God and Commitment - The Relationship Between God and Your Life

Welcome to episode 283.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Spending time in the Word of God is the best way to spend time with God. Welcome to No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast, where we will encourage, inspire, and empower you to live your best life in Christ. Here's Greg.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I'm continuing to talk about one of the biggest things I believe we need in the church today, and that is total commitment. We need to have this all-in mentality, and the reason I believe we need to do that is because this world is going to hell in a handcart. Everybody that's looking around can see it. Everyone's trying to wring their hands and wonder, what are we going to do? To change this, or how can we stop this? The Bible's pretty clear. It says in the last days, there are perilous times will come. I think that's in 2 Timothy or 1 Timothy. It's Paul writing to Timothy talking about it's coming up, that bad things are gonna start happening. And I think we need to just prepare for that. We also need to occupy until Jesus returns. And I believe that we are one day closer to Jesus' return today than we were yesterday. So it is getting closer and closer every day. I have absolutely no idea when Jesus is coming back. I believe that it may be in the Feast of Trumpets. It could be this one coming up. It could be next Thursday. I'm telling you, I don't have any clue. I'm not going to set a date. What I'm going to do is I'm going to occupy this spot that I've got until my Lord and Savior returns. And I just want to encourage you to do the same thing. We've talked multiple times about the commitment. I'm making specific videos and podcast episodes about commitment, and I'm gonna lay on you my superior reading skills. I know you love that, and I know if you're just visiting me here on the podcast or on YouTube, you're gonna absolutely love my reading skills. I'm gonna put the scriptures up on the screen as I read them, but we got a lot of scriptures to go over because the commitment I just want you to think of God talking to you. The Bible is written in common language to common people so that it can give you a simple but maybe not easy message to digest. I believe a lot of people in the church needs to be the smartest people in the room. I'm not one of those guys. I'm just a simple guy. I'm following after a perfect example, but I'm just a guy. I have got a passion for the word of God. I think it is most important thing that you can put inside of you. I think it's the most powerful thing that you can carry in your hand, and it doesn't need to be in your hand, it needs to be in your heart. And we're going to get into that, probably not in this episode. I'm not going to chase that rabbit, but I want to go to the scripture. I kind of talked about it last episode at 282 where it talked about we had walked away from our first love, and God is talking to the church. And in Revelation, a lot of people don't want to read the book of Revelation But if you'll go to chapters 2 and 3, that's where Jesus is talking to John. You know, we talk God is love and John is the love apostle. He called John up into heaven, either in his spirit or body, I don't know, wasn't there. He called John up there and had him write down, record everything that he saw and heard, with a few exceptions. I'm going to start in Revelation 2:1. To the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things says he who holds the 7 stars in his right hand, who walks in the middle of the 7 golden candlesticks: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil, and have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars, and have persevered, and have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not grown weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Now that's Revelation 2:1-5. And I just wanna kind of touch base on God is love. We know that, we've talked about that, but God also corrects those that he loves. So this is— God is the perfect Father. There is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus that do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. God's not gonna condemn you, but he is gonna correct you. He loves you exactly how you are and where you are. He just loves you too much to keep you that way. So just understand that God's gonna correct you and he doesn't try to steer a parked car. So we have to be moving in a direction, even if it's the wrong direction, God wants us to start moving and take action. That's what I'm doing here. And so what he's doing is as I'm moving and going and shucking and jiving, if you will, God's correcting me. And again, we talk about commitment and this first love. And if you remember back when you first got saved, and I hope you're saved if you're listening to this, but when you first got saved, you were just in love with God and you thought there was nothing that you couldn't do. At least that's how I felt. I just knew something different had changed. I was willing to just start taking steps and getting after this thing. Now, you and I both know that this thing is not gonna be easy. Jesus did not say it was gonna be easy. We're gonna cover that in the next few verses, but I just want you to think about the commitment, and God is calling for an all-in commitment. We talked about the pearl of great value in the last episode and the hidden treasure in that land. We have got to go all in. Jesus is the King of Kings. If you are his king, you are still under his authority and under his reign. So the Holy Spirit has the ability to rein you in as king. And he does that every now and then with me. And I've been corrected multiple times by God. Let's go to Jeremiah 29:11. This is a familiar verse to a lot of people, but I'm gonna keep reading. Because it's gonna talk about the commitment. I want you to hear what God is saying to the church. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Now I want you to think about this with this total commitment with all your heart. And in the previous episode, we talked about lukewarm Christians. I don't think God's got any time for lukewarm Christians. Hot or cold, that's kind of— you're either all in or all out. Now, if you've moved away from God, you're still a Christian, but you just tried this Bible thing, we talked about that, where Peter and the disciples, after Jesus was crucified, they went fishing. That was not a spiritual move. They didn't know what to do. That's kind of a cold Christian, in my opinion. The hot Christian is like a fanatic that don't care what anybody thinks. They're going to give glory to God any chance they get. And that's why you're here, and I hope that's why you tune in to this podcast episode, is just to kind of get fired up, just to hear somebody else like you that loves God, loves his people, and loves the word. And that's why we're here. Speaking of the word, we're going to get back into it. We've talked about these verses many times. I love these because this shows we need to pick a side. And Jesus is never saying, hey, this is going to be an easy life, you come follow me and everything is just going to fall into place. I don't read that in these scriptures. And we're going to go to Matthew 7. Enter by the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it. And then we're going to skip down to 22 in the same chapter. 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. And that's Matthew 7:13, 14, 22, and 23. And that is a key scripture because not everybody that's sitting in a church pew is going to make heaven. The last few verses that I want to talk to you about is one that I hinted on the last episode. It's where I think half of the church— Jesus is saying half of the church— now these are the people that actually proclaim to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And I just wanted— they kind of, kind of gives me chills. That kind of gives— brings a little fear of the Lord. Into this conversation that we need to reverence God and we need to humble ourselves and make sure that we are doing what God wants us to do and not practicing lawlessness because that— the last verse just said, hey, this is going to be a difficult path and not many are going to be on it. Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many find it. I'm telling you, it's wide and it's narrow It's easy and it's difficult. I'm just here to tell you that nowhere did God say, hey, you accept me as your Lord and Savior and it's gonna be peaches and cream the rest of your life. It's just not gonna happen. So buckle in that belt, get ready, put your big boy pants on, let's go. The last few Bible verses I wanna talk about in Matthew 25, and it's the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins. And I want you to hear, this is a 50/50 deal. This is half of them get in, half of them don't, and these are all virgins. These are all people that were promised to the bridegroom, and they believe that they're getting in to the wedding. Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened to 10 virgins, which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And 5 of them were wise, and 5 were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them.: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go ye out to meet him. And all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; Lest there be not enough for us and you: but you go rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 25. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 26. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 27. But he answered and said, Truly I say to you, I know you not. 28. Watch therefore: for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh. I know I've got superior reading skills. I know you love that, and I just wanted you to hear that as you're working out, as you're doing yard work, as you're watching on the YouTubes. I just wanted you to hear those scriptures on commitment. I think we need to be all in. I think God's word is pretty evident that we need to seek God with all of our heart, that nothing's going to happen if we're wishy-washy, lukewarm, And so I just want to encourage you that if you haven't been doing the all-in thing, just repent, just change your mind, just say, look, there's got to be something that I can do. There's a little trigger, and we're going to talk about that in the next episode. I believe there's one tweak, and I've talked about this on previous episodes, but I believe there's one tweak that we can all do in our lives to help us become All in. And I would tease that till next Tuesday if you're listening to this on time, but I just want to pray real quick. God, I thank you so much for your word. I thank you that you continue to lead and guide and direct us as we read it, as we study it, as we listen to it. And God, I pray in the mighty name of Jesus that if this listener does not know you as their Lord and Savior, that they would make a commitment to you today. And God, if they do know you and they've just slipped, they're not hot, but maybe they're cold, they've walked away, or maybe even lukewarm, Lord, I pray that you would just fire them up. You would start drawing them to yourself and help them get back into the word. God, we thank you. We love you. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, thank you for being a part of this, and I look forward to visiting with you in the next episode.

Thanks for listening to the No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast. At www.nodoubtonlybelieve.com.