"Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in His Name when they saw the signs that He was doing. But Jesus on His part did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for He Himself knew what was in man." (John 2:23-25)
"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
Jesus does.
"And the Spirit of The Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, 'Say, Thus says The Lord: 'So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind.' ' " (Ezekiel 11:5)
Jesus knows our hearts and our minds and our souls- everything about us.
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:33-37)
Jesus knows every single word we've ever said or even thought of saying- the ones we've just whispered under our breath and the ones we've thought but haven't uttered out loud. He also knows every single word we've typed on any online posting and in every text message and letter we've written.
Don't think that any area of life is off-limits for God and that He doesn't know about it and won't deal with it. God deals with all sin and He counts it all as equally wrong.
(Matthew 5:17-19- Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.)
How then do we deal with the gravity of these realizations? How then should we live? Thankfully, the wrath of God upon all of our sins has been poured out on Jesus. Through our faith in His death and Resurrection, we know that we can have forgiveness and a new life in Christ- and the hope of eternity in Heaven with Him. But this faith must be one that drives us to repentance. (i.e. This goes beyond mere lip service to God-Jesus also has stern words about those who just call Him, "Lord, Lord" but don't actually do what He says. Check Matthew 7:12-27. Again- it's only faith in Jesus' grace that saves us, but real faith is defined and demonstrated by action. [see James 2.]
So if we have truly been crucified with Christ and have nailed our sins and worldly passions to His cross, then live by The Spirit and walk by The Spirit, so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by The Spirit, let us also keep in step with The Spirit. (see Galatians 5:16-26)
Father, forgive me for the times I have been lagging behind and out of step with The Spirit. Help mold me to be more like Your Son every day. Help me to keep my thoughts captive to You and use my tongue to pour out Your praises and not curse my brothers. Cleanse me with the hyssop branch and I will be clean. Thank You for Your longsuffering and grace that refuses to give up on me and continues to work with me, in me and on me all the time. Keep removing the chaff and dross until only the refined remains. May the light of Your glory and grace continue to open my eyes to the dimness of the things of this world in comparison to Your glorious brightness and sunshine. May You always be my treasure above all.
"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
Jesus does.
"And the Spirit of The Lord fell upon me, and He said to me, 'Say, Thus says The Lord: 'So you think, O house of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind.' ' " (Ezekiel 11:5)
Jesus knows our hearts and our minds and our souls- everything about us.
"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:33-37)
Jesus knows every single word we've ever said or even thought of saying- the ones we've just whispered under our breath and the ones we've thought but haven't uttered out loud. He also knows every single word we've typed on any online posting and in every text message and letter we've written.
Don't think that any area of life is off-limits for God and that He doesn't know about it and won't deal with it. God deals with all sin and He counts it all as equally wrong.
(Matthew 5:17-19- Whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of Heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.)
How then do we deal with the gravity of these realizations? How then should we live? Thankfully, the wrath of God upon all of our sins has been poured out on Jesus. Through our faith in His death and Resurrection, we know that we can have forgiveness and a new life in Christ- and the hope of eternity in Heaven with Him. But this faith must be one that drives us to repentance. (i.e. This goes beyond mere lip service to God-Jesus also has stern words about those who just call Him, "Lord, Lord" but don't actually do what He says. Check Matthew 7:12-27. Again- it's only faith in Jesus' grace that saves us, but real faith is defined and demonstrated by action. [see James 2.]
So if we have truly been crucified with Christ and have nailed our sins and worldly passions to His cross, then live by The Spirit and walk by The Spirit, so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by The Spirit, let us also keep in step with The Spirit. (see Galatians 5:16-26)
Father, forgive me for the times I have been lagging behind and out of step with The Spirit. Help mold me to be more like Your Son every day. Help me to keep my thoughts captive to You and use my tongue to pour out Your praises and not curse my brothers. Cleanse me with the hyssop branch and I will be clean. Thank You for Your longsuffering and grace that refuses to give up on me and continues to work with me, in me and on me all the time. Keep removing the chaff and dross until only the refined remains. May the light of Your glory and grace continue to open my eyes to the dimness of the things of this world in comparison to Your glorious brightness and sunshine. May You always be my treasure above all.
Amen! Good post.
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