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I've got a great burden- one that was laid on my heart this Saturday night and Sunday morning. I'm crying, because it's so heavy, and so new.
I couldn't sleep Saturday night and after a few hours of tossing and turning, I finally started praying {I know, why am I so daft? Praying works every time!}. That's when God laid it on my heart to pray for a specific group of people.
I'll have to admit, I was strangely apathetic to this kind of person before. I have no idea why {other than sinfulness}, but I've never felt much mercy for the "unlost."
The unlost are those who are lost but think they are safe. People who said the prayer when they were young, and think once saved, always saved. People who don't follow Jesus in any manner of their lives, but truly think they are going to Heaven.
Oh, it hurts to write this. I know so many people like this.
Satan has greatly deceived this generation, and it chills me to even think of how many people might be unlost.
The unlost are in a far worse condition than just the lost- they think they know Jesus, but they don't have a clue that they don't. And if you were to try to tell them, they would immediately dismiss you and cling to their false hope. The preacher told them that if they said the prayer and walked down the aisle, they were saved. Forever. End of story.
But they don't realize that there are no magic words that get you into Heaven. There is no special prayer that opens the door. Eternal life comes from belief in Jesus- and true belief is shown by actions.
When you believe something, you act on it.
If you believe in Jesus- He radically changes your life. The middle ground doesn't exist. You can't have both worlds- the one where you chase money and success and recognition and entertainment and pleasure while you chase Jesus. You can't serve two {or three, or four} masters.
Lukewarm Christianity is not Christianity. And if you feel like you might be lukewarm, you probably are.
God isn't a God of confusion. If you feel alone- like your prayers are hitting a wall; like your prayer life is nonexistent; if you feel like you wish you could know God more but something is stopping you; if you wish you could want to read your Bible or pray; if you think you might be lukewarm- truly and honestly, with all your heart, seek His face. You will know if you are. He won't leave you in the dark.
You might be thinking, how do you know if you're saved? How does anyone actually know?
Oh, sweet friend, God is more real than you'd ever imagine. His Holy Spirit is alive, and I can tell you, you can feel Him. His Spirit is full of power, and truth, and love, and there is no question about it when He enters your heart.
But you have to give it to Him before He will show you that.
The God of Acts is the God of today. His Spirit will change your life like it did those in the book of Acts. Radical, crazy heart change that is so obviously not of yourself.
Living for Jesus- being truly saved- means that you live a life that is growing and changing and bearing fruit.
Bearing fruit is not about how many services you go to, or how many times you teach Sunday school or volunteer at church, or how often you read your Bible. It's easy to measure those things- but they are not where salvation is.
Bearing fruit is about heart change- allowing, begging the Spirit to work in your heart- to bring change, to bring holiness in the form of gentleness, goodness, meekness, self-control, love, joy, peace.
That's why it says in Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
This is hard to say, because there is a Bible-belt delusion that runs rampant in the South. Salvation is not found in a prayer- it's in a life of change that reflects Christ and brings Him glory.
If your life and heart isn't changing, please, please, please, seek Him out. Don't fall for the lie that you are safe- you are not safe unless you know the true and living God.
If you aren't sure if you know Him, find out. Seek Him with everything you have. Pour out your heart to Him.
His love will radically change your heart- it will break you into a million little pieces.
When you seek Him, you will see yourself for who you truly are- a dreadful sinner.
If you want to know Him, you must repent of your sin. I think the thing that holds so many back from knowing the real and living God is the refusal to repent from their sins.
Repentance is absolutely necessary to experience salvation.
You can't live a life that loves sin or even just self-pleasure. So many of the "good" unlost can't even name a sin they've committed recently. They live a life that is morally good, and they probably even go to church every week. But they live for themselves from Sunday afternoon until the next Sunday morning.
Good morals are not enough. Doing the "right" thing isn't enough. Going to church is not enough.
Whom do you serve? Deep down, in the recesses of your heart, you know the truth. You know if you haven't felt the Holy Spirit.
Oh, this is so hard to write. I wrestled with it on Saturday night as God made my heart so heavy for the lukewarm in this country. There are so, so many lost souls who don't even know they are lost.
I've never felt such heaviness for people like this. My heart aches for the unlost.
Oh, God, please bring light to dark places. Let those who have never experienced you see you for who you really ARE. You are unquestionably God, and your mercy has been so great, and your patience has been so unfailing. Thank you for allowing us the chance to repent.
If you think you might be lukewarm- one of the unlost, please email me {mandy @ biblicalhomemaking.com}. I would love to talk to you, to pray with you and for you, to tell you of ways that the Holy Spirit has been real and alive in my life. I promise He will not leave you if you seek Him with all of your heart.
Find out for sure- search His Word, ask Him to convict you of your sin that you might see the truth. He will do it. He is an amazing and powerful God.
Please, please don't wait to know Him. Later might be too late.
If you're searching for more, read John 15:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
And all of 1 John:
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
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