The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Every time I am convicted by the Holy Spirit I feel this verse. The Bible is alive, it cuts me to my core. It reminds me daily of how I fall short and am saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
 
“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”
‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

We need to bring our own thoughts, we have to force our own thoughts to align with Jesus Christ. We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but we wrestle against a spiritual force, we fight that not with physical measures but spiritual, we need to be in prayer and worship, we need to wage war against the devil in the spiritual realm.
 
Well, this took a lot longer than it should have, but I found the verses that talk about how some will be judged at death based on what they know. If anyone remembers who was all asking about it, maybe you can tag them.

All who sin outside the law will also perish without reference to it, and all who sin under the law will be judged in accordance with it. For it is not those who hear the law who are just in the sight of God; rather, those who observe the law will be justified. For when the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature observe the prescriptions of the law, they are a law for themselves even though they do not have the law. They show that the demands of the law are written in their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even defend them on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge people’s hidden works through Christ Jesus.
Romans 2:12-16
 

Listening and Doing​

19. My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20. because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24. and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

26. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:19-27
 
Good Sunday Morning, Children of God.

Today’s Gospel is from the book of Luke.

A new week starts today. I hope it’s filled with blessings you each of you.

Gospel​

Luke 16:1-13
Jesus said to his disciples,
"A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
'What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.'
The steward said to himself, 'What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.'
He called in his master's debtors one by one.
To the first he said,
'How much do you owe my master?'
He replied, 'One hundred measures of olive oil.'
He said to him, 'Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.'
Then to another the steward said, 'And you, how much do you owe?'
He replied, 'One hundred kors of wheat.'
The steward said to him, 'Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.'
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.


"For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
The person who is trustworthy in very small matters
is also trustworthy in great ones;
and the person who is dishonest in very small matters
is also dishonest in great ones.
If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth,
who will trust you with true wealth?
If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another,
who will give you what is yours?
No servant can serve two masters.
He will either hate one and love the other,
or be devoted to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and mammon."
 
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.””
‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬

My prayer for myself and all men of faith is that we are bold in our faith, and that we can have courage to stand in truth and the light that is Jesus Christ.
 
This verse haunts me:

Matthew 7:13-14
Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few".

Those who find it are FEW. This does not sound promising for most Christians. It makes me doubt my salvation. It makes me think that only the people who completely dedicate themselves to Christ will be saved. I try, but what is enough? Do we all need to quit our jobs and become preachers? What does this verse mean to you? I think it's the most terrifying warning in the Bible. I've heard it explained away, but this sounds pretty cut and dry to me.
 
Yoder said:
This verse haunts me:

Matthew 7:13-14
Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few".

Those who find it are FEW. This does not sound promising for most Christians. It makes me doubt my salvation. It makes me think that only the people who completely dedicate themselves to Christ will be saved. I try, but what is enough? Do we all need to quit our jobs and become preachers? What does this verse mean to you? I think it's the most terrifying warning in the Bible. I've heard it explained away, but this sounds pretty cut and dry to me.
Click to expand...

Best advise I have is find someone locally to help be a spiritual mentor.
The fact that your asking the question and having the thoughts is a good thing, but I'm sure there's a fine line that can be crossed in anxiety and worry with it too.
 
Yoder said:
This verse haunts me:

Matthew 7:13-14
Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few".

Those who find it are FEW. This does not sound promising for most Christians. It makes me doubt my salvation. It makes me think that only the people who completely dedicate themselves to Christ will be saved. I try, but what is enough? Do we all need to quit our jobs and become preachers? What does this verse mean to you? I think it's the most terrifying warning in the Bible. I've heard it explained away, but this sounds pretty cut and dry to me.
Click to expand...
This is something I recently talked to one of my coworkers about. Considering salvation is a gift given by grace and by nothing we can earn on our own, I don't believe that our efforts can get us any closer to finding the right gate. I think one of the largest attacks from the devil on my personal life is that I am not "doing enough". Not enough prayer, or reading, or worship or etc. And simply put that just a legalistic view. I am currently in the middle of reading 1 Kings and it keeps talking about how each of David's descendants did not follow in his footsteps. And lets be honest, David really did a lot of what he wanted. Unjust murder and adultery to name two. Yet God said that He sought a man after His own heart(David). David was a man of God's heart because of his love for the Lord. I think looking at the context of the number of humans not only alive now but throughout time, followers of Christ really are "few" in number. I don't believe Jesus intended His words to carry fear, rather instill that He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. I also believe that is what blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is, truly denying that Jesus is Lord and refusing to accept Him as your savior. The closer I draw to Christ the more I realize how much I desperately need Him. I am the prodigal son. I am shipwrecked and far from home. I think faith without works is not that we can work our way into faith; rather realizing that in our disparity Christ gave His all to redeem us. In the old testament in the law of Moses a few groups of people were always taken care of by law: the poor, the sojourners (immigrants or foreigners), widows, orphans, and Levites. I believe we are still called to take care of these people today.

Matthew 25:35-40

35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37;Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38;And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39;And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40;And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,​


It is through His redemption we serve Him through teaching, preaching, serving, giving and caring for all who are lost. For those who feel like I have incorrectly stated something I welcome correction as iron sharpens iron and I am just a 32 year old guy trying to be more like Jesus every day. Love ya brother and I am praying for you this am to encounter Christ!
 
Yoder said:
This verse haunts me:

Matthew 7:13-14
Matthew 7:13-14, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few".

Those who find it are FEW. This does not sound promising for most Christians. It makes me doubt my salvation. It makes me think that only the people who completely dedicate themselves to Christ will be saved. I try, but what is enough? Do we all need to quit our jobs and become preachers? What does this verse mean to you? I think it's the most terrifying warning in the Bible. I've heard it explained away, but this sounds pretty cut and dry to me.
Click to expand...

I could not agree more

I constantly wonder if I am fooled by just how bad the world is, and the standard is much further from society norms than we want to believe

At the same time, this thought process does help me reject the "things" of today
 
Shortschaf said:
I could not agree more

I constantly wonder if I am fooled by just how bad the world is, and the standard is much further from society norms than we want to believe

At the same time, this thought process does help me reject the "things" of today
Click to expand...
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭
The Bible says the standard is perfection, nobody can live up to that. Our only hope is through Christ death and resurrection all we do is put our faith in Him. Once we accept his gift of grace then we are considered justified, perfect before Gods judgement seat because Christ took our place.
 
I understand we can't earn salvation. I also know that we are supposed to try our best. Jesus never says believe in me and be saved. Even the demons believe in Jesus. We are supposed to pick up our cross and follow him. That is a daunting task. Jesus is pretty hard core in his teachings. I value his words over any in the Bible. The sermon on the mount is not rainbows and unicorns. He lays down the law and according to his words, many of us will not meet the standard. Church seems to gloss over this and goes straight to John 3:16. I know I believe in Jesus. I know he is the Messiah and our savior. I believe it all. I doubt myself. I doubt my attachment to the world. I'm the best version of myself but I am no Charlie Kirk. I have my vices, I know they are sin and still do them. I have way less than ever, but they are still there. I just always wonder what is enough. The Bible says everything is what's enough. How many of us put in everything? Few. That's what is always in the back of my mind.
 
Yoder said:
I understand we can't earn salvation. I also know that we are supposed to try our best. Jesus never says believe in me and be saved. Even the demons believe in Jesus. We are supposed to pick up our cross and follow him. That is a daunting task. Jesus is pretty hard core in his teachings. I value his words over any in the Bible. The sermon on the mount is not rainbows and unicorns. He lays down the law and according to his words, many of us will not meet the standard. Church seems to gloss over this and goes straight to John 3:16. I know I believe in Jesus. I know he is the Messiah and our savior. I believe it all. I doubt myself. I doubt my attachment to the world. I'm the best version of myself but I am no Charlie Kirk. I have my vices, I know they are sin and still do them. I have way less than ever, but they are still there. I just always wonder what is enough. The Bible says everything is what's enough. How many of us put in everything? Few. That's what is always in the back of my mind.
Click to expand...
I completely understand where you are coming from, I wrestle with the same thoughts at times. I do believe that our “walk” is a lifelong process of growing closer to the Lord. I’m a much better person at 53 than I was at 23, 33, 43 years old and I grew up in the Church. I believe that our faith is a maturation process. Of course I trusted, believed, and had faith, etc., when I was younger and was baptized, but it all has such a much different meaning now. At some point I had to just admit to myself that this world is broken, I’m a part of this broken world, and that no matter what I did or didn’t do I would be nothing without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is immensely humbling for a man to say I can’t save myself, yet that’s exactly what our acceptance of Christ and his sacrifice is… without Him there would be nothing.

Christ’s words speak to us as they should, and they pierce the heart no doubt as they should, but keep in mind also when reading scripture who the audience was, who exactly Christ was speaking to. Many of his words are directed at the religious leaders and authorities at the time who obviously didn’t know the Father… He was staring them in the face, and his words were cutting them in half, yet they were still full of pomp and pride and rejecting Him. He was trying to show them what true salvation was apart from the condemning law.

The silver lining in all of it though is that He’s shown over and over again that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Accept it, don’t doubt it, stay in the word, commit yourself to prayer, find someone close to help each other as accountability partners, keep the faith through ups and downs, and know that there was only one that was perfect. We can all strive for perfection, the reality is that there has only been and ever will be one that was.
 
rabbithuntr said:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭
The Bible says the standard is perfection, nobody can live up to that. Our only hope is through Christ death and resurrection all we do is put our faith in Him. Once we accept his gift of grace then we are considered justified, perfect before Gods judgement seat because Christ took our place.
Click to expand...
Not suggesting I can earn salvation
But I can earn hell
 
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

"Only the one who DOES the will of my Father who is in heaven." Jesus wants us to do the will of the Father. Here is another example of Jesus requiring us to do more than just believe. I know we can't earn salvation, but we are expected to do the best that we can. Should we quit our jobs and become missionaries? Those kinds of people are all in. I'm not even close. I hope God has mercy on us.
 
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