1 Cor 11:31-32-For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
For if we would judge ourselves correctly, we should not be judged or perish.
There are far too many that are dull of hearing.
Some try to instruct others, but they can’t even judge themselves.
This message will probably be misunderstood and have little or no effect on most of the professing Christians that hear it-God forbid. Yet it is definitely a message for this lukewarm church age in which we live. Many will not understand it in its fullness, because in their heart they do not want to repent of the way they are and the way they think. Each of us hinder God’s Word from growing in us, because in certain ways we don’t want to change, so we bend God’s Word and refuse to admit it tells us we must change. So day after day, and year after year, we remain the same, and no spiritual growth takes place-God forbid.
A person that has walked a certain path through the woods many times can easily guide others that have never walked that path; however, if the people are careless and will not follow directions, they may get lost or plunge over a cliff, even though they have a good guide.
God’s Word is such that it can be understood by people, no matter what level of education they have. We have seen this throughout the world. Because understanding God’s Word has little to do with worldly education. It has to do with the condition of a person’s heart. That is why a college professor with multiple degrees and an IQ of 200 may not understand God’s Word, but a little old lady that has never been to school may understand.
How much have you changed in the last year, that is, changed to be more like Jesus?
There are some that are so self-centered that if someone could embed the entire Bible into their brain, they still wouldn’t repent of their worldliness. Many that are hearing this message probably will not make the Rapture. They could, but they won’t, because they just will not submit to the holiness of God. They just will not let God reign over them. They just will not. They will go on deceiving themselves, more and more. Inside, they are not childlike toward correction. They make excuses. They accuse others. They will not purify their hearts by obeying the truth. They just will not do it. As this message comes forth, each person here will hear this message a bit differently, according to their heart.
You may say—Yes, I want to spend more time with my wife. Satan says OK, but just don’t do one particular thing.
Yes, I want more fellowship with the brethren. Satan says yes, great idea, but just don’t do one particular thing.
Satan wants to keep you occupied according to the desires of your heart. And Satan wants to dull your conscience, so you have no sense of wrongdoing while you’re doing it. Satan wants the worldly desires of your heart to be so strong that you can be out of God’s will, yet be fully persuaded that you are doing God’s will. You can actually do things the Bible says to do, and be out of God’s will and perish.
This message seeks to show you, you can do what appears to be the right things in God’s Word—things that may “feel” right and please your flesh, but do not produce spiritual growth.
Satan wants you to do what ever you want, but just don’t do this one thing.
Don’t get totally alone, by yourself
on your knees
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.”
Yes, fellowship with the brethren every day. Yes, keep yourself occupied with important things to do. Yes, play your instruments all day and night. Yes, please go here and there. Yes, please clean the house, fix up the yard, spend a lot of time eating, spend a lot of time playing games with other Christians, spend a lot of time talking with other Christians, spend a lot of time buying this and that, cleaning this place and that, fixing this and that. There are just so many things that need to be done.
Yes, do them right now—but don’t get alone with Jesus away from everyone including your hand-held devices, on your knees in humbleness, in prayer, with a meek, broken, repentant attitude, asking Jesus privately to open up your understanding of God’s Word, so you can change to be more like Him every single day.
Yes, yes, please watch lots of movies with the brethren, Yes, yes, please go out together and have lots and lots of fellowship and fun. Yes, do whatever is in your heart, but please, please do not do this one thing.
Don’t get totally alone, by yourself, away from everyone,
on your knees
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.”
Yes, let Satan keep you occupied with all these wonderful, right things to do, which is what your heart wants.
Satan absolutely does not want you to have a quiet, secluded time each and every day, so Christ can be formed in you.
Gal 4:19,20-MY LITTLE CHILDREN, OF WHOM I TRAVAIL IN BIRTH AGAIN UNTIL CHRIST BE FORMED IN YOU, I DESIRE TO BE PRESENT WITH YOU NOW, AND TO CHANGE MY VOICE; FOR I STAND IN DOUBT OF YOU.
Some may crave fellowship with other Christians far more than they seek fellowship with Jesus.
Seek to have more fellowship with Jesus. All born again Christians that will be raptured do indeed want more fellowship with Jesus above all. Do you?
Satan may say—Yes, yes, please do think of yourself more highly than you ought. Do think in your heart you are spiritual. Yes, please believe you know and understand the Bible well. Yes, believe you know God’s will for yourself really well. Please be so confident that you know God’s Word so well that it leaves no room for the Spirit of God and the Bible to correct you, because your self-centered emotions override the still, small voice that tries to speak to you.
Oh, foolish Christians, how can you escape the damnation of hell in these latter-day times we now live in!
Satan may say—Each night, as you think what you might do the next day, do whatever is in your heart. Go here and there. Buy this and that. Fix those things that need fixing. Listen to music, listen to preaching, watch TV, text and tweet, and do whatever is in your heart. Yes, even listen to Scripture now and then, but do not, I repeat, do not—
Get totally alone, by yourself, away from everyone,
on your knees
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.”
When you are alone and are not sure what you want to do, will you choose the TV, or some hand-held device, or some other thing to pass the time, rather than dwelling in God’s Word and with Jesus?
Satan may say—Oh yes, please go out in your car with other Christians. Yes, please clean up the house. Yes, please trim those bushes. Yes, please clean those shelves. Yes, please have some Bible studies together. Yes, please help each other, and spend lots of time with each other. These are all wonderful, good things to do. Play games together. There is so much to do, and so little time to do them. This is OK. Keep working on this and that. But remember, don’t take time to get alone with Jesus, and Jesus only. You can do that tomorrow.
Satan may say-Fellowship with people in your house. Cook meals and spend time with other people. Go places with the brethren. Yes, lots of great things to do. Keep your mind occupied with all these wonderful memories.
But, do not KEEP YOUR MIND STAYED ON JESUS. Keep your mind on anything your heart desires, food, music, movies, games.
But don’t get totally alone, by yourself, away from everyone,
on your knees
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.”
Because if you do this,
you might finally after many years of no growth, begin to start growing.
Christ might finally start being formed in you.
You might begin to be spiritually-minded.
You might actually start understanding that the way you have been going, for so many years, is wrong; and Satan does not want you to understand this.
Then there are those that witness to others, but don’t allow Jesus to change them from within. They seek to save others, but they cannot save themselves. They tell others to obey the Gospel, but they cannot see that they themselves do not.
They are not easily corrected by their preacher or by God’s Word. They are so self-centered, they cannot see they are not Christ-centered.
You thought you were growing in Christ, but you have become stagnant, like water that is never filtered or circulated becomes polluted.
Yes, there are lots of great games to play, things to see online, on TV, on DVDs, in the newspapers and magazines.
Consider—the apostles spent a lot of time with Jesus, as He opened up the Scriptures to them; but chances are—you do not.
Jesus Himself got away from His own apostles, so He could have undisturbed time alone with His Father.
But there is a danger for you to do this. That danger is you might begin to look at yourself in light of the Word of God and see just how deceived you have been all these years. You may have had wonderful times, but you are no more like Jesus now than you were last year, or the year before, or 15 years ago.
All this time you have believed your way was always the right way; and Satan wants you to believe this is true. Yes, you have served God, but have you changed? Are you a spiritually-minded Christian, or are you still worldly in your thinking. Yes, you witness. Yes, you do lots of good works, but can a true, spiritually-minded Christian look at you and see Christ? Chances are they may not. Do you think to yourselves, “Lord, Lord, I have done many wonderful works in Thy name”—but Jesus rejects you? Why? because you wanted to reign over yourself. You would not allow Jesus to reign over you completely and direct every part of your life. You repented some, but not completely. Are you the type of person that is humble, or are you the type that tries to dominate others, but you will not let Jesus reign over you?
Whenever some one says something to you, are you suspicious? Do you wonder what is behind what they are saying?
Do you lie, when it’s convenient? Do you actually make excuses day after day to justify yourself as to why you didn’t have time to spend alone with Jesus, listening to what God may be trying to speak to your spirit, which always is in harmony with His Word? Are you just too busy, when it comes time to study God’s Word? When you study, is your mind so preoccupied with other things that you miss out on what God has for you?
The apostles were with Jesus nearly every day. Are you? Is your mind stayed on Jesus all the time, some of the time, or only now and then? Is food on your mind more than Jesus? Do you eat in moderation as God’s Word commands?
Prov 23:1-4-WHEN THOU SITTEST TO EAT…CONSIDER DILIGENTLY WHAT IS BEFORE THEE:
AND PUT A KNIFE TO THY THROAT, IF THOU BE A MAN GIVEN TO APPETITE.
LABOUR NOT TO BE RICH: CEASE FROM THINE OWN WISDOM.
This is a command to you from God. If you are a person that likes to eat and eat, God command’s you to PUT A KNIFE TO THY THROAT. Being a glutton is sin.
Most professing Christians today will not allow God’s Word to rule their life. These same people will not be going in the Rapture—unless they repent, and repent quickly; for indeed time is running out.
Satan may say—Yes, there is time to practice your music.
Yes, there is time to help someone learn this or that.
Yes, there is time to fellowship with other believers.
Yes, there is time to play a game or two.
Yes, there is time to watch TV a bit.
Yes, there is time to just talk with other believers.
Yes, there is…oops!…little time to spend alone with Jesus, away from all disturbances,
on your knees
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.”
“Open up the Scriptures to me, so I can see just how wretched I really am and how deceived I have let myself become.”
The apostles spent lots of time with Jesus, and He opened up the Scriptures for them and gave them many, many pearls. How about you? When is the last time you got a pearl from Jesus, which enabled you to look at yourself truly in light of God’s Word?
Yes, you can serve Jesus, day and night, without changing at all. But if Christ is not formed in you, if you are not spiritually-minded, if you do not grasp what is being said right now—you are in deep, spiritual trouble already.
Do you fast faithfully at least one week every year, alone with the Lord, so He can speak you to and help you to change? Are you one of those people that says, “Yes, I want Jesus to reign over me,” but, in reality, it is only meaningless words, because when He tries to, you resist Him. To be blunt—if you will not fast, unless there is a legitimate medical reason, you are refusing to deny yourself and conform to God’s Word. You are refusing to repent.
Will you look at yourself honestly and admit that you have not grown spiritually in recent years? Your thinking has not changed. Your worldly desires have not changed. You have not been poured out from vessel to vessel, therefore your blindness, your worldliness remains. The way you look at things has not changed. You are no more spiritually-minded now than you were years ago. In fact, you have probably regressed, because you have not grown.
We all need a time alone with Jesus everyday. And each of us need to have a repentant heart, a broken heart, a humble heart; for God resisteth the proud, but gives grace to the humble. If you seek to be a leader and exalt yourself, then how can you grow? For it is written, I MUST DECREASE, HE MUST INCREASE.
You cannot have the life-changing time with Jesus you deeply need with others always around. You cannot keep going the way you have been going. You need to repent and begin letting Jesus change you:
on your knees, away from all disturbances and distractions,
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.”
And then as you slowly study God’s Word, let God show you how you really are and how He wants you to be.
Remember, God does not like laziness. God is not pleased with a lazy person. Remember what Jesus said in His Word, “Why stand ye here all the day idle?” Lazy, excuse-making people need to repent. Are you a glutton—eat, eat, eat? You are in sin. Have you not read that being a glutton is the same as being a drunkard?-ref Deut 21:20; Pv 23:21.
If you have supposedly been in the Lord for many years, but are so worldly-minded that you still do not understand what sin is, such as taking on the appearance of evil—you are in spiritual trouble.
Satan occupies our time with fellowshipping, music, games, the Internet, television, movies, sports, gossip, going here or there, doing this or that, repairing this or that, researching this or that, listening to DVDs, listening to cassettes, listening to the news, listening to game shows, listening to all sorts of things—but when we do, chances are we are not listening to Jesus. Time for Facebook, time to email, time to surf the Internet, time to text and tweet and do whatsoever—but little time to repent of your worldliness, laziness, gluttony, ungodliness, etc., and to turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Don’t say you are trying to draw closer to Jesus, but you do not fast each week to draw closer to Jesus. Don’t deceive yourself as many do that perish.
So what should you do?
Daily, Get totally alone, by yourself, away from everyone,
on your knees
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.”
I am not saying that many of the things stated in this message are wrong—such as fellowshipping with other believers, etc. What I am saying, every day, you need to have time set aside
To get totally alone, by yourself, away from everyone,
on your knees
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.” Spend personal time alone with Jesus. Learn to listen to Jesus and overcome your wrong thinking.
If you are a person that tries to read through the Bible quickly, so you can get to work—you have missed the point of this message and what Jesus may be trying to tell you. “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors”-Pv 8:34. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate, day and night”-Ps 1:2.
God wants you to have a deep, spiritually-minded understanding, an understanding that, day by day, causes you to change to be more and more conformed to His way of thinking, His way of doing things, and putting aside murmurings and complainings, and accusings, and having a negative and suspicious attitude.
Life is a test, and that test is nearing completion for most. Life is also a training period. If you will not conform to the image of Christ now, you will not be with Christ later. This life is to be dedicated to Jesus completely. As Jesus did and said only those things that His Father gave Him, so that should be your goal also. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”-1 Cor 6:20. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me…”-Gal 2:20.
Little private time with Jesus, expect little or no spiritual growth. Is this what you want? Are you content with the worldly, carnal way you are? Are you so blind that you can’t see you are far from being the way Jesus wants you to be?
And again, if you have left off fasting weekly, repent. Or if you don’t fast weekly, God forbid, repent and begin this week. Stop making excuses for yourself and for others. Those excuses are what the devil is putting in your mind.
You may have read the Bible a hundred times, but if your life doesn’t reflect Jesus, you are still spiritually dead, and you certainly cannot lead others. If your life does not reflect Jesus, you may be leading others to hell, no matter how much you witness. You preach to others, but do you preach to yourself? You judge others, but do you judge yourself?
So what is this message saying to you?
Daily, get totally alone, by yourself, away from everyone,
on your knees
with a Bible in one hand,
and with an open, repentant, humble, broken spirit, saying to Jesus—
“Lord, teach me and show me, so I may change to be more like You. Teach me to follow You and not my own personal desires.”
Some of God’s saints use all sorts of places to spend private time with the Lord. Some may use a clothing closet, a bathroom, a park, a wooded area. Do you have a place where God speaks to you each day?
Excuses may get you exalted in this evil world, and excuses may help you feel good about yourself, but they will not enable you to get out of hell for a moment.
Time alone with Jesus EVERY DAY, and with a repentant and broken heart, is needful.
If you do not understand this message, it may be revealing something is not right in your walk with the Lord.
You will not be allowed at the Judgment to make excuses for anyone else—no, not yourself, or your spouse, or your children.
YOU MUST CHANGE, and that change should be daily. You must decrease, and only in this way can Jesus enable you to increase in Him. You must let Jesus reign over you. To control your own life is to perish. From this day forth, you cannot say you did not know.
You must die to yourself, so He can live and reign in you.
Your worldly and self-centered nature does not want to die—and if it does not die, you will surely perish.
Worldliness is like a cancer to your spirit. It can kill you spiritually.
Don’t exalt yourself. Beware, as you try to teach others—have you first taught yourself?
Are you trying to cast out the tiny speck in your brother’s eye, yet disregard the boulder in your own eye?
THE END
