“AND, OH YEAH, HOW ABOUT MY GOOD WORKS?”
Dear God:
I just wanted to write to you and let you know that I am working hard for you. I wanted to tell you all that I am doing for you.
I am prophesying in Your name! And, in Your name I have cast out demons. In Your Name I performed many miracles. I give to the poor, support my church and I support missions. I serve at the local food bank and the local food kitchen, feeding many. I pray. I testify. I invite others to church. Doesn’t that count for something?
(I know, you or I would not deliberately write to God in this fashion. But, I have to wonder if some of our prayers and behaviors don’t say as much?)
GOD REPLIES:
(Your name/my name), My Dear, Child:
” Who (are you, who) has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or (acted) as His counselor has informed Him?” (New American Standard Bible, 1995)
For all have become like one who is unclean, And all your righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of you wither like a leaf, And your iniquities, like the wind, take you away.
“As it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;” (New American Standard Bible 1995)
“For thus says the high and exalted One, Who lives forever, whose name is Holy: “I dwell on a high and holy place with the contrite and lowly of spirit, In order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (New American Standard Bible 1995)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
My Reply:
“Then (I say) to (You), “What must (I) do, to be doing the works of God?”
Jesus answered:
“This is the work of God: Believe (in) Him whom HE has sent.”
My Response:
“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (New American Standard Bible, 1995)
“I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
‘Who (am I) that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”
‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;
Therefore, I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
DEAR GOD. I WILL BE STILL AND KNOW THAT YOU ARE GOD.
His Son,
(Your Brother and Friend),
Mike Young
GOD says, PS: “I love you (your name) . I love you so much, that I really did die for you. And, my Child, I want you to know that my love for you is as high as the heavens are above the earth. (And, don’t try to figure that one out. It’s A LOT. It’s unsearchable.)