So what happened if your life did not change? What happened if you are still doing everything the way you were? Are you saved?
If you still love the world more than you love God; then according to Scripture you are not! No matter what your denomination teaches. You cannot serve two gods.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 KJV
“Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 6:14-15 KJV
If you put your will; your desire above the commandments of God then you are serving another god; yourself.
If the things you do are contrary to His Word, then you serve the devil, no matter if you are in church every time the doors open.
The change that takes place is the desire to please God and obey His commandments!
"Repentance: a change from pleasing self, to pleasing God!" Paris Reidhead 'Incomplete Repentance'
That change comes from emptying oneself of “self” and filling that void with God. The world’s religions try and do the same but they bypass the hard part and miss the mark. It comes through repentance of your sins. Sin - a word the world hates!
Sins come in all shapes and sizes.
We’ve all heard of people getting saved and there be a radical change in their life. Drug addicts immediately delivered from their addictions; prostitutes immediately giving up their work and dressing modestly; thieves turning themselves into the law and confessing their crimes. Those changes are noticeable! Everyone knows God did a work.
But did He do a work if you have not changed?
The sins that God finds the most heinous are the “little” sins hiding in our hearts; unforgiveness, judgments, anger, bitterness, resentments, fear & worry (unbelief), grumbling and complaining, criticisms and pride. It’s the confessing and repenting of these sins that empties our heart to make room for Him. Removing the hidden hate through confession and repentance allows room for His love.
When you truly love Him you can’t love the world!
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15 KJV
The world is entertainment! The world pleases your flesh. The world takes your mind off of the things of God. The things the worlds does is contrary to The Word Of God. The pleasure the world offers is momentary; fleeting at best.
There is joy unspeakable in The Lord, that the world will never comprehend! Nothing this world offers even remotely compares to the pleasure obedience to God provides. Knowing His good pleasure surpasses everything! Being in His will and fulfilling His directions beyond anything you can imagine! What a privilege! What an honor to be used by Him for His glory! Once experienced nothing else matters, that the world offers; no attraction at all.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37 KJV
THAT which you love is what you live for; care for; look out for; sacrifice for; die for!
It's either you or Him! There can be only One!
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24 KJV
Speaking to the church : “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” James 4:4 KJV
“An enemy of God” - it doesn’t get more serious than that!
My prayer: Father God forgive me for allowing the world to creep in and distract me from You! I repent for all of the times I took my eyes off of You. My hearts desire is for You and You alone. When I begin to stray, show me my error and pull me back! Hold on tight for I am weak! I will to lean on You! Thank You LORD. For the work You continue in me. I submit to You!
Even so - MARANATHA
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