If everyone loved you, how would you ever learn to act Biblically toward those who treat you badly? If you were never ill, how would you learn to be joyful and focused on God during illness?
Believers are in boot camp, we must encounter everything there is to encounter to be able to learn how to act godly through all things while trusting Christ more. The more we trust Christ the less adversity affects us.
The more we focus on Christ the more we can love even when we are not loved back. When we realize that devils are the foundational problem for all the ills of the world, the less we take rejection personally.
God said to count it all joy when we encounter various trials. The more things we experience in life the greater our wisdom grows, as long as we are seeking to learn the lessons God has for us.
James 1:2-8 "2 Count it all joy, my brothers,when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
It is a promise that when we seek God in all matters of life, we will grow in wisdom. Those who think they know it all already, refusing to seek Christ, will remain spiritual babies, tossed too and fro without answers.
I praise God for every single thing I have encountered in my life. Much of it was not pleasant at the time I went through it, but I look back with great joy at the lessons I learned and the strength God brought me.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
He Pulled Out Their Hair
Next time you are tempted to pull someone's hair because they are not listening, you were not the only one. LOL
Nehemiah 13:25 "So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves."
And we were thinking the prophets walked around all smiley faced and positive, winning people by their clever levity an...d winning personalities. Think again, Jeremiah was referred to as the weeping prophet."
A true prophet of God does not attempt to only see the good and compliment it. He notices mostly the ugly that needs to be corrected and rebuked.
The good needs little attention, it's already good, it's the bad that needs to have attention paid to is, that is what brings others around to becoming better if they listen.
There is no need to pay much attention to that which is already working well, the broken things are the things that need our attention.
Encouragement in my opinion is helping someone to keep going in the right direction with an "atta boy", while moving on to spending most of the time instructing those who are not going in the right direction, but want to know.
It is a waste of time to continue to instruct or warn those who refuse to listen, those who are hell bent on doing things their own way, even if it is not working for them, or when they haven't had enough experience to understand that it will not working for them.
Matthew 11:14-16 "…14"And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15"He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 16 "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children,"
Christ said a number of times, "those who have ears to hear, let him hear." It was His way of saying, "those who are willing to listen and learn let them pay attention."
Nehemiah 13:25 "So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, "You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take of their daughters for your sons or for yourselves."
And we were thinking the prophets walked around all smiley faced and positive, winning people by their clever levity an...d winning personalities. Think again, Jeremiah was referred to as the weeping prophet."
A true prophet of God does not attempt to only see the good and compliment it. He notices mostly the ugly that needs to be corrected and rebuked.
The good needs little attention, it's already good, it's the bad that needs to have attention paid to is, that is what brings others around to becoming better if they listen.
There is no need to pay much attention to that which is already working well, the broken things are the things that need our attention.
Encouragement in my opinion is helping someone to keep going in the right direction with an "atta boy", while moving on to spending most of the time instructing those who are not going in the right direction, but want to know.
It is a waste of time to continue to instruct or warn those who refuse to listen, those who are hell bent on doing things their own way, even if it is not working for them, or when they haven't had enough experience to understand that it will not working for them.
Matthew 11:14-16 "…14"And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. 15"He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 16 "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children,"
Christ said a number of times, "those who have ears to hear, let him hear." It was His way of saying, "those who are willing to listen and learn let them pay attention."
Did We Really Miss Them?
It might be easier to avoid a nasty person,even when we miss them, than it is to tolerate their abuse on a regular basis.
Perhaps we are more concerned about what we "think" we are missing, when in fact we are missing nothing at all. We love our "idea" of what "could be", but isn't .
Sometimes we romanticize someone or some event as though it will be the dream we have enjoyed in our heads. When reality sets in, we see that it would not at all be what we had hoped for, but would bring more heartache.
Just a thought! Next time we feel that sense of loss of someone who devalues us, perhaps we could remember what it was really like and be brought back to reality. Then we can enjoy our peace and freedom from continual conflict.
Perhaps we are more concerned about what we "think" we are missing, when in fact we are missing nothing at all. We love our "idea" of what "could be", but isn't .
Sometimes we romanticize someone or some event as though it will be the dream we have enjoyed in our heads. When reality sets in, we see that it would not at all be what we had hoped for, but would bring more heartache.
Just a thought! Next time we feel that sense of loss of someone who devalues us, perhaps we could remember what it was really like and be brought back to reality. Then we can enjoy our peace and freedom from continual conflict.
Don't Try to Reason With the Narcissist
Trying to reason with a narcissist is to invite further abuse and devastation. Even the seculars are recognizing that to try to reason with a completely selfish person full of pride, is to intensify their rage.
The sad thing is that most onlookers will not realize what is happening, because our culture has determined, based on psychology, that if someone is angry, there must have been a good reason.
When the truth is that angry narcissistic people manufacture trouble where there is none, merely to feel in control and superior. Those who are plagued with this disease of narcissism as described in 2 Timothy 3, they are not reasonable people, they derive their energy from demeaning others through covert means of manipulation, after which they play the victim if anyone confronts them on their behavior.
Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Scorners set a city aflame, But wise men turn away anger. 9 When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest. 10 Men of bloodshed hate the blameless, But the upright are concerned for his life.…"
Don't try to fix the narcissist as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, simply get away from them and let God do His work on them His way.
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."
What does God say? "Avoid such men as these."
The sad thing is that most onlookers will not realize what is happening, because our culture has determined, based on psychology, that if someone is angry, there must have been a good reason.
When the truth is that angry narcissistic people manufacture trouble where there is none, merely to feel in control and superior. Those who are plagued with this disease of narcissism as described in 2 Timothy 3, they are not reasonable people, they derive their energy from demeaning others through covert means of manipulation, after which they play the victim if anyone confronts them on their behavior.
Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Scorners set a city aflame, But wise men turn away anger. 9 When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest. 10 Men of bloodshed hate the blameless, But the upright are concerned for his life.…"
Don't try to fix the narcissist as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, simply get away from them and let God do His work on them His way.
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."
What does God say? "Avoid such men as these."
Confess God's Way
Christ had very strong feelings about going to the cross, even shedding tears like great drops of blood, but He obeyed His Father anyway.
Luke 22:43-44 "…43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground."
Christ didn't want to have to go He said:
Luke 22:42 " 42 saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."
Our culture is more focused on feelings, the element of our being that is the shallowest part, even deceiving us into believing things that are not true or things are true, when the perception is far from reality.
The more we message our feelings the less accurate we will be in assessing life experiences.
How often have we seen someone act irrationally toward us because they perceived or misinterpreted our actions or words? Seldom do we get a chance to explain what was meant by them, if we did, the one who was offended would discover they weren't anything akin to the judgment that was made based on their personal feelings.
Embarrassment over a matter is not the measure of the reality of that matter. We become embarrassed when challenged, but that does not mean that the challenge was bad or wrong.
We become happy when someone flatters us, but that does not mean the flattery was true and can even mean that someone is attempting to manipulate us.
Proverbs 29:5
"A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet."
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."
Feelings disarm us, diverting us from reality, even carrying us down a wrong road to misunderstanding that has the potential to destroy relationships. This is why God said "come let us reason together." (Isaiah 1:18) No where in the bible will you find God saying something like, "come let us feel together."
One of the reasons so many mega churches are successful in manipulating people to donate and continue to fill their auditoriums is through flattery, promise of success and wealth, happy joking and guilt if one does not profess faith in their machination (crafty schemes; plots; intrigues.,) clearly disarming anyone in the pews.
Thinking with the mind of Christ, reasoning within us to seek Christ for the answers is clearly discouraged in most gatherings. Many people go to these church gatherings to be told by men what they should believe and do, rather than being encouraged to seek God. And, often very little scripture is used while what is used is out of context and inaccurate.
Our culture encourages us to focus on feelings rather than seeking Christ with our minds, reasoning things through using the Scriptures. Because of this many people are resistant to instruction or correction from someone who does not have a degree, but may very well be enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
Every single person, no matter how simple minded, can know the wisdom of God merely by seeking Him through His Word and asking for God to show them truth.
Some of the haughtiest people are in the pulpits today, they neither seek God nor do they repent from their lofty opinion of themselves. When we begin to seek Christ in all things, our opinion of our own abilities is diminished while Christ is elevated.
John 3:30-35
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 “He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.
34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.
35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand."
If anyone ever says to you, "you cannot know because you do not have a degree", you can immediately perceive the arrogance and withdraw from that person as foolish lacking understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit, Who lives in every believer that has been changed into a new creation by Christ.
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