Speaking Truth in the Power of the Holy Spirit

Have you ever been in a room full of people when someone spoke something foolish or just plain wrong about what they said, while the entire room remained silent, allowing the misinformed or arrogant one to have their say without challenge?

 

All too often the one who speaks sinful attitudes or even evil beliefs, gets away with it entirely because everyone else in the room are too nice to cause further discomfort by countering the foolishness. 

 

There are several problems with this, since the majority, whether they agree with the arrogant person or not will align themselves with the stronger personality just to fit in, avoiding shunning, leaves the weaker vessels with the impression that one should never cause trouble by challenging sinfulness. Never mind that the sinful person was allowed to have his say, but the righteous one is intimidated into silence for lack of support.

 

We have lost the ability as a culture to stand alone for what is right, giving up the opportunities to bring good sense to matters, we have abdicated our responsibility to speak truth, while the evil one has been allowed to carry on, influencing many who are weak.

We are called sheep in God's Word, when one sheep runs, all the others will do it too, without ever stopping to consider if there is a good reason to run.

 

People act like this often, they will automatically support and align themselves with the one everyone in the room seems to like without evaluating the situation objectively. 

 

If we are all in with Christ, then we will challenge anyone even a dear one we love, to bring truth to the table. No one is so special or elevated that we should risk holiness or truth to make them like us.

There is also an interesting twist to all this, if one person in the room full of people, gets violently angry, many if not most of the onlookers think the victim must have done something wrong. Narcissists count on this tactic to intimidate those who become their targets. Often it is the one who corrects who is seen as the trouble maker, rather than the one who has sinned.

 

When we have heroes and icons that we look up to, it is very hard to see the side of them that is not quite right. No one is right all the time, so why do sheep choose not to evaluate an icon or hero? The reason is that the person who has heroes, have placed their trust in them rather than in Christ. If a hero has a chink in their armor, they might not have a hero anymore, in fact the hero becomes the target when they no longer measure up. 

 

When we have trusted Christ we are able to love people God's way, with all their warts and personality flaws. When we have heroes we are more likely to fall hard when they don't measure up to our idea of perfection. Those who are prone to elevate people to this degree, cannot love anyone who they think does not measure up to their own ideas of wonderful. 

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away."

 

I have had relationships in Christ that were wonderful, some of them here on facebook. We may not agree on everything, but there is honor and respect expressed in the disagreement. Those who fight to win quickly drop off because the meanness is not tolerated, it is met with rebuke and removal if the one involved will not learn respect. 

 

I have written this in a post recently but thought it was worth posting again, the quote from Albert Einstein;

 

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."

Training for the Millennium?

When we are focused on Christ, Who lives in us, we will be obeying Him, in whatever He is commanding us.

 

The more we focus on Him and our heavenly home the more useful we will be on earth.

 

Sadly many people are depending on an earthly government to bring them peace and wealth, they are worried and upset about all they see happening, mostly their comfort on this earth. They are repelled by the idea of loss of freedom and money, these things are nice and we have enjoyed this... for nearly as long as we have been a country, however it is not guaranteed by God, nor should it be our most important goal here. 

 

I have no worries because this earth is not my home. I am here on assignment, nothing here dominates my thinking except the lost souls who need Christ and to encourage the saints, while learning from them.

 

Brothers and sisters our focus out to be the body of Christ first and then the lost souls. In order to be useful in evangelism, we must also be building one another up in the faith, not for the purpose of encouragement alone, but to equip one another to stand strong in the face of opposition and to be a light in this sin sick world.

 

Matthew 5:16 ""Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

 

Do we realize our position in Christ, is seated with Him right now?

Ephesians 2:6-7 "6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."

Our riches are not of this world, they are spiritual. When we desire wealth and freedom more than anything else we have forgotten that Christ was poor by our standards, the apostles were not wealthy, many gave up any thought of wealth to follow Christ, for the greater riches of spiritual blessings, such as greater faith, gratefulness for the sacrifice for payment of our sin, wisdom about life, direction for all things.

 

Is it possible that our life here on earth is our training for ruling in the Millennium? We are told that we will reign with Christ on this earth.

2 Timothy 2:12 "If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;"

 

Revelation 20:4 "4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years."

 

Daniel 7:27 "27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be handed over to the saints, the people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.'"

Don't Play At Dating

When a young person is dating it is good to recognize a narcissist before getting trapped in their web of deception. The first thing to remember is that it is wise to know the Word of God well, using it as the bench mark for evaluating the relationship with another person.

Whenever we see arrogance or resistance to the Word of God, even rage when challenged to evaluate everything in terms of the word, we can be sure we are dealing with a pretender and mocker. 

 

There cannot be enough warning about this matter of selfishness and phony spirituality in terms of anyone you might be considering for marriage. 

 

Remember that the deception can be so cleaver that it can only be seen when we spend lots of time evaluating responses to many experiences and how it relates to the Biblical description of a believer who walks in the Holy Spirit. 

 

It should be natural and without thinking to help another person in need. Someone who is selfless will not have to think about whether or not to help another person, nor will they have to be convinced to do it. A selfless person will jump right in without thinking, filling the need immediately. However a wise person will see signs of manipulation quickly and discern whether this person is really in need or having ulterior motives. 

 

The depth of a person's Scriptural understanding will be evidence in their discernment. A discerning person may not know all the details but the Holy Spirit will warn them, that something is not right and they will go to prayer about it, for God to reveal the problem. 

 

When we notice that someone we are dating is focused on pleasure and promotion of self through their responses to small things, we must then watch carefully for a time to discern their every day attitudes.

 

How does this person treat their own parents, how does this person respond to calamities in life, what is their response to criticism no matter how small? Defensiveness is a clue, rage is an even bigger clue. The selfish person will retaliate, often in covert ways others may not be able to see. The selfish person will not want to discuss important matters, they merely want hard things to go away without a hitch, leaving things unresolved. They are unwise because they believe difficult things will work themselves out. 

 

When we see we have become a target for cruelty because of a challenge, we should have the good sense to run like a rabbit from the relationship.

 

If physical attraction or attention to us is driving our involvement with a person, then we are headed for disaster in our choice of a spouse. Selfish people can display intense interest in us while dating, even using flattery often to keep us interested, this is not an indication of whether or not they would make a loving wise spouse.

 

Proverbs 26:24-28 "Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart; when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart; though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin. "

 

There is really no excuse for being caught in a marriage that is a disaster, except that we have followed our feelings while refusing to see the signs. Many people get caught in bad marriages because everything they think, is based on the attention and flattery they experience before the marriage.

 

Even associations in terms of friends and relatives ought to be based on a kinship in Christ, not blood, not flattery, not success or any other worldly trapping.

 

Proverbs 29:5 "A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth a net for his feet."

 

When we have a kinship in Christ, we ought to be able to express our viewpoints, even in disagreements without the other person demeaning, manipulating, mocking or raising their voice to intimidate. When we see these things happening, we know a truly godly relationships will be impossible. 

 

Mutual respect for one another is demonstrated in a loving discussion based on coming to an agreement through Scripture. Those who have a desire to be elevated above us continually, will not stop in one discussion, they will make us a target for rejection and reputation destruction. Those who mock and demean others will not stop, they will diminish you about everything you do. Their goal is to make you feel as small as they can as often as they can, because they must conquer you to feel superior to you. They will not stop at just you, they will attempt to pull others into the mix, making you appear evil or crazy, no narcissist wants to be the only one who hates their target.

 

I sense that I cannot warn young people enough about this phenomena of narcissism that is growing in these end times. It is hard enough to keep a marriage together in these days when most people accept divorce and remarriage as natural and normal. When we know God teaches that marriage is until death, we must be wise in our choice. We cannot be wise when we don't know the Word of God and when we are overtaken by appearance and fleshly flattery.

 

Narcissists are often obsessed with physical appearance, evaluating success in terms of prestige in the community or wealth. 

Marriage is far more than what we think we see in dating circumstances. Most people getting married today don't want the adult version of self sacrifice, mutual respect and honor. Most people getting married today want the child's version, the fun stuff not based on anything substantive or deeply worthwhile.

 

The bottom lines is this; unless the new marriages are based on the principles of Christ, knowing the Word intimately, character qualities outlined there, then the possibility of a marriage lasting is very slim in our present culture.

 

Deuteronomy 4:29 ""But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul."

 

Jeremiah 29:13 "13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. "

 

Do not go into dating or marriage thinking your good looks, money and flattery are going to make a good marriage, this thinking will ruin anyone who lives by it. 

 

1 Chronicles 16:11

"Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually."

 

Evaluate, question and test, while watching the response to these tests on the part of the potential spouse. And most of all, seek God every day before marriage, never let emotions guide your thinking or decisions. God will warn those who want to hear from Him. Listen to the warnings, pray when not sure and obey when God says to evacuate! Lastly, be willing to wait on the Lord, when you wait on the Lord you will not be disappointed. It is better to be alone waiting on God with the potential of a lovely godly spouse, than it is to be stuck in a terrible marriage for the rest of your life, which is the expectation when we are believers. When we make those vows, it is done, God makes the two one and no man can undo that. 

 

Matthew 19:4-6 "He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 

 

A marriage guided by God will not be perfect, because we forget to consult Him, but it will be solid, things will become resolved and love will grow.

 

Ecclesiastes 4:12 "And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart."

Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil."

 

Amos 3:7 "“For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets."

 

Final note, never let anyone into your life after marriage that will attempt to divide the marriage. There will be people who think they know us, they think they know the depth of our relationships when they do not. They will sow seeds of distrust and dissention into the marriage to divide, often for the purpose of gaining the trust of one of the parties in the marriage to manipulate them. Get those people out of the relationship, they have the potential of causing great damage.

 

Romans 16:17-18 "17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple."

 

Each marriage must decide for themselves how they will live and what they believe about the Word of God. No one should be allowed to enter that relationship that will divide. There are those who believe everyone should think just like they do, if they do not think like they do, they begin their covert acts of manipulation to divide. God states that we should not allow divisive people in the church gathering, neither should we allow them in our marriages.

 

Proverbs 6:16-19 These six things the Lord hates,

Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:

17 A proud look,

A lying tongue,

Hands that shed innocent blood,

18 A heart that devises wicked plans,

Feet that are swift in running to evil,

19 A false witness who speaks lies,

And ONE WHO SOWS DISCORD AMONG BRETHREN.