God's Instructions for the Abused

Narcissists have a very low threshold for criticism. They fall apart at the idea that they may not be perfect or wonderful.

The humble person is unaffected by those who would not agree with them, they are secure within themselves, they feel no need to attack or demean anyone simply because they disagree. There is no sense of feeling the need to be above anyone else.

The narcissist must destroy those who do not agree with them or have intimated in any way that they don't know everything and are in need of instruction.

If you have a good idea and you express it to the narcissist, if we are the target of contempt, the narcissist will pretend to dislike the idea, but later use it claiming that it was their own from the beginning.

The narc must act as though all good ideas come from them, that the target can do no right. The favored people of the narc are elevated to god like status, any criticism of those people will be met with covert tactics of demeaning to knock down the target. Narcissists have idols in their life in the form of people of power, education or career status. They cannot tolerate close friends who are not "special", unless that lower person worships them.

Sadly narcs cannot have anyone in their life as a primary friend, who does not elevate them, fawn over them or think of them as gurus to seek out for advice. The narc cannot play second fiddle to anyone ever. They must be the center of attention while dismissing anyone who does not make them that center.

Anyone who dares to be confident in their own right, will be a target. The narc cannot stand that someone thinks for themselves, makes their own decisions, without their input. They are also uncomfortable around those who have joy and display happiness. There is the sense in the narc that they must do something to undermine that happiness, often by rejecting the advice or accomplishments of the one for which they have contempt.

I have had narcs in my life who thought they could control our marriage by elevating my husband and demeaning me for the purpose of devaluing and hurting me. Thankfully our marriage is strong and they only managed to expose themselves for what they were.

In their mind, if they could get my husband to think as contemptuously of me as they do, then they have won in negating me completely. One way they do this is to do demeaning and disrespectful things covertly, out of sight of my husband, expecting my husband not to believe me when I tell him what happened.

One of the favored manipulations of the devil has the potential of destroying families. If he can ruin relationships in families through lies, deceptions and covert meanness, he can undermine our Christian witness.

There is a movie that all old movie buffs would recognize, it's called "Gaslight." It is the story of a husband who tried to drive his wife insane by doing strange things, blaming them on her, causing her to believe she was losing her mind. These are the same tactics of the narcissist. If they can get their target to believe they are making a big deal out of nothing, the narc can appear level headed, innocent and shocked, while the target is left confused and even doubting what they know they saw.

One of the tactics of the narcs in my life, was to come right out and say "I don't respect you, but I respect him." They didn't have anything to disrespect, they just hated that I was not easily manipulated or controlled by them.

Narcissists cannot stand those who understand what they are, those who know them and what they are doing are sought out for further narcissistic abuse. Of course there is a continuum, some will be worse than others, but no matter, it is all sin.

This is an attempt to make me look petty and crazy. When these things continue to happen on a regular basis, we know we have encountered a "covert narcissist."

We see this increasing in our culture because of the self-esteem teaching that has led the next generation to believe they don't have to respect anyone they don't want to respect. They have been taught all their life how wonderful they are and think they can demean and pick on anyone who does not make them special.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have encountered young people who rage when they are told they are wrong, or who become very upset when corrected or instructed. It is anathema to this generation for anyone to suggest that they are in need of attitude adjustment.

The Lord is slowly removing from our lives these self-proclaimed gods who claim we are evil when in fact they are the evil ones. I have said it many times in my writings, the devils' favorite tactic is to accuse us of doing the very thing the narcissist is doing but we are not.

Narcissists dream up offenses toward others to hide their own sin. It's akin to the mentality, "get them before they discover us."

I see clearly now how the devil is using the 2 Timothy 3 tactics to come after the believer. Those who speak against sin and disobedience will be targeted for cruelty for refusing to buckle to the whims of the narcissist, even over the smallest and most insignificant matters. Narcissists always major on the minors and minor on the majors.

One of another favored tactic of the narc is to intimidate others to do and be what they want, there is no choice with a narc, we either become what they want us to be or they begin the attacks on us.

A very good example of this is the campaign to indoctrinate the culture into accepting homosexuality. The powers that be, will punish, demean and mock those who do not think as they want them to think. This dynamic is not only in the liberal organizations, but also among family members.

The principles that we can disagree and still love one another are gone. Love is conditional to the narc, if we do not act like them, speak like them and look like them, we are targets for cruelty. We see this often in church cliques, those who do not fit in are those who require the Bible to be the source of all wisdom and instruction in living life. Correcting the narc with Scripture sets them into an angry rage or covert manipulation while mocking us to others.

And, never let the target express their dismay at the way they have been treated, this will bring out all the big guns of the narcissist against the one who dared to tell the truth. Emotion is seen as weakness to the narc, because it might require them to think about their actions. Narcissists hate emotion unless it is their own and with them it is to manipulate. Honest emotions frighten them, they become angry when someone else feels deeply about anything.

2 Timothy 3:1-5
"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."

Only the strong in Christ can stand against these wicked tactics, they will not be moved, but sadly many who cannot see them, will find themselves in broken relationships that may never be restored.

God can work on those caught in this web devised by Satan, but the only way there is freedom from it for the target or the Narcissist is Christ.

For the believer, we can see the tactics, guard against them, remove ourselves and become resolute, not to allow it to cause us to sin.

For the unsaved, the narcissist or a target who is unsaved, becoming born again is the solution. Only in Christ can the narc or target be changed into a new creation and only in Christ can the target learn how to deal with the evil that is leveled against them.

I am grateful for the Word of God, it has clearly described what is happening today and what to do about it. We are not left to flounder in a sea of confusion or doubt, we can know where we are going when we die, the tactics of the devil before we go and exactly how to handle all of it.

May the Lord bless each one with great wisdom as we seek the Lord in His Word for everything in our lives.

Islam Invented by the Devil

This is just how evil Islam is, the men do not protect the women and children because they are narcissists, no empathy, no love, no kindness, just pure hate.

The devil is the author of this evil religion, anyone that tells us it is a peaceful religion is either completely blind or deliberately lying to fit into a narcissistic self involved culture.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 "1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

Isalm is the opposite of Christinaity because the devil hates God and hates mankind, it's that simple.  Follow the Link!

https://www.facebook.com/ACTBrigitte/photos/a.444582682580.241522.318582687580/10153303419962581/?type=3&theater

Only One Theocracy

There will only be one theocracy and that is when Christ is King after all this mess is over. Until then, we cannot immerse ourselves in a godless system, there may be some senators, representatives and other government officials who are Christian, that's alright, but as far as the national elections, there are only those who compromise their faith to be able to get all the way to running a presidential race. Those who boldly proclaim Christ get booted out quickly and early on in their political career.

The nation gets the leaders who represent the pulse of the people. We have "O" because the people are wicked for the most part. All you have to do is watch the way the people live, even those who attend church every week. They are Biblically illiterate, fight to defend their sin when confronted, dishonor righteousness whenever they can and generally lives as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-7

"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Take special not of verse 7 "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

There are many books, many Bibles and millions of videos pertaining to Christian matters, and the Christian culture as a whole is getting worse, this ought to be a big red flag.

The Redrew the Lines

I read recently about a town in Turkey that was right on top of an earthquake fault line. The people of the town were worried about their homes and their home values upon the threat of a massive earthquake.

The village leaders were warned about the possibility of a major earthquake event and that they needed to relocate, their response to the threat was absolutely astonishing.

Because of the fear of the people, and a desire to carry on as usual according to their traditions, those in charge, changed the boundaries of the earthquake fault on a map, to reflect that the threat was no longer a problem because the boundary lines for the fault had been moved.

The town rested easy, believing their town was now safe until 1999 when that devastating quake hit, no lines on paper could make a difference. The threat did not go away because someone redrew lines on a map, it was merely an illusion for the people of the town to "feel" safe and because of the deception they lost everything.

Isn't this the way we treat God's Word, we know where the lines are drawn, where the boundaries are, but since we don't like them we simply move them to suit our own desires.

Often Christians reframe principles to fit the culture, to fit their own desires and to remain friends with those who do the same.

There is a reckoning coming, our redrawn principles will do us no good then, all we tried to accomplish through manufactured man made principles will come crashing down just as the walls of Jericho did.

Fools without ability to discern will stand by like misinformed brain dead morons saying "what happened." They were warned about messing with God's Word, thumbing their nose at God as though He were insignificant and irrelevant. Even when the disaster hits they will not be able to admit it was their own evil that brought it about.

Their intent was to shape God into the image they wanted for Him, not based on truth but based on their own pleasure seeking mentality of greed and avarice.

Many don't realize that greed is not only associated with wealth, it can be anything we have a strong obsession about pleasure of any kind that takes more of our time than God or family.

Our country is about to experience carnage that it has never seen before. Because of the leader's attempts to comfort the general populous, they continue to spout foolishness concerning Islam that leaves the people feeling safe while actually remaining sitting ducks for the system that seeks to destroy them.

We are being told in the media regularly and even by ignorant church leaders that Islam is a peaceful religion. The more the people hear this the more likely they are to believe it, as we have seen, most people do not use their brains, they merely repeat what they have been hearing the most.

The only reason to speak of these things is to help those who are questioning to see truth and to comfort those who are at times confused about all that is going on around them.

Some of you are seeing what is happening, but are so shocked by the gravity of it, there is a sense that perhaps we are just making too much out of it, that maybe we are wrong and all this is going to go away as we wake up in the morning.

No, it's not going away and it will get worse, you are not crazy, it really is happening, now accept that, then go on to praise God that He told us this would happen in His prophetic Word. It only means that everything is coming to a convergence, a culmination of events in the end times that takes us just that much closer to going home.

As for the unsaved, these things are warnings, there isn't much time left, soon the choice will be removed and whatever you do will determine whether you end up in hell or whether you are taken to heaven.

Emotions Manipulate

Why is the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement so effective in our modern world, at manipulating others while brain washing them?

The answer is simple, it is far easier to manipulate a person to do what you want them to, through emotions, than it is to use logic to convince them.

How many times have we talked and talked and talked to someone to convince them of something we know to be true, using reasoned arguments and Scripture, only to have them reject it because they didn't like what we were saying? Often I suspect.

When we can manipulate a person's emotions with a sob story or guilt trip them into buying into our desires, they put aside their thinking powers and roll with the emotions. In order to remove the emotions or make themselves feel better they will do whatever their manipulator wants them to do.

This is what motivational speaking is all about, manipulating the hearer to want to sell their product for them or work harder for their company they regale their hearers with funny stories and itching ear kinds of things. Then the crowd is ready to do whatever they are told they should do.

These tactics are used in churches every Sunday around this country. The majority of church attendees today do not enter the building to learn how to think for themselves or the mind of Christ, they are there to put their mind on hold while someone else tells them how to think, what to believe and how to gain something they personally want to achieve.

Anyone who dares to think for themselves is summarily driven from the building through accusations of "mean spirited" to "heretic", in order to mock them into silence. Those watching don't want to be treated this way so they buckle under the intimidation to remain in good standing with the leadership and other flying monkeys who are also afraid to assert themselves.

Often the punishment is much more subtle, there is an air in the room of coolness when the dissenter passes. Others who have been offended by truth, will avoid covertly, the one who proclaims the Bible as the standard.

Emotions have been used down through the ages to keep entire countries under the thumb of dictators and evil men who seek to control others. When we make emotions our bench mark for reality we will get drastically off course, even ruining our lives.

Those who wish to control us will use every form of emotional manipulation possible to break our spirit. However, we don't have to indulge them, we can calmly and boldly excuse ourselves and move on to obey God.

The wonderful thing about the Christian walk is that we don't have to be controlled by men we can be controlled by Christ, free to do as we please while choosing to honor Christ.

Acts 15:24
"Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:"

2 Timothy 2:14
"Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers."

Titus 1:11
"Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake."

Titus 3:11
"Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself."

Every Man Has a Conscience

This is so true, next time we are tempted to give wicked men and women an excuse or a pass for their evil, we need to understand that God put the knowledge of right and wrong in every man. 

God said "you shall have the knowledge of good and evil" when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit.

God would not send someone to hell for something they were not aware of.  He would not condemn someone to hell for "mistakes", without knowledge of what they are doing.  We all know when we are being evil, we all know right from wrong. Those who pretend not to know have seared their own conscience to no longer pay attention to their promptings of conscience each time it wells up, they excuse it away or ignore it until there seems to be no longer the ability to discern.

Jeremiah 6:15 ""Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them, They shall be cast down," says the LORD."

Genesis 2:17 "17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

It must have been that Adam and Eve wanted to know what evil looked like, they had not seen it before, they wanted to know what God knew, even though He had protected them from it, that they might live in a world full of love and beauty.  Their own will was indulged to be able to have their own way, they not only disobeyed God they devalued Him by taking what was forbidden.

1 Timothy 4:2 "by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,"

Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."

Proverbs 10:3 "The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger, But He will reject the craving of the wicked."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCd1V-clIsc&feature=share

Good Deeds for Bad Reasons

Follow the link to learn this priniciple.

http://biblicalperspectivesonnarcissism.com/2016/02/28/narcissist-traits-doing-a-good-deed-to-exalt-themselves-and-hurt-others/

Outwardly Righteous Inwardly Rebellious

Please follow the link to find a very good article on the subject of those who appear righteous on the outside but are rebellious on the inside.

http://biblicalperspectivesonnarcissism.com/2014/04/12/narcissist-traits-outwardly-righteous-inwardly-rebellious/

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The Last Days Antics

The More We Seek God!

The more we seek God, the more we know of His Word, the Bible, the more truth we will see. It frees us but it also grieves us at times. Our hope is in the near coming of our Lord, but the grief is in all the people we see around us who are living superficial self absorbed worldly lives, immersed in pleasure while becoming more and more contemptuous toward the principles of God.

There are many people who seemed to be on fire for the Lord many years ago, who are now indulging in worldly paganistic Christianity, having become hostile to those who are attempting to warn them of the deception they have fallen into, it does not end, it continues to grow until "there will be little faith left on the earth.


Luke 18:7-8 7. "now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? 8"I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"


Ecc. 1:18 "Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain."

Coming to the Table Takes Humility

As believers in Jesus Christ, we "all have different jobs, but sometimes we forget we are all on the same side." A line I heard in a show once, not pertaining to Christians but sure could apply.

So often we "major on the minors and minor on the majors", thinking that our way is the only way, even though the other ways are not sin nor are they bad, they are just different from how we might do or say things.

Without all the evidence, without all the conversations and without all knowledge of motives, we throw one another under the bus because we don't see all that someone else might see. We take offense easily allowing our egos to dictate our responses, not considering others.

We arrogantly believe we see enough to have all knowledge when the fact remains that we only see in part through someone else's testimony, not even having been an eye witness ourselves we make a judgement.

It is vitally important to speak the truth when we have some knowledge, when more has come to light, then we must be willing to admit we didn't have everything we needed to make a wise evaluation.

One of the earmarks of a godly Christian is that they are slow to make judgments about situations with little knowledge. We should understand that even as an eye witness we may not have enough to assess the true nature of any given situation. This is why openness and dialogue are vital to any relationship. When there is stonewalling, reluctance to be honest and transparent, there can be no closeness nor can anything be resolved to reconcile a relationship.

In order to reconcile, both parties must seek to discover the heart of the other, only then will we be able to live in understanding with another person.

Often gossip mongers make a choice to believe something based on their personal prejudices toward someone or their first impressions rather than on facts.

We must remember that a family of individuals does not seek the elevation of only one of the individuals, the whole is the concern, each one has influence on one another. When two do not reconcile it translates into misunderstandings among all the others. People begin to take sides when one relationship is not mended. When truth is not sought then lies grow, often to the destruction of the others.

Galatians 5:7-15 "7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?
8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
10 I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.
11 But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.
12 I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
15 But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another."

Most of the squabbles and fights I have seen that could not be resolved, have been among those who would not be honest and who would not lovingly talk to or listen to the one for which they had a grievance. And, most of all one or both of the parties would not pray seeking God for the solution. When we refuse to go before the Lord to discover our own hearts, there can be no resolution, no growth and no reconciliation.

Matthew 5:23-24 ""Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering."

Those who are guilty generally know they are, they are the ones who will not come to the table to work things out.

Those who are guilty but are unsure of their offense, will often come to work out a solution when someone else cares enough to approach them.

Those who are not guilty, have prayed and sought God for their own heart, are always willing to speak and listen for a resolution of any problem.

Which are we going to be, one who seeks God to show us our own heart or those who hold onto pride choosing to believe they do no wrong, elevated in their own eyes?

Proverbs 3:7 "Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil."

He Saves Us and He Cleanses Us

It is not our lack of sin that gets us into heaven. We cannot remove all the sin from our bodies. It is Christ's sacrifice and our trusting Him that motivates Him to change us into a new creation, beginning the lifelong process of cleansing. It is Christ's blood that covers our sin, we are still sinful in our flesh, but we don't have to obey the flesh when Christ lives in us, we can obey Him.

When we disobey as children of God, He takes us to the woodshed for a spanking to help us return to obedience.

Hebrews 12:6 "…5and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; 6FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." 7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?…"

It's All Over the Place All the Time!

When I sought God in agony about our culture as a whole, who were walking in pretense about their Christianity, I doubted myself, I knew what I was seeing, but found it hard to believe or accept, I agonized over what I was observing, was actually the rebellion my heart was sure was deeply controlling the hearts of most family members.


I knew what rebellion in the heart looked like because it was in mine before I trusted Christ, He changed me, that rebellion left and was replaced by a desire to please Him Who lives in me. So what is wrong when we see this ungodly rebellion in the heart of another believer who claims to love Him? How could someone be so volatile over a challenge to obey God, when they claim to belong to Him? This was my question.


As I was praying the Lord placed in my mind the passage in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, I opened my Bible to that passage, knowing what it said, having read it many times, but never thinking that it was the passage that described our generation so completely accurately, right now.


For years I thought this passage was dealing with a generation in the future, it couldn't be possible that an entire generation of people could be this terrible all the time in every way, in our generation. My eyes were opened as I read that description of the complete rebellion of a culture in my country at this time in history. And, sadly I realized that this display of contempt for God was not just in the world, it was now most who attended churches regularly. The contempt we experience as believers is not against us really, but against God Whom we are representatives.


Many people and entire gatherings claim to be "Bible believing" churches but negate so much of His Word that they should not be saying this about themselves.


I have known of pastors who would use that phrase, "Bible believing church", while on their second and third marriages, as their congregants snooze in the pews week after week thinking this is perfectly find with God. These gatherings are an abomination, they are in rebellion and proudly lie to say they are "Bible believing." These same people who claim this mantra as their own, are enraged when challenged that they may need to go back to the Bible and prayer to see the error they proclaim. When we compare how they act rather than just what they say, we can see that much of their attitude is based not on the Bible but on psychological teachings that have infected the church bodies with a form of incurable gangrene. I have heard of some of these churches asking people to leave their church who challenged unBiblical practices, calling the one who exhorts "divisive."


To the rebellious church it is divisive to exhort the gathering to always go back to the Bible and prayer to make sure the leaders and the congregants are in line with God's Word. The divisive person is not the one who points out error, however it is the person who refuses to obey God bringing in wrong and deceptive doctrine who is divisive.


The very churches that endorse divorce and remarriage will have many superficial and extraneous unBiblical rules for their people to obey that have nothing to do with the principles of Christ. They are merely the leaders ideas of "holiness", but in fact have no power, are not blessed by God and actually leave the congregants feeling superior without love, empathy and kindness, unless those in their gathering follow their man made rules. Those who question and do not follow the manmade rules are asked to leave or ignored until they finally leave.


Mark 7:8 ""Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."


Mark 7:13 "thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that."


2 Timothy 3:1-5 "1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."


David Wilkerson warned us about this country many years ago,
but most did not take him seriously. The evil is growing rapidly, while those who claim to be believers wink at sin, negate those who challenge wickedness and demean anyone who will stand against their ungodly practices.


People were buying into the psychological foolishness that there are no bad people, only hurting ones, that everyone who lived a wicked life were merely acting out because of the pain in their heart from child hood emotional or physical injury. This thinking has brought us to the place of first; tolerance of sin in the body, then to the embracing of those who practice sin, while devaluing the one who will tell the truth about iniquity.


One of the mantras we hear frequently now that is patently unBiblical is "we must say things in a way that they will receive it", this is nothing more than an excuse to dumb down the gospel, sheepishly speaking softly so that those hearing will like us, it is cowardly and selfish. It is not important that anyone like us, nor are we commanded to do things in a way that makes people feel good. Just the opposite, the old time preachers spoke with authority and continually warned about sin and hell without apology and without worry about the delivery. Mankind is not going to like Christ because of the way we say things, in most cases they will reject Him as they have since the day He came to earth, but we are to speak boldly anyway.


Ezekiel 3:17 "17"Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me.
18 "When I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.…"


Why would we preach harsh sermons to hurting people, why would we want to speak truth that would convict a hurting heart? The answer is clear when we know the Lord and His principles. Man's heart is evil, difficult things that happen to us do not make us bad, they only reveal what is already in the heart.


Jeremiah 17:9 ""The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?"


When someone responds with anger and contempt toward the one who has corrected, rebuked or exposed their sin, it is a show of rebellion in the heart. Often those who are rebellious are not able to endure even the slightest instruction from God's Word, they will rage against anything suggesting that there is a need for change of attitude or behavior. Even the mildest instruction is anathema to anyone who has themselves in an elevated status in their own minds. The rebellious person always believes they know everything, no one can teach them unless they go to them for instruction, but they only go to those who validate their sin and elevate them personally.


1 Peter 5:5 "Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”


1 Corinthians 2:13-14 "And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."


Proverbs 9:9 "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning."


Those who are humble will take a rebuke with gladness, possibly even being thankful that someone cared enough to keep them accountable. When a humble person is justly rebuked, they respond in shame, resolving to fix their attitude or not repeat the actions. The humble person when unjustly rebuked will not react in anger but calmly explain themselves or go off and pray that the eyes of the accuser would realize their sin.


However a rebellious heart reacts in anger, accusing the one who exposed the sin, of things that may not be true to take the spotlight off of themselves. There are many tactics of the rebellious heart that are released when they are challenged or kept accountable. The rebellious heart hates to be accountable to anyone, even God.


Proverbs 12:1 "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, But he who hates reproof is stupid."


Proverbs 26:3 "3 A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, And a rod for the back of fools."


When we realize what we are dealing with in these end times of nearly complete rebellion, we can rest in Christ, that we will be maligned, demeaned and shown contempt on a regular basis, we don't have to take it internally, seriously or attempt to do anything about it. We can live as we desire in line with the principles of Christ, trust Him to change us when needed and leave the rebellious heart to Christ.


We can pray for those in rebellion to be broken over their sin of pride, that they may see for themselves their own hearts. We can pray that God will show us when this happens, He must show us, because after years of enduring the carnage of the rebelliousness in our age, we may be reluctant to believe there has been a change, especially if the same old same old, keeps happening day after day, year after year.


I am confident when there has been a change in a rebellious heart, God will show us it is real and the relationship can be restored, but attempting to restore it too soon before there is repentance and brokenness, we can thwart God's lessons for ourselves and others, prolonging the agony of missed lessons.


Yes, there can be deep joy in our hearts at this evil time of the end. Our joy can be increased because we know the time is short, the Lord is coming soon and He is ultimately responsible for working on the heart of every person. We are His instruments and messengers, that's all, we have no responsibility to change another person's heart.


I rest in this truth, that God will have His will no matter what we or others do. Hallelujah!!!

An amazing article on Peacekeeping as apposed to Peacemaking!

https://www.creationworldview.org/articles_view.asp?id=16

Peace Making the Only Solution

Peace keepers never solve a thing they only look like they do. Peace Makers get to the bottom of the trouble, discuss it, doing what is necessary for a permanent fix.

Peace Keepers are afraid to expose their inner heart, often because they are guilty of wrong attitudes and must hide.

A Peace Maker cares little about being exposed, their deepest concern is that the matter get resolved for a lasting solution with eternal blessings.

Peace Keepers vs Peace Makers

I was struck with the fact that so many people in our families and churches have succumb to the belief that godly peace is something we manufactured in our flesh to keep others happy with us.

In an effort to keep everyone happy we have minimized the scripture to the level of "feel good reading, when life is hard" rather than the source of wisdom for the daily living of our lives. When the Scriptures are not taken seriously, any good book on happiness will do for us.

This reminded me of an article I once read, that differentiated between the "peace keeper" and the "peace maker." I was intrigued by the title of the article because it seemed to practically scream out at me, "this is what you have been seeing, but couldn't put into words." So I read the article and was pleased to discover that I had been observing in relationships, whether in church or in family, just what God had been saying to me and now confirmed in writing by someone else. 

Sometimes we don't trust the inklings of the Holy Spirit, when we feel we are the only ones aware of the problem.

First let's see what a peace keeper looks like in terms of actions, then we will be more able to discern the attitude involved in peace keeping. The peace keeper is someone who seeks to smooth things over when a wrong has been committed. They pride themselves in keeping everyone feeling good and happy, while at the same time winning friends by ignoring or glossing over an ongoing problem.

Peace keepers are hopeful that the problem will go away on it's own and then everyone will get over their hurt and be friendly to one another again eventually. Neglect never is a solution to a sore or injury in physical terms, why would we think that it would be a solution in emotional or spiritual terms? Not to mention that it is unbiblical.

The use of flattery, is one of the main techniques of a peace keeper. They think if they flatter in some way, the truth will not be exposed about them.

What does God say about flattery? Proverbs 29:5 says "A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet."

I know a woman, we will call her Zelda, who was so much of a peace keeper that it was difficult to hold a conversation with her. When she visited with anyone, she would continually nod her head in agreement with an occasional "oh yes" to show that she was listening. Once in a while during the conversation, if one could call it that, she would get real chatty and say, "that's nice." It was like pulling teeth to get her to offer a comment longer than two words or an actual opinion about what was being said. I wondered if there was anything happening inside her head. If this had been only one encounter with her over a life time of visits, I would have thought something was on her mind, or that she was overwhelmed with another concern. I had encountered this woman several times myself and watched her with other women too, so I knew that it was not just me, but a pattern in her life.

Zelda, never confronted anyone about anything. Everyone loved her because she was like their faithful dog, Bowzer, who just accepted whatever anyone said or did, without the challenge. She laid at their feet offering nothing but friendly short platitudes and adoring looks. She was the first one other ladies flocked to when they had a problem and needed someone who would listen, but remain silent and accepting. Her face was frozen in a permanent smile as her head swayed to and fro in total agreement with all that was shared.

Zelda was very careful to come across as in agreement, no matter what was being said. One day something unusual happened that confused me. Zelda was not herself that day. I witnessed her blow up in anger at someone who had confronted her about a sin in Zelda's life. Zelda shrieked in anger, stomped off while shouting as she left the room that she never wanted to see or speak to this woman ever again. Wow! What happened to our mild mannered shrinking violet?

From the book "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse

" we find this quote, "For some, healing has been short-circuited: Jesus' precept, 'the truth shall set you free,' has been replaced by man's precept, 'to be nice is better than to be honest' and 'keep (false) peace at all costs."

This is entirely unbiblical not to mention useless in resolving misunderstandings.

Zelda, having been confronted about an offense she had committed against this woman, seemed to not be able to handle criticism to such a degree that she was willing to lose a friend to maintain her facade. She had evolved instantaneously from that dog eyed adoring puppy into a ravenous wolf. How could this be? Perhaps Zelda was never the adoring puppy dog at all, but inwardly has always been the wolf in sheeps’ clothing. Perhaps that waving head and sweet smile were nothing more than acting to manipulate perceptions.

Once the play acting was over and Zelda's inner being was discovered, she now was impervious to spiritual growth as long as she was too prideful to admit her sin and be reconciled to those she had wounded. Her "peace keeping" was not so peaceful after all. It was only peaceful until she had to be accountable in some way to others. Then all that peace keeping unfolded into a war that would cause more devastation in the lives of others.

Peace keeping promotes a spirit of deception and lying. Showing forth a face of kindness to convince others that we are a spiritual person, is lying.

Pretending to love, when we really are indifferent to the needs of others is the worst kind of fakery. We can get others to trust us and then use what they have said against them later, or worse, use what they have said to manipulate them into serving us in some way, even if it is only our egos that are stroked. This is spiritual blackmail.

Peace keepers lack integrity, they are self absorbed while attempting to deceive others into thinking they are deeply concerned. The concern does not reach a depth greater than the end of their lips. They withhold information for the purpose of maintaining their personal appearance. They do not say what they mean and they do not mean what they say. They are in a sense hiding themselves for their own advancement.

Jude 1:16 "These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage."

Another very disturbing trait of the peace keeper is their uncanny ability to cover up the sins of the people they like. I say "like" instead of "love", because it is not loving to cover up the sin of an unrepentant person. It is not love of the sinner and it is not love of the victim.

There are rare occasions when the peace keeper may point out a flaw in another person, but only to defend themselves when they are approached about their own sin. The focus is still themselves.

In short, the peace keeper is playing a role, they are not authentic, they appear warm and gentle on the outside, but inwardly they are deceitful and contentious. They leave a wake of frustrated people where ever they go.

I knew of young woman we will call, Bunny, who was so jealous of another woman that she concocted lies and exaggerations about the object of her jealousy to the point where the victim lost friends and family, who believed the lies. Her tactics were to distort the events to the point that they were barely recognizable. This woman too, was a Zelda type, always appearing to others as the victim, when she was the perpetrator. When confronted with her sin, she, like Zelda, stomped off and isolated herself from anyone who required her to be accountable.

Had Zelda and Bunny reacted with humility and sadness at the discovery of their sin, we could have concluded that they were truly sorry for the trouble they had caused. But since there was violent anger, we can be sure there was guilt also.

When a person is humble, they are embarrassed, not mad. When a person is not guilty, they are humble and not angry. The explosion of anger in Zelda and Bunny was evidence that they were guilty and would fight in an effort to convince others they were not guilty when they knew they were. It is also an attempt to make the accuser look like the bad guy.

The peace keeper does not seek God honestly for their direction, but for justification of their sins. They may even use scripture to support and validate their sin, but it is taken out of context and misused.

The peace keeper is a person who seeks to smooth things over for superficial peace that does not only mask the problem but exacerbates it in the long term, causing greater turmoil. As an author once stated "throwing a rug over a gasoline spill next to the fire only causes an explosion." Would we cover cancer with a band-aid, or a gapping head wound with a cap.

The peace keeper relies entirely on their own desires and feelings, to evaluate life and friends. They are almost entirely motivated by self interest. This is a picture of a narcissist and a manipulator. In short, they do not make peace, they create devastation by ignoring God's principles of friendship and resolution of problems, to maintain an appearance. When that appearance is exposed as a sham, then they must put out of their lives anyone who knows the truth, rather than repenting.

Zelda is of this sort, she never offers lasting help to anyone. She never instructs, corrects, rebukes or teaches. She is nearly worthless in terms of a valued friendship to anyone. Zelda would put a band-aid over cancer. She would pretend there wasn't a gapping wound in your head that needed stitches, but would help you on with your hat to keep the blood off her floors while pretending that it was to help you. Or worse yet, she would shout at others to come and help with something that she could have done. Doing, being and saying nothing is the trademark of the Zelda's of the world. If they say, do and be nothing, then in their mind they can be accountable for nothing.

Our church culture as a whole are peace keepers. They look to the fast food fix, the quick easy answers and those that are pleasurable. In short, our church culture does not care deeply about people, but only about pleasure, materialism and financial gain.

After all the bad news concerning the peace keeper, we need to reflect on the principles of the peace maker.

Peace makers desire a cure to the problem and are willing to walk the hard road to get to the place of safety.

The peace maker desires to do things God's way. They seek the scriptures for His principles to address the problems of life. They are deeply concerned about the well being of others. They are more concerned about the long term affect of a matter rather than immediate happiness.

If we love God first we will not fear mans' reaction to God's standard. We are merely the messenger who brings God's word for the solutions. When we will not speak the truth, we doom the hearer to a life of superficial phoniness that leaves them spiritual and emotional babies.

God says "By this we know if we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments." 1 John 5:2 "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments."

God's command to love our brothers is summed up in loving God's commands. The most valuable things we can do for our brothers and sisters in the Lord is to LOVE HIS COMMANDMENTS. If we claim to love our brethren but do not love God's commandments, then we do not love our brethren.

If we love God's commandments then we will use them to instruct our brothers and sister in the Lord. We will hold fast to them and plead with our family to follow what God says.

God has given us the ten commandments as a guideline for knowing His will.

When we are "peace keepers", this is what we do to the commandments of God:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

If we are a peace keeper we violate this commandment, because we are placing the approval of people above God.

2. Thou shalt make no graven images.

When we are a peace maker we are creating an image of God in our minds that is not truth.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of they God in vain.

When we are a peace keeper, we are emanating an air of godliness that is not true, we call ourselves Christians but do not

find God's word sufficient for all things, then we are vainly using His name as ours, in short we are "taking the Lord's name in vain", claiming to be a Christian while acting like a heathen.

4. Keep holy the Sabbath.

When we dishonor God in peace keeping, we are not concerned about holiness at all, let alone true worship. We can not worship what we do not know.

5. Honor thy Father and they Mother.

When we live a lie, based on selfish ambition we dishonor our parents with our lives.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

God says when we hate our brother, it is the same as murdering him. When we are more concerned about our personal comfort and being accepted than we are about God's truth, we are hating our brother.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

When we place other things and people above God we are committing adultery against Him.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

When we are peace keepers we are stealing the truth from our brother, keeping it from him that which would help him.

9. Thou shalt not lie.

When we are peace keepers we are telling a lie. We display loving kindness, when deep inside we have no love for others, only for ourselves.

10.Thou shalt not covet.

When we are peace keepers we are coveting the admiration of others rather than promoting the worshiping of God.

When we are peace makers this is what we do to the commandments of God.

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

We love to honor God above everything and everyone else, he gets all the glory while we serve Him and others.

2. Thou shalt make no graven images.

We do not place our trust in images made by human hands.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of they God in vain.

We live a life dedicated to making God look good. We quote Him, we thank Him and we worship Him.

4. Keep holy the Sabbath.

We desire to worship with others collectively, keeping the day set aside for Him.

5. Honor thy Father and they Mother.

We have a deep reverence and love for our parents.

6. Thou shalt not kill.

We do not murder, nor do we hate. We love our fellow man to the point of self sacrifice

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

We do not betray a loved one. We honor those who love God.

8. Thou shalt not steal.

We do not take what is not ours and we do not have a sense of entitlement to anything. All things belong to God.

9. Thou shalt not lie.

We do not manipulate or lie to get our way.

10. Thou shalt not covet.

We do not want what others have, we are not jealous of others.

It must be said that all of us break the commandments regularly if only in our hearts. But as we grow closer and closer to the Lord, the more we hate dishonoring God. We hate the sin that we find in ourselves. We confess it and God begins a work of cleansing us. God will not do the work of cleansing if we will not confess.

How do we shed the life of peace keeping and become a peace maker? We confess what we are and ask the Lord to change us. He knows just what to do to help us change.