The problem is not that people don't know right from wrong, they don't, but the problem is when they are told, they refuse to believe it. And, to further exacerbate the problem they won't even go to prayer to gain wisdom from God.
I never believed divorce and remarriage was alright, even when I was Catholic, but when I became born again nearly every believer I encountered would give me the usual excuses, negating the Bible. I went to prayer and study for myself and God opened my eyes even wider, after that I just didn't believe it was wrong, I KNEW it was wrong.
We live in a rebellious generation that will fight bitterly to defend what is comfortable for them. It is nearly impossible to reason with someone who has already chosen what they want to believe, even when it is dead wrong.
When we know the truth we are not afraid to discuss it openly. Those who hide behind the prevailing winds of popular cultural thinking, have no intention of seeking God, so God will not show them.
James 1:5 "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
1 Corinthians 2:5 "…4and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."
Matthew 25:28-30
"…28'Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.'
29"For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
30"Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
There is a regression that occurs when a believer begins to neglect the things of the Lord in favor of friendship with the world. So many believers are disobeying God in major ways, choosing to believe God winks at their personal choices, or twisting Scripture to enjoy their own desires.
When we see that we or someone we know are beginning to accept things they never would have in the past, or begins to fight against the truth when corrected, then we will be able to observe a reversal in the spiritual walk.
Rebellion against God and His principles will bring ruin upon anyone who lives this way.
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Agonizingly We Watch the Evil Grow
We are living among the walking dead these days as we wait for Christ to take us out. Sometimes it is agonizing and overwhelming to watch how the ungodly act toward everyone as described in 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, [a]haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [b]godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
And God described how Lot felt having to live in his generation before God took him out before He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah:
2 Peter 2:7 "7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),…"
Even those who claim to be Christians, do not look much different from pagans, perhaps it's because they were never born again in the first place.
2 Timothy 3:5-7 "5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
And God described how Lot felt having to live in his generation before God took him out before He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah:
2 Peter 2:7 "7 and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men 8(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),…"
Even those who claim to be Christians, do not look much different from pagans, perhaps it's because they were never born again in the first place.
2 Timothy 3:5-7 "5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
There is a Purpose!
So many believers use Christ as a stop gap measure for the difficult times or the things they would rather not endure. When we trust Christ we can go through anything He has for us, He goes through with us.
Off and on during my walk with Christ, I would beg the Lord to do something for me that I wanted. When I continued to pray and read His word, He began to give me His heart.
I find in cases like this when I struggle with the flesh, that God can and will give us His heart..., making us content with where we are, even seeing it as a challenge to grow in holiness.
When we can see a purpose in what He is doing, it makes it so much easier to accept and even embrace His Will. When we don't see a purpose, we can trust that there is one, giving us unending hope!
Off and on during my walk with Christ, I would beg the Lord to do something for me that I wanted. When I continued to pray and read His word, He began to give me His heart.
I find in cases like this when I struggle with the flesh, that God can and will give us His heart..., making us content with where we are, even seeing it as a challenge to grow in holiness.
When we can see a purpose in what He is doing, it makes it so much easier to accept and even embrace His Will. When we don't see a purpose, we can trust that there is one, giving us unending hope!
Children Make Their Own Choices
"You cannot change anyone by putting them in a perfect environment" David Reagan
Adam and Eve were in the Garden, the perfect place with no sin. Their Father was their creator, and yet they chose sin over obedience.
In the Millennium, Christ will rule over the nations, those who have been born again before the beginning of the Millennium, who possess spiritual bodies will rule over those who are in the flesh, with a perfect judgment, because they will have the mind of Christ. And, yet, there will be most who will follow the devil when he is finally unleashed at the end of it.
Anyone who thinks they will be providing the perfect environment for their children, doing what they believe to be all the right things, still remain imperfect as they train their children, because no human being is perfect.
Those who think they can provide the perfect environment for their children automatically affording them the attitude of walking righteously and trusting Christ, are walking in pride, the very idea that "they" as imperfect human beings, will do it just right, is a dilution.
We must ask the Lord to work in our children in spite of us. We do what we should as commanded by God, but we do it imperfectly with all our warts and imperfections. Each child that is presented with truth, must make the choice for themselves to obey Christ.
No child will be able to blame anyone else for their sin or their bad attitudes. I have known very godly families who were obeying God in training their children, who have experienced rebellion and contempt on the part of their children, left feeling shocked that they live as they do.
I have also known children who came out of wicked environments who trusted Christ, while their families remained evil and in rebellion, they were changed into a new creation following hard after Christ.
We must obey Christ, while realizing that He is ultimately the One who must work on the hearts of our children.
Another phenomena that I have observed has been children who appear to act wonderfully obedient, compliant and seemingly respectful while in the home with their parents, however upon leaving their family to go into the world, changed quickly after removing themselves from their parental authority. They were great children at home but now that they are in the world, they lose all that honor and respect we felt so blessed with while they were home. Obedience on the outside is not necessarily obedience on the inside, eventually the true self will emerge when we are tested at times when we have no authority monitoring us and when we think there will be no consequences for it.
There is only one conclusion I can come to and that is that the rebellious ones were compliant, respectful on the outside at home to get along in the environment in which it was expected, but their heart was not compliant. On the inside these children were resenting the rules, the accountability and the expectations of the parents all along, until they got away, realizing that they no longer had to comply, they were free to be the real self, that had been there all along.
Any child that holds things against their parent because of their imperfections, is holding themselves up as gods, thinking that they have no imperfections of their own that need correction.
It is not a good idea to judge any family based on what we think we see, when we don't live with them. Each child has their own heart and their own choices, what they do and how they think may not be at all what their parents taught them.
Some of the most damage done has been by those in the church who have elevated themselves as perfect parents, who lack wisdom in judging others based on how their children turned out. This is not only unwise, but wicked, not to mention gossip.
There are bad and good parenting styles, but that does not mean that all children who turn out good had great parents, nor does it mean that all children who turn out bad had bad parents. It is best to stop the judging and begin being helpful, seeking God for the way that we can be a blessing to those who are struggling with difficulties that may possibly not be their fault.
All the judging of a matter that cannot be changed manages to do is demean others and elevate self.
John 7:24 " 24"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
Adam and Eve were in the Garden, the perfect place with no sin. Their Father was their creator, and yet they chose sin over obedience.
In the Millennium, Christ will rule over the nations, those who have been born again before the beginning of the Millennium, who possess spiritual bodies will rule over those who are in the flesh, with a perfect judgment, because they will have the mind of Christ. And, yet, there will be most who will follow the devil when he is finally unleashed at the end of it.
Anyone who thinks they will be providing the perfect environment for their children, doing what they believe to be all the right things, still remain imperfect as they train their children, because no human being is perfect.
Those who think they can provide the perfect environment for their children automatically affording them the attitude of walking righteously and trusting Christ, are walking in pride, the very idea that "they" as imperfect human beings, will do it just right, is a dilution.
We must ask the Lord to work in our children in spite of us. We do what we should as commanded by God, but we do it imperfectly with all our warts and imperfections. Each child that is presented with truth, must make the choice for themselves to obey Christ.
No child will be able to blame anyone else for their sin or their bad attitudes. I have known very godly families who were obeying God in training their children, who have experienced rebellion and contempt on the part of their children, left feeling shocked that they live as they do.
I have also known children who came out of wicked environments who trusted Christ, while their families remained evil and in rebellion, they were changed into a new creation following hard after Christ.
We must obey Christ, while realizing that He is ultimately the One who must work on the hearts of our children.
Another phenomena that I have observed has been children who appear to act wonderfully obedient, compliant and seemingly respectful while in the home with their parents, however upon leaving their family to go into the world, changed quickly after removing themselves from their parental authority. They were great children at home but now that they are in the world, they lose all that honor and respect we felt so blessed with while they were home. Obedience on the outside is not necessarily obedience on the inside, eventually the true self will emerge when we are tested at times when we have no authority monitoring us and when we think there will be no consequences for it.
There is only one conclusion I can come to and that is that the rebellious ones were compliant, respectful on the outside at home to get along in the environment in which it was expected, but their heart was not compliant. On the inside these children were resenting the rules, the accountability and the expectations of the parents all along, until they got away, realizing that they no longer had to comply, they were free to be the real self, that had been there all along.
Any child that holds things against their parent because of their imperfections, is holding themselves up as gods, thinking that they have no imperfections of their own that need correction.
It is not a good idea to judge any family based on what we think we see, when we don't live with them. Each child has their own heart and their own choices, what they do and how they think may not be at all what their parents taught them.
Some of the most damage done has been by those in the church who have elevated themselves as perfect parents, who lack wisdom in judging others based on how their children turned out. This is not only unwise, but wicked, not to mention gossip.
There are bad and good parenting styles, but that does not mean that all children who turn out good had great parents, nor does it mean that all children who turn out bad had bad parents. It is best to stop the judging and begin being helpful, seeking God for the way that we can be a blessing to those who are struggling with difficulties that may possibly not be their fault.
All the judging of a matter that cannot be changed manages to do is demean others and elevate self.
John 7:24 " 24"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
He Changes Us!
John 3:36
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
The obedience spoken of here has to do with repenting, changing our mind about sin, and seeking Christ to be made into a new creation by Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
The obedience spoken of here has to do with repenting, changing our mind about sin, and seeking Christ to be made into a new creation by Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
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