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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Live It!!

There is an old secular saying that applies to at least one aspect of what we'll call 'Christian living' for the purpose of my rambling about today.  This saying is actually sort of a loaded gun, or at the very least a pointed finger. (Wow! I really hope that my examples didn't violate someones civil rights or cause someone distress.  My wife, Faith, tells me that I'm too blunt in how I say things sometimes, well actually she says that I'm too blunt all the time. Ooops!) Anyhow, back to my rambling. The saying I have in mind goes something like this: Why is it that no one remembers what a person says, but always remembers what they do.  This goes hand in hand with another old saying that says: Actions speak louder than words.  Okay, so now we have two loaded guns, or pointed fingers. (I really have to be careful about the analogies I use, we must 'make nice' with everybody!)  I've always felt, and so I've always said, that every single day of our lives has to be a living testimony to not only the mercy and glory of GOD, but also to the redeeming gift of HIS grace through HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST.  Every word we speak, every move we make, every breath we draw, every step we take, every thought we form.  If you think that I'm making it sound as if we shouldn't even be alive without GOD, you're right!  You are exactly right!  Because that's the whole point of both the love GOD has for us and the blood CHRIST shed for us, is that without this merciful mix of love and blood we aren't alive.  We're basically the walking dead without salvation.  If you think about it, that is what satan is.  He's already dead but just hasn't laid down yet, but the time is soon coming that he won't have a choice in the matter any more.  Guess what?  That same time that's coming for satan is coming for you and me too.  That day is coming when the walking dead are laid down, right into the fires of hell, and then the [final] decision will be made for us where we'll spend eternity.  Here's the scary part though; there are a lot of folks out there that don't even realize that they're among the walking dead.  There is an even scarier part, and that is that there are many who are pretending to not be among the walking dead, who are pretending to be Believers.  I've often said that only two people know whether or not a person is truly saved, that person and the LORD GOD.  I can fool everyone I meet into believing that I'm a bona fida, Born Again, Spirit Filled, New Testament Christian.  If I'm really good at conning people, then I might even reach the point that I begin to believe the lies.  But, GOD is very clear on this issue, HE sees right through charades, and it gets HIS dander up.

'Do not be deceived, GOD is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.'  (Galatians 6:7-8    NKJV)

How much plainer would HE have to say it so that everyone understands HIS position on people playing games and pretending to be something they're not?  Like I said earlier, it is possible to fool people, but not GOD, HE'll see right through all the head games every time.

A point to be fully aware of is that GOD is no respecter of persons, positions, places, or things.  When people try to use other people as a gauge to determine their own respectability or righteousness, they're making a huge mistake.  Think about it, if I'm using you to figure out how holy I am, then I'm assuming that you are holy, at least to a certain degree, and then I use your holiness, or lack of holiness, to prove where I'm at on the 'holiness scale.'  JESUS addressed this in part when HE was giving what we refer to as the Sermon On The Mount.

'For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.'  (Matthew 5:20    NKJV)

From what we know, now, the righteousness of the the scribes and Pharisees, as well as that of the Sadducee's, didn't amount to much, so it appears that JESUS didn't set to high a standard.  But we have to keep in mind that the people CHRIST was speaking to didn't know what we know.  They didn't have the Bible in front of them to read and learn about the actions of the Jewish leaders of that day and time.  All that the people in the days of the public ministry of JESUS had to go on was a little over four thousand years of their own history recorded by different scribes and prophets.  The leaders of the children of Israel were identified and respected as righteous solely on the grounds that they were the leaders of the cultural and religious aspects of the Hebrew nation.  There was so much legalism (Oops! There is another politically incorrect word, the 'L' word.) impregnated within the leadership of GOD's

Now that we have so much more of GOD available to us, we should be able to make better decisions.  Because of these better decisions we should be able to make, our lives should be a testimony of what not only what GOD has done for us, but also what we've become as a result of what HE'd done for us.  We shouldn't ever have to tell someone that we're a Christian for them to be aware of it, it should be reflected in every single part of our lives.

Here's a position we don't want to find ourselves in on a not so distant day.  We do not want to be feeling more and more doomed as we approach a certain Judgment Seat, knowing that a lifetime of either pretending to be something we weren't, or denying the truth of a Heavenly FATHER and a Redeeming SON was over.  At that point, there are no options except one.

'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.  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?"  And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from ME, you who practice lawlessness!"'  (Matthew 7:21-23    NKJV)

If you're one of those who'll hear these words, your only option isn't really an option.  All that'll be left is to receive your just punishment.  Now let's think about this whole thing for just a minute.  In order to have arrived at this point of being cast into the eternal lake of fire, you had to have lived your whole life as a lie.  There is not a single person who, if they're being completely honest, can say that they don't believe that GOD is real.  I know that a lot of people say it, but remember that I qualified my statement by saying that complete honesty was required.  Then we have the pretenders, but they are in the same position of, if they're completely honest, knowing that the relationship with GOD that they've pretended to have was just a sham.  Remember where we started, that people always remember what we do because our actions speak much louder than our words.  My position on this is that if someone chooses to live a lie, and not live their lives as a testimony to GOD and all of HIS glory, then at least don't try to pretend that it's not a lie.  (Uh oh!  I better get this finished and posted before Faith comes in.  I might be being a little too blunt.  We wouldn't want to offend anyone now, would we?)  If you're a Christian, and I pray you are, then live it!  Don't just talk about it, live it!  Don't just think about it, live it!  Don't just lie about it, live it!  At this point in time, we all have the same opportunity before us, so LIVE IT!

Be Blessed before the LORD!  My prayer is that your life, either right this second or with the new beginning CHRIST died to provide for you, brings blessings to GOD the FATHER.       Amen

See you soon!
Terry

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