11.20.07
“DISCOVERING THE REAL ME!”
Romans 7:18-19
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”
Yesterday we introduced the topic for this week–”KNOWING GOD!” Why is that so important? Let me tell you why. Years ago I heard a man who had been to the emergency room of a large hospital to see a critically ill friend. As he was entering the elevator to leave the intensive care floor, one of the nurses called him “Chaplain.”
As the elevator door closed he noticed a paper boy standing at the back of the car. The boy suddenly asked: “Are you a preacher?” The man said that he ministered for the Lord whenever he could. The boy then asked: “Mister, where is heaven, where is hell?”
Bob told the boy to place his hand on his heart. He then asked: “What do you feel son?” The boy responded: “My heart beating.” Bob then gave this fantastic answer to the boy’s question: “Where is heaven—where is hell? One heartbeat away!
None of us know when that heart that beats within our body will cease beating and we will be face eternity. At that time there will be no opportunity to repent and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come into our heart and make us the kind of person He wants us to be.
God is not impressed with our good deeds. Other people may think that we are something special, but God is not impressed. Read what Isaiah says in Isaiah 63:6: “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” I am told that the reference to “filthy rags” in this passage means menstrual cloths–and that is our righteousness!
I know that someone may say that this passage in Isaiah is from the Old Testament. That is why it is important to read from today’s Scripture what a mighty preacher of God’s Word, the apostle Paul, has to say about the matter: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.”
It is not what we do for Christ that makes us fit for heaven. We can almost feel the drops of His blood as we kneel at the cross and ask Him to do in and through us what we are not able to do ourselves. We have to be “Born Again.” It is more than believing that there is a God—He must be our personal Savior.
I lay this fundamental teaching out for an important reason. If we are going to discover who the Living God really is, we have to be equipped with the spiritual eyes to recognize Him. We must be prepared to identify the leadership of the Lord in our lives. It is only then that we will grow as His faithful servants.
Hang on—there will be more to come during the week!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing.
- - - Pastor Cecil