The Pretender
Have you ever stood in front of the apple display at the store and searched for the perfect ones? I brought home a bag of the shiniest, reddest, biggest apples the other day. I am pretty picky when I am choosing. If there is even a slight cut or bruise I won't get it. They have to be near perfection!
One of my kids wanted one of the apples that I had brought home, so I started peeling it and got such a surprise that my perfect apple had brown streaks all throughout the middle! I thought that I could just trim it off and it would be o.k., but the further that I cut, the more brown that I saw. It went all the way through to the core! There was nothing that I could do but throw it away. I was super annoyed!
It was like that amazing little apple was just pretending to be amazing…the reality was that as soon as you peeled back the layers, the meat was no good at all.
Isn't it just crazy how we can compare ourselves to so many different things? Many of you know the exact comparison that is coming…
are you like that apple?
It is sooo easy to claim that you are a Christian in this day and age! But did you catch that 6th word in that sentence: claim! So many people (I mean soooo many) say that they are Christians, yet refuse to walk in the light of Christ!
It says clearly in 1 John 1:6
"If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth."
What exactly would you define darkness to be? My definition is that it is the absence of light. Who is Light? Jesus! So anything that we do that is not what Jesus would do, would it be safe to say that He is not going to be shining His light on it? And if He isn't shining His light on it…then we are in darkness.
I want to challenge you with this question:
Do you claim that you love Jesus but live like you don't need Him around?
Here is a really easy test if you are questioning yourself at all!
John 14:15
"If you love ME, you will obey My commands."
What would we find if we started looking into your life? I mean really digging into the heart of who you are and what you think, feel and do! I would never guess what some of you are really like by just looking. I see people go to church, sing, pray, and give. Is there anyone out there right now that does all of those things, but goes home at night and feels like a fake? Are you pretending because you want others to accept you? Do you put on a front because people's expectations of you are something that you aren't even close to? If you can say yes to these…then aren't you exhausted with playing this game? I will tell you plain and simple without hesitation…you CAN NOT pretend with God! Nothing that you did while trying to look good on this earth is going to amount to anything when you are standing before the Lord if you don't have Jesus!!! He is going to look you in the eye and either say "welcome my child", or "I never knew you, away from me you evildoers"…Matthew 7:23
Please take these words to heart! Don't get caught up trying to be someone that you aren't! If you need to find Jesus…go find Him! But don't sit on that shelf rotting, hoping that because you look good, you will get picked! I promise you that you will one day have the peeling ripped back, and your heart will be the only thing exposed!
What is God gonna find?
If you died today, are you 100% sure you would go to Heaven?
ReplyDeleteYou CAN know 100% you are on your way to Heaven!
I John 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
1. You Are A Sinner.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23
"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:"
Romans 3:10
"They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."
Romans 3:12
2. There Is A Price On Sin.
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
"And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." Revelation 20:14
3. Jesus Died and Shed His Precious Blood on the Cross of Calvary To Pay For Your Sins.
"But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." Hebrews 9:22
"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Revelation 1:5-6
4. Salvation Is Not Of Our Works. It Is Through Jesus Christ.
"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Romans 4:5
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8-9
5. God Wants To Save You If You Will Just Put Your Trust In Him.
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:13