“NOT EVERYONE WHO SAYS TO ME, ‘LORD, LORD,’WILL ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN,BUT ONLY THE ONE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN.” MT 7:21, 24-27
Humbly submit your will to God (Thy Will be done) and consecrate yourself to Jesus through Mary and Joseph.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.” MT 7:21, 24-27
What is the “will of my Father”? What has been left behind for us to learn who we are in Christ? The eyewitness accounts of those who walked with Jesus in the Scriptures. We have a great gift in our Apostolic faith. We are called to seek out the Truth Christ revealed about the will of the Father. Here we find what the Apostles, Paul, the holy women and saints with the guidance of the Holy Spirit have passed down in Scripture and Tradition.
The Catholic Church has an unbroken link of bishops who have proclaimed the Truths Jesus revealed about the “will of my Father”. If the true intention of a person’s heart is to “enter the Kingdom of heaven”, they will seek Jesus and the Truth in the Scriptures and His life that enters them through a faithful sacramental life. Bishop Barron recommends a person look at St Paul’s reading in Galatians 5 if they want to know if they are doing God’s Will.
Freedom for Service.
[j] 13 For you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve[k] one another through love. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[l] 15 But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.
16 I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.[m] 17 For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want. 18 But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 [n]Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions,21 occasions of envy,[o] drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ [Jesus] have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit. 26 Let us not be conceited, provoking one another, envious of one another. Gal 5:13-26
A person can see if they are doing God’s will in their lives if they see the fruits of the Spirit in their lives.
Since Jesus Christ died and resurrected, we receive the Holy Spirit and the grace of God floods our heart and soul to wash away Original Sin and sanctifies us, makes us holy. We are branded with Christ. Holiness is perfection in God’s eyes, not doing everything perfect, being nervous about everything, worrying about everything, planning everything perfectly, but emptying self, putting on/filling ourselves up with Christ and loving all those we encounter. Also, seeking out those who need our love outside our homes and jobs. We must be holy to enter heaven, where the holiest of holies dwells.
God is complete in Himself we cannot add anything to Him. Our lives are a complete gift, offer your life back to Him, doing His work and returning to Him sanctified like the day you were baptized. Live to give Him glory who gave us everything! When we don’t, we lose the power of the Cross, Jesus’ death and resurrection for us.
When we fall away from Jesus, He does not leave us. He stays planted firmly with us, waiting for us to return ready to give us love and mercy. We have every spiritual power in us (intellect, will, memory), we have God in us in the Holy Spirit, we must take time to listen in silence each day to prepare for the battle that starts in our mind to what God has to say in our heart, then put on the armor of God and be ready for the battle to stay holy.
Today’s Advent challenge: Learn to be still. Sit in silence and listen to God in your heart. If the fruits of the Spirit are not present in your life, ask God what you must do to change. Be a servant, fight for holiness, become a saint!
Be a servant be a saint today!
#Christian YOLO
Fr. Michael Schmitz on “Am I doing God’s will”
1. Did you pray today?
2. Are you in the state of grace?
3. Are you doing your daily tasks?
And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. This stuck out to be because if God tells us something and we don’t act on it nothing will change.
This scripture is telling us to not only loosely follow God and pray to him, but to follow the law He has given us. Do not only believe in Him, expecting to get into Heaven, but do the will He tells us to do.