by David Brenneman
"And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds." Revelation 2:23.
"Then Job answered, “In truth I know that this is so; But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to dispute with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times. Wise in heart and mighty in strength, Who has defied Him without harm? It is God who removes the mountains, they know not how, When He overturns them in His anger; Who shakes the earth out of its place, And its pillars tremble; Who commands the sun not to shine, And sets a seal upon the stars; Who alone stretches out the heavens And tramples down the waves of the sea; Who makes the Bear, Orion and the Pleiades, And the chambers of the south; Who does great things, unfathomable, And wondrous works without number." Job 9:1-10.
If Jesus gave you according to your deeds...with regard to your obedience to Him and His Word...how would you fare?
My Dear Reader...in both the day of Judgment at the end of the Thousand Year reign of Jesus Christ as well as the time long before this where all Believer's give an account of their lives before Jesus...who will be able to answer?
Will He not already know the absolute truth about everything about you?
Because of sin within us we cannot trust ourselves. As a song once put it we're bad to the bone, and honestly to the soul and spirit.
We all needed the sacrifice of a perfect lamb of God in the person of Jesus Christ to be able to be in Heaven. To find His salvation.
Many people put their faith in themselves throughout their lives rather than in the One who knows them oh so well.
Do you really want to stand before Jesus with nothing to show of a life that was lived as He wished you to live it?
Selfishness is disguised as countless ways in countless times.
Self-deception is among the first things our sin nature wants to get us to give into.
It's been incredible to see what silence there is in Heaven when judgment comes along.
We see in our courts arguing of every kind to mount a defense against charges that are presented.
Who will be able to say anything before the all-knowing, omnipresent, omniscient God of the Universe?
As we also read in the Bible, who is going to ask Him what were you thinking? Why did you make me like this? Who has any right to talk back to God?
Now, I am in no way saying that there's a shred of truth to my next statement, it's a kind of "what if?" statement.
What if your age in Heaven were determined by your determination to grow in Christ in your here and now? Of how well you "ate and drank" spiritual things determined your growth? Would you do more to take in and to be nourished by the Spirit and the Word of God?
In truth, our growth in Christ, comes from our obedience to prayer and the Word of God.
King David did it, and I believe King Solomon did, but did you know they had to personally write their own copy of the Law?
King David wrote that he wrote God's law upon his heart that he might not sin against God.
Jesus's grace towards King David, His clear forgiveness of his sins, is evident in later books of the Bible when all other Kings are compared to him. That they did or did not walk with Jesus as David had.
Yes, in Christ, we have the forgiveness of our sins, but we should never keep meandering back to those sins. We should never justify participating in those sins.
We should never place the world's view of the acceptable if those things that God says ARE sins, above God's statements about them.
He knows your heart. Every second of every single day, all the hearts of all mankind are laid bare before Jesus. While you sleep, while you are awake.
That is why there's no defense before Jesus either in the day Believer's stand before Him to give an account of our lives as well as in the day of Judgment at the end of time.
Will you start your today living differently? Will you start right now with a different attitude towards what God's Word says IS sin?
While you breathe there's still hope for change.
Even on a deathbed hope is still alive. The thief on the cross was om his and still came to Christ for salvation and Jesus kept His promise. That day he would be with Him in Paradise and so it was.
Are you dabbling in hobbies, events, movies, books, streaming, podcasts, articles, music, that in no way shows a heart that belongs to God?
Now, with that said, did you now lie to yourself? Remember all that you just read. Are you lying to yourself?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart And in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6.
Whatever it takes, discard those things that are not conducive to a life in Christ. Pride is the most powerful of deceptive practices. With it we can curse or bless. With it we can even convince ourselves what we're doing is for God when it isn't. We can be among those blessed immensely and yet forget God.
Consider your ways is what the Spirit says to the churches. This means you and I.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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