15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
v 15-20 is one of those I think gets taken out of context. Esp the "by their fruits you will know them ." Reading this, it is clear that he is speaking of false prophets, but it's almost as though we take that verse 20 and apply it to everything/everyone/every situation.
ReplyDeleteAnd then we have the relationship piece starting with v. 21 - Josh I was thinking about this the last couple days. Why is it so hard for me to pray? It's not because I really think that you're judging my prayer is it? No, it's because it would be letting into my most intimate relationship with God - and that is terrifying because that is all that is left. I understand that it will be important, and maybe even necessary as Shad said on Monday night for our marriage. There is no "stupid prayer"- and if you disagree keep that to yourself ;-)
But in all seriousness we can't really grow together and strengthen our relationship with God if I'm so worried that you'll think my prayer is stupid, or repetitive (often what I need clarity on is repetitive, which you know this about me).
Love you Mr. Have a good day at work! Thank you for the nice morning ;-)