L - Live faithfully
There is no doubt that if we are following God and living out the Great Commission that we will be doing God's will in our lives...but, whether or not we will see the fruit may be determined by our community as a whole...so, I call on us all to think about how we live faithfully within our communities and with each other.
Matthew 7:21-23 (New International Version)
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
God knows our hearts. He knows us and we all tend to 'acknowledge' that but, we tend to believe that we can pull the wool over each other's eyes as we live in community with one another. But, God somewhat rocked my world by pointing to the significance of the Luke passage from the previous posts along with the following passage:
Matthew 17:19-21 (New International Version)
19Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" 20He said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you."
When I look at this passage, and this one:
Matthew 13:57-58
57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor."
58And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
We see that we are all part of an environment that enables God to work His miracles...if we cooperate, if we have faith, if we do as God would have us do...great things happen. When we do not...people are lost...miracles are forfeited and we have culpability in that. The way that I act today, the words I speak, that which I do in my free time all help create the surroundings that either enable or disable God to work through us and ultimately to keep people from those deadly gears.
I bring this up because I know that I don't always have the godliest attitude towards my in-laws...I am frustrated by the choices they make and the impact they can have on my life. I have not always been loving and forgiving. They are not saved. Am I reaching out to them the way that I should...when I look at them, do I see an eternal soul or do I see a temporary inconvenience to my life? Am I encouraging them to want to know Christ due to the way I act towards them, or will they want nothing to do with Christ if he is anything like me? I know that God kicked me in the pants on this and I am in the process of working out the way to go before them and not only ask forgiveness but reconcile and act as God would have me...with His love with these people...
Does anyone in your life fit into this pattern?
ETERNITY IS AT STAKE. So, how am I, how are you engaging the world today?
Am I LIVING FAITHFULLY (this topic), making it a place that will help God save people from eternal damnation as I LIVE OUT THE GREAT COMMISSION...or am I playing in the gears of Hell, or am I just hanging out in the booth and not telling anyone and everyone that will listen that those gears are dangerous?
HELL IS REAL AND THERE REALLY ARE PEOPLE GOING THERE...
I am not ok with that, are you?
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