Has the lampstand been removed from America?
Revelation 2:4-5
"…4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. 5 Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place."
Those who speak truth and love God will be hated by most people, that's just how it goes, learn to live with it while rejoicing to be counted among the few.
Matthew 10:22 "22 You will be hated by everyone on account of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved."
James 1:2-8
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Not very much of our Christ-mass celebrations represent truth about Him or what happened at His coming.
Why did the wise men come to see the Christ as a child?
They did not bring him gifts as we think of them and there were more than three wise men. They didn't arrive to see Christ until He was about two years old. He was not a baby in the manger then, He was a walking child.
They brought gold, frankinsence and myrrh, these were useful for the care of Christ and His family, the spices were to anoint His body for when He died.
The wise men were not coming to celebrate the birth of Christ, they recognized that He was the promised Messiah who came to die. They knew His purpose, that's why they came to worship the King of Kings.
From the book of Isaiah, the wise men knew why Christ had come, that was to be our sacrificial Lamb, for the sins of the whole world.
THE WISE MEN NEVER CAME TO CELEBRATE A BIRTHDAY, THEY CAME TO WORSHIP THE KING AND PRAISE HIM FOR HIS PURPOSE THAT WOULD BE FULFILLED LATER.
Exodus 14:14
"The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
The devil is working hard in these last days whispering in the ears of ungodly people. Telling them to do evil to others, shootings, abortion, family fights over nearly nothing.
My guess is that everyone who reads this post has seen the evil in one form or another in family members who claim something is wrong when there is nothing they can point to that drives their contempt.
The devil caused Eve to question God, even blame others. What makes us think he is not using the exact same tactic today. He knows his time is short, he hates what God loves, so he will do whatever he needs to do to destroy the family, the babies, and the church gatherings.
1 Peter 5:7-9 "…7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.…"
What does God want us to do about all this mess? Verse 7 tells us plainly, "Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."
There it is, stay strong, keep going in obedience to Christ and leave all the mess to Him. Hallelujah!
God is not a respecter of persons. When we see ourselves all the same, sinners who needed a Savior, we have no one who is our hero except Christ, but we have many people we love.
I deal continually with people who are enraged when we correct them, even to the point of calling us names.
We are not attacking their character, only addressing what they say they believe, but they are so full of themselves that they cannot stand to admit they may not be correct about something, or that someone does not fawn all over their ideas.
When we are secure in what we believe we do feel a need to become angry when someone else disagrees, we simply state our case. There is no name calling or demeaning attitude, only a discussion.
Keep looking up folks, the times is here when few will listen and most will hate us. That's alright, when we know it's coming we are less defensive and bolder.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
Matthew 10:21-23 "…21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone on account of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.…"
Pretending something is so to make ourselves feel better is useless. Facing truth with courage brings wisdom and greater strength.
Our culture is steeped in "pretend" or as some have called it "pretense", either way it is a way of feeling better without having to be truthful.
Truth brings comfort and strength, pretend merely delays the healing and growing process.
Romans 12:9-13 "9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,[a] serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality."
Genuineness brings healing from difficult situations. It is never good or right to pretend something just to manipulate your own feelings.
Often people pretend their movie idols are good people and the reverse is to pretend the righteous ones who do not like their idols are bad.
We live in a culture that now indulges in calling what is good "evil" and calling what is evil "good."
When we correct another believer according to the scriptures, we are met with anger and rebellion. They have been taught all their lives that they are the most important person in the world and all their thoughts and ideas are not wrong, but right as long as they think so.
I have met more people who are staunch about their defense of wrong thinking than those who would be steadfast about the truth of the Bible.
2 Timothy 2:14-18
An Unashamed Workman
"14 Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
16 But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,
17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some."
There are many people now in the church who will fight to defend their sin, so much so that they are willing to ruin relationships with anyone who will not nod their head quietly and smile big smiles, in approval of everything they say.
Those who dare to speak the truth from the Word are treated as though they have a plague, to be avoided and gossiped about. I am quite sure that some reading this would be able to raise their hand in agreement.
O.K., so what do we do with this? It's really quite simple, speak our minds in love without guile, ignore those who want to fight and learn where they are to avoid them. We are not called to make everyone happy, only to speak truth, if others find that offensive, then we will need to find those who love to hear truth. Allow others to avoid us, do not seek after those who have clearly resisted truth.
Our prayer ought to be that one day those who left us in contempt will return born again and in a different Spirit.
The Law was given for the lawless. Without the Law, the lawless would be out of control, but it restrains their evil heart to some degree even when it does not save them. We live under grace because we have no desire in Christ within us to do wrong. There is no law needed for those who don't want to do wrong. Christ is the Law Giver Who lives in us, we have no need of the external Law. We obey His commands because we love Him.
Romans 6:14-15 "…13 Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? By no means!…"
Far too many people are thinking they are being good enough they need not bother obeying God. The problem with this is that they expose their inner heart of rebellion against Him by claiming they are under grace therefore it doesn't matter if they sin.
When someone is comfortable in sin and defends or justifies it, they are probably not born again. Born again believers are convicted by their sin and quickly confess to be cleansed.
1 John 1:6 "6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth."
I don't think it could be much more clear than that.
Psalm 97:10-11 "10 Hate evil, you who love the LORD, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown like seed for the righteous And gladness for the upright in heart.…"
