23 June 2016 - in Spirit and in truth

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 in heaven.

[ Today's Readings ]

And yet there is a sense in "no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit" (see First Corinthians 12:3).

We must do more than simply say 'Lord, Lord.' We must speak it in the Spirit. When the Spirit reigns in our lives his fruits are present. There is no discrepancy between who we say we are and what we do. We become "the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."

Prophecy, mighty deeds, and driving out demons are not enough. No good works are sufficient. In order to enter the kingdom we need to know Jesus well enough to speak his name in the Holy Spirit. Only from a relationship where we truly know him do we learn what is the will of his Father in heaven. Only from him do we receive the grace to carry it out.

Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.

It is more than just doing the same things that the words of Jesus tell us to do. It is about listening to his words and acting from the power which those words impart.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers (see First Thessalonians 2:13).

This is one aspect of what it means to say that the words of Jesus have an authority that no other words have. They convict us and they also empower us. It all begins from our relationship with him.

It is not enough to say that we have a Christian nation if we continue to do evil in the sight of the LORD.

He did evil in the sight of the LORD,
just as his forebears had done.

For our own sakes he will let his discipline and justice come upon us if we do not avail ourselves of his mercy. Let us plead for our nation today that the LORD would visit us with his mercy. Let us pray that we not merely be a nation trying to do good things but rather a nation who is first and foremost interested in the will of the heavenly Father. Since we know that we have not lived up to this standard let us together plead for his mercy to restore us.

Help us, O God our savior,
because of the glory of your name;
Deliver us and pardon our sins
for your name’s sake. 

Based on the psalm..