Just a silly little story to show God's love for us. He gives me gifts all the time, even when I have not yet prayed for them.
A few years ago I prayed for a dog, I love animals, had just lost two German Shepherds and felt the sting of loneliness without a pet. Since I have had pets my entire life, they are very much a part of my existence. My husband accepts this and falls in love with everyone I have brought home.
I was driving on the street in our small town, that passed by the animal shelter. For a fleeting moment a thought rushed through my head, stop in and just take a look. I had no intention of getting a dog right away, but thought "oh what the hey, might as well just enjoy the animals."
In the first stall there was the dog I had prayed for. I desired a Pom mix because I didn't want to pay a lot of money for a Pom. In the stall was a Pom-Papillon mix! The cutest little guy, I took him for a little walk, when we returned to the stall to put him back while I would think about taking him, he went "spread eagle" on me and refused to go inside. So I thought oh well, guess I'll just take him.
As I was getting ready to take Sparky home that face of the little dog he was with, flashed through my head. That little "Jack Russell" stood there with big eyes looking while his head was cocking from side to side as if to say, "take me too." I went away feeling so bad because I couldn't take him.
As I drove away from the parking lot with Sparky, I asked the Lord to find that little Jack Russel a home. I felt bad for days, shooting up arrow prayers that God would give that little guy a home.
Several months passed, I had to take my quilt to the laundromat because my machine was too small to handle it. I took Sparky into the laundromat with me as we waited for the quilt.
Into the laundromat walks a lady, she came up to Sparky and proclaimed, "OH, that is the dog that was in with my little Jack Russel when I was looking for a dog. I came back to get the Jack Russel and your dog was gone, you must have taken him."
I know it may seem silly to some, but I hate animals to be lonely, it was God's kindness to me that He cared enough about my feelings to tell me that little Jackie got a home. I was so overcome with joy about answered prayer that I cried on the way home, praising God.
Then there was another grief I experienced in the loss of one of my favorite cats. We have had several cats taken by the coyotes up here, so when my favorite cat went missing I assumed he was gone forever. I cried and felt discouraged about ever getting another cat. I told the Lord I missed that cat so much, it still hurt to think about him, I wished I could have him back. I was driving down that road again, another thought entered my head, "just look at the kitties." So, I dropped in, Sparky was with me. I left the dog in the car to go see cats. In the room with about 40 other cats was an identical cat to the one I lost. He was the largest cat in the place and followed me everywhere as though he knew me.
Upon the decision to take the cat, I asked the lady at the shelter if the cat did well with dogs. She didn't think so because she took him home to meet her,.....get this......four German Shepherds. LOL, so I thought I'd better get Sparky and let them meet. Sparky and the cat took to one another as though they already knew each other. I did get the lost cat after I got Sparky, so the thought ran through my head, "could this be the very same one?" I never found out, but I took the cat home and Sparky and the cat are best friends, they sleep together, play together and follow one another everywhere.
I discuss nearly everything with God, if I don't get what I want, I always know he understands. Even if I don't understand, He comforts me. I believe God wants us to be so in tune with Him that we tell Him everything in honesty, knowing He already knows anyway, no point in pretending with God.
Then the thoughts run through my head, God has seen fit to answer silly things like animal pets, how much more would he answer my prayers for persecuted Christians around the world. I pray for my brothers and sisters around the world, I never know if God is answering or not, but I can be assured He hears and will do His will.
Most of the time I pray for the persecuted Christians to be very strong, emotionally, physically and spiritually! I feel bad that they are persecuted, but I know they will have a special reward in heaven for their martyrdom. Sometimes I pray for their persecutors too, that because of the loyalty of the believers they would see the strength of God in them.
What a blessing to be authentic, pretending is such a burden, always the fear of being found out that keeps us stressed. Might as well say it all to God all the time, He already knows anyway, hiding from God is down right silly.
Philippians 4:6-7 "6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.…"
And, I don't see the word "commitment", it's an important word because when things get rough and you don't feel all those other things, the commitment will keep one steady until those things return.
https://www.facebook.com/womenworking/videos/10155754304999523/?pnref=story
I am convinced that many people went forward as young people to proclaim their salvation, but were never broken over their sin.
As they are getting older they seem to be getting worse, as though the "work" of playing Christian is too much for them.
They will be accepted by their church without any fruit or any challenge as to their Spiritual growth, so no need to reflect on their spiritual condition or question whether or not they were born again.
Matthew 7:21-23
How we treat people tells us what is really inside.
A mean person on the inside can only pretend to be kind, eventually, with difficulties approaching, the real him/her will emerge.
A kind person is always that way, it doesn't come and go with difficulties. Kind people do not regularly provoke others, not even the people they don't like.
A mean person will be friendly to someone they like and covertly mean to those they don't like.
A kind person is AUTOMATICALLY kind without having to think. When they have a bad day and are cranky, they apologize and revert to their authentic self, that inwardly kind person.
A mean person has to think about being kind, they work at it because it is not who they are inside. When they get tired of working at it, they revert to their authentic selves, meanness emerges.
Matthew 6:21 - "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Love of self produces phony responses to life, they are not genuine and they laps easily.
Ephesians 6:7 - "With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men."
Those who genuinely love the Lord will always be aware of their actions and responses toward others.
Love of God and others, produces a response that is always thinking about the feelings and needs of others.
Matthew 22:36-40
"36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
I Corinthians 13:4-8a, "13 - Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Philippians 2:3-7 - "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men."
One who cannot evaluate their own unkind responses, even twisting the truth to seem innocent, is one who is not walking with Christ, but according to their own flesh.
There are those who walk like time bombs, they are almost always on the verge of a visceral response, at the slightest perceived provocation. Often they have no reason, but since they are always on the verge, they will make up a reason, even often believing the perspective they concocted.
I have met several people like this, they hate open and honest straight talk, it flies in the face of their need to hide. Genuineness and openness frightens and infuriates the one who wishes to hide or pretend.
When they see someone being genuine, it reminds them of their own deceit. Facing their real selves is unthinkable to the one who wants to be his own master, accountable to no one other than himself/herself. There is a need for the mean person to cause a negative reaction in the kind person. If they can cause frustration and anger response, the will relieve themselves of any guilt, after all "look how they are" is their thinking. Even choosing to forget that they provoked the anger in others.
The person who is hiding, who must be continually controlling others, will become unhinged when confronted with their own frailties. These people can never bend the knee to Christ, they can never admit their sinfulness. Until they are brought to the end of themselves, completely broken and helpless, they will never submit to Christ or anyone else in a genuine way. They may pretend for a time, to look good, while resenting it the entire time "they have to do it." This resentment is lingering continually, therefore when a rage response to almost nothing comes out of the blue, we can surmise that this inner contempt was present long before the blow up.
Loving and kind people make a practice of submission to others, they are helpful without having to ponder whether or not to do it, they are automatic in their responses to the needs of others.
If anyone has to work-up the desire to help someone, then we can say it is in their flesh they are doing it and it will not last. It's akin to spilling some green paint on the grass, as soon as the grass grows and is cut the paint is gone. In the genuine believer, the grass grows green, it's in the very DNA of the blade of grass, there is nothing that takes it away.
What God produces in us is permanent, to the core and automatic. How do we tell if we are operating in the flesh? My answer would be, does what I do come naturally without much thought? Or, do I have to work it up, try real hard and then become proud of it after, as though it was me that did it. If I work hard and am proud, then it is probably the flesh.
Those who do fleshly kindness will always be a little miffed if someone doesn't notice. They must make a show of it and make sure to mention it to others. There will be an account building up, the more that is done in the flesh, the prouder the deed doer becomes and the angrier when not praised for it.
The believer operating under the power of the Holy Spirit has no need to be recognized, their joy comes from obeying God, there is no need for recognition.
Matthew 6:1-4 "6 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
3 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."
Covert means of aggravating others is to minimize and ignore the wishes of others.
When I saw the pictures of Muslims blocking American streets to do their prayers, it reminded me of the narcissists I have known who would do exactly what they know will irritate and aggravate their target to cause trouble.
All they had to do was stay out of the street and pray in their own mosque. Their blocking of the street was, an in your face, "this is our country now", assertion, deliberately designed to create frustration and turmoil.
They are working in the mindset of narcissists who love to start fights and claim they are just needing to be in the street. Of course it's a lie and covertly possessing a modicum of "plausible deniability", this way they can pretend they meant no harm and those that protest are the trouble makers.
Narcissists always love to start fights and claim it was the fault of the victim, when all the victim did was protest the ill treatment. They will even change the version of the events to make themselves appear innocent.
There is no reasoning with someone like this, the only way to deal with them is to stay as far away as possible, any attempt at reasonable dialogue will be met with more harassment. The more one tries to explain and reason with a narcissist the worse things become.
The only way to deal with Islamic narcissists is to keep them out or remove them. The more we placate them, the more we cater to them, the worse things are going to become.
The more ground the narcissists take the more they will demand. We know this from the continual battle in the Middle East, the Palestinians don't want "more" territory, they want all of it and will not rest until they have destroyed Israel.
The concepts here for dealing with narcissistic groups and religions, is also applicable to personal relationships. Those who love power over others, are jealous of others and must feel a sense of superiority will always be this way.
There is no avenue that will work with narcissists, whether overt or covert, they have the same agenda, that is to dominate and frustrate. Destroying relationships and denying truth is the top priority of those who love to harm others.
Is it possible to deny Christ in actions and lifestyle while claiming to have believed in Him?
1 John 2:18-24
"18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that [a]it would be shown that they all are not of us.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father."
