What If...

"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. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:12-13 (NKJ)

I'm not one who appreciates the stoking of fear for the sake of it or unnecessarily. There are enough things in this life to keep people concerned and even constantly fearful if they subscribe to them. I would like though, to take a moment to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ and any others who will take a little time to read this and give it some serious consideration because the subject has real potential consequences and there's still time to address any issues that we find upon reflection...

If you were made aware that sometime in the next hour your life on earth was going to come to a sudden end ... what would then consume your mind? 

What would God find the condition of your heart and mind to be in that moment? 

What would your reputation before Him look like in a snapshot at that moment - not your reputation based on the world's values and standards, or potentially even yours, but the one that actually matters - HIS? 

What God actually values is found in our hearts and minds, so what will He find in yours that agrees with His heart and standards as a matter of your personal, obedient habit? Remember that what worldly society values is most often very different, most often without value in God's actual economy and is sometimes the extreme opposite. The things that we, in temporary physical bodies, might give thought to won't necessarily line up with the thoughts of the God who is eternal spirit and that's something that we have to keep in mind, because the consequences of not doing that as a habit, could become something we could well regret.

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24 (NKJ)

There are a number of conmen that are promoting themselves as being in step with God's heart and standards - false prophets, that are able to mislead many people because some people haven't disciplined themselves to actually invest in knowing and studying to understand the bible for themselves. They're easy prey - unarmed to discern fact from pleasant sounding, misrepresented scripture - perhaps because of their own laziness or their casual disregard for what God holds as so important to Himself. It'll all be clear after our physical end here, when it's too late to do anything about it, that the bible wasn't just something to carry to church on Sunday or to fill a place on a shelf. It's God's word and wisdom for our lives every day and the guide to get us continually closer to Him - which is where He wants us to be. But not everyone will make it there.

There are a number a smooth operators who use God's word in a distorted fashion to bring soothing comfort to ears seeking their own continued spiritual slumber in times nearing the end. And there are those promising physical and material profit from scripture to ears that itch to become the earthly advantaged. I'll give a rather glaring example of God's words being misused by the slyest master of word twisting that has ever existed. It happened in mankind's most pivotal and most tragic moment early in his history...

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:1-5 (NKJ)

The truth is that they didn't physically die instantly, but because of their disobedience, their willingness to question God's sovereign authority, they were now destined to die in a world that had not known death up to that point. The moment that they knew the difference between good and evil their innocence evaporated and they fell subject to their inability to maintain the  perfection of good and the now required judgment that sin requires. 

In almost every misleading use of God's words, truth will be found alongside deception. If that weren't true, most every well intentioned hearer among Christ's own church would run from it. In the case of the verses I quoted above, God had indeed told Adam and Eve that they would surely die, but the "serpent" knowing this also, made it appear as though God had a different, ulterior motive. Until the moment of the species of mankind's disobedience to God through Adam and Eve, death was not known by mankind, but by the one act of disbelief, in defiance of what God had said, mankind would now know both physical and more importantly spiritual, eternal death under God's judgment against all of mankind's sin in response.

Now fortunately for those of us that have come to know the truth of God's awesome grace - the offer of redemption and salvation through Christ's sacrifice and accepted it, there is a pathway for positive life both here and eternally, but note the difference between the deceptive gymnastics of satan's misuse of God's truth and God's actual intention in what He spoke. And note also that until Lucifer, full of himself, determined to disbelieve what God had told him and rebelled, had been beautiful and had a high standing in heaven. His disbelief of God cost him everything with his final punishment still waiting to be fulfilled. The same is true of mankind, having fallen for the trap that satan, once called Lucifer laid out, which mirrors his own fall and coming demise.

I've repeated a valuable piece of advice here before that was given to me in my youth, one that has served me for decades since. As a teenager, many years ago, a wise man told me "Never trust another man to tell you what God is saying to you from His word. Read it for yourself, study it and ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding of it. Then sift everything in your life through it." I've followed that advice for decades since and it's blessed me immeasurably. It's encouraged, guided and even corrected me when necessary. I've used it as a sieve, as I believe our God intended, to separate fact, from fiction, good from evil, truth from lies, right from wrong, and the path that leads to God eternally from the path of the world following its own intellect and rebellion, among other things.

In the climate of what I call sweet dessert preaching - teaching only the pleasant, sweet parts of God's word without the truth of the conditions under which they may truly be experienced, that advice proves invaluable over and over. As we continue to search out what God has said in sincere earnest, the Holy Spirit faithfully guides our understanding and subsequent growth, providing the sieve of truth - God's word in spirit and true meaning to guide us on the narrow path. When we have the word inside of us, it becomes the sieve of truth that we can sift everything we hear, see, think say and do, and even our motives through. If it doesn't fit with what God has said and the spirit of it, we know it doesn't belong. That sieve will very likely become a sieve that He will turn and sift us through when our time here is done, so my advice would be to give it the credence and respect that it deserves while you can - because that "what if"... could be.

Beware the potential for subtle slight of hand uses of scripture that are being broadcast from worldly towers under the guise of what our God wants you to know. Be earnest in knowing God truly as much as He allows - His heart, His mind, His words and deeds and from that, find that the Holy Spirit will guide you on the path as your faithful submission to relationship with Him grows. Your reputation and the content of your heart and mind will become filled with His immeasurable awesomeness first and foremost and your path will be paved with the safety of the actual eternal truth.

Don't allow yourself the opportunity to be caught unaware or deceived. One of our greatest defenses against deception is the very same one that Jesus used against satan during His temptation in the wilderness...

"But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”  Luke 4:4 (NKJ)

 If all of the "word of God" isn't in you, then it's not in your spiritual arsenal and it won't be there when you need it - not for your protection, not for your blessing, and not for your growth or guidance. In my opinion, the willful starvation of an eternal spirit is far more damning before God than the starvation and death of a temporary physical body. I believe that everyone will see that in the end ... when it's too late.

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 (NKJ)

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it."  Deuteronomy 10:12-14 (NKJ)