Tag Archives: sin

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7 Ways to Anger God

The Bible tells us that God is loving and slow to anger. Exodus 34:5-6 Then the Lord descended in the form of a pillar of cloud and stood there with him, and passed in front of him and announced the meaning of his name. “I am Jehovah, the merciful and gracious God,” he said, “slow to anger and rich in steadfast love and truth. God demonstrates incredible patience with us, but He is also a God of justice.
Psalm 37:28 For the Lord loves justice and fairness; he will never abandon his people. They will be kept safe forever; but all who love wickedness shall perish.
Isaiah 61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrong. I will faithfully reward my people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them.
God is just, but despite being slow to anger, we can make Him angry. As you read through the Old Testament you see His people worshiping other gods and turning away from Him. You see God restraining His anger until the time He has had enough.
2 Chronicles 36:16 But the people mocked these messengers of God and despised their words, scoffing at the prophets until the anger of the Lord could no longer be restrained, and there was no longer any remedy.
In today’s message we see Jesus blasting the religious leaders. Our behavior can make God angry.
Matthew 23:14-36 TLB 13-14 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders. Hypocrites! For you won’t let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven and won’t go in yourselves. And you pretend to be holy, with all your long, public prayers in the streets, while you are evicting widows from their homes. Hypocrites! 15 Yes, woe upon you hypocrites. For you go to all lengths to make one convert, and then turn him into twice the son of hell you are yourselves. 16 Blind guides! Woe upon you! For your rule is that to swear ‘By God’s Temple’ means nothing—you can break that oath, but to swear ‘By the gold in the Temple’ is binding! 17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And you say that to take an oath ‘By the altar’ can be broken, but to swear ‘By the gifts on the altar’ is binding! 19 Blind! For which is greater, the gift on the altar, or the altar itself that sanctifies the gift? 20 When you swear ‘By the altar,’ you are swearing by it and everything on it, 21 and when you swear ‘By the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘By heavens,’ you are swearing by the Throne of God and by God himself.
23 “Yes, woe upon you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders—hypocrites! For you tithe down to the last mint leaf in your garden, but ignore the important things—justice and mercy and faith. Yes, you should tithe, but you shouldn’t leave the more important things undone. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.
25 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! You are so careful to polish the outside of the cup, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed. 26 Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup, and then the whole cup will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders! You are like beautiful mausoleums—full of dead men’s bones, and of foulness and corruption. 28 You try to look like saintly men, but underneath those pious robes of yours are hearts besmirched with every sort of hypocrisy and sin.
29-30 “Yes, woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! For you build monuments to the prophets killed by your fathers and lay flowers on the graves of the godly men they destroyed, and say, ‘We certainly would never have acted as our fathers did.’
31 “In saying that, you are accusing yourselves of being the sons of wicked men. 32 And you are following in their steps, filling up the full measure of their evil. 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How shall you escape the judgment of hell?
34 “I will send you prophets, and wise men, and inspired writers, and you will kill some by crucifixion, and rip open the backs of others with whips in your synagogues, and hound them from city to city, 35 so that you will become guilty of all the blood of murdered godly men from righteous Abel to Zechariah (son of Barachiah), slain by you in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary. 36 Yes, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries shall break upon the heads of this very generation.
Today we will look at 7 ways our behavior can make God angry, as described by Jesus in today’s text. In today’s text Jesus pronounces “woes” on the religious elite of the day. The word woe is an exclamation of grief, denunciation, or distress. This was not the first time Jesus had some harsh words for the religious leaders. The scribes and Pharisees were supposed to know God and help others know Him and follow His ways. Instead, they added to God’s Law, making it a heavy burden on the people. And they did not follow God with a pure heart. Their religion was not true worship of God; rather, it was rooted in a prideful heart. The scribes and Pharisees emphasized the letter, completely missing its spirit.
Many of the practices that Jesus denounced are still found in our churches and people today. We need to be aware and repent if we are doing these things.

Here is one way to anger God:
1. Not letting others enter the Kingdom of Heaven and not entering it yourself. Mt 23:13-14 13-14 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders. Hypocrites! For you won’t let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven and won’t go in yourselves. And you pretend to be holy, with all your long, public prayers in the streets, while you are evicting widows from their homes. Hypocrites!
Being a religious leader in Jerusalem was very different from being a pastor in a secular society today. The nation’s history, culture, and daily life centered around its relationship with God. The religious leaders were the most well-known, powerful, and respected of all leaders. Jesus gave His stinging accusations because their hunger for more power and status had made them lose sight of God, and their blindness was spreading to the whole nation.
Jesus cares for people. He desires for them to know Him and to enter His kingdom. After rebuking the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus lamented over rebellious Jerusalem. His heart is for people to find life in Him. He has harsh words for those who prevent people from finding salvation. The teachers of the Law and Pharisees were not truly seeking after God, though they acted as if they were. Their religion was empty, and it was preventing others from following the Messiah.
Jesus’ severe words were directed against religious leaders and false teachers who had rejected a part of the revealed Word of God and replaced it with their own ideas and interpretations. This also applies today. Jesus was not a weak preacher who tolerated sin. In our culture, we see many churches who have reinterpreted God’s Word and replace it with their own ideas. My friends, God does not celebrate sin. Make sure the church you are attending lines up with God’s Word. And, if you are a leader or a teacher, be sure that you are presenting God’s Word correctly. The Bible tells us that those who teach and preach will be held to a stricter standard. Be sure you are presenting His words correctly.
Another way to anger God is…


2. Converting people away from God to be like yourselves. Mt 23:15 15 Yes, woe upon you hypocrites. For you go to all lengths to make one convert, and then turn him into twice the son of hell you are yourselves. Converting people away from God to be like yourselves
In the second woe, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for making strenuous efforts to win converts and then leading those converts to be “twice as much” children of hell as the scribes and Pharisees were. In other words, they were more intent on spreading their religion than on maintaining the truth.
The Pharisees’ converts were attracted to pharisaism, not to God. By getting caught up in all the details of their additional laws and regulations, they missed God to whom the laws pointed. A religion of works puts pressure on people to surpass others in what they know and do. A hypocritical teacher is likely to have students who are even more hypocritical. We must make sure we are not creating Pharisees by emphasizing outward obedience at the expense of inner renewal.
God is angered when we…


3. Blindly lead God’s people to follow man-made traditions instead of God’s Word.
Mt23:16-22 16 Blind guides! Woe upon you! For your rule is that to swear ‘By God’s Temple’ means nothing—you can break that oath, but to swear ‘By the gold in the Temple’ is binding! 17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And you say that to take an oath ‘By the altar’ can be broken, but to swear ‘By the gifts on the altar’ is binding! 19 Blind! For which is greater, the gift on the altar, or the altar itself that sanctifies the gift? 20 When you swear ‘By the altar,’ you are swearing by it and everything on it, 21 and when you swear ‘By the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘By heavens,’ you are swearing by the Throne of God and by God himself.
The third woe Jesus pronounces against the scribes and Pharisees calls the religious leaders “blind guides” and “blind fools”. Specifically, Jesus points out, they nit-picked about which oaths were binding and which were not, ignoring the sacred nature of all oaths and significance of the temple and God’s holiness. They blindly led God’s people to follow man-made traditions instead of God’s Word.
This has not disappeared in our culture. There are a number of denominations that promote man made traditions as being equal to God’s Word. Take note of what your particular denomination teaches. Does it focus on God’s Word, or does it weave in traditions that are not found in the Bible?
God is angered when you…


4. Involve yourself in insignificant details and ignoring what is really important: justice, mercy, and faith. Mt 23:23-2423 “Yes, woe upon you, Pharisees, and you other religious leaders—hypocrites! For you tithe down to the last mint leaf in your garden, but ignore the important things—justice and mercy and faith. Yes, you should tithe, but you shouldn’t leave the more important things undone. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.
The fourth woe calls out the scribes and Pharisees for their practice of diligently paying the tithe while neglecting to actually care for people. While they were counting their mint leaves to make sure they gave one tenth to the temple, they “neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness”. Once again, they focused on the letter of the Law and obeyed it with pride, but they missed the weightier things of God. Their religion was external; their hearts were not transformed.
It is possible to obey the details of the law but still be disobedient in our general behavior. For example, we could be very precise and faithful about giving 10 percent of our money to God but refuse to give one minute of our time in helping others. Tithing is important, but paying the tithed does not exempt us from fulfilling god’s other directives.
This also angers God:


5. Keeping up appearances while your private world is corrupt. Mt 23:25-26 25 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! You are so careful to polish the outside of the cup, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed. 26 Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup, and then the whole cup will be clean.
The religious leaders made sure they were keeping up appearances while their private world was corrupt. Jesus elaborates on their hypocrisy in the fifth woe. He tells the religious leaders they appear clean on the outside, but they have neglected the inside. They perform religious acts but do not have God-honoring hearts. It does no good, Jesus says, to clean up the outside when the inside is “full of greed and self-indulgence”. The Pharisees and scribes were blind and did not recognize that, when the inside is changed, the outside, too, will be transformed.
I recently heard of a Christian men’s conference that was held in a large hotel. After the day’s conference, it was reported that 60 percent of the participants that night had ordered pay for view pornography as they attended the conference. It matters to God what you do in private as well as your public behavior. God wants our outside to match our insides. He sees what we do in secret, and we will all give an account of our behavior on judgment day.
Do you want to anger God? Do this:


6. Act Spiritual to cover sin. Mt23:27-28 27 “Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders! You are like beautiful mausoleums—full of dead men’s bones, and of foulness and corruption. 28 You try to look like saintly men, but underneath those pious robes of yours are hearts besmirched with every sort of hypocrisy and sin.
We should not act spiritual to cover sin In the sixth woe, Jesus claims the scribes and Pharisees are “like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. The deadness inside of tombs is likened to the “hypocrisy and wickedness” inside the religious leaders. Once again, they appeared to obey God, but their hearts were far from Him. Jesus condemned these religious leaders for appearing saintly and holy outwardly but inwardly remaining full of corruption and greed. Living our Christianity as a show for others is like washing a cup on the outside only. When we are clean on the inside, our cleanliness on the outside won’t be a sham.
God is also angered when we:


7. Pretend to have learned from past history, but our present behavior shows we have learned nothing. Mt 23:29-36 29-30 “Yes, woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! For you build monuments to the prophets killed by your fathers and lay flowers on the graves of the godly men they destroyed, and say, ‘We certainly would never have acted as our fathers did.’
31 “In saying that, you are accusing yourselves of being the sons of wicked men. 32 And you are following in their steps, filling up the full measure of their evil. 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How shall you escape the judgment of hell?
34 “I will send you prophets, and wise men, and inspired writers, and you will kill some by crucifixion, and rip open the backs of others with whips in your synagogues, and hound them from city to city, 35 so that you will become guilty of all the blood of murdered godly men from righteous Abel to Zechariah (son of Barachiah), slain by you in the Temple between the altar and the sanctuary. 36 Yes, all the accumulated judgment of the centuries shall break upon the heads of this very generation.
Jesus concluded His seven-fold rebuke by telling the religious leaders that they are just like their fathers, who persecuted the prophets of old. In building monuments to the prophets, they testified against themselves, openly admitting that it was their ancestors who killed the prophets. Although they arrogantly claimed that they would not have done so, they were the ones who will soon plot the murder of the Son of God Himself.
In verse 35, Jesus gave a brief summary of Old Testament martyrdom. Abel was the first martyr; Zechariah was the last because the Hebrew Bible ended with 2 Chronicles. Zechariah was an example of a man of God being killed by those who claimed to be God’s people. ( 2 chronicles 24:21 21 Then the leaders plotted to kill Zechariah, and finally King Joash himself ordered him executed in the court of the Temple.)
Jesus wanted to gather His people together as a hen protects her chicks under her wings, but they wouldn’t let him. Jesus also wants to protect us if we will come to him. Many times, we hurt and don’t know where to turn. We reject Christ’s help because we don’t think He can give us what we need. But who knows our needs better than our Creator? Those who turn to Jesus will find that He helps and comforts as no one else can.


Jesus’ words were harsh because there was so much at stake. Those who followed the Pharisees and scribes were being kept from following God. Much of the teaching in Jesus’ day was in direct contradiction of God’s Word. The religious leaders made a mockery out of following God. They did not truly understand God’s ways, and they led others away from God. Jesus’ desire was that people would come to know God and be reconciled with Him.
Sadly, many churches in America are also teaching things that are in direct contradiction of God’s Word. And if people do not know Scripture, they will blindly assume their religious leaders are teaching God’s truth. I used to work at a bank and part of my training was studying currency so I would be able to spot a counterfeit. We study God’s Word for the same reason. We should all be like the ancient Bereans who dug into God’s Word and studied His truths so they would not be deceived by a leader’s lies.
You may not be a church leader, but it is possible for individuals to twist and distort God’s Word. It is possible for individuals to look holy on the outside but be sinful in secret. It is possible for individuals to “do church” but never have a transformed heart. Do you recognize yourself in any of these examples?
Jeremiah 2:35 And yet you say, “I haven’t done a thing to anger God. I’m sure he isn’t angry!” I will punish you severely because you say, “I haven’t sinned!”
Scripture tells us that we all have sinned and fallen short of meeting God’s holy standard. We need to recognize that we cannot save ourselves, despite all of the good deeds we may do. We need a savior!
Jeremiah 4:4 Cleanse your minds and hearts, not just your bodies, or else my anger will burn you to a crisp because of all your sins. And no one will be able to put the fire out.
We must repent of our sins and accept Jesus’ payment for our sins. Allow the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts and seek God’s truth today.
Repentance is more than saying, “Sorry!” It is a promise to turn around and avoid sinning. Accept Jesus’ payment for your sins, ask God to make you His own, and promise to do your best to live your life in ways that please Him. He will send the Holy Spirit to live inside of you to help guide you. He will make the Bible clear to you and help you make Godly choices.
I believe our time here is short. One day we will stand before God and be judged; we will either receive rewards for our life or be condemned for our behavior on earth. I pray that you will take these words to heart and draw close to God. Do not be one to hear Jesus say “I never knew you”!


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Behave Yourself!

When my children were young, they often heard a warning before we went out in public, going shopping, or visiting anywhere. BEHAVE YOURSELF! This meant no climbing on shelves, no hiding in the clothes racks, no helping themselves to food, no tantrums, no pleading, and no whining! It meant something a little different if we were going clothes shopping, especially if the shopping trip was for me. No running amuck in the dressing room, especially once I was stripped down to my underwear.

They did that to me once. I had a double stroller with both of them strapped inside and I needed a dress for a special party. I wheeled them into the dressing room and proceeded to strip down, they undid the stroller straps, hopped out of the stroller and disappeared under the door of the changing booth, giggling hysterically as I hollered for them to get back inside here, all while frantically throwing on my clothes. They thought it was a grand joke. I was not amused.

A visit to Great Aunt Mary’s house, with her collection of fragile china figurines on open display, meant a warning to not TOUCH ANYTHING. This also meant no rough housing, and sitting quietly even if the adult conversation was BORING! And don’t gobble the cookies she gave them, or complain that they wanted chocolate chip cookies instead of oatmeal raisin.

These reminders were issued on a regular basis because my children are human and humans have a tendency to forget things, especially when presented with new and unfamiliar situations.

Behave yourself was a reminder to not act like a rebellious out-of-control lout, to not behave selfishly, and to recognize the preciousness of others and their belongings.

My children are now grown up and I don’t remind them to behave themselves when they go out. Hopefully they got enough to that message growing up.

We may be all grown up, but we still need to behave, especially if we are Christians. You may ask, “Why should we Christians behave? Why should we live any differently than the rest of the world? I accepted Jesus as my Savior, and I’m going to heaven. What difference does it make if I behave or not?”

We should behave for the sake of God’s Kingdom.

Unfortunately, many unsaved people view Christians as hypocrites. We say one thing and often act in an entirely different way. The world is watching. People are searching for a truth to believe in and when we live no differently than the world, it cheapens Christ’s sacrifice. Why should they commit their lives to Christ when believers live the same as they do?

Being a Christian is more than just attending a service on Sunday morning and letting the devil rule the rest of the week. Our lives should be so different than the lives of the lost that they are drawn to Christ because of the different way we live. Your life as a Christian should make non-believers question their disbelief in God.

The Bible tells us to put on the new man when we are born again. We let go of things that offend God, live our lives to please Him and study His Holy Word. The Bible is our new road map for living. We are careful to not follow the way of the world but to walk as Jesus did, in close communion with God and striving to please Him in our daily live.

We should behave for the sake of New Believers.

-People are watching us. The un-redeemed person will test you to see if your faith is real. Remember, they are looking for something true to believe in; something that isn’t another lie.

When I was a new believer, I felt like the Christian walk was something of a mine field. One person said I would go to Hell if I wore slacks or jewelry. Another said I would go to Hell if I used a salad dressing or cold medicine that contained alcohol. Another said I would go to Hell if I cut my hair. None of these will send you to Hell. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, you will do you best to learn how He wants you to live. If you don’t know how to behave in the way God would have you behave, take a good look at the Ten Commandments and then Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees. These are a good place to start.

Exodus 20:1-17

1And God spoke all these words:

2“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3“You shall have no other gods before me.

4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.

8“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

13“You shall not murder.

14“You shall not commit adultery.

15“You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

These are the ten commandments that God Himself inscribed on a stone tablet for Moses. These are His rules for living, for the Nation of Israel as well as for us today.

Or, you could check out the “Hillbilly 10 Commandments.” They are a condensed version of the 10 commandments, in a slightly different order than the ones God gave Moses, with a backwoodsy twist.

  1. Aint but One God.
  2. Honor yer Ma and Pa.
  3. No tellin’ tales or gossipin’.
  4. Git yer hide ta Sunday meetin’.
  5. Aint notin’ come before the Lord.
  6. No foolin’ with another feller’s gal.
  7. No killin’, cept fer critters.
  8. Quit yer foul mouthin’.
  9. No swipen’ yer kin folk’s stuff.
  10. Don’t be hankerin’ fer it neither.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were the teachers of the teachers of the law the leaders of Israel in Jesus’ day and they were always trying to trip him up. They questioned Jesus on the commandments in Matthew 22: 34-40.

34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

And this succinctly boils down all of the ten commandments into two. Love God and love people.

We should behave because our children are watching.

We all smile when we see a little boy imitating his daddy shaving, or a little girl imitating her mother applying makeup. Our children are watching our every move and the lessons they learn as they watch us are far more impactful than anything we could ever say.

Some things are better caught than taught. We should be a living gospel to all who see us, particularly our children. Studies show that parents who make church attendance optional. meaning only attending when it is convenient, tend to raise children who view church and God as non-essential.

In 1 Corinthians 4:16 Paul urges the new Believers in Corinth to imitate him as he follows Christ. Our children imitate us. Our children and new Believers are always watching us and learning how to walk the Christian walk largely based on how we are walking ourselves.

We should behave because Jesus is watching.

Have you heard the joke about the burglar and the parrot? the burglar breaks into a person’s house and is busily trying to crack open the safe when he hears a voice behind him say, “Jesus is watching,.” Startled, he turns around and sees no one else in the room with him and returns to his work. Again, he hears: “Jesus is watching.”

This time he shines his flashlight around the room and sees a parrot sitting on a perch. The bird looks at him and says again, “Jesus is watching.”

“Just a stupid bird,” the burglar mutters. Then he asks the bird its name. The bird replies, “Moses.”

“Moses!” the burglar says. “Who would name a bird Moses?”

The bird replies, “The same person who named their Rottweiler Jesus. Sic ’em, Jesus.”

Jesus Christ is not a rottweiler. He is the King and Lord of Lords and is God in the flesh. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. Believers will not be judged as to if they can enter heaven or not; believing in Jesus, making Him the Lord of your life and following Him takes care of that. But there is a special judgment for believers where Jesus will examine the works we did on earth, and the way that we lived our life here on earth and we will be rewarded for the things we did for His Kingdom.

In Matthew 16:24-27, Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? For what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the son of man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels and then He will reward each person according to what he has done.”

Paul, addressing the church in Corinth said in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15: By the grace God has given me I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s works. If what has built survives, he will receive his reward. It it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

What are you building on the foundation of Jesus Christ? Are you building with gold and gemstones or wood and straw?

Jesus is the good shepherd. He watches over His church. It breaks my heart to think of willfully doing anything that would grieve Him or cause Him pain. He has done so much for me. My obedience to Him is an act of love.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey My commandments.” Remember, these are “love God and love people.” Walk circumspectly because people are watching. They are the lost, sin-soaked world that is looking for truth to commit their lives to. They are new Believers who are looking for an example of Christian walk to follow. They are your children, the next generation of Christianity. And it is Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who is looking for people to follow Him in truth.

There is a sad heresy that has crept into Christendom today. It is the Hyper Grace movement. It reduces a life of devotion to Jesus to a mere incantation. Say the words, walk the church aisle, and be saved. Then live as you choose because you now have your golden ticket to heaven.

That is not the way it works. Jesus is looking for people to be devoted to Him, to turn away from sin, and walk as new creatures in the light of God, not people who only give Him lip service and then live by their own rules.

Are you willing to make that choice? Are you willing to give up the sinful life and follow Jesus? If you are willing, please don’t delay. I firmly believe that Jesus could return for His Church at any moment. You don’t want to miss that train. You don’t have to recite a fancy prayer; just talk to God from your heart and tell Him you are sorry for sinning against Him and ask Him to make you part of His family and ask HIm to help you live for Jesus.