Philippians 3:18,19
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who have their minds on earthly things.”
Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.” This is a tough one. Some are confident in their faith, but don’t know God. Look at the prominent denominations. Many adopt culture over the bible. They are mirroring the culture.
When one adopts the culture, that one is fearing man over God. I understand it and feel the pull of it. But culture can be different than God’s Word. We are to make our decisions based on God’s Word. It’s the final word.
Look at ancient Israel. They would get pulled by culture. They were tempted to put up the high places. Very few kings tore them down. It’s not hard for culture to seep in. I’m sure I have some stains of culture. Hopefully I don’t know of it, but still cling to it.
This speaks to blind spots. The name itself speaks to how they are areas that we are unaware of. They are blind to us. Some are harmful, others not so much.
When we are adopted into God’s family, we are made righteous by His sacrifice. The process of sanctification begins at that time. He lifts us up and dusts us off. He slowly cleans us up. We will never be done until we are in heaven. While alive on earth He is constantly making us better. He chooses what to work on. He tackles the unbiblical areas first. If we are in disobedience to His Word, those are the areas of focus. If we don’t conform there, then we aren’t one of His. There’s a gray area for a while, but if we don’t give in, the redemption isn’t complete.
God works with us mercifully. If He worked on all of our areas at once we would be overwhelmed. He lovingly works here and there. It’s at a rate that we don’t feel picked on, but loved. He is amazing.
Once the big areas are dealt with then He works on the smaller ones. The band Petra has a lyric in one of their songs that says, “Sometimes it’s good to look back down, we’ve come so far, we’ve gained much ground.” I’ve been walking with Christ for 45 years. Much ground has been gained. But He’s still working.
The cool thing about God, is that our relationship with Him is dynamic. It’s alive. We feel Him. We sense when we are being taught something. Most things aren’t a big deal. Some times they are. A few weeks ago I was wrestling with unforgiveness and grace. The majority of it was trusting that I was forgiven. I couldn’t make the feeling go away. I knew He wasn’t condemning me and I knew that I had given it to Him. I had to keep giving it back to Him and accepting His forgiveness.
I didn’t understand this struggle as a new believer. I though He was condemning me. Hallelujah, I am forgiven. Even though I feel condemned. I’m not. I am forgiven. That’s the lesson of I John 3:20, “Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.” Feeling condemned does not equal condemnation. It’ll fade. Trust Him. Our faith transcends our feelings. Thank You, God for that lesson. It was huge.
I have focused on today’s verse from the believers side. I’ll take the opposite approach next time. Lord, thank You for redeeming us. You are a good God. Thank You.