Choose God or the World

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:7-10 NIV)

Silence is a choice, we are living in times where we must choose where we stand.  One day we will have to give an account of all of our actions before God and I believe the times that we stood quietly while injustices, mockery and evil took place will weigh as greatly as if we had participated in those ungodly acts ourselves.

When Jesus went into the Temple, he didn’t speak to the merchants calmly and say,’ God loves you and so do I, so let’s stop making a business out of my Father’s House’ – NO! He was consumed with passion and drove those merchants out with a whip!

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” (John 2:15-17 NIV,  ref v17 Psalm 69:9)

Jesus came to save us, but he’s not going to let anyone mock God in the process.  We need to align ourselves with God’s Word and not the world. There is a choice that every Believer has to make, either you will follow God or you will follow the world. Make your choice, God wants your heart and your obedience on a full time basis, He’s not looking for part-time Believers.

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’  (Matthew 10:34-36 NIV, v35 ref Micah 7:6)

There are many issues today that are given as a choice (these same issues are in the Bible as black and white, not gray areas) from abortion to same-sex marriage – we are asked to choose where we stand; with God or with the world. If we don’t have passion on these topics, then maybe we need to spend some time with God praying about this and ask God why we aren’t passionate about His Word and His will – not ours, He will always give us His wisdom when we ask.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5 NIV)

Sadly, there will be a never ending sorrow for the people who choose the world over God.

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ (Matthew 7:21-23 NLT)

DEC 19, 2013****Updated

I've decided to revisit this post in light of recent events, it seems Christians are fighting against one another over Phil Robertson's opinions in a GQ article when asked his thoughts on homosexuality. After reading the entire article, I found no offense against any person, there was no hatred, no animosity, no judging or condemnation, as a matter of fact, most media outlets seemed to leave out this key statement he made:

 "Robertson issued a response to the controversy that reinforced his point rather than backed down from it. "I myself am a product of the 60s; I centered my life around sex, drugs and rock and roll until I hit rock bottom and accepted Jesus as my Savior,” he said today. “My mission today is to go forth and tell people about why I follow Christ and also what the Bible teaches, and part of that teaching is that women and men are meant to be together.”

Robertson concluded, “However, I would never treat anyone with disrespect just because they are different from me. We are all created by the Almighty and like Him, I love all of humanity. We would all be better off if we loved God and loved each other."

These key statements should show that their is no judging nor condemnation, as a Believer we all know a sin is a sin, regardless if it's a lie or adultery - there is no degree of sin and as a human we all sin, and just like Jesus told the adulteress, "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?" "No, Lord," she said. And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." (John 8:10-11 NLT)  Once we have the Holy Spirit living in us, our life is a constant battle of the flesh (the world) and the Spirit (God's holiness) so as Believers we have to say no to the sin and yes to God, that includes stopping whatever sins we battle with. 

Believers need to stop watering down the Gospel, we need to share with everyone the Truth as it is, we can't seek repentance from a sin if we stop calling it a sin. Live the life we were called to live, a life of Truth and of love, but staying in alignment with God's Word and accepting His grace for our sins, but not living outside His will.