ARE YOU READY FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS?
Many who claim to be Christians are in fact not ready.They are living deceived lives believing that a prayer once said long ago is all they needed to go to heaven. Sure we want to go to heaven, yet following Jesus is not a prayer said, it is not church attendance, it is not just giving a tithe, it isn't even just about being dunked in water. All of these are necessary in a believers life, yet following Jesus is about walking as He walked, talking as He talked, loving as He loved. Did we forget the scripture that says:
Matthew 7:21-23 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 (sin)
Wow, did you hear what Jesus said? It is one thing to say you know Him and it is another to really know Him. When we are walking and following Jesus we are obedient to His word. Our lives are a reflection of what we believe. In Proverbs 23:7 it says that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. What this is telling us is that our lips may tell someone one thing but the real you is in your thought life (your heart). Throughout the scriptures we are told to be renewed in our mind, to be renewed is to put away the old way of thinking and line our thought life up with the word of God and around the promises of God.
In Matthew 15:18-19 Jesus said "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
In 2 Corinthians 10:5 we are instructed to cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself and bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
In other words we need to put a guard on our thought life and make sure that the thoughts we are having line up with the image of Jesus and with the word of God. The enemy (Satan) has no control of a Christian, the way he gains access to us is through our thought life. If he plants a thought that is contrary to God's word and the image of Jesus cast it out. Take control of what you are thinking about, some of those damaging thoughts are from your own thinking not from Satan.
There is a pattern in a persons thinking: 1. a wrong thought 2. a bad decision, 3. a wrong action, 4. bad habits, 5. develops character 6. determine destiny.
When walking with Jesus we must on a daily basis, hourly, minute, second check our thought life. Be renewed in our minds, keep our thoughts on heavenly matters not on the earthly. Jesus is coming back for His bride will He find you ready?
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