Many claim a lot of things. Many use their tongue foolishly saying things they have never done, never will do, or for much worse. Read in James about the tongue. Many in America claim to be a Christian. If the polls, countless, and surveys, endless were to be believed 7 out of 10 people in America are Christians. If this were true? Our nation would be a totally different place. Totally different.
Many have not only forsaken God, most have never truly known Him. Or His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Or the Person of the Holy Spirit. Most haven’t a clue as to what is truly in the Bible, God’s inerrant living Word.
And yet…
All the claims, professing, statements of faith, and blah, blah, blah…
Again, if what people said were true? This nation would be unrecognizable from how it actually is.
A person either is a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, a true child of God, indwelt of the Holy Spirit, truly transformed — renewed of mind and spirit and living quite different than how they did prior to this genuine regeneration, being born anew or…
…they are not.
One either is in the light.
Or in the darkness.
And just being born into a family that had a history of being Methodist, Baptist, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and so on? Doesn’t make one a “Christian.” Just as going to church doesn’t make a person a “Christian.”
Many have forsaken the Lord.
Many who claim to have known Him never have forsaken Him because they never really knew Him, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, or been indwelt of the Holy Spirit due to a lack of true repentance, renewing of the mind and spirit, and being truly transformed. Made anew in Christ.
Tragic as this is.
Most are children of disobedience. In love with the world. Self-indulgent. Worldly. Misguided. Following false teachings. Still in bondage to the devil. Self-deluded. Lost. The walking dead in utter outer darkness.
This can change. This can be altered. If an individual truly seeks the Lord. Submits, confesses their sin, humbles themselves, truly believe, truly exhibits faithfulness, repentance [not merely remorse], and commit their life to be an obedient and faithful disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But just going to church? Growing up in a certain family? Merely reading the Bible?
Sorry, but that ain’t it. Not really.
But it isn’t too late to come to know what it truly means as long as the Good Lord blesses a person with their next breath, their next heartbeat. Think then, think now on the Lord and His ways, His Word, His Son, Jesus, and do not delay because there is coming a last breath, a last heartbeat and no one ought to be so arrogant, so ignorant, so brazen to imagine they control that or they have plenty of time left.
He who hesitates is lost.
He or she who hesitates, refuses to believe, won’t turn to the Lord, won’t place their faith and trust in God, in Jesus, in the Holy Spirit, in the Holy Bible will be lost…for eternity.
And that’s quite a while. From what I’ve read and learned that eternity thing is, well, a really, REALLY, REALLY long time. As in it never ends. Too long to be lost when one doesn’t have to be.
Too long to be lax, lukewarm, pretending to be a Christian when one ought not to be that way while claiming to be something — they truly are not.
Ken Pullen
Monday, April 4th, 2022
ACP — A Crooked Path
Forsaking the Lord
Reprinted from Today in the Word
Although 70 percent of Americans claim to be Christians, many do not attend any church. Denominational numbers are declining, as are church donations. Every year, about 6,000 to 10,000 local churches close their doors permanently.
Faith in the one true God was also decreasing in Judah in Jeremiah’s day. Tragically, idolatry was on the increase! Jeremiah had the challenge of delivering mostly bad news to Judah, not only about what would happen to them (conquest and exile), but also the reason for it.
The people of Judah had forsaken the Lord like a wife who’d abandoned her husband (vv. 1–3). Within God’s plan for the world, they were to be the “firstfruits of his harvest” (v. 2). He’d chosen them and had made a covenant with them, but now they had rejected Him. They’d been set apart as His special people (Ex. 19:5–6). Now they were dishonoring that call through disobedience and idolatry.
Next, God strengthened His charge against Judah from history (vv. 4–8). He’d liberated them from bondage in Egypt. In response, tragically, they “followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves” (v. 5).
Finally, the verdict was stated directly (vv. 9–13). God’s people had made the worst bargain of all time. They had exchanged “their glorious God for worthless idols” (v. 11). They’d traded real for fake, glorious for worthless, and God’s love and power for nothing. They’d forsaken God, the “spring of living water,” the Source of life and salvation (v. 13; see also John 4:10–14). They were so self-deceived that they were trying to replace Him by digging their own cisterns (or wells), that is, they were trying to achieve life and salvation on their own. Of course, they failed miserably.
Do you have a church home? It is easier to stay true to God when we are encouraged by our brothers and sisters in Christ. Fellowship with believers is an essential part of following Him (Heb. 10:24–25).
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