Listen up: If you claim to have a love for God, then you had better be a CHANGED PERSON. You cannot come to God -- you cannot touch the hem of Jesus' robe -- you cannot come to mercy and grace of Christ -- and walk away unchanged.
To love God is to obey Him. If you love Jesus, then you would do His works. His works were to go about the Father's business. The business of the Father entails walking in the Spirit of God, being led by the spirit of God -- these are the sons of God. Jesus Christ was the firstborn among many brethren. He was the forerunner. He made a way where there seemed to be no way. He is our example. He is the way the truth and the life. If we walk after Him, then others will hate us, because they first hated Him. He who is not with Jesus is against Jesus. You are either in or out. There is no straddling the fence-line. There is no in-between. There is no shade of gray. It's either yes or no. Yes, you are following Christ. No, you are not. You cannot go to church just on Sunday and maybe even Wednesdays or Tuesdays or whatever days in between the Sundays... and then go back to work during the week or to school or to whatever other things you do outside of church... and be forgetful of the word you heard in church, the word you read in the Bible... you cannot be forgetful of the things of your heart and keeping them before the Lord for examination and removal of sins... for cleansing and refining... for transformation to know the things that pertain to Christ and to the kingdom of God. You cannot walk throughout the week forgetting what He expects from you -- what He requires of you: to be obedient, to be willing, to do mercy, to walk justly, and to walk humbly with Him.
If you find yourself in a position where yes, you want more of Him and you find that you tend to stumble often and fall... even to the point where you sometimes feel like you should give up because you are not worthy enough or perhaps you just don't believe you are worthy...
the ONLY reason you are worthy is because God decided you are worthy. He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to show you the love of God... to be the sacrifice once and for all for your sins because you cannot pay the price for your sins. No way. Jesus paid it for you. God decided you are worthy and that's what makes you worthy. So remember that the next time you say out, "I'm not worthy." You're absolutely right -- but that does not eliminate you from making it... from being not only called, but chosen. If you have begun to run in this race -- meaning, if you decided to believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and that he died for your sins and rose again on the third day to sit at the right hand of the Father where he now mediates for us against the accuser of the brethren (Satan)... then you are now in need of exercising everything God has given you to become a son of God. You are in a race now. You are no longer sitting on the sidelines watching the other Christians and wondering about them and all that. You are now one of them and you are responsible for your run. Not for others' runs. Your own run will affect other runners around you. Your life is to be a testimony -- a witness -- to the faithfulness and love of God. First seek His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you (Matt 16:33). His kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Get the Word of God in you -- study to show yourself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, proving that which acceptable unto the Lord. The Word will transform your natural mind so that you will begin to have a spiritual mind. For the natural mind is at enmity with God. It cannot understand the things of God. Let the word wash your mind and transform it. The word is like a hammer and like a fire. It will crush everything you have stabilized your life upon... everything you thought was a secure deal... everything you believed. It will crush it and then God can, in your brokenness, begin to rebuild you. Let Him. It is so amazing. Let His work not be stopped nor hinder it. The word is a fire, it will burn away the things of wood, hay, and stubble and what will be left is gold, silver, and precious stones. Let Him build in you these foundations (gold, silver, precious stones) so that you may stand when the fire comes to the world. If you let the fire of God continue in you today to burn away things that are not of Him, then you will have been tried and tempered to stand in the evil time. Where others may panick and flee and worry... you can stand knowing with confidence that God is who He is and you are in Him.
I tell you, if you let God work in you now to exercise your spirit, to be led by the spirit -- to obey Him now and develop a relationship now... then when crap hits the fan for the world around you... you will be one who has already gone through the trials and tests --- that crap hitting the fan will be an ultimate final. If you've been to school, then you know that there are many pop quizzes and tests that you take during the quarter or semester, but at the very end there is a final. Everything you've ever learned is now put to the test in a larger test. The goal is to succeed -- to pass. If you've been paying attention throughout the quarter or semester -- if you've been taking notes -- if you've been looking up the things that you did not understand so that you would know the answer for when the final came... then you would be prepared for that final test. You will pass. Better than others who have not studied.
You have to develop a relationship. Faith will permit you to do so. You may not see Him or hear Him with your natural senses, but with your spirit, and by His word you know that He exists. Walk with Him and talk with Him. Bring everything to Him and be quick to repent when He shows you ugly things in your character -- in your heart. Ask Him to change you. Ask Him to break you now so that you would be broken -- so He doesn't have to break you later with everything else He will break to bend and bow to Him. He is Lord of all. Let Him be so now so that you will be ready to freely declare at the final.
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