Am I intentionally adding obedience to the words of Christ, to my genuine faith in Him?

21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  22 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 perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!' 24 "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. 25 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.  26 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. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

INSIGHT:  I think of the thousands that go to the “revivals” of false prophets and get sucked into the false signs and miracles being done in the name of Jesus, but which are being done by the power of the devil.  There were the “fire tunnels” and “glory clouds” at Bill Johnson’s church in Redding, CA, the being “slain/jerking uncontrollably” at the Todd Bentley meetings and Jesus Culture concerts, the gold teeth fillings, gold dust showing up on pastors, manna and precious stones falling from heaven, and thousands of false prophesies and so-called words of knowledge.  It makes me indignant to see people get sucked into the devil’s traps so easily, because I too almost got sucked into it.  I started going to a charismatic church and was introduced to videos of all this supernatural stuff and supposed “revivals” happening at certain churches.  It was fascinating at first and I began to feel as if I was missing out on the power of God (Just like Eve in the garden).  I even said, “Lord, if I’m missing anything you have for me, I want it, so I can do your work.”

A friend of mine once told me that 99% of the truth is the biggest lie.  This is the devil’s best strategy—wrap the deadly lie in so much truth that you cannot detect it (Rat poison is 99% nutritious).  Shortly after seeing the videos, I began listening to the podcasts of some of these teachers.  A large percent of the teaching seemed true and powerful; but then came the deadly %.  There was a gross twisting of key passages and doctrines that I knew no real man of God could possibly believe.  It was a grievous perversion, but you had to really listen to a lot of teaching to hear it.  I was so thankful for the thousands of hours of study time I had put in the Bible.  It’s as if God forces the false prophets to leave clues of their true nature, but it often calls for Berean style diligence (Acts 17:11) to see them.  Therefore, we must stop allowing our pastors to do our studying for us.  After all my study on this subject, here is my very top safety tip.  As soon as you go to a certain church, a certain teacher/pastor, a certain crusade, or a certain conference looking for a miracle, or to see the supernatural, you are likely headed towards evil!  In the Kingdom of God, your job is to seek and love God through obedience, and to trust Him to bring the supernatural if He chooses.  Don’t ever go looking for the supernatural.  As soon as a person tries to bypass intentional obedience to the words of Christ, and instead tries to go get “filled” with the Spirit, or to find their miracle, they are going to meet with evil spirits who will gladly put on a supernatural show for you, take over your life, and destroy your faith in God.

“Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  Forget about John 3:16 for a while. ARE YOU OBEYING Mat 7:21-27?  This is one of the scariest and most important of Jesus' teachings for the times we are living in now. 

I think of the shock when so many “Christians” stand before Christ and find out that they are going to hell, not heaven.  This sobering passage reminds me to ask, “Am I intentionally practicing His teachings, and do I have evidence that He actually knows me, and that His Spirit is truly in me, or am I just a religious hypocrite and pretender who will one day hear, “I never knew you?”