The Path of Jesus Is the Narrow Way
"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many (Matthew 7:13)."
You are walking down one path in life. This path is either the narrow way to life or the wide path to hell. There is no middle ground. You cannot be a child of God yet live like the world. You are either for Him or against Him. There are many who call themselves "Christians" yet continue to do the same things the world does. Sure, they may go to church on Sunday, but they are also going to bars, doing drugs, watching pornography, being greedy, cursing or anything else that pleases the flesh.
Jesus said, "Many 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?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:22-23)." He is speaking to all of those who claim to be followers of Jesus, when inside they are dead. What I mean by that is their hearts are far from God. They don't know Him in an intimate way. They don't have a relationship with Him. They may put on a really good front, but see my friend, God knows our hearts. He knows the real you and me behind the masks. He knows our thoughts, He knows a word before we even speak it...He knows every single detail about us. You may be able to fool men, but you can never fool God.
So the question is, are you truly a follower of Jesus or are you just going through the motions? Has there been a moment in your life that you turned from your sin? Has God given you a new heart? Do you desire the things of God~His word, being around His people and more importantly, do you desire Him? When the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of you.....you cannot keep doing the things you used to do. He makes us new! "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)." I think there are many who think that because they go to church or because they do good deeds or because they are a 'moral' person that they are saved. Salvation comes from Christ alone. It is only by His blood. There is no amount of good works any of us could ever do to even come close to getting into heaven. It is by God's grace. It is faith in the Lord Jesus. "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6)." He is not one of many ways, He is the way!
I am not saying you won't continue to sin, because you will. None of us will be made perfect until the day Jesus comes. The difference though is that your sin will no longer be habitual or continual and it will no longer dominate your life. "No one who is born of God will continue to (habitually) sin, because God's seed remains in him, he can not go on sinning 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)." Your habits will change. The people you hang out with will change. Friend, if you have the Spirit living on the inside of you~You. Will. Be. Different. Once God saves you, He begins to transform you on the inside. This is something that only He can do. This inner transformation will then show on the outside in how you treat people, how you live your life, things you say, things you no longer do and in your passion for the Lord. Everything that the Lord Jesus is, He imparts to you: forgiving, loving, kind, merciful, compassionate, joyful, holy and full of peace. This transformation that occurs within us will continue as long as we are on this earth. None of us have it all together. "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14)."
So, take some time my friend, and ask God to search your heart. Ask Him to show you that you are indeed His. And we know we are His by the Spirit He has given us. His Spirit testifies with our spirit that we belong to Him. "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children (Romans 8:16)." God will make this known. Choose life my friend and live!
You are walking down one path in life. This path is either the narrow way to life or the wide path to hell. There is no middle ground. You cannot be a child of God yet live like the world. You are either for Him or against Him. There are many who call themselves "Christians" yet continue to do the same things the world does. Sure, they may go to church on Sunday, but they are also going to bars, doing drugs, watching pornography, being greedy, cursing or anything else that pleases the flesh.
Jesus said, "Many 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?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from Me you evildoers!' (Matthew 7:22-23)." He is speaking to all of those who claim to be followers of Jesus, when inside they are dead. What I mean by that is their hearts are far from God. They don't know Him in an intimate way. They don't have a relationship with Him. They may put on a really good front, but see my friend, God knows our hearts. He knows the real you and me behind the masks. He knows our thoughts, He knows a word before we even speak it...He knows every single detail about us. You may be able to fool men, but you can never fool God.
So the question is, are you truly a follower of Jesus or are you just going through the motions? Has there been a moment in your life that you turned from your sin? Has God given you a new heart? Do you desire the things of God~His word, being around His people and more importantly, do you desire Him? When the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of you.....you cannot keep doing the things you used to do. He makes us new! "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)." I think there are many who think that because they go to church or because they do good deeds or because they are a 'moral' person that they are saved. Salvation comes from Christ alone. It is only by His blood. There is no amount of good works any of us could ever do to even come close to getting into heaven. It is by God's grace. It is faith in the Lord Jesus. "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6)." He is not one of many ways, He is the way!
I am not saying you won't continue to sin, because you will. None of us will be made perfect until the day Jesus comes. The difference though is that your sin will no longer be habitual or continual and it will no longer dominate your life. "No one who is born of God will continue to (habitually) sin, because God's seed remains in him, he can not go on sinning 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)." Your habits will change. The people you hang out with will change. Friend, if you have the Spirit living on the inside of you~You. Will. Be. Different. Once God saves you, He begins to transform you on the inside. This is something that only He can do. This inner transformation will then show on the outside in how you treat people, how you live your life, things you say, things you no longer do and in your passion for the Lord. Everything that the Lord Jesus is, He imparts to you: forgiving, loving, kind, merciful, compassionate, joyful, holy and full of peace. This transformation that occurs within us will continue as long as we are on this earth. None of us have it all together. "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14)."
So, take some time my friend, and ask God to search your heart. Ask Him to show you that you are indeed His. And we know we are His by the Spirit He has given us. His Spirit testifies with our spirit that we belong to Him. "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children (Romans 8:16)." God will make this known. Choose life my friend and live!
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