The church gathering is not a hospital for sinners, it is a house of worship for believers.
The church are born again transformed followers of Christ who are not perfect, but they are not sinners, they are saints.
No where in the Bible does God tell us to bring unsaved people into our worship. We are to go into the world and make converts and then bring them in as saved and transformed lovers of Christ.
God never refers to His born again children as sinners, He refers to them as saints.
Acts 9:32 "32 Now as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints who lived at Lydda."
Philippians 4:21 "21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you."
Ephesians 4:12 "12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,"
Monday, January 29, 2018
By the Power of the Holy Spirit
One of the most used tactic of the devil these days is to make the believer "feel" they did something wrong when they told the truth.
Those who are lying, hiding and depend on secrecy to manipulate and control others, really hate it when we expose them and their tactics.
When we are evaluating ourselves, praying to see ourselves in truth, God can reveal whether we did something wrong or if we did something right.
We must base our evaluation on truth not feelings. The devil has the ability to make us feel bad for doing good. That's one of his ways of shutting down and shutting up the believer.
When we ignore feelings and meditate on God's truth, then we will know where we stand with God. God will never ignore our prayers for discovering our inner motives.
The evil person has no power over us as long as we are continually meditating on God's Word and praying for wisdom.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
You can trust that in these last days the believer will be under attack on all fronts by most everyone, believe it and be encouraged that we do not have to be intimidated by these tactics or the devil.
James 3:8 "…8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."
Galatians 1:4
" Christ who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,"
It is the desire of the devil to make believers fall by manipulating us to answer fools the same way they speak to us. They are rude, mean and loud, we do not have to be as they are, we can remain Christlike no matter what they are doing and if we are diligent in prayer, we will be able to answer everything in the power of the Holy Spirit, or withhold responses in the power of the Holy Spirit, whichever way He leads.
The key to all of this is to be deeply connected to the Holy Spirit, so that when we encounter the evil ones we will not speak, but the Holy Spirit will do whatever He wants through us.
May we be hid behind the Holy Spirit in all circumstances.
Those who are lying, hiding and depend on secrecy to manipulate and control others, really hate it when we expose them and their tactics.
When we are evaluating ourselves, praying to see ourselves in truth, God can reveal whether we did something wrong or if we did something right.
We must base our evaluation on truth not feelings. The devil has the ability to make us feel bad for doing good. That's one of his ways of shutting down and shutting up the believer.
When we ignore feelings and meditate on God's truth, then we will know where we stand with God. God will never ignore our prayers for discovering our inner motives.
The evil person has no power over us as long as we are continually meditating on God's Word and praying for wisdom.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
You can trust that in these last days the believer will be under attack on all fronts by most everyone, believe it and be encouraged that we do not have to be intimidated by these tactics or the devil.
James 3:8 "…8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."
Galatians 1:4
" Christ who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,"
It is the desire of the devil to make believers fall by manipulating us to answer fools the same way they speak to us. They are rude, mean and loud, we do not have to be as they are, we can remain Christlike no matter what they are doing and if we are diligent in prayer, we will be able to answer everything in the power of the Holy Spirit, or withhold responses in the power of the Holy Spirit, whichever way He leads.
The key to all of this is to be deeply connected to the Holy Spirit, so that when we encounter the evil ones we will not speak, but the Holy Spirit will do whatever He wants through us.
May we be hid behind the Holy Spirit in all circumstances.
Feeling Over Facts Brings Error
I was listening to someone this morning that gave me one more tidbit of understanding into the mind of the narcissist.
This person said that since the narcissist is coming from the standpoint of feelings rather than facts, they are more often wrong than they are right.
This made so much sense to me. It also increased my understanding that this mentality is perpetuated by the devil who would rather use feelings than facts to control the thinking of those he wishes to use against God and against God's people. It also explained why the narcissists in my life disagree with nearly everything I say and do, nearly all the time. They can never validate anything I do because to validate me would be to "submit", something that is unthinkable to the narcissist.
It's not that they have seen something wrong in us, it's that they saw something right and it frightened and infuriated them. I once was told by a narcissist, "you think you are always right", but the fact was that the narcissist was projecting, He can never be wrong so he accuses me of what he is doing. This is a common tactic. The narcissist hates to be wrong, it is an injury they cannot tolerate and we know where that is coming from, the devil working the minds of those who have no defense against him.
A born again believer who is following Christ has no problem admitting they don't know something, in fact often they will say they don't know and then go to find the answer. They never "rage" at anyone over disagreements. Raging to intimidate others is a tactic only the devil would use. The devil loves to use unsaved people to accuse us of things that we are not doing, it disarms us, making us feel a sense of defensiveness.
Revelation 12:10
"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser (Satan) of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night."
I am convinced that the Holy Spirit emanates from the soul of believers. When we are in the presence of those who are lost, He, the Holy Spirit, brings condemnation to their soul.
John 16:8 "8 And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me;…"
How can the Holy Spirit convict others of sin, He cannot be seen and does not speak audibly to those in our presence, but often there will be something about us that repels the non-believer.
There is a sense of uneasiness that comes when unbeliever are in the presence of the Holy Spirit. They think it is us, so they may concoct something about us that to explain their unease. Sadly they pass their concoction on to others as facts, maligning our character in an attempt to explain away their own feelings of fear.
Yes, the Holy Spirit frightens those who do not belong to Him. This is why they rage and accuse when we have done nothing wrong to them.
There are many pretenders in the church today, they claim they are Christians, but the name of Christ never rolls off their tongue, they are even embarrassed at the mention of Him or His principles. Some of these people may be infant believers who are still growing, but sadly a majority of them are people who have been in church all their lives, are past middle age now and have never grown past a controlling and intimidating mentality.
We cannot always know who is saved and who is not, but we can tell the truth and watch the reaction. Those in rebellion will hate truth and hate even worse if someone perceives them as wrong, even if it is only one time. We become a target for defeat by a narcissist for the rest of our lives over one or two disagreements.
Amos 5:10 "10 They hate him who reproves in the gate, And they abhor him who speaks with integrity. "
This person said that since the narcissist is coming from the standpoint of feelings rather than facts, they are more often wrong than they are right.
This made so much sense to me. It also increased my understanding that this mentality is perpetuated by the devil who would rather use feelings than facts to control the thinking of those he wishes to use against God and against God's people. It also explained why the narcissists in my life disagree with nearly everything I say and do, nearly all the time. They can never validate anything I do because to validate me would be to "submit", something that is unthinkable to the narcissist.
It's not that they have seen something wrong in us, it's that they saw something right and it frightened and infuriated them. I once was told by a narcissist, "you think you are always right", but the fact was that the narcissist was projecting, He can never be wrong so he accuses me of what he is doing. This is a common tactic. The narcissist hates to be wrong, it is an injury they cannot tolerate and we know where that is coming from, the devil working the minds of those who have no defense against him.
A born again believer who is following Christ has no problem admitting they don't know something, in fact often they will say they don't know and then go to find the answer. They never "rage" at anyone over disagreements. Raging to intimidate others is a tactic only the devil would use. The devil loves to use unsaved people to accuse us of things that we are not doing, it disarms us, making us feel a sense of defensiveness.
Revelation 12:10
"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser (Satan) of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night."
I am convinced that the Holy Spirit emanates from the soul of believers. When we are in the presence of those who are lost, He, the Holy Spirit, brings condemnation to their soul.
John 16:8 "8 And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me;…"
How can the Holy Spirit convict others of sin, He cannot be seen and does not speak audibly to those in our presence, but often there will be something about us that repels the non-believer.
There is a sense of uneasiness that comes when unbeliever are in the presence of the Holy Spirit. They think it is us, so they may concoct something about us that to explain their unease. Sadly they pass their concoction on to others as facts, maligning our character in an attempt to explain away their own feelings of fear.
Yes, the Holy Spirit frightens those who do not belong to Him. This is why they rage and accuse when we have done nothing wrong to them.
There are many pretenders in the church today, they claim they are Christians, but the name of Christ never rolls off their tongue, they are even embarrassed at the mention of Him or His principles. Some of these people may be infant believers who are still growing, but sadly a majority of them are people who have been in church all their lives, are past middle age now and have never grown past a controlling and intimidating mentality.
We cannot always know who is saved and who is not, but we can tell the truth and watch the reaction. Those in rebellion will hate truth and hate even worse if someone perceives them as wrong, even if it is only one time. We become a target for defeat by a narcissist for the rest of our lives over one or two disagreements.
Amos 5:10 "10 They hate him who reproves in the gate, And they abhor him who speaks with integrity. "
The Character Qualities of Christ
The fruit of the Spirit are character qualities:
Galatians 5:22-2
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
The character qualities will lead to right actions and attitudes.
Galatians 5:22-2
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
The character qualities will lead to right actions and attitudes.
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