Judgment:

            Lord will judge His people:

Hebrews 10:30
30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

            Don’t think you can get away with “murder” just because you’re born again. We will be judged by God. He is patient with us, but He wants us to be a shining light to the world. This doesn’t mean that He goes around slapping us with illness or other afflictions just because we sin. This would be like the thought in Jesus’ day displayed by His disciples when they asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” God starts on the inside to bring about His sanctification in our lives. He doesn’t have to discipline us physically. He does so with His Spirit.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are not alone. I am with you wherever you go. I see and I hear all that is in your heart and in your mouth. I would have you to be a shining example to those around you that they may desire to come unto Me. When one is allowed to do and say whatever he desires, others will not want to come unto Me; for they say that there is no difference between that person and all the others in the world. That is why I want you to walk in My perfection so that they can see that My will is for a perfected people … people who will be a shining example unto others.”

            75. God will judge me. Therefore, I will make sure that I will stand before Him without fear of His judgment.

What You Say or Do:

            Every careless word will render account:  

Matthew 12:36
36 “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.

            It’s bad enough to think that we’ll be judged for the evil things we say, but this says that we’ll be judged for the careless words we speak. We’ve all heard of people who engage their tongues before they engage their brains (can anyone say 2016 Presidential election?).  We’ve all been guilty of this at least once in our lives. When this happens, one very easily could say something he/she later regrets. Our words have power to heal or destroy. Just as God spoke and created the universe, our words have power to bring life or death to ourselves and others. We need to be careful of everything we say. Many times the negative things we say have been preceded by unspoken negative thoughts. Keep watch over your thought life and you will keep watch over your verbal one.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "Do not think that I am against just the really bad things that you say or do. I am against those things that would make people not look to Me as their Savior. Everything that deters them from coming to Me is what I am after … to remove it from your life. Your life should be such that those who see it would want to come after Me and to follow in My footsteps. They cannot want to follow Me if all they see and hear are things that are hurtful to others. Do not think that I am here to judge you. I am here to help you become what you should be … that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect. You are not your own. You were bought with a very high price. It is My blood that bought you, and I would have you to be a perfect example to those in the world that they may come unto Me.”

            74. Every careless word I speak I will render account for it. Therefore, I will closely watch whatever I say.

Chapter 8

Accountability

            We should strive for sanctification because we are accountable to God. It is our destiny. We may not be dancing in the aisles because of it, but it is something that we are destined to face. Not all our destiny is something to write home about joyfully. Yet, in the end it is for our good; as all things from God are good. If we weren’t accountable, we could do as we please and bring shame upon Him and His Kingdom. It is necessary that we live our lives to His glory, not our pleasures.

Can’t Hide Things:

            All is open to His eyes:  

Hebrews 4:13
13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

            “You can run, but you can’t hide” is the saying. This is definitely true with God. There is nowhere we can run that He can’t find us. We also can’t hide anything from Him. I once heard an easy way to remember what the word omniscient means … He knows it. Whatever we’ve said, done, or thought He knows it. In fact He knew we were going to do it before we even thought about doing it.

Since we can’t hide anything from Him, then why try to? He isn’t this way to be mean and punish us. He only wants what is best for us, and this is what will bring us closer to Him and His way of behaving.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are My children, and I see your every move. That is not something to fear, but something to embrace. For I do not watch over you to punish you but to protect you from harm … harm from others and from yourself. You should not fear My oversight, but relish it. I do not do it to harm you, but to bring you into My glory here on earth. It is not that I delight is showing you the bad things you do. It is that I desire that you walk in My righteousness and to know My peace. You cannot know them without My oversight. You would do and say things that would hurt others if I did not watch over you. Trust Me that I will bring you into My freedom … the freedom of the children of God.”

            73. I have nothing to hide from Him, for all things that I say, do, or think are open to His eyes.

Righteous shine forth:

Matthew 13:43
43 “Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

            One day, when He returns, we will shine forth as the sun. Right now, most of us either have our “Sonshine” overshadowed by the dark clouds of unbelievers in our everyday lives, or we choose to not let it be seen for whatever reason. When this time mentioned comes, there will be no darkness left in His kingdom to overshadow us. We will shine forth as the Son.

If you could hear God speak, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are My children, and as such you are the lights of the world. They can see how to come unto Me when you walk as lights to them. They will know Me and how to find Me as you lead them into My paths of righteousness. Walk in My light, and you will be a light to the nations. You are My special ones, and you will shine forth as beacons in a time of storm for all those who perish,”

            72. I am righteous because of Him in me, and I will shine forth in the Kingdom of my Father.

            Truly His desire and our destiny is our sanctification. Why try to fight it? Why try to keep living the way we did before becoming a Christian? It is for our benefit, not our harm to live a sanctified life. Too many people think that means giving up all our “fun” activities. When we walk with Him, we realize that what we thought of as fun isn’t all that great. We can live quite happily without those activities that are displeasing unto Him. It’s your destiny … live it!