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The Lord recently took me through a sobering experience some weeks ago. I realized that if I'd left this world before He taught me a crucial lesson, my next port of call would not have been heaven.
You might wonder what could be in my life and character that would have kept me out of heaven. God revealed aspects of my personality that I hadn't fully yielded to Him. As such, my flesh was derailing my journey to heaven. And it was all my fault because I hadn't allowed the Lord to rid me of the aspects that needed to go.
This was a tough pill to swallow. God pulled back layers - almost like an onion's skin - to reveal the parts of me He wanted gone. As reality dawned, I cried out for mercy and repented. Indeed, as Hebrews 10:31 states, it is a terrible thing to be in the hands of the Lord. When He reveals the truth about your flesh and what it is doing to you, it can be painful.
Nevertheless, I knew His goal in revealing these things wasn't to condemn but to save. Years ago, I learned from King Asa's experience that when God reveals flaws it is better to repent as David did when Prophet Nathan confronted him after he killed Uriah, Bathsheba's husband. Nobody, least of all me, wants to deal with the alternative.
I prayed for a new spirit and a new heart, leaning on His word in Ezekiel 36:26 - I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And can I tell you something? He was faithful enough to deliver! Overnight I felt different. I had a new understanding of 2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. He restored the joy of His salvation in me. And by His grace, I'm walking with Him like a newborn lamb. My legs are a bit wobbly as He trains me afresh but I know He's right there to guide and keep me safe.
Realizing that my life was lacking the complete submission needed to enter heaven made me realize I couldn't be the only one in that position. Many of us are living better than unbelievers and while that is good it is not enough because our flesh is not fully submitted to God. And where the flesh has dominance, there is sin. The Bible alerts us that where there is sin, there is death.
Allow God to have His way with you today. There may be aspects of your character that still need finetuning. Let Him handle that. Consider the things you do or say then regret. Place each of these things at His feet and allow Him to remove them from you. All they do is satisfy the desires of your flesh. You've got to hate the desires of the flesh if not God will leave you with them.
God bless you. Join us for today's fellowship when we'll spend the last 10 minutes praying to kill the desires of the flesh so they don't kill us and derail our journey to heaven.
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