Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes

“But what think ye?  A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.  He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.  And he came to the second, and said likewise.  And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.  Whether of them twain did the will of his father?  They say unto him, The first.  Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.  For John cam unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.”  (Matt 21:28-32) 

“To Know God’s Will” …..  We ALL have been given his commandments, but how many are obedient to his word? For to HEAR the word is one thing, but to DO the word is another. 

In these passages of scripture, the Lord speaks directly to those who’ve come to question his authority.  In using a parable, he illustrates the act of obedience and disobedience in sons towards their father.  Here we have two sons.  Both received the same instructions from their father.  One was not asked to do anything greater than the other, but both were required to do the same thing.  One heard the word from his father, and after repenting from his immediate response of rejecting his father’s instruction, surrendered to his will and heeded to his command.  The other son also heard the word from his father and answered immediately “yes” with his mouth, but “no” with his heart as he did not fulfill the will of his father.  These two sons represent every single human being in the universe as there will be some who will hear the word of the Lord, repent of their sins, and submit to his will.  While there will be others who will not. 

The Lord says here in the book of Matthew Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.  He was not just speaking to the “chief priests, scribes and elders” of old, but was speaking to every puffed-up, self-righteous, “professing” believer who have with their OWN mouths spoken quickly in saying YES to God, but with their OWN hearts have said NO, and demonstrated this in the rejection of his commands by not fulfilling his will.  While the waters were “calm”, we picked up our cross and openly spoke the words “YES LORD, I will follow YOU”, but once the waters raged and the storm came, we threw down our cross and headed the other direction all the while still saying “YES, I will follow YOU”.  We have publicly declared in the presence of others, with our own speech that holds us accountable, YES and AMEN to the commandments of the Lord, and yet in secret (but openly to the Lord as he hears and sees all) we’ve not followed His will.   You may say, “this is not me, for I have not the words of a hypocrite as I do NOT speak that which I will NOT do”.  Be not as the scribes and Pharisees were, who put on the “robes of righteousness”, but hearts were far from the Lord.  Outwardly appearing righteous before man, but within filled with hypocrisy and iniquity.  Being careful of cleaning the “outside” of the cup, but within full of “dead men’s bones” and all uncleanness.  Let each man examine his own heart against the Word of God, and thus determine then if he is following the will of God.  For “To Know God’s will”, is to Know God’s WORD!    

In His Word he has given the commandment to Love, the very first and greatest commandment being “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matt 22:37) yet how many believers truly heed to this, for to Love the Lord with all our hearts is to love him with every part of our being.  It is to place him ABOVE all else, giving him the absolute supreme priority in our lives.   Nothing and no one should come before him.   Not even our husbands, wives nor children, sisters nor brothers, friends nor acquaintances, nor any material thing which is idol worship, nor our careers or jobs, and yes not even our ministry work for there are times we may get caught up in doing what we consider the “work of the Lord”, where we lose the true intimacy of spending quality time alone WITH the Lord.  He has also given the command “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” and declared this commandment to be like unto the first and greatest commandment saying: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” One needs to only look at the state of the church to see we HAVE NOT heeded to this command for IF we truly loved one another, there would be no strife nor division.  IF we truly loved one another there would be no bitterness, hatred, jealousy, contentions, prejudice, favoritism, gossip and the like among the brethren.  Love IS the fulfillment of the Law and the Lord has declared in His word,  that the world would know we are His, IF we have love one for another.   The ONLY way the world would know we are of Christ is through witnessing our LOVE for one another.  Otherwise, they will only HEAR our “famous speech” about love, but SEE our wicked deeds of hate, and this may turn many away from the message of the cross rather than drawing them near.  For an individual is MORE MOVED by the very ACT of LOVE, rather then the SPEECH of love.  Thus we must treat one another in the manner we so desire to be treated and live our lives as so COMMANDED of the Lord.  The way we treat one another is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves.

The Lord God has given each one of us the very SAME commandment, thus there should be not ONE “believer” in confusion and bewilderment as to what the PERFECT will of the Father is.  As individuals we may have been called into a particular work, thus we must seek the wisdom of God to determine this, but as a WHOLE BODY the commandments he’s given REMAIN the same for every one of us.  As the father in this parable gave the same instructions to both sons, which of two shall we liken ourselves unto.  The one who REPENTED and did the will of his father, or the one who only gave LIP SERVICE.  Be not just HEARERS of the Word but DOERS of the Word.

I love you all so very much. Have a blessed week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we do, do ALL for the GLORY of GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the PRAISE!

May the peace of the Lord be with you today and always…….

Khandielese
Daughter & Servant
   of the Lord God