“Our Daily Bread”
http://odb.org/2012/10/07/still-bearing-fruit/
The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie
http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht
1 Corinthians 10:12… Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (NKJV)
Chapter 10, in the first 11 verses right before this opening scripture written by the apostle Paul, gives us Old Testament examples of the Israelites; and how most of them did not obey the laws God had given them, with the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) that God had Moses bring down to them from Mt Sinai… The people of today are no different than people living back then…
God ended up scattering a whole generation of His chosen people’s bodies in the wilderness, because of their lack of obedience to His will…Numbers 26:65… For the Lord had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” So there was not left a man of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. (NKJV)
Paul tells us that the deaths of these disobedient people should be an example to all of us, so that we should not lust after evil things like they did (verse 6)… That we should not become idolaters, as were some of them (Verse 7)… And that we shouldn’t commit sexual immorality, as some of them did…leading to 23,000 of them being put to death by God in one day (Verse 8)…
Paul also tells us that we shouldn’t tempt Christ, as some of them did; and were destroyed by serpents… Numbers 21:6 (Verse 9)… And lastly, Paul tells us that we should not complain as some of them did; and were destroyed by the destroyer (Verse 10)
The Apostle Paul again reminds the reader that all of these useless deaths by sinning, rebellious people… should be examples to teach us that we too will suffer the wrath of God, if we don’t obey the will of God the Father (verse 11)…
The point of today’s writing is expressed in the opening scripture… People who are living lives, falsely believing for any number of erroneous reasons, that their sins have been forgiven; and that they stand righteous in God’s eyes…must understand that it is the Lord’s will they must conform to, in order to be forgiven of their sins… There is nothing we can do on our own merit to become Christians… It’s not about works, but the pure gift of God’s grace through saving faith alone in Jesus Christ…Ephesians 2:8-9…
Jesus makes this clear in the following scripture; where He warns people that self-righteous works won’t have sins forgiven… In today’s churches, these self-righteous works would be things like going to church every week…and confessing sins to anyone other than God Himself…
Matthew 7:21-23… “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. 22 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?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ” (NKJV)
God’s will for all sinners, is that they seek His Son Jesus Christ with a repentant heart, as they turn from their sins and look to Christ to forgive them… This is done as they pray to Christ in earnest, to take control of their lives and become their personal Lord, their Master, and their Savior… This is known as obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ… Failure to do so, is graphically depicted by the Apostle Paul in this eye opening scripture…
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9… in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, (NKJV)
Heavenly Father, I pray that Your Word today, would open the eyes of those who falsely believe that they stand righteous in Your sight, with their sins forgiven… I pray Father, that You would drawn these people to Yourself (John 6:44); and that they would not rest until they understand and obey the gospel of Your Son Jesus Christ… I pray that You regenerate their cold hearts with the love of Christ, and that lives will be changed by You for an eternity… I pray for this spiritual awakening by You, and the will to obey the gospel of Christ, in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…
written by bruce r mills
P.S. The gospel of Christ is presented in the link below, to plant the seed toward salvation for those who want to become part of God’s family; to be sure they are righteous in God’s eyes, and filled with the awesome power of the Holy Spirit…
God's group 