Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Ephesians 6:11 NIV
Are you ready to stand? Are you sure? What are you basing it on? Are you basing it on things like this: I can quote all the Bible verses. I can say all the books of the Bible. I go to church every Sunday. Other surface stuff?
Are you basing it on your relationship with Jesus Christ? What is your relationship with Jesus like? Do you know His voice? Do you enjoy just spending time with Him? Does He go with you everywhere you go? Do you invite Him in after you enter the room, building, or situation? Do you follow Him after He enters the room, building, or situation? Before we continue with anything in this book let’s settle this question. Are you ready to stand? To answer this question let’s find out who is in your spiritual house. We need to know if you are running the show or if Jesus is running the show.
Who is on the throne in your life? Who is in your spiritual house?
Of course, your knee-jerk reaction as a “good Christian will be Jesus. But are you sure? Is it because of religion or because of the relationship that you think He is on the throne? We must find out. This is of major importance. We must find out if Jesus is really on the throne.
Let’s look at your life. Remember Jesus already knows all and this is between you and Him. So just give in and be completely honest with Him through this whole process.
Start Day
How did you start your day?
Did you spend time with God?
Did you read your Bible?
Did you study your Bible? (yes there is a difference)
Did you pray?
Did you meditate on God’s Word?
Did you commune with Him?
Spend Day
How did you spend your day?
Did He influence every action you take?
Did you enter a room, building, or situation with Him?
Did you thank Him for your meal?
Did you mean it if you did or is it just habit?
End Day
What about the end of your day?
Did you thank Him for it?
For surviving or experiencing it?
For any good thing in it?
For any trials during it?
For any blessings?
For being a part of your life?
Bedtime
How about bedtime?
Is spending time with Him part of the routine?
So is Jesus Christ in the House or is he on the back burner?
If He is on the back burner then Satan is in the House and as a Child of God, we certainly do not want that. So make sure Jesus Christ is in the house by making sure He is in all parts of your life and is with you not just beside you. Can you stand up and shout JESUS CHRIST IS IN THE HOUSE!!!! Or do you need to change some things first? Going Through the Motions? Did this life audit show that you are truly following Christ or did it show that you are just going through the motions? Are you allowing Christ’s all-consuming passion inside of you?
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise, he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time, the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming, I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:14-30 NKJV
Will you be welcomed into Heaven or cast into the outer darkness? Will you continue to commit idolatry? Will you continue to put other things before God and not use the gifts that God gave you? Will you continue to make excuses instead of doing things Jesus Christ’s way? Will you instead think over these questions and answer them no because it is time to get things right with Jesus? If you are the one with the one talent will you choose to change things and become like one of the others who held talents? Will you decide that now is the time to become a true follower of Christ and quit just following a religion and/or Traditions?
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”
Luke 14:25-35 NIV
Are you only halfway? Are you just on the fence about things? Are you one that only serves Jesus in the fashion of an Undercover Christian? Will you choose to change that and become a true follower? Will you take up Jesus’s challenge? Will you choose to stop being an Undercover Christian and start serving Jesus openly? Will you get off that fence and start standing on the rock? Will you stop only serving Jesus when convenient and start serving Him fully? Will you finally choose to be all in for Jesus Christ?
Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Luke 9:23-26 NIV
Will, you cast off everything for our King? Are you willing to stand up for Christ while someone has a gun pointed at your forehead? The person tells you that the only way he or she won’t pull the trigger is to renounce Christ. What if this person decides to point it at a loved one or threatens to burn down your home, blow up your car, or destroy you financially? What will you do? Will you stand up for Christ or renounce Christ?
Though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:4-11 NIV
Can you quote Paul and mean it or is it just something cool Paul said? Is everything counted as loss compared to Christ or is Christ counted as loss compared to other things?
Once again I ask you are you going through the motions? If you were are you still or have you chosen to change this and work on having a real relationship with Jesus Christ? Yes, life will hurt. Yes, you will have trials and tribulations. Yes, you will have huge blockades. Yes, you will be depressed sometimes. Yes, you will have tons and tons of stressful things going on. But you also have God. Give God everything. Make Christ your center. Let Christ put His passion inside of you. Give Christ ALL. All your possession, all your troubles, all your trials, EVERYTHING!!! God is ALL. God is EVERYTHING!
As Paul put it everything else is counted as a loss. All things suffered. All trials. All successes are counted as a loss. It is all about winning Christ. It is all about being with our Master in Heaven. It is all about taking every soul you can with you. Possessions, Family, and Earthly attachments will not give us that. All things are counted as losses. Christ is all that matters. So are you going through the motions? Or are you working for Christ? Are you looking through His eyes? Are you reaching with His hands? Are you looking at the person’s soul? Or are you turning a blind eye to the work Christ has given you? Our work, our talents, and our currency are souls. Are you passionate about them as Christ is or are you just going through the motions of Christianity? Are you a fan or a follower of The Way? Are you sure you are not just playing church like the one who built his life in the sand? Did you build your life on the Rock?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Matthew 7:21-27 NIV
Where is your house built? When we did the life audit what did it show? Are you building your life on The Rock, Jesus Christ, or the Sand, the World? Are you hungry for the Lord? Does your love for God capture you and does God’s love bring you to your knees?
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
Psalms 42:1-2 NIV
Do you pant after Jesus Christ? Does it bother you not to start, continue, and finish your day with Christ? If your answer is no, not sure, or even a bit of hesitation before answering check your walk. You are going through the motions. Your answer should be a loud, sure, YES!!!! Check your heart. Check your soul. Check your walk. Don’t go through the motions. Allow Christ to put his passion inside of you. Ask yourself the following. Am I going through the motions? Yes. Will you choose to change it? Are you going through the motions or is Christ’s passion inside of you?