NEW LIFE: A MONTH OF VERSES: JANUARY 24, 2017

VERSE: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter". (Matthew 7:21)

EQUATION: A person + Not born again in this Life = Eternally Separated from God on Judgment Day

ACTION: These words from Matthew 7:21, from the Great Judge Himself -Jesus- are, and will be the scariest words ever spoken. Make sure RIGHT NOW, that you or someone close you know, are NOT the one to whom they are spoken.

PRAYER: Oh great God and Father in Heaven, Who has given ALL men the means by which we must be saved, we cry out right now, first on our own behalf, that we are 100% right with You, that our sins are forgiven and that we have been accepted into the Family of God through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Master of our lives. We pray now, for those who have deluded themselves their entire lives, and we pray that they, while there is still breath in their bodies, that they come to a realization of their lost estate before You. Lord we pray they have that moment, or they may even encounter someone who will cause a pause for reflection that if they were to stand before You and You would ask them "why they should be let into Heaven", that the right answer will be given. Father, so many people think they are Christians or going to Heaven, because they prayed a sinner's prayer or went to church on Christmas Day or that they were born in a certain country. Open their eyes Lord! Open their dark hearts that they may see themselves as they truly are, before it is too late for them and bring their first awakening of the spirit in the inner man, that leads to repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and ruler of their lives. We pray and cry out right now, in His Precious and Holy Name, amen and amen.

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THIRTY ONE DAYS OF BIBLE TRUTHS - DAY 9 (CHOICE)

BIBLE VERSE: For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death (2 Corinthians 7:10)

TRUTH: We have been talking about Light, standing firm and resting on the promises of God. But what if someone grows up their entire life in church; or walked some aisle; or raised their hand when some preacher gave an invitation etc. Then one day, this same person looks in a spiritual mirror and notices that everything we have spoken about these past several days comes up “not applicable”. What then?! What is obvious at that point is there was never a conversion. That is, the person was never saved from darkness to light. This verse gives us the only two options from God Himself. Either there is sorrow over the realization that such a person is lost, lost, lost and faces eternity AWAY from God at it leads to a “change of mind and direction” (definition of Repentance) or the person becomes a complete rebel at that point. There is absolutely no middle road. There are only those who are with God and those who ain’t. Which choice will it be?

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WHY JESUS MUST BE YOUR LORD

That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;  for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 
(Romans 10:9-10)
There is a HUGE and severely important reason why the majority of western (and mostly North American) Christians do not live in victory, but fear and trembling. The reason actually revolves around the Lordship of Jesus Christ. To fully flesh out this in thesis form, it could take a couple volumes of books but the matter really boils down to some simple truths. 

For a century or more, a church service or sermon would end by the preacher asking variations of the following: "would you like to ask Jesus into your....fill in the blank (heart, life, mind, soul)". Another modus operandi is to say ask folks to come forward "if you feel the Lord tugging you". That one is a two edged sword. A long time ago in my early walk, I did go forward - not to be saved, but to give a man a piece of paper with my sins written down, so he could nail it to the Cross in an act of repentance. All of these methods revolve around one thing - "ASKING JESUS TO BE YOUR SAVIOR"...or pick your words: "trusting Him" or "giving your life to Christ as Savior".

Very rarely you will see, hear or know a preacher/evangelist tell you that Jesus MUST be the LORD of one's life. In my opinion, and those of us who are maligned as "Lordship" people, their approach is severely lacking in doctrinal authenticity and could lead to many a false conversion. Nowhere in Scripture does the Bible prescribe that a sinner ask "Jesus to be His Savior". Everywhere, we see the word "LORD"...and the verse above from Romans 10:9 is absolute proof!

In fact that first phrase of Romans 10:9 is proof of His Lordship! It underlines what Christ Himself says in Mark 1:15 - "Repent and believe the Gospel". In Romans 10:9, there is no "as" in the original so the text really is "of you confess with your mouth Jesus Lord" - that is acknowledging, agreeing, confession and proclamation that Jesus is Lord...and the belief comes from this declaration of Faith.

What really sealed the deal for me is this is Romans 14: "For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." Now, this is not a future event we shall bow the knew to Christ as Lord THEN. This has already happened! He is LORD NOW! Thus, He MUST be LORD of your life and mine NOW, not then. This all comes down to commitment, obedience and surrender.

What am I saying - that a person who does not accept Christ as Lord of their lives is unsaved? First of all, that is only going part of the way. To be fully a child of God, in the realm of the eternal and to have received the blessings of eternal life, one's sins have to be forgiven. It is not works to ask forgiveness for your sins and THEN accept the free Grace that cometh our way to enable the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord AND Savior of the world and us. The desire to change, have a change of heart when we come to the end of ourselves and the choice is stark before us THAT is the point where He will enable us to seek Him out, make peace through Him and use that Godly sorrow which Holy Spirit has put there in our spiritual heart, to leadeth us to repentance.

Here is where the full measure of Grace begins as we see the unpleasant and unsavory people we are... in the Nostrils of God... the kind of sinner we are and cry out "God, Father, Jesus, please forgive me!" When I was called by the Lord unto salvation, no one witnessed to me or had me repeat a mindless prayer. I knew fully what I was doing and made a conscious choice. Even so, it was only when I wrote my current (at the time) sins down and made an effort to have then nailed to a Cross that I really felt FREE and under the Lordship of Christ. Since that day, Catie bar the door. I am a seminary dropout with only a Bible diploma, via mail study, from Liberty University. It is the Lordship of Jesus Christ, total surrender to the leading and teaching of His Powerful Holy Spirit, my best Friend and the Father's Grace and love, which keepeth me daily.

Friends, this is the only way to have the peace that passeth all understanding. Is Jesus Christ the Savior, Messiah and the Anointed One? Yes, He is. But for that to truly mean something, He MUST be Lord of your life and mine, after rejuvenation and the washing away of all iniquity. Think on these things, obey Him and He shall lead thee unto the path of all truth! Amen.