't give up on the church. If you have had a bad experience with one then try another, or better yet stay where you were hurt and be the example of grace that church needs.

The Narrow Road

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 

Matthew 7:13-14

Why would anyone choose this narrow path? Its entrance is narrow and hard to find. More than that it is inconvenient for you can't pass through a narrow gate with all your baggage. You must lay down nearly everything you have to enter through it. This is, of course, a picture of Jesus You must lay down all your sin, all your pride, all your hopes and dreams and all your allegiances. You must make Jesus your all in all to enter the Christian life.  

And that’s only the beginning. Once you're on the road you must then persevere in walking its difficult path which is marked by persecution and hatred. Always you will be under attack by the people of this world. Always they will shout taunts and discouragements at you. Then besides the opposition there is also the great difficulty which the road itself presents for it's a difficult path, unpaved in many places, at times unmarked, up hill, over gorges through ravines, it will take you right down through the valley of the shadow of death. So again I ask, why would anyone choose to walk this path?

For one very simple reason: it’s the way to life! In other words, the destination’s worth it! 

For a little while in college I enjoyed mountain climbing. Now mountain climbing is one of those combinations of words that sounds very exciting. It sounds like I was hanging on the side of a cliff and climbing up the mountain, but that would be rock climbing. Mountain Climbing much more often looks like walking… up hill… for hours. Now, the only reason a sane person would willingly hike uphill for hours on end and then back down again is because they believe that the reward, the view from the top, is worth it. If they didn’t believe that, they would never do it. 

It’s the same with the Christian life. Why would anyone choose to follow Jesus down the narrow road with all its sacrifices? Because they believe the reward is worth it. You see at the end of the narrow road is life and walking the narrow road is the only way to reach this life. That makes it all worth it. 

So, consider your end. Forget about what you want or what would be easier for you right now and answer this one question- Where do you want to end up? Many of us have at different times in our lives tried to take the easy way out. We’ve taken shortcuts. We’ve gone down the easy path. And we have learned from experience that it doesn’t matter how easy the road is if it takes you to the wrong place. Make sure you are headed in the right direction. If you aren’t sure that you are, then turn around and let Jesus place you on the right path. Because I can tell you from experience that it’s worth it.

Runaway Child

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights... And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah 1:17 & 2:10

Why did God provide the fish? It's a simple question, but it's one you may not have thought about. 

Certainly you remember Jonah's story! God told the prophet to go to Nineveh to preach to them, but Jonah couldn't bear the thought that they might turn from their wickedness, repent and be forgiven, so He disobeyed His God. He ran. He boarded a ship sailing in the opposite direction. 

The thing about sin though, is that always brings a storm into our lives. For Jonah it was a literal storm. The Almighty bore down on that ship with a storm was so powerful that the ship threatened to break apart. The sailors threw everything they could overboard and prayed to every deity they could think of to try to keep the ship from sinking. Finally, Jonah told them it was his fault. He told them that if they didn't throw him overboard into the sea the weight of his sin would sink their ship. These good sailors didn't want to do it, but because of the power of the storm they relented and cast Jonah into the sea. 

Which brings us back to our question. Why did God provide a fish to swallow Jonah? To save him! To bring Jonah back to God! 

You see, God discipline's His children like a Father discipline's the son he loves. If God wanted to kill Jonah, He would have had him drown. God didn't do that because punishing Jonah wasn't His purpose. He wasn't punishing Jonah, He was disciplining Jonah and bringing him back to Himself. This is a minor but important difference. God wasn't trying to get even with Jonah or pay him back for his sin. He was trying to get his attention and place him back on the narrow way. That's why God provided a big fish instead of a watery grave. 

Remember that the next time you think God is out to get you. If you are one of His children, it may very well be that He is...out to get you and bring you back to Himself. God chases down His runaway children just like any good Father would. But when will we learn to stop running away?