“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. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” – Matthew 7:21-23

This is a frightening word from Jesus!!! He says there will be people who thought they were Christians, but weren’t. People who did extraordinary things in the name of Jesus but didn’t really know Him. Because they didn’t, they will be eternally damned. Your salvation is never based on what you’ve done for Jesus. It’s based on your relationship with Him. That you’ve truly embraced Him as your Lord, Savior, and friend, receiving God’s grace through faith in Him.

Do you know Jesus or just know about Him? Do you have a relationship with Him or just a religion? Are you well connected to Jesus through prayer, reading, studying, and meditating on His words, and serving Him in the power of His Holy Spirit? Do you love spending time with Jesus in praise, prayer, meditation, and even silence? Is He your friend or just a figurehead? Is Jesus your Lord or just a bumper sticker?

Are you increasingly demonstrating the fruit that indicates you have a rich relationship with Jesus? Love? Joy? Peace? Patience? Kindness? Goodness? Faithfulness? Gentleness? Self-control? Transformed words? Transformed actions? Mercy? Forgiveness?

If your answer is no, then don’t delay! Get on your knees and start talking to God about what you believe. What you believe about Him. What you believe about Jesus. What you believe about yourself. Wrestle with whether you’ve truly repented of your sins, confessed them to God, and asked for forgiveness in the name of Jesus. Consider whether you truly love Jesus and have asked Him to be the Lord of your life. Do NOT run the risk of hearing these terrible words from Jesus when you finally meet Him years from now. Meet Him today and accept His kind invitation to #FollowJesus

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” – Matthew 6:14-15

As Jesus delivered the greatest sermon ever preached, He was very blunt that forgiveness isn’t optional for Christians. Just as mercy isn’t optional, neither is forgiveness toward others. If you’ve truly believed and been saved by the Gospel, you’ll be quick to forgive others. Why? Because you know how much God has forgiven you! If you’ve truly asked God’s forgiveness for your sins and been forgiven as a gift of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, then you understand that just as you didn’t deserve to be forgiven, you must forgive others who don’t deserve it.

This can be extraordinarily hard, but you don’t have an option. If Jesus is your Lord, the good news is that He’s already given you the example and the power to forgive. Christians can forgive those who wrong and hurt us because Jesus forgave us. Our sins nailed the Son of God to the cross to die and while He hung on that cross, Jesus forgave us. Your sins nailed Jesus to the cross and while He hung there, Jesus forgave you! Jesus showed us how to forgive people who don’t deserve it.

Because His Spirit lives in every genuine Christian, we also have the power to forgive like He did. If Jesus is your Lord, you can forgive others. Even if they don’t deserve it. You can forgive them to God. You may, or may not, be able to forgive them personally. You can release the anger, hurt, and bitterness that hold your heart hostage. You can and you must. Jesus didn’t give any Christian an exemption from these words. Take time right now to examine your heart and mind. Is there anyone you need to forgive for what they did to you? If so, start talking to God about them right now. Work to release those hard feelings to the Lord. Tell God that you do forgive that person. If possible, think about how you could let them know that they’ve been forgiven and why. #FollowJesus

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” – Matthew 5:7

We all want mercy… for ourselves! Through faith in Jesus Christ, we receive God’s mercy in quantities so enormous that words fail us. We welcome His mercy in our life. We give thanks that God doesn’t give us what we deserve for all the bad things we’ve thought, said, or done. We celebrate that God doesn’t give us what we deserve for all the good things we’ve failed to say or do. We rejoice in God’s mercy!

Does that make you merciful? Truly merciful toward others in the way that God is merciful toward you? Are you as quick to show mercy as you are to ask for, and receive, it? God blesses, favors, and delights in those who are merciful. Is He blessing, favoring, and delighting in you? Are you merciful toward those in need? Are you merciful toward those who are weak or vulnerable? Are you merciful toward those who frustrate or wrong you???

Followers of Jesus have received (and continue to receive) mercy upon mercy from the Lord. It IS NOT optional for us to show mercy toward others! As the foremost beneficiaries for divine mercy, we must overflow with mercy toward others. If we don’t, do we really understand or believe the good news of Jesus Christ? Have we actually been saved and transformed by Christ?

Take some time to think about the mercy you’ve received in Christ. Then think about how much (or little) mercy you show toward other people. Is there a person or group toward which your heart is cold and hard rather than warm and merciful? Ask God to help change your heart, filling it with His mercy. Then enjoy the blessings, and freedom, of being truly merciful. #FollowJesus

“The Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
‘I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.’”
– Isaiah 56:8

God is the Gatherer of Outcasts! Not just outcasts of Israel but of all the nations on Earth. God loves those on the fringes, those looked down upon, laughed at, or left out in the world. In fact, God is gathering to Himself a beautiful family of outcasts from every nation and ethnic group on the planet. A new family of brothers and sisters praising Jesus as Lord in all the languages of the world. We catch a glimpse of that family in Revelation 7. There are no outcasts in Heaven!

Do you ever feel like an outcast? You certainly aren’t in God’s eyes! You are very precious to the Lord. Indeed, you are worth Jesus sacrificing His life for you! In God’s family, you are a beloved child. Never an outcast. The world may treat you like an outcast, especially once you’re a follower of Jesus. But it doesn’t change who you really are in Jesus Christ! Royalty. An ambassador. A priest of God. Certainly not an outcast. #FollowJesus

“Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
– Isaiah 55:7

This is the fundamental invitation of God! He is merciful and gracious. He wants to have a relationship with people, regardless of who they are. Nobody has to do anything to make that relationship possible because Jesus already did everything required. People just need to recognize that they’ve distanced themselves from God by sin and turn away from those sins, coming to the Lord, asking forgiveness in the name of Jesus. When they do, they will always be forgiven and welcomed into God’s family as a gift of grace given through faith in Jesus.

Who in your life needs to hear this invitation today? Who needs to know that God is compassionate and forgiving? That He’s always ready to welcome them with open arms when they turn from their sinful ways and embrace Jesus as their Lord? That there’s a place in God’s family for them? That it isn’t too late to live a transformed life pleasing to God?

Now, what are you waiting for… go tell them this good news!!! #FollowJesus