I AM PERSUADED

 

I AM PERSUADED

Jer.20:7 “O LORD, you persuaded me, and I allowed myself to be persuaded. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked by everyone in the city.” NLT

I grew up in the day in which altars were common in the church, and invitations were frequently given to use them. I can remember very vividly the drawing of the Spirit on my heart as the invitation was given. “Almost persuaded, now to believe….” Standing on the threshold of God’s forgiveness, I was often drawn to my knees to confess sin that I knew was in my heart. I miss those days. I believe the church still needs the altar and the altar call. I believe we still need to stand on the threshold of God’s forgiveness and choose whether or not we will confess our sin.

When was the last time God persuaded you to deal with sin in your heart? When was the last time you paused long enough before God to even admit that you have sinned against Him? Are you even able to hear and recognize His convicting voice?

One of the reasons why I am so strong on declaring our need to be into God’s Word, is that it is there that God exposes sin. It is there that we have to decide whether or not we are going to humble ourselves before God and change our ways or not. It is there that God speaks most clearly to our hearts. It is why God declares that we will be judged by how we have lived in obedience to His Word.

When was the last time you were persuaded that you were guilty of sin? When were you last overpowered by His presence and driven to your knees?

When we see ourselves in the light of Christ’s righteousness and holiness, we gain a much more accurate sense of our standing with God. Christ is our standard for living. When we fall short of His perfection, we are guilty of sin. Knowing that we are not on equal footing with Christ before God ought to cause us to let Him have His way in our lives. Only Christ can deal with our sins. We must have His forgiveness and lordship over our lives if we are going to be with God eternally.

Don’t overestimate your righteous and don’t underestimate your need for a Savior.

GOD IS NOT FOOLED

 

GOD IS NOT FOOLED

Jer. 17:9-10 “The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” NLT

There are those who want to believe that people are inherently good. They want to believe that beneath all the gruff that sometimes we see lies a good person. Goodness is measured by responsibility shown. If a person takes responsibility for his family and is a law abiding citizen, then that is all that anyone can expect.

However, God knows better. Each of us is desperately wicked, full of deceit. We may put on a good front, but the condition of our hearts is wickedness. We are born inherently wicked. All of us are born into sin and are capable of the worst of sins. No one knows just how bad the human soul is, except for the Lord. He knows all there is to know about us. He knows every hidden sin.

He knows all the thoughts we have and knows all the reasons why we act like we do. There is nothing hidden from the Lord. He knows it all. He knows not only how bad we are, but how bad we can become.

We are not good at heart; we are bad to the core. Without the Lord, we will reap the full reward of our wickedness, an eternity spent in hell. Only the Lord can change the wickedness of our hearts into hearts of purity and righteousness. Only the Lord can change the course of our lives. Only He can make it possible for us to be rewarded by God instead of cursed.

The Lord will reward those who put their trust in Him. He will spare them the horrors of hell. He will usher them into a place He has prepared for them in heaven where He dwells.

Don’t believe for a second the lies being proclaimed about our goodness. We are a very deceitful and desperately wicked people who need a Savior. If Jesus is your Savior today, praise and thank Him for your salvation. If He is not, today is the day of salvation for you. Don’t put it off another moment. This may be the last chance you will ever have to be saved.

DESPERATELY WICKED

 

DESPERATELY WICKED

Jer. 17:9-10 “The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.” NLT

If we are honest about it, most people do not have a clue as to just how bad the human heart really is without Christ. Most people see themselves in a much better light than God sees them. Most look at others and consider themselves just as good, or better, than them. Most do not see themselves as bad people. They believe that they are good enough just as they are and when they die, they will go to heaven.

God does not see us the same way that we see ourselves. He knows what the heart is really like behind our “goodness” or persona. He looks at the heart and if He does not see the righteousness of Christ blanketing it, condemns the soul to hell. He knows that without Christ no one can ever be good enough for heaven for the heart is by nature sinful and deserving of hell.

God searches every heart and examines every motive. He knows the reason why we do what we do and judges us accordingly. He does not cater to our sins. He has shown us clearly how we can get rid of our sins and be good enough for heaven. He has given us opportunity to choose whether or not we will accept the righteousness of Christ as our own or depend on our own. Because He loves us, God provided a way for us to get rid of our sins, Jesus. Only Jesus can forgive and take away our sins. Each day lived without Christ is one day closer to an eternity in hell.

God declares very clearly and boldly that we will get what we deserve. Our living will either affirm our belief in Him or it will betray what we profess to believe. We will be judged not by what we believe, but how we live. Faith without the works proving it is not saving faith. Saving faith is holy living. Without it, no one will see God.

It is impossible to fool God. You will get exactly what you deserve when you die, heaven or hell. The choice is yours to make. Choose today whom you will serve. As for me, I choose to live in Christ and go to heaven when I die. Will I see you there?

PEOPLE WILL FAIL YOU

 

PEOPLE WILL FAIL YOU

Jer. 17:5 This is what the Lord says, “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD…..” NLT

This verse reminds us of a very real danger in the Church today. There are a lot of people today that gather a following solely based on who they come across as being. Because of the technology available to us, people with a lot of charisma are easily noticed. People with strong personalities can gain a following fairly easily. People can be put on a pedestal without a lot of problem and with very little real scrutiny. People follow people, many of whom are dangerous people to follow.

Whenever churches are built around individuals, there is a real danger of people being led away from the Lord. Most people are not students of the Word and will believe whatever they hear without examining whether or not it lines up with the Scriptures. When error is cloaked in truth, there is a weakening of faith. Soon a stand is taken on things that simply are false teachings. It then is an easy step to turn away from the Lord, all in the name of truth. No one should be believed unless what is proclaimed is the truth of the Gospel.

We must be vigilant caretakers of the truth. We must never allow anything but the truth of the Gospel to be taught and proclaimed in the Church. We must quickly challenge those whose message is not sound Biblical teaching, and if the message is not changed to line up with the Scriptures, the messenger must be removed immediately from leadership in the Church.

It is also imperative that we be very careful about what we read from popular pastors and leaders in the Church. Just because someone has a following and is in a prominent position does not mean that what they write is true or edifying. Many hearts are turned away from the Lord by digesting the writings of so-called leaders in the Church.

Our allegiance must always be to the Word of God, not the messenger of it. God declares that those who follow man rather than the Word are cursed because their hearts are turned away from Him. Fix your eyes solely upon the Lord, the author and finisher of our salvation. Flee from those who draw people to themselves. Flee from those who clamor for the spotlight. Don’t let anyone or anything turn your heart away from the Lord.

NO COVER-UPS

 

NO COVER-UPS

Jer. 13:23 Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you always do evil. NLT

There’s a huge difference between covering up your sins and your sins being forgiven. People are cover-up artists when it comes to their sins. We masquerade well the true nature of our souls. Many put on good fronts. They are good people doing good things, in and outside of the church. They have the respect of those who know them. They may even be leaders in the church and community. It’s not all that hard to come across as being a good person. With a little bit of effort, a person can stay out of trouble and be well-liked by those who know him.

But, who a person really is cannot be covered up. Beneath the appearance of goodness lies the soul. And, the measure of goodness of the soul is not based on the goodness of one’s living. The Lord declared that before God no one is good. We are born into this world without Christ, and we will die without Christ unless we turn to Him for the forgiveness of our sins and let Him rule our hearts. No one can live well enough of a life to change the nature of the heart. Only Christ can change the evil heart of man into a righteous heart before God.

God is not impressed by what impresses us. He does not acknowledge the good deeds we do without Jesus in the heart. There will be many who will stand before God standing on their own righteousness thinking that it will be good enough to get them into heaven, and God will declare them unknown to Him. Only Christ is our righteousness before God. He is the only way our souls can be made right before God. Jesus forgives those who come humbly before Him, own up to their sins, and confess them to Him. When a person does this, God no longer sees him as unworthy of heaven but embraces him as His child. And his sins are forever wiped out of God’s memory; he is a new creation in Christ.

If you are trying to make it to heaven by being and doing good, it will never work. You are a sinner bound for hell until you let Jesus be your Savior and Lord. It is impossible to cover up your sins with your goodness. God sees right through it and sees your sinful heart. Repent now and let Christ be your righteousness and holiness from God.

YOU CAN'T HIDE

 

YOU CAN’T HIDE

Jer. 13:23 Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good, for you always do evil. NLT

You may be able to hide who you are from others, but you can never hide who you are from God. It’s easy to appear to be who we are not. We can do the right things, say the right things, be in the right places, and hang out with the right people, but if the heart is not right with God it doesn’t matter. There are so many of us who know how to come across in a positive light. We want to be looked upon as children of God. We don’t want others to see our downside, the side that is prone to wander away from God.

We may even convince ourselves that all is well with us and God. But, the Lord knows the heart. He knows whether or not we are all show and no go. He does not honor the living of those who are not right with Him. If your heart is not right with God, what you do is deemed to be worthless and useless to God.

If you have any question at all about your heart condition before God, examine the Scriptures. Let God’s Word show you how you are doing. God makes it very clear what we need to be like, what we should be doing and not doing, how we should think about things and others. A careful reading of the Word leaves no sin unturned, and it shows us the pathway of holy living.

It is imperative that we take seriously our heart’s condition before God. Before you try to live a Christian life, you must first let Christ make you one. Only Christ can change the heart of man from one that is evil to one that is righteous and holy. Only Jesus can make what we do acceptable to God.

BOAST ONLY IN THE LORD

 

BOAST ONLY IN THE LORD

Jer. 9:23-24 This is what the LORD says, “Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken!” NLT

It is so easy to become proud of ourselves and brag on ourselves. It seems to come naturally. We like to see ourselves in a positive light. We like to think of ourselves as being successful. It makes us feel good to look at what we have accomplished in life. We like it when others recognize our accomplishments and admire us for it. It’s an ego trip that we all like to take.

However, we must fight the urge to do so. Our boasting must not be self-centered, but God-centered. We must never forget that the most important thing in life is to know the Lord. We must boast only about the Lord and what He does for us. We must acknowledge who He is and proclaim His goodness. We must be quick to speak of His love and take great delight in it.

Satan wants us to think about ourselves. He knows that as long as we are focused on ourselves and our accomplishments, we won’t honor the Lord. He takes delight in robbing the Lord of the credit and honor due Him. Let us not fall into Satan’s trap. Let us always be careful to honor the Lord with our praises. Let us take delight in Him and Him alone. Let us gratefully accept from His hand our blessings and bring Him glory through them. Let us be a people who dwell in the richness of fellowship with the Lord and take delight in Him.

If you find yourself thinking too much about yourself and what you have accomplished in life, repent now of your self-centeredness and let the Lord be the delight of your heart.