WHERE DO YOU STAND?

Sometimes as I read news articles and read comments other people write and some posts people place on Facebook. I think Lord can they not see You? So many people all around the world say "I am a Christian, I believe", yet do they live it, are they sold out to Jesus. I remember when I first became a Christian, I thought I was sold out to Jesus yet when the trials of life came I learned I wasn't. So I began my journey of running as far from God as I could get, yet I could not hide. He kept pursuing me until I turned from the direction I was running and ran back to Him, and because of knowing what I ran to (the world) I can now say NEVER AGAIN! So I understand Christians can get caught up with the world, it takes time to mature in the Lord and I still have not reached maturity. How do I know you ask? Because life and people can still upset me, but I am still growing even in these areas (smiling).

So why this blog on this subject? Because I believe we are living in the latter days, and I see the falling away of the church, the deceptions of the enemy that come to distract the true believer and to convince those who think the are saved, yet not, that they are okay.

This blog is not to point out all that is going on around us but to ask and examine what is going on in us.

Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart.

When we pray this verse over our lives we are asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of who we are to us. To convict us of our sins.

Talking about taking the communion meal Paul writes: 1 Corinthians 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Galatians 6:4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone,  and not in another

It is a good thing for us to ask the Lord to examine our heart intent and to reveal our heart intent to us and at the same time it is a hard thing. We are in that moment laying ourselves before the Lord removing our masks, that we may put on before family and friends. We are placing ourselves on His altar and asking the Lord consume what is not of You and purify what is of You.

Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

Reading God's word is a mirror that God uses to show both who He is and who we are. Sometimes we may say "Lord I need a revelation." Yet what we actually need is a fresh revelation and a greater revelation of Him and of His word. What I mean by these two things is at times when life is coming at us we will forget in the dark what we learned in the light and we need to be reminded again of the revelation we already had. A greater revelation will bring a complete revelation. Example: when Lazarus died his sisters had a revelation of one day their brother would be resurrected from the dead and when Jesus raised Lazarus that day they had a greater revelation of Jesus when He said "I am the resurrection and the life". At times I will be reading the scriptures of something I thought I knew and then suddenly as if a light bulb went on, I had a greater revelation of what that scripture meant.

Then there is prayer. How would describe your prayer life? Prayers are not just for certain people in the church, but are for everyone. Our Lord doesn't just want to hear from us when we are desperate and He is our last resort. He wants to spend time with us, listening to us as we pour out our heart, as we seek Him for direction. Too often we pray and then jump up and start doing whatever, yet God still wants more of our time He wants to speak to us through His Holy Spirit. But one thing we must guard against is hearing something said that does not line up with His word and believing we got a word from God. If you believe God has given you a word and it lines up with His written word then write it down, for God will keep His word, His promise to you, in His timing not ours.

Oh and fellowship, so many lack fellowship. To understand biblical fellowship we must first understand what is not.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial (Satan)? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God....

God and believers can not align themselves with religions that do not believe in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We can not come into agreement with them because they worship a false god and the scriptures show us over and over again that the children of God can become caught in the snare of the devil through these cult religions. The scriptures teach us that our God is a jealous God He will not share the worship that belongs only to Him with any other god.  In the eyes of God there is no "coexist". We cannot have biblical fellowship with unbelievers, yes we are to love them and always kind to them desiring they come to Jesus. But they cannot be our best friends and our constant companions.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived" Evil company corrupts good habits."

So what is fellowship? It is the assembling together of believers who believe who Jesus is and what He has accomplished for us. We have a common goal lead the lost to Jesus Christ, serve with Him in His kingdom encouraging and inspiring one another in our Christian walk. We may differ on many other things but believing and walking in the love of God transcends the denominational barriers and enable us to be in unity one with another. Many who proclaim to be a Christian and yet do not go to church nor appear to have any desire to go to church have a lot of excuses. Oh I have heard it said, "I have nothing to wear, it is my only day off, there are hypocrites in the church, I don't like the music too old or too new,  don't like the preaching too much about sin or too little about sin." Hogwash!! People just plain do not have a desire to go and will blame everything and everyone but themselves. A true believer will have a desire to be with other believers to worship together, to pray together and to encourage one another. Even in the years I spent running away from God I would think and even said "Oh to sit in God's house again." But I would not go because I preferred my sin more than I preferred my God.

In Joshua chapter 14 we are given an account of a man named Caleb over and over it says "I have wholly followed the LORD my God". This means he had given all of himself to God. I have had to ask myself "Lord have I given all I have of me to you?" Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is "to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength". This means we are to wholly follow the Lord our God.

The bible is His inspired word, written for every believer. I worded it that way because without the help of the Holy Spirit one cannot truly receive an understanding of His word. In fact the scriptures say it is foolishness to the natural man. One can memorize scripture and even acquire head knowledge but that is all it is. His word becomes alive in us when we begin to apply His word into our lives. This word is the standard of God that as a Christian we are to live by and not to deviate from, by compromising His standard with the world's standard. I know from  experience that not compromising my convictions concerning His word will even make other Christians turn against you. So be prepared.

So what about those who say "I am a Christian" yet nothing in their lifestyle or words reflect Jesus Christ? Then I say examine your heart, I had to, ask God to show you have you just not grown, have you backslide from Him, has your heart become so hardened that Holy Spirit has quit drawing with conviction, or did you just have an emotional experience with no conversion? That is between you and God I cannot judge your heart nor can I condemn you. I can observe one's life and recognize fruit. Here are two of the saddest scriptures I know:

Matthew 21: 22-23 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!'

It is one thing to know of Jesus and quiet another for Him to know us.

In Judges 16:20 the last part records that Samson says this: "But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him."

Every person must examine where they are with the Lord. He is all about relationship not religion, He desires that you walk very close to Him, attached to Him through salvation and abiding in Him every moment every day, that you/me will bear His fruit that will be seen to all we meet.

Some may say that I am a fanatic about Jesus and a bible thumper but one thing is for sure they know whom I believe in and where I stand on His word.