Is
my faith real? Is my relationship with God genuine? PART 3 of 3
Why do we do what we do? Is it for self-promotion—to
please another person—self-satisfaction—obligation? We need to keep our motives
under the examination of the Holy Spirit—NOT so He can hammer us but so our
spiritual walk can grow and remain wholesome.
[Continued from March 11 and 16, 2017
Blog Posts]
7 Questions to
ask yourself to help you know how genuine your faith and relationship with God
really is:
6.
Do I desire to give myself to God’s Word and prayer?
Not long ago I heard a preacher say that a person who
claims to be a Christian but does not read and study the Bible and does not
spend quality time is prayer needs to do some soul-searching and determine if
they’re truly born-again.
I believe this is true for many people. The gospel writer
says, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of
heaven” (Matthew 7:21a).
Folks in this group may attend church regularly; may
watch their favorite TV preacher religiously; and may have even walked down an
isle and professed faith in Christ at one time. But in reality they may not
have believed and received Jesus into their hearts.
When a person genuinely accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord
they sincerely invite Him and receive Him as their Savior and their Lord. That
person is born-again, which means they’ve experienced a new birth. The old
person has died and the new person, in Christ, has emerged into new life.
That’s not to say that person never again sins or has an evil thought.
But that person is changed from the inside out and should
desire the things of God. What better way is there to know what the things of
God are and be spiritually strengthened to do those things than to learn what
God Himself says in His Word?
Sadly, there are many people who are dismally shocked
when their last breath is released and they find themselves in the abyss of outer
darkness. That’s the moment of no return, with no hope of reconciliation to
their Creator.
One’s eternal destiny is way too important to not be
certain of and the good news is that we
can be certain of it. Having a desire to know God and Jesus better through
the reading and study of God’s Word is a good indicator that a person’s faith
is real and that their relationship with God is genuine.
The same is true of one who claims to be a follower of
Jesus yet does not pray or only calls on God when they have a need or when a
life crisis has arisen. A person who really knows God and enjoys a genuine
relationship with Him should desire to commune with Him, to praise Him with a
grateful heart, and to seek Him for direction.
Ask
yourself these 2 questions: “What draws or compels me to pray?” AND
“What draws or compels me to read/study the Bible?”
I
recently took a non-scientific survey on Facebook asking these two questions
and got some interesting, thoughtful responses.
Linda
said, “I’m drawn to prayer many times throughout the day—to give thanks and
when I’m weary. I read my Bible to keep myself in His Word.”
Cherilynn
said, “Life in general compels me to pray. I’m compelled to worship God and
want to know God better so I read the Word.”
Heather
said, “Because I love God and want to have a better relationship. I want to
learn more about Him and His Word. Because He and His Word give life! Because
His word is amazing and because I need Him.”
Charlie
said, “I know I need God.”
Judy
said, “1. Fear, gratitude, healing, and
direction. 2. To draw closer to Him.”
Katy
said, “1. I want to see what God can do
in a situation, not me or others in our own ability. I pray because I love Him.
2. I want to know God better and
grow in my relationship with Him. He gives me direction through Scripture. And
I want to learn more so that I can share the truth with others.”
Laura
said, “1. I am compelled to pray many
times throughout the day—to praise God for the beauty of the creation when
flowers bloom, when the sun peeks over the horizon at dawn, or when the moon
lights up the night. When a friend or family needs a healing touch, or a hurt needs
to be healed. When I see a lost soul in need of redemption. 2. My heart longs for my daily
bread every morning, I seek God through the Word. He is my life and heart’s
desire.”
My
response: “I’m drawn and compelled to pray because I know God loves me beyond
anything I can imagine even though I’m undeserving. Also I’m confident that He
hears my prayers and cares about my needs. I’m drawn to and compelled to read
and study His Word because I love Him and am grateful for His love and all He
does for me and others. I want to get to know Him better and understand His
ways as much as possible. This is best accomplished by time in prayer and Bible
study.”
I’m certainly not the judge of another person—thank God.
But if you’re a person who claims to be a Christian and you have no desire to
or do not take time to pray and read/study your Bible I suggest you do some
soul-searching and ask God to show you the truth about your spiritual
condition. You may find that you need to get real with God and profess faith in
Jesus Christ, receiving Him as your eternal Savior and as the Lord of your
life.
Perhaps you are a born-again believer in Jesus, but are
immature or simply lazy. If so, it’s time to grow up and to get serious about
what you believe. These days in which we live are not for the weak. Our
Heavenly Father wants all His children to be over-comers.
Maybe you need to get to know God better by getting to
know Jesus better. A good way to do this is to read through the
Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as well as the Book of Acts. I’m not
suggesting you limit yourself to these books but it’s a great place to start.
7.
Do I tell others about Jesus?
For many of us this is where the rubber meets the road.
I have had some tough encounters with God over this
subject. Regarding certain people I have even said (to God): “So-and-So does not want to know about
Jesus. They’re not one bit interested!” This may be true but every person,
whether they know it or not, needs the Lord.
And here’s one of my responses to God that probably made
Him frown or shake His head: “But God, I think So-and-So wants to go to Hell!” Yes, I’ve said that to Him.
What an ignorant thing for me to say! Nobody wants to go to Hell! Even if a person
actually says they do, in reality no one wants to spend forever and ever in the
hellacious misery of damnation, separated from God and other people, as well as
anything good or pleasant, moreover suffer the fire and brimstone with no hope
of ever getting a miniscule iota of relief. No one really wants to go to Hell.
But millions of people end up in Hell. And it’s not
because God is mean but it’s because they never believed and received Jesus as
their Savior and Lord. The Bible even says that more people will end up in Hell
than in Heaven. That’s so sad and does not have to be the case. See the words
of Jesus: “Enter by the narrow ate; for
wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are
many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult (restricted, limited) is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it” (Matthew
7:13-14). –Italics mine.
A few years ago my granddaughter, Grace (11 yrs. old at
the time), and I were taking a trip together. The interior of car is a great
place to chat. (Thankfully she did not yet have a cell phone.) We were having a
conversation about things going on in her life. She began complaining about being
mad at her parents for not allowing her to go to a certain movie with her
friends. I tried to explain that her parents were strict about such things
because they love her so much and ... –you
know the routine.
Grace had recently accepted Jesus as her Savior and Lord
so the conversation naturally leant itself to a spiritual learning opportunity.
I told her that Christian parents are ultimately concerned about the eternal
destination of their children—that is whether they will go to Heaven or Hell
when they die. They also desire that their children live lives in accordance
with biblical values, knowing they will therefore have the most abundant life
possible. She agreed that it made sense this would be true.
I went on to tell her that most people in the world—even nice
people—will end up going to Hell when they die because they never received
Jesus. I told her there’s a Scripture verse that states that fact. We ended our
discussion and after a few minutes of silence I resumed the Scripture CD where
we had left off earlier.
My heart leapt when the voice on the CD spoke that very
passage from the Book of Matthew. I didn’t plan it nor did I even remember
where, in the Bible, the passage was located. But God knew and in His wisdom we
heard the appropriate verse, spoken with authority, right from the Gospel.
At the end of Chapter 7 I stopped the CD and asked Grace
if she heard the verse to which I had made reference. She said, yes she has heard
it.
In my spirit I praised God and rejoiced in how He never
ceases to amaze and delight me.
I know that was a bit of a lengthy story but it’s a true
story and helps bring home the point that people need Jesus and He’s the only
way a person can get to Heaven. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me” (John14:6).
We must ask ourselves if we’re genuinely concerned about
the eternal destiny of others, especially our loved-ones. If there’s no concern
there, then we need to consider whether or not we believe the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is truth.
If we don’t really think its truth then we’re not really
a Christian. If we do believe its truth, then we need to be willing to
inconvenience ourselves and even humble ourselves, if need be, to tell others about
Jesus.
The Lord got my attention a few years ago when I was
studying the Book of Ezekiel. God told Ezekiel to go and tell His people certain
things. Ezekiel was hesitant, knowing the people wouldn’t like what he had to
say. God told him to go and tell them anyway and that he was not to be dismayed
or afraid by the things they would say or even by the looks on their faces
(Ezekiel 2:1-7).
As I read that passage back in 2011, the Lord clearly
spoke into my spirit that He wanted me to be his witness and not concern myself
with people’s reactions. He even gave me the names of some individuals He wanted
me to speak to and to pray for.
Not only that, He put an exclamation point on the end
with this vision: I saw people walking, one by one, to the door of Hell. As
each one reached the door they stopped, turned and looked me in the eye and
said, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Then each one stepped through door, right into
Hell.
Needless to say, I was shaken to the core. I wept and
repented and asked God to help me boldly proclaim His Good News to people who
are on their way to Hell. In case you’re wondering, I did not recognize any of
the faces of the people in the vision. But they were nonetheless people whose
eternal destiny might have been different if I had witnessed to them.
So question number 7 is, “Do you tell others about Jesus?”
If your answer is, “No,” ask God to help you understand the reasons why and to
help you be more mindful and bold and in tune to His leading in this area.
There we have the 7
Questions to ask ourselves to help us know how genuine our relationship
with God really is.
Thanks so much for tuning in. If you’d like to
participate in the conversation, your comments are welcome. God bless you as
you grow in Christ and let’s be real.
©Copyright
2017 Connie Wohlford
