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 which is in heaven. 
Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?
and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? 
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 7:21-23

There is no formula.
We all must wrestle with the Lord and accept Him and accept that Jesus gave His life for us
and that He rose from the dead that we might be cleansed from all sin and unrighteousness,
as we accept Him and give our lives to Him, we are to walk in His ways and follow Him as He leads.

What does all this mean?
It means this is not a game. We are not playing. Our lives matter. The choices we make matter.

I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. 1 Corinthians 4:14

Many people have an entitled attitude about God.
If you are banking on entitlement: I said the prayer, I believe in Jesus or a host of other things that you are sure you are saved, if it is entitlement,
and if you have not made sure with your Maker that you are right with Him, that entitlement will fail you.

Does that mean you should be scared? Maybe, we should have the fear of God.
Mostly, this is a warning to check in with God.
Make sure your heart is right before Him. He will make things clear to you,
but if you just assume because someone else told you you are saved
or because you said a prayer and you have not gone on to develop your relationship with Jesus,
people will hear, I never knew you, depart from Me.

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,
but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13

Some people think these are hard words and they are not the way God has shown them in the bible.
That is not different. Some people are missing it. No human knows who they are. That is up to Jesus to determine, but He also gave us warnings such as the one written in scripture above. It is up to each follower of Christ to check with God, to make sure they are on track with Him.

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. 1 Timothy 4:16
It’s very simple:
Take God’s word seriously. If someone does not,
if there is no fear that God can cast you into Hell, they are missing it.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

Remember in Proverbs? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom?
The fear of the Lord is of utmost importance.
Without knowing that we may displease Him by what we do or do not do, we cannot earn His favor.
Get to know Him. It is of utmost importance and make sure He knows you,
that you are not just one among a thousand that made your way to see Him..
Be real, be true to the relationship God has called you to and don’t miss it.

Justifying Compromise

I gave you many gifts.
I have shown you how they should be used.
You have chosen other ways to display your thoughts and your desires.
You say I’m an artist, I must be true to myself.
Nay says the Lord be true to yourself? And not true to the Lord?

When you stand before Me, I will remind you of each conversation we have had
and each time you have chosen your own will over Mine.

You have spent much of your time, many years building yourself up.
Was this a blessing from Me?
Have you earned the right to walk in your own way and not to carry your cross says the Lord?

Fame carries a heavy price.
If your fame is not of Me, you have taken another road.
Do you want to stay on that road, My son?
That road leads to death.
Humble yourself before Me. Learn of Me.
You are not there. You have not arrived.
You have wandered far from My fold.
Come back to Me, son, in fullness and might and lay your selfish ambitions at My cross says the Lord.

Remember Samson who was beguiled by Delilah?
Similarly, son, you have been beguiled by your own desires that are often far away from My will.
Your lusts and your desires have become a stumbling block before you
where you cannot even perceive My will any longer.
Come back to Me son in fullness.
Let Me cleanse you and purge you from the flesh.
Remember the Rich young ruler who said to Me, I have done all?
I asked him to give up his riches and he went away sad?
I say the same to you, give up your riches and come follow Me.
I will again show you the way in which you are to walk.

Note from the writer:
Notice in this prophecy, there are no specifics given of how you are to seek the Lord, that is between you and Him. I did not ask for this word, but I am faithful to share this from the Lord. He desires to teach you many things. Let His Holy Spirit lead you and guide you into all truth. You don’t want to miss it.

Seemingly harsh words. Your foes will be they of your own household.
Yes.
I’ve seen it happen. It has happened in my household.
Choosing life or death.
It causes division.

Jesus also said, He who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:37

I know a Christian family whose daughter chose the dark side.
They did not agree with her choice as an adult, she became suicidal and they let her stay in their home.
There were no restrictions, so she freely practices her witchcraft.
She still lives there after several years. I don’t think she’s going anywhere anytime soon.
The bible is clear about our not being unequally yoked with unbelievers,
whether they are our children or not, Jesus did not give a pass if they were our children.
What we allow to go on in our own house is our responsibility.
They seem to think it’s okay to allow this daughter who practices witchcraft to live in their house.
There are no scriptures that say it is okay to let a person practicing witchcraft into your home,
no matter who they are.

They chose their daughter rather than God’s word.
They invited evil into their abode.
That does not mean they could not have helped her, but by inviting her evil into their home,
they are going against what the bible teaches.
They are compromising God’s principles.
Taking Jesus at face value is tough sometimes.
There are many times you might wish He didn’t say something, but He did.
He said what He meant and He meant what He said.

In the Old Testament, the Lord commanded the kings not to marry strange wives,
that is, those who served idols because they would turn their hearts away from God.
That happened in Solomon’s case. If they had chosen to serve the Lord,
they would no longer be considered strange, but God would have welcomed them.
In Solomon’s case, he did not heed this commandment. He chose many strange wives.

And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, 
and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them: 
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them;
thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. 
For they will turn away thy son from following Me, that they may serve other gods:
so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. 
But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images,
and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. 
For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God:
the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself,
above all people that are upon the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:3-6

And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life:
that he may learn to fear the Lord his God,
to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: Deuteronomy 17:19

The commandments often boil down to the fear of the Lord.
If we are humble and fear the Lord, we will want to please Him, doing as many of His commandments
as we can and choosing His ways over our own.
When there is no fear of God, there is the lack of humility and justification rules our hearts.

Let the sword of God’s word divide where it lands.
His ways are higher than ours and humility is of utmost importance.
For us to justify our actions is a cop out so we can have our own way.
Do not resist the sword of the spirit.

And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow,
and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat?
for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. 
Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; 
But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you:
because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you,
and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? Numbers 11:18-20

When we pray, our hearts must be right and our intentions must be clean and pure.
To pray for our own desires without a consideration of God’s will will not please God.
If you have ought in your heart or you haven’t been treating someone well,
get your heart right, then come back to the throne to offer your petition.
That’s what Jesus said to do:

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar,
and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother,
and then come and offer thy gift. Matthew 5:23-24

If you’re prayer is being hindered by something through no fault of your own,
rest assured, that the answer is on the way.

Things are going to get rough.
Whether it’s today or tomorrow or next month or a little farther down the way, we are in for hard times.
Jesus equipped us, to an extent, in His word.
Some of that will come from knowing, remembering what He said
and some of it will come from application as the events happen.
There will be suffering and difficulties.
We will not escape all discomforts.
We will need to walk very closely with Jesus, honoring His every request.

Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. Luke 17:33

Paul learned to be content whatever the Lord allowed him to experience.
It took effort on his part to align his thinking with Jesus’ thinking. It didn’t come naturally.
He said, Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned,
in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content Philippians 4:11
He said, I have learned.

I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world,
even as I am not of the world. John 17:14

We can feel left out by others. And it may not feel good.

If you love mammon, money and the social trends of the world, at times, it can feel very lonely.
We are not to be ashamed of Jesus’ words.
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation;
of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:38

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15

God hates divorce because it stems from the hardness of heart.
And He hates the sin that brings the hardness of heart: Unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred.
And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one?
That he might seek a godly seed.
Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hateth putting away:
for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lord of hosts:
therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. Malachi 2:15-16

While the Lord is talking about the hardness of heart within marriage, He hates hardness of heart
no matter who it is to or what it is for.
He desires that our hearts are filled with love, even for our enemies.
He allows for no excuses.

In Matthew 24, Jesus mentions that the love of many will grow cold:
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. verse 12
Bitterness and hatred taints the heart.

I have yet to notice a scripture that addresses the way the people with warm hearts will feel
when the cold-hearted people reject them and hate them and persecute them and abolish them
with all of the characteristics of a cold heart. It will not feel good. It does not feel good.

The good fruit shall remain.
That is God’s best.
Will it remain in you?
Will it remain in me?
God help us if our love fails.
We will then be in danger of Hell’s Fire.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
Exodus 32:33

There are no sureties once someone has chosen to disregard what God has commanded.
Most bible scholars believe you cannot be removed from the Book of Life once you are in there.
Nowhere do the scriptures say that.
Instead, over and over does God warn us to not let hatred grow in our heart, to forgive,
and to love our enemies.

Think of the parables. Jesus taught us that we must love and forgive,
otherwise we will also receive the same fate as ones who disregarded Jesus’ commands.
We will be judged according to the measure we judge.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:2
Do you judge without mercy? without grace? Be careful on that.

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?
till seven times? 
Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. 
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. 
But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold,
and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me,
and I will pay thee all. 
Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. 
But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence:
and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. 
And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying,
Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. 
And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 
So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry,
and came and told unto their lord all that was done. 
Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him,
O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: 
Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? 
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. 
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you,
if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Matthew 18:21-35

Jesus told us many times in many different ways that He expects us to love
and forgive and even mentions, as in this parable, to forgive from the bottom of our heart.
Jesus expects us to love others as much as we would love Him if He were walking on this Earth.
Don’t let your love grow cold and retain the honor, respect and fear of the Lord

I just saw a post by a Christian lady on X whose son and girlfriend had a baby on the way.
She posted about it and there were many who expressed their disapproval.
She was surprised and hurt and felt her son and future daughter-in-law had repented.
These people were not satisfied. They tore into her and her son with their harsh and cruel words.
I am not sure what they want them to do now. They are in the hands of God and that should be enough for any of us.
They have responded to their choices and sin and it is not between all those self-appointed judges and God,
it is between them and God.
I find it interesting when people decide to seat themselves upon the throne of God
and determine what should happen with other people. That is detestable to God.
Her son and future daughter-in-law are doing what scripture teaches.
Here is the most appropriate scripture for the matter in my humble opinion:
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
It always seems to me that when the King James uses the word charity where others us the word love is because that type of love is an extension of a gift that others do not deserve. None of us deserve love when we do something wrong, but Jesus always gives us a hand up, He would never step on our fingers when we are reaching for forgiveness, as some would.
We should do the same.
The greatest of these is love and God’s love is the only way you can keep your heart pliable.

There is no way to find every verse where God shares His heart, but He does so throughout His word.

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good;
and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil:
for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45

Basically, what people say is what they are all about. It’s the same with Jesus.
What He says is. You will find no place in the bible where Jesus took back anything He said.
He says what He means and He means what He says.

People like to try to change God’s intent when they don’t like what He says.
Not possible.
They like to say we are under a new covenant, which we are. We are set free from the law.
However, the law was given so that we would know right from wrong.

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin,
but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Romans 7:7

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Matthew 5:17-18

We know God has love in His heart for the world:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at his heart. Genesis 6:6 It grieved Him at His heart. Man hurt His feelings in a very deep way.

The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy;
He will rest in his love, He will joy over thee with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
Jesus loves the people He created. for some, we become a great joy in His heart
as He loves us so much and sings over us and loves us ever so dearly.

If we are created in the image of God, it doesn’t take much to imagine how God has feelings,
just like we do, all the feelings that we feel. Be angry and sin not as it says in the word.
In the Old Testament, God shared His heart with the prophets.
In the New Testament, Jesus shared His love for the world with all who would listen.
God rejoices when we put our lives in His hands
and He walks with us through the thick and thin of all that we encounter,
always having the opportunity to draw closer to Him in our trials and triumphs.
Let God teach you what is in His heart. it will be the most beautiful heart you will ever know.

Who set that up?

Then God stirred the king so he could not sleep and then he wanted the chronicles to be read to him.
It’s obvious that no one else could have created the circumstances,
both to let Mordecai hear and learn of the plot to kill the king
and then that the king didn’t honor him yet, so, that also is a part of the circumstances that gave Mordecai favor in his sight.

What about the time when David was not afraid to go up against the Giant Goliath?
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them,
seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 1 Samuel 17:36
God had arranged the circumstances so that David feared neither man nor beast. He trusted in God.

Many stories in the bible, God has gone before the people to arrange the circumstances
so that His will could be done.

Judas Iscariot.
Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas.
When it was time, it was time. God set that up.

God’s hands are in everything that have to do with His will.
Watch for that. He’s still setting things up today in His marvelous ways.