Chapter 1: What biblical truths are explored in this episode?
There are certain passages of Scripture that demand your attention. They confront you and lay down the gauntlet when it comes to living for God versus living for self. And the passages of Scripture that I'm about to read can be uncomfortable for some because they are incisive. They are clear-cut and they divide righteous from unrighteous.
holy from unholy, and lukewarm from a burning believer of Christ. One such scripture is Matthew 7, verse 21 to 23. The Amplified Translation says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Many will say to me on that day when I judge them, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name and driven out demons in your name and done many miracles in your name? And then I will declare to them publicly, I never knew you. Depart from me. You are banished from my presence. You who act wickedly, disregarding my commands."
Is it not alarming that there are those among us who say the name of Jesus, but they don't have him in their hearts, in their intentions or motives? Does it not alarm you to think that there will be a day when there are those who think they will enter the kingdom of heaven, only to be rejected and told the words, I never knew you? Now I would like to draw your attention to verse 21 in Matthew 7.
The Bible reads, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. For you and I to enter the kingdom of heaven, we have to be obedient to the will of God. And the will of God can be found in the word of God. Because John 1 verse 1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
So if God is his word, then surely his will can be found in this book that we call the Bible. And so this means God's will can be found in Acts 16, verse 31, where the Bible reads, So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.
God's will can be found in Romans 10, verse 9, where the Bible says, If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. God's will is that you should not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of your mind. God's will is that you should abstain from sexual immorality.
God's will is that you should not be of a proud spirit, but humble. His will is that you should lean not on your own understanding. You should not have any idols. Saints, if we are to see heaven, then we need to follow God's will. And His will is in His Word. And so, to the person searching and asking, what is God's will for my life? I encourage you to open the Bible and you will find his will.
We will all go through seasons where we will have more questions than answers. Seasons where it appears as though you...
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Chapter 2: How does Matthew 7:21-23 challenge our understanding of faith?
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have more prayer requests than answered prayers. And I don't know about you, but have you ever gotten to the point where all you can do is just ask God questions? Questions like, Lord, what should I do? How should I handle this? God, how will my family be restored? Father, when will I be healed? Well, here's what you can do should you find yourself in such a place.
Rather than look for all of the details or answers, rather than examine plan A and revise plan B, rather than panic or scratch your head about it, simply invite God into your situation. Invite Him into that problem. Invite him to be the judge, the jury, the prosecutor and defense for the case that's in front of you.
What I'm trying to tell you is that there will be situations where we simply won't have the answers when we want them. There will be certain events that will occur and simply not make sense. And we need to come to terms with that. Because it's only once you accept this that you can function through these difficult moments in life.
Remember that our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 11 verse 28, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Let me clarify one thing. This verse is not saying come to me and I'll give you every detail to what's going on in your life. It's not saying, come to me so that you can see the whole picture. No.
Jesus is saying, come to me with all that burdens you, with all that gives you sleepless nights, with all that worries you. And when you come to me, when you give me those burdens, those problems may still be there, but I'll give you peace. That situation may still be unclear. but I'll give you rest.
Matthew 11 verse 29 goes on to say, Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Twice in these verses, Jesus mentions rest in him. And by rest, we're literally being told to relax, refrain from worrying about, Stop stressing out about or trying to fix it. It's literally giving it all to the Lord.
So think about this for a moment. Could it be that God's letting you face this trial so that you can reach a deeper level of trust in him? Could it be that God is letting you face this trial so that you can learn to let go and stop trying to control every single aspect, every single detail of your life? Just think about it.
Could it be that God's letting you face this test so that he can humble you because maybe you're too self-reliant? You see, always invite God into the midst of your situation because you cannot do it alone. You certainly don't have all the answers you need, but should you go to the Lord, should you take it to Jesus, you can surely have peace. You can surely have rest.
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Chapter 3: What does it mean to genuinely do God's will?
I'm sure we all have. And so did a lot of the great men and women of God in the Bible. Paul in 2 Corinthians 1, verse 5 said, For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation.
And if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia.
For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril and He will deliver us. On Him, we have set our hope that He will deliver us again.
While in Asia, Paul states that he had experienced affliction. He experienced severe trials, and he says he was burdened beyond strength, so much so that he despaired of life itself. He said it felt as though he had received a death sentence. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine going through hardships that make you feel as though you have a death sentence written against your name?
Can you imagine being burdened by problems? This is how Paul felt. But if you pay attention to what he says in verse 9, Paul says, Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead.
He's essentially saying these difficult times, these tough times have taught us to lose all faith in ourselves and to place all of our trust in the God who raises the dead. All of us go through tough times. All of us go through seasons where it seems as though the odds are stacked against us and pain becomes a feeling we're all too acquainted with.
In Psalms 119 verse 71, David said, It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. And I've always asked the question, how can it be good for you to be afflicted? How is there any good for you to go through pain, tribulation, and hard times? But here's the thing. Afflictions. Tough situations do more than simply show what kind of character we have.
Tough times shape and form out character. Now, I believe that affliction, although unpleasant, is necessary for the Christian man or woman. Because if it were not for the struggle you're going through, how would you know that God will never leave you nor forsake you? If it were not for the affliction in your body, how else would you know that by his stripes we are healed?
If it were not for the financial challenges you faced, how would you have known that the Lord is a provider? Problems can sometimes be a blessing, saints of God. So be encouraged regardless of what you're facing.
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