Don't Be Fooled

Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matt. 7:20-23

If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. Rom. 8:6-8 (NLT)

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jer. 29:13

I learned of a cancer patient the other day who, in one breath, adamantly declared she was “right with God,” and had a good relationship with Him, while, with the next, admitted she was taking heavy duty illegal drugs, not to mention consuming large quantities of alcohol. She even showed up for her treatments intoxicated and had to be turned away.

Her story made me so sad. The Scriptures that popped into my head immediately were the ones above from Matthew 7. Jesus said there will be many people who, when they see Him face to face, will claim to know Him, to be in relationship with Him, but He will tell them, “I never knew you; depart from me.”

Just going to church, reading the Bible, saying you believe in God and trust in Christ, even making an emotional decision for God that has no substance or sincerity behind that one moment, don’t add up to being in relationship with God.

This lady is stuck in a huge lie. She’s deceived. Either she’s been fooled or is fooling herself, and I know there are many others like her. Eighty-five percent of Americans claim to be in relationship with God, but their lives, outside of the couple hours they spend in church each week, don’t bear witness to that … drug use, immorality, abuse or oppression of others, idolatry, cheating, stealing, lying, self-centered living, etc.

Somewhere in their lives, someone has told them all they need to do is say a few phrases, like magic words, or do certain things, like go to church, put a Bible on their shelf or volunteer once in a while to do some good works, like build a house for the poor or bring a meal to the needy, and they’ll be fine, they’ll be in relationship with God. And then, they can live their lives like they please; it won’t matter because “the good will outweigh the bad” or some such thing. (And some of them then carry that same mentality and deception into other areas of their lives like their cancer treatment – I’ll take my chemo or radiation and that will cure me, regardless of how I abuse my body, how many toxins I eat, drink, shoot up or smoke, how I try to destroy myself, or how full of hate, anger, unforgiveness or evil I am. )

But that’s not what the Bible teaches. Jesus said people in relationship with Him, love Him and keep His commandments. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, said that people controlled by their sinful nature don’t have the Holy Spirit living in them – in other words, they haven’t turned over their lives to God; they’re not in relationship with Him – and so they can never be pleasing to God. And it doesn’t matter what things they try to do in His Name, He won’t claim them as His own because they’ve never been born into His family … they’ve never surrendered their lives and asked Him to forgive them, transform them – give them a new nature, His nature – and make them new creatures in Christ. Basically, they’ve never sought Him with their whole heart.

I hope you won’t be fooled. The Bible says God is not mocked. He knows your inner being, your heart. He knows whether you love Him, whether you’ve given your life to Him truly, whether you’ve been born again, into His family, through faith in Christ, or whether you’re just playing a game and putting on a front for the world. He knows the truth about you … nothing is hidden from Him.

Don’t be fooled. You can’t pretend to be a Christian, because no one can transform themselves from the inside out. If you try, without the Holy Spirit living in you, all you’re doing is putting on more masks, more costumes. You can read and follow all the self-help books in the world; you can even try and add a lot of the disciplines in the Bible you’re your life.

You may “look like a duck,” but you won’t have a duck’s nature. You won’t be able to manufacture by yourself, at will in the most difficult times, love, kindness, gentleness, self-control, joy, peace, patience, in other words, the fruit of the Spirit. You won’t have God’s heavenly resources at your fingertips to help you live your life, when you need them the most, because they’re only given to those who seek Him with a whole heart, who are willing to die to their own selves and nature and be reborn with a new nature, which He alone gives when you come to Him on His terms.

He loves you as you are. He loves you knowing everything about you. He loves you with all your needs. He doesn’t turn you away when you come to Him seeking Him with a whole heart. He says when you seek Him that way, you’ll find Him, and He’ll put His nature, His Spirit, in you and give you His power to live … and live abundantly … regardless of the circumstances or situations you face. The fruit of His nature will be apparent in your life.

Don’t be fooled into living a lie. Don’t fool yourself. How horrible would it be to live that lie, believe that lie, and then, when it’s too late to enter into a relationship with God, have Jesus speak the truth to you, “Depart from me; I never knew you.” Just as your body “isn’t fooled into cancer destruction” by undergoing some chemo and radiation while you’re killing yourself and giving cancer room to grow by your lifestyle, so God is not fooled by spiritual pretense. There are always consequences for our choices. Make sure your choices are for life.

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