Have you narrowed in on salvation?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
(Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV))

Which is easier, entering through a narrow entrance that you have to squeeze through or a wide entrance with plenty of room?

Think back on all the things that you have or have done that are the most important to you. Did they come easy or did they take work and perseverance? I would venture to say that nothing in this life worth having actually came easy. Even your own salvation carried a heavy price. You did not pay that price. Jesus paid it for you. It was difficult to bear. We could not have bore that price. If you stop to think about it, it is probably safe to say that for each of us to accept that salvation also bore quite a heavy burden. It was difficult to face the realization and to admit that “I am a sinner and I need a savior.”

Do you remember when you came to that realization? It was probably the hardest thing to admit, yet, once it was done, the weight of the world was lifted off of your shoulders. You had made a conscious decision that you were no longer going to enter the rest of your life through the wide gate. You were going to enter through the narrow gate that God had set before you.

Has that decision led to a life that has been easy? Has society embraced your decision to abandon the wide gate that everybody uses? If you accept the principle that the physical world has corresponding counterparts in the spiritual world, then we must realize that nothing worth having spiritually will be easy. Satan does not want you to have the grace and the mercy that is offered through that narrow gate. He will fight to keep you from it. You must fight to stay within it.

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Godly love is tough love calling for repentance!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
(1 John 3:11 (NIV))

I honestly believe that our society has twisted what it means to love each other.

Think about that for a moment. We used to correct and discipline each other because we loved each other. We, as a society, did not want to see each other fall into sins that became habits that became lifestyles. We loved each other enough to try and offer guidance and correction so that no one would stumble and fall. We literally took each other on as a responsibility because we understood the concept that it is easier to guide than it is to recover from a fall. We also understood the consequences of sin, both short term and eternal.

Sadly, in today’s society, we are considered hateful if we try to offer guidance. We are only looked upon as loving if we completely accept everything about each other.

If that is how love works, then we need to be honest with ourselves and admit that we hate ourselves. After all, everybody has something in their lives that they hate. By that logic, if we can’t accept everything about ourselves, then we must hate ourselves.

Human nature proves that statement to be incorrect, after all, self-preservation is a very strong human characteristic.

Godly love is not acceptance, but a desire to see what is best for each other.

Is addiction good for anybody?

Is hatred good for anybody?

Is rebellion against God good for anybody?

Is sin ever in anybody’s interests?

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
(Romans 3:23 (NIV))

Is eternal separation from God good for anybody?

It is for this reason that we must tell people about Jesus, and not the watered down Jesus that accepts our sins without asking us to repent. Jesus showed tough love.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
(Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV))

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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