Examine Your Heart
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man (Proverbs 27:19)."
"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45)."
A person can only put up a front for so long. Eventually, what is really in their heart will come out. There are many who profess to know Christ. They may be active in the church, they may have participated in baptism, they may have gone to the altar many times to pray and do many good works, yet they are dead. Knowing Christ is not simply knowing about Him. It is not going to church every Sunday nor is it doing good works for Him. These things are a byproduct of knowing Him and each one is a good thing, however, if there hasn't been a heart change, they are nothing more than a set of rules and regulations or a check off of a "to-do" list. Jesus said, "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. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me you evildoers (Matthew 7:21-23)!"
Jesus also said, "You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matthew 23:27-28)."
It saddens me to think of how many people truly believe they are God's child because they made a profession of faith or they walked down an aisle in church or because they know scripture or... (you fill in the blank). I am not trying to make anyone fearful or question their salvation, I just want you to examine yourself to see if you really are in the faith.
Have you been changed? Has there been a moment in time where you know God called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light? Does your life-your words and deeds- show that you belong to Him? Does His Spirit testify with your spirit that you are His? My friend, if you belong to the Father, then the answer to all of those questions should be a resounding yes! When the Holy Spirit comes and lives within you, you cannot help but change. You no longer have the desire to do the things you once did. Why? Because God's Spirit-that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead-lives inside of you. He begins to transform you from the inside out. There should be a gigantic difference in your life now in Christ, compared with life before Christ. With the Spirit come His fruits which are gentleness, patience, kindness, joy, love, peace, faithfulness and self-control.
Keep in mind that you will still sin. None of us have arrived yet, but we are to keep pressing on, growing in Christ, becoming more and more like Him. No one is made perfect until Jesus comes, however, the sin will no longer be habitual. "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning (habitually or continually), because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother (1 John 3:9-10)." The key is: when you sin, confess it, turn from it and move on. God is faithful and just and will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Now is the time my friend. "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion (Hebrews 3:15)." Pray and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you. God loves you....Christ died for all! God does not want anyone to die in their sin, but for all to repent. In other words 'to feel such sorrow for sin as to be disposed to change one's life for the better!' "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)."
You are precious to Him. "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand (Psalm 139:13-18)."
Oh how He loves you my friend! Cry out to Him today....He is waiting. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with Him and he with Me (Revelation 3:20)."
"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45)."
A person can only put up a front for so long. Eventually, what is really in their heart will come out. There are many who profess to know Christ. They may be active in the church, they may have participated in baptism, they may have gone to the altar many times to pray and do many good works, yet they are dead. Knowing Christ is not simply knowing about Him. It is not going to church every Sunday nor is it doing good works for Him. These things are a byproduct of knowing Him and each one is a good thing, however, if there hasn't been a heart change, they are nothing more than a set of rules and regulations or a check off of a "to-do" list. Jesus said, "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. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me you evildoers (Matthew 7:21-23)!"
Jesus also said, "You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matthew 23:27-28)."
It saddens me to think of how many people truly believe they are God's child because they made a profession of faith or they walked down an aisle in church or because they know scripture or... (you fill in the blank). I am not trying to make anyone fearful or question their salvation, I just want you to examine yourself to see if you really are in the faith.
Have you been changed? Has there been a moment in time where you know God called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light? Does your life-your words and deeds- show that you belong to Him? Does His Spirit testify with your spirit that you are His? My friend, if you belong to the Father, then the answer to all of those questions should be a resounding yes! When the Holy Spirit comes and lives within you, you cannot help but change. You no longer have the desire to do the things you once did. Why? Because God's Spirit-that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead-lives inside of you. He begins to transform you from the inside out. There should be a gigantic difference in your life now in Christ, compared with life before Christ. With the Spirit come His fruits which are gentleness, patience, kindness, joy, love, peace, faithfulness and self-control.
Keep in mind that you will still sin. None of us have arrived yet, but we are to keep pressing on, growing in Christ, becoming more and more like Him. No one is made perfect until Jesus comes, however, the sin will no longer be habitual. "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning (habitually or continually), because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are. Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother (1 John 3:9-10)." The key is: when you sin, confess it, turn from it and move on. God is faithful and just and will cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Now is the time my friend. "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion (Hebrews 3:15)." Pray and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you. God loves you....Christ died for all! God does not want anyone to die in their sin, but for all to repent. In other words 'to feel such sorrow for sin as to be disposed to change one's life for the better!' "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9)."
You are precious to Him. "For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand (Psalm 139:13-18)."
Oh how He loves you my friend! Cry out to Him today....He is waiting. "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with Him and he with Me (Revelation 3:20)."
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