Honest Answers

I wrote this post for http://www.exoworship.com but decided to post it here as well, because, well, why not?

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It frightens me and excites me to say what I have to say… But it's time to get real.

I've been having this overwhelming sense lately that the Day of Jesus' coming is approaching soon... sooner than we'd "expect" it to be, if that's even possible. The thing is, is that although many Christians recognize, and say with their mouths, that Jesus will one day come to ultimately separate the "sheep from the wolves", I think that we still fail to actually expect the coming. I don't know how things are right now over in America, but on this side of the world (Australia), there's been quite a stir in regards to the spiritual world, and what' on the verge of happening. And I feel it as well... my heart feels anxious, and I feel like there is a sense of urgency in everything that I do.

The past few weeks, God has been dramatically re-shaping my whole self. My spirit is brighter than ever before, and I am more eager than ever to learn more from Jesus. And MAN has He been teaching me! I feel like everyday I am shocked with the Scripture I read. I've read it before, but now it sounds different, as if someOne is whispering the secret part of it that had never been told to me before.

So, I just want to pose a question out there:
Do you believe that God is great?

God believes that He's great. Nature believes that God is great. Babies believe that God is great. Your best friend or your mom may believe that God is great.

But search your heart and ask the question again:
Do you really believe all of this hub-bub about God being great?

Sit, and listen.

Write down what you are genuinely hearing your heart say in reply to that question. Even if it isn't what your friends or your parents or your pastor would want to hear. It's time to be honest.

The reason that this question is so important to ask ourselves, is because it is absolutely essential to the salvation of our souls that we really believe that God is great:

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven." Matthew 7:21


Which then poses the question: What is the will of the Father??

“You shall love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might… It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by His Name you shall swear… And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.”

Deuteronomy 7:5, 13, 25

And remember, God’s not fooled by our acts of praying like a Good Christian, being modest like a Good Christian, abstaining from sex, drugs, drunkenness, what have you… (although those are all very wise things to do if you are not doing them already!)

It is all in vain if it is not done with the sole purpose of serving Jesus Christ, of glorifying God Himself.

In Hebrews 4:12, it talks about how the word of God will “divide soul and spirit, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”, which means that he sees what is fleshly and what is spirit-filled in our natures. He knows whether or not what we’re doing is for our good or His.

And as far as our righteousness goes (the root of our actual salvation), God simply will not recognize us if we do not often come to His throne to say, “You are, in fact, Great, my God”.

It's like that awkward moment when we wave at someone across the room, who we've met once before but we're not entirely sure if they remember us, but we certainly remembered them. And they kinda just stare, look around them thinking, "Wait, me? Is she waving at me or... maybe him. Hm, I dunno maybe I've seen her before" (squinting a bit now to see you), "ohhh, yeah... I think I do remember meeting her once, but I can't remember where from" (does a little half-wave now back at you). And then we feel silly from waving at all. Because how could I assume that he would remember who I was? You've only met the bloke once. Ohhh this is awkward.

So please, please search your hearts.

Be completely honest.

I had to do it as well. Upon coming out to Australia, I suddenly felt uncomfortable with the fact that I was so comfortable without Jesus. So I searched my heart, and I realized that I finally just had to say the most hurtful words to Jesus, to admit that I was feeling okay without Him, even though I knew that was wrong. And then I repented for it, genuinely desiring to live life with Him. And ya know what? He didn’t shun me. In fact, He over and beyond in teaching me about Himself through new friends, through my church here, through the Word, heck even through some of my classes. It’s been lovely, and I am so thankful. I just pray that more would be awakened from their slumber as well, because oh, it is so good. God is so great.

So now I leave you all with this prayer over you:

“May the God of peace sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless…”

1 Thess 5:23