09 August 2020
Two-Minute Features | 16 August 2020 | 02 August 2020

Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 4 (TMF:1435)

Friday, August 14, 2020
Peace to Live By: Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 4 (TMF:1435) - Daniel Litton
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       We cannot, however, just consider outward works alone in evaluating our own lives, as to whether we are in the faith or not. For Jesus listed outward works here—none of which qualified the person as a Christian and to enter the kingdom of Heaven. These people in the passage were prophesying in Jesus’s name, casting out demons in his name, and doing many mighty works in his name. So, these are things done with the Christian label, and not just humanitarian things. These people had invoked Jesus’ name while accomplishing their works. This is where it gets concerning. Notice the power then behind the works, and there is great deception here. These people were able to predict the future, for one. And how could this be possible? Isn’t God the only one who knows the future? Actually, no, but some demons have the ability to see into the future. Remember the servant girl who had followed Paul and Silas around in Acts chapter 16? She had a demon that she used for fortune telling—the demon allowed her to see into the future.

Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 3 (TMF:1434)

Thursday, August 13, 2020
Peace to Live By: Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 3 (TMF:1434) - Daniel Litton
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       Let us bring to mind what Jesus has taught us elsewhere in Matthew. If we go over to Matthew chapter 12, we read the following: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit” (v. 33, ESV). This is the key here to understanding what Jesus is telling us. He says that we recognize who a person really is by the fruit he or she bears in life. This is in contrast, obviously, with what they say—for they have called Jesus “Lord” in the passage. In essence, Jesus is saying that you tell if a person is truly his follower by what you see the person doing in life—though his behaviors. Is the person one who abstains from sin? Does the person display the fruit of the Spirit—“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)? The tree then, as Jesus has said, is known by its fruit.

Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 2 (TMF:1433)

Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Peace to Live By: Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 2 (TMF:1433) - Daniel Litton
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       So, while you may have a group of people who profess and acknowledge Jesus as Lord, some will go to Heaven and some will not. Therefore, it’s pretty important here that we understand those who are not going, so that we will not be part of that group and end up going to Hell when we die. Jesus lays out a stipulation for those of his who get to go to Heaven. And what is that stipulation? Well, he says the only person who gets to go to Heaven is “the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (ESV). So, what does this mean? At first glance, I also thought it meant it’s the person who does good works is the one who gets to go to Heaven. That’s what he seems to be saying on the surface. But we know from other places in the New Testament that no one gets into Heaven by works, but by the gift of God’s grace—the acceptance and belief in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross on our behalf—that’s what gets us into Heaven. God’s salvation is a gift. How then is it that the person who does God’s will is the one who gets to go to Heaven?

Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 1 (TMF:1432)

Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Peace to Live By: Is Calling Jesus "Lord" Enough? Part 1 (TMF:1432) - Daniel Litton
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       In getting started today, let’s turn to Matthew chapter 7. This will be the final saying we look at in the Sermon on the Mount. Let’s go to verse 21. The text says: "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, ESV). What a frightful passage we have here. Probably the biggest question on everyone’s mind is, “Who is Jesus talking about here?” And that’s a good question, and one that we absolutely need to have answered correctly. Notice that Jesus starts this passage by saying, “Not everyone.” That’s significant because it shows that among us Christians there are people who call Jesus “Lord, Lord,” but are not going to go to Heaven when they die.

God Wants to be Your God (TMF:1431)

Monday, August 10, 2020
Peace to Live By: God Wants to be Your God (TMF:1431) - Daniel Litton
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       God wants to be your God. He wants everyone to believe in him, no exceptions. No matter what you’ve done in your life—how far you’ve strayed away from God, he wants you to come to him in brokenness and humbleness. God is in the business of saving lives and giving people new lives, and that includes you today, if you will believe in Him. Recognize that your current way of living isn’t giving you the true fulfillment that you are desperately seeking, and realize that God wants you to be fulfilled in Him. If you want to accept Jesus Christ today as your personal Lord—if you want to accept Jesus today, then follow my lead in this prayer: God, I realize today that I don’t have life inside me. The life I have been living isn’t right, and today I want to turn from this life and have a new life in you. I give myself over to you. Please forgive me of my sins from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and resurrection, and make me to live in a new way. Give me life through Jesus, one that he has created. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.