Today's Passage - Matthew 7:21-23

Matthew 7:21-23   "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 who is in heaven.  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 in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"   May God help us not just to see the outside of those who serve the Lord.  God values the servants much more than the work assigned to the servants.  He values how the life of a servant is shaped.  People often only see the outcome on the outside and determine whether the servant is godly, but when God looks at the servant He looks at the inside.   This is evident from comparing David and Saul.  From human perspective, David committed adultery and indirectly murdered someone.  How could someone like that ever enter the kingdom of God?  Saul was actually not a bad king and he rules the country well, but the Bible praised David because he was a man after God's heart.  God saw David's inside; David repented for his sins and turned back to God and cried out to God.  Saul, however, committed sin but never dared to accept his own failures, and used all kinds of excuses to blame on others.  God values how a life is shaped; even though some people can perform miracles, it's wrong to just focus on the miracles because enemy can also perform miracles.  Verse 21 clearly says that the condition for entering God's kingdom is that you become "one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."  In other word, it's not critical whether miracles are performed, but whether one understands and follows the will of God.   Some people quote this passage when they oppose signs and wonders, which is wrong.  The passage is often used to criticize the validity of miracles by those who don't understand the complete truth of God.  They use partial truth based on self-righteousness to criticize the signs and wonders performed by others.  Actually, this passage means that if one wants to enter the kingdom of God, he must understand the will of God and be willing to follow it.  No matter whether one performs miracles or not, if he doesn't follow God's will, he will not enter the kingdom of God.  May God help us, let us be reminded through this passage that God values the most how our life is built up and shaped when we are serving Him.  May God receive the greatest glory through our lives!   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, we thank you because you value and also shape our lives.  Help us to fix our eyes on you and what you what to do.  In our daily life, let us not just value the outside, but instead our life inside you, and help us to follow your will.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!         Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow us on our Facebook page!