““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Mt. 7:20-23…………….
“Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23……………
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in streets ministry, not to mention my own life, and most importantly in the Bible, it’s this. A REAL COMMITMENT to the Lord Jesus Christ for the promise of everlasting life, for a relationship now and forever in heaven with God almighty by God’s grace alone through repentance and faith in Christ as Lord, is NOT measured in nor does it come simply by the words we speak from our mouths, not in the tears we shed from our eyes, not in the cross we may wear around our neck, not in how many times a week we go to church, not in the heartfelt way in which we run to the altar and “give our lives to Christ”, not in calling ourselves Christians, not in our parents being Christians, or coming from families with multi-generational pastors, not in going to a Christian school, not in how much we’ve underlined and taken notes in our Bibles, not in going to seminary, not even standing behind a pulpit and calling ourselves pastors, not in anything at all but in this.
Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who are promised everlasting life, are those who REPENT OF THEIR SINS, BELIEVE CHRIST IS THE SON OF GOD AND IS LORD AND DIED FOR OUR SINS AND WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD, and LIVE A LIFESTYLE OF FOLLOWING CHRIST, who LIVE ACCORDING TO GOD’S WAYS, who LIVE FOR CHRIST, who are willing to FORSAKE ALL FOR CHRIST, who are willing to say NO TO THE FLESH AND YES TO JESUS, who are willing to DIE TO SELF and to LIVE FOR GOD, who are willing to DENY SELF, to TAKE UP ONE’S CROSS, and to FOLLOW THE SPIRIT OF GOD who lives inside Christ’s followers no matter where He leads, when He leads, to whom He leads us, from whom He leads us, no matter what He calls us to do, not for our sakes, but for Christ’s sake, for God’s glory, that we might live to love and glorify Him forever!
For years, I professed to believe in the Lord and to love Him, but my lifestyle was all about self, not Christ. Now I live wholly for Christ. The Lord led me to repent of a life lived for self and to a life genuinely dedicated to Him. In my streets ministry work, in numerous churches I’ve visited, and in the Bible, I have seen countless people calling themselves believers in Christ but whose lifestyle, whose way of life, just like mine was, reflects their lives are dedicated to themselves and to the world rather than to Christ Jesus who is LORD.
Live for Him, my friend! Commit yourself wholly to Christ. And may the way you live each day, right down to your every breath, be living proof of a forever commitment to God almighty in Christ, hallelujah, Amen!