“There’s other things to talk about besides Jesus.”

“You don’t always need to bring God into the conversation.”

“I’ve read the Bible, I don’t need to hear about what it says.”

“There are more important things to talk about.”

“If you spent your time doing something else, you could make a lot of money.”

“I just want to enjoy my time.”

“The Bible says ‘Don’t judge’ so why are you judging?”

“God loves everyone, it doesn’t matter what you believe.”

“No one wants to listen to preaching all the time.”

“Stop being hateful.”

“Let them live their life, God still loves them, so should you.”

…

Pretty much all my husband and I talk about nowadays is God, Jesus, and the Bible. And I don’t mean just the conversations between the two of us, but all of our conversations. The quotes listed above are some of the many ways the Devil has tried to stop us. Yes, I said the Devil. No, I am not calling every person we’ve spoken to “the Devil.” I am saying the Devil has worked through all these people. You’re either a servant to God or a slave to the Devil. There is no in between.

The Bible says to test every spirit, and this is why. Just because someone says they believe in God, doesn’t mean they’re serving God. Just because someone goes to church, doesn’t mean they’re serving God. Just because someone knows some Bible verses, doesn’t mean they’re serving God.

When you choose to serve God, you choose to forsake the things of the Devil, the world. You don’t conform God’s word to fit what you do. God’s word conforms you to fit what He says to do. First and foremost being: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Matthew 22:37)

The most important conversation is about God, about bringing more of His people back to the narrow path. Everything else is idle, or careless, conversation.

Matthew 12:36-37

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”

Matthew 15:10-11

“And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”

Mark 16:15

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”

2 Timothy 4:1-4

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Ephesians 4:29

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

…

To bring people back, means you have to be willing to call out sin, no matter who you see it in. It means being bold and speaking with authority. It means loving everyone enough…to be willing to hurt them with hard truth…so they have the opportunity to choose it. If the world ended tomorrow, wouldn’t you want to know you did everything you could to warn those you love?

Ephesians 5:11

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”

Isaiah 54:17

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”

Ezekiel 3:17-19

“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

Proverbs 27:5-6

“Open rebuke is better than secret love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

Proverbs 28:1

“The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

Acts 4:29-30

“And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.”

Revelation 3:19

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

Galatians 6:1

“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”

James 5:19-20

“Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”

1 Timothy 5:20

“Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.”

…

Putting God first…makes the things of the world irrelevant.

Money, clothing, makeup, cars, technology, food… you name it.

If it’s not God, it’s irrelevant.

Matthew 6:31-34

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

Proverbs 11:4

“Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.”

Luke 12:15

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”

Matthew 16:26

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Matthew 6:24

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

1 Timothy 6:10

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

…

The path is narrow because it goes against everything the world says is true, everything the world says is good. Remember that even though yes, God loves everyone… not everyone will be granted everlasting life and peace. If you live a life of sin, your reward is torment and destruction.

Matthew 7:21

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

2 Peter 2:4-10

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority.”

…

Are you still the Devil’s slave?

Jesus is the only one with the keys.