Monday, August 27, 2018

The Holy Spirit Never Left Believers

For those who think the Holy Spirit hops in and out of people over their sin I will explain it this way: there is not one account in the Bible of the Holy Spirit leaving a believer after Christ sent Him to all believers when He went into heaven.



Butterflies Never Go Back

God gave us a perfect analogy of eternal security of the believer! That is the butterfly who starts out as a worm. After he emerges from the cocoon he can never go back to the worm again.



The Butterfly Cannot Go Back to a Worm

There are so many now who are using the mantra; "Christ doesn't leave us but we can leave Him."

This is not true, it is heresy, here is the truth:

When Christ changes us into a new creation we can never change ourselves back again. We do not leave Him ever, we do endure to the end. Those who do not endure were never born again. These people are mentioned in 

Matthew 7:21-23 "
"21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

When a person appears to have left God, they were never with God. God never changed them. When Christ changes someone they are no longer the old man, they are completely changed, they didn't do it themselves, it was Christ Who did it.

When we become born again we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise as a Guarantee of our inheritance.

Ephesians 1:13-14 "13 And in Him you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, having heard and believed the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"

We cannot undo what Christ did! He never leaves us or forsakes us, but He does discipline those He loves who disobey.

Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"



It Wasn't Your Delivery

Notice how some people will focus on our delivery, which wasn't bad but they will say so, rather than the message we bring. It is easier to say I don't like you than it is to say I don't like God.

There are people these days who will accuse us of not saying something the right way as the reason for rejecting our message.

Silly isn't it, when the message is good and I agree with it then I hardly notice how it was said. And the same thing is true of those who claim it was about our message. They know their complaint had little to do with the way something was said, it was the content they didn't like but they lie and say it was our delivery.

When we bring the principles of God and His Word to support it, we are often met with anger. The excuse that is used for rejecting the message is our delivery. It distracts from the message. If the hearer can make us feel bad about HOW we said something they can feel better about not accepting what they know is true.

People who are easily offended are often if not always self focused and resistant to truth. They remain prideful, if they were not prideful they would simply disagree with the message explaining their disagreement or go to prayer to see if they could be wrong.

Those who are prideful and resistant to correction will always turn a discussion into a personal attack. Their hope and aim is to embarrass us into slinking away in shame for approaching the subject with them.

When we become strong in telling the truth we no longer fear the reaction of the hearer. Eventually we get to a place where the attacks roll off of us like butter on a hot knife.

Sometimes it actually becomes amusing to watch the "same old, same old" in terms of the nonsense responses to truth. These people use exactly the same words in nearly every encounter, they might sound like this;

"don't judge me", "you said it mean", "you think your better", "you don't know my heart."

I love that "you don't know my heart" thing, it is suppose to make us timid about continuing in the discussion. But in fact it declares loudly that the person using the phrase does not understand that we cannot do in actions or attitudes something different from what is in our hearts. The attitudes and actions are the proof of what's in our hearts.

Only someone who has murder in their heart can carry out a murder.

Only someone who is a liar at heart can tell a lie.

Only someone who has lust in their heart can commit fornication or adultery.

Only someone who has jealousy in their heart can gossip and lie against others.

Only someone who loves idols in their heart can place anything above God in importance in their lives.

It's all there in the ten commandments, sin is in the heart first before any actions are taken. In fact sin can be in the heart without any actions taken at all. It can lie there dormant wishing it could be acted upon. Sins of the heart do come out in subtle forms without us realizing it. It is impossible to hide what is in the heart, but eventually it will begin to seep out in subtle and nearly undetectable ways unless the viewer is discerning.

Giving gifts to manipulate others without any love attached to it is one way it seeps out through the pores.

Telling half truths that cause others to believe things that are not true is one form of lying without actually telling a whole lie. But let me inform you that a half truth is a whole lie.

Remember the condition of the heart fleshes out in our actions.

In recent years I was in a discussion with a group of Christian youth who were angry that I confronted them about their clothing at the beach. The girls were wearing bikinis that were much smaller than the ones that came out in the 70's.

In that discussion the youth leader argued that I didn't know what was in the hearts of these girls, that they really loved the Lord.

My response was that I did know what was in their heart by the way they were dressed. Not only by the way they were dressed but also the way the acted that gave ample evidence that they had lust and exhibitionism in their hearts.

These young ladies were showing pictures of themselves in their bikinis, climbing on top of the young men at the beach to form a pyramid. Can you imagine what that looked like,as these young ladies climbed the backs of the young men. When they fell they fell all over one another.

Now my question....."And this was alright with the youth leader?" REALLY!!!!!! What kind of youth leader endorse this conduct for those she is suppose to mentor?

The infamous lines they used frequently in the discussion were these; "your judging" and "you don't know their heart."

Once again....we know a person's heart by their conduct, its that simple.

1 John 3:18 "18 Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth. "

We knew these young women didn't love the young men or they would have attempted to protect the men from lust. We knew those young men didn't love those women because they enjoyed that attention and lust. No one was protecting anyone else not even the youth leaders.

God clearly states that we are not to do anything that will cause our brothers or sisters to fall.

Matthew 18:9
"If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell."

Matthew 18:7
"Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!"




Actions are not Fruit

Actions are not fruit. The fruit are character qualities, from these character qualities come right actions. But the character comes first.

Galatians 5:22-23
"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."

We can do good deeds to glorify ourselves, they do not count with God. The true character qualities that come from Christ in us and flesh out in our actions are the only actions that count.




The Devil's Lies

The devil is twisted, he will speak lies into the minds of people just like he spoke to Eve in the garden.

He will say things in his sneaky little inklings:

"she did that to hurt you"

"He wasn't trying to help, he just wants to control you."

"Its alright to take what doesn't belong to you, after all you have a right."

"The Bible really doesn't say that, God is withholding truth from you."

"She/he's mean, they said that to hurt you."

"They think they are better because they have wealth."

"They are poor because their lazy or foolish."

"You should hate them, they have something you don't have."

"She this and he that", all of which is not true at all, but the devil will convince those who are full of jealousy and rage that they have good reasons to despise those they hate.

The devil brings ideas into the minds of those who have no defense against him. They are so full of self they love to hear the things the devil speaks into their heads.

Do not fear these people, they wallow in their own slime, it leaves them hopeless, helpless and depressed, dejected, discouraged and demoralized.

The only way this sort of person can come out of their sadness is to keep elevating self, keep tormenting others and keep listening to the lies of the devil. The vicious circle spins them out of control, a sort of hamster wheel, they cannot stop they must run and run and run on that wheel, they are tired but they can never stop.

Here is the solution that can get this person off the hamster wheel, the only solution, that is to confess their sins before God, ask to be cleansed by Him and continue on to evaluate every thought according to God's Word from that time forward.

2 Corinthians 10:5
"5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"

Just saying!!!!

The Covert Hides Effectively but Only for Awhile

A covert narcissist can hide very effectively a wicked heart while appearing wonderful to those who don't know the signs or those who have never confronted them about sin.

Do not be fooled, appearances are very deceiving! Actors and actresses lie for a living. They can make us believe they are people of stellar character in a play or movie while living like rebels and heathens in real life.

Politicians are this way too. Far too often people rely on appearances and words to discern the truth about people They miss the clues because they are choosing to follow their desired feelings about someone rather than seeing the clues.

It is the targets or those closely associated with these covert types who can tell you the truth about them.

Sometimes we are shocked that someone was arrested for crimes because all we saw in them was the false persona of virtue they allowed us to see.

Luke 6:45
"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks."

Know this, that eventually the authentic heart of a covert will emerge when they become too weary to keep up the pretense any longer.

Those who are coverts can become born again and cleansed from their sin of pride. This is our prayer and our hope. Just as God forgave and cleanses us, they too can experience the same thing, it is their choice.

Ezekiel 36:26
"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

The Two Prodigals

Trudi mentioned on her status today the story of the prodigal son and how wonderfully the son repented and the father took him back. A success story we all dream about.

One thing many people fail to notice too is that there were two prodigals in that story. The one that stayed and the one that left.

The older one who stayed did it out of duty. He was jealous for the repentance of his younger brother and refused to come to the celebration when his father wanted him to come. He refused to acknowledge the repentance of the younger brother, he had bitterness in his heart.


Many of you have experienced this in your families. Your siblings saw the sin in your life as you were younger, but will not see the change Christ made in you after trusting Christ.

There is jealousy that keeps these siblings in bondage. As long as they refuse to see the difference in you, the miracle of God's salvation in you, there cannot be a relationship.

There is no peace and joy in those who love to hang onto the sin that used to be but has not been for many years. The gossip continues, the lie that keeps them bound up in their own sin of pride may be an indication that they are not born again.

Born again believers are excited when someone has changed and when their life has demonstrated one of service to God.

We see this choice to believe the old in non-believers, but it is very hard to understand in those who claim to be "Christian." I have even had non-believers express the change in a new believer, how much more should a born again believer notice it.

2 Corinthians 5:16-18 "…16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…"



Past Present and Future is Covered in the Blood

How could my present sin be covered when Christ died 2000 years ago. This could only be true if His blood shed then covered my sin now. Therefore it is sensible to realize that Christ's sacrifice covered future sin then and still does now.

David Novitsky said:

"Anyone who tells you that only your past sins were forgiven at the Cross still has scales on their eyes and should not be teaching the Bible."

We Warn to Help

We warn to help, in case you were thinking we were just enjoying misery.

Ezekiel 3:18-19 "18 If I say to the wicked man, ‘You will surely die ,’ but you do not warn him or speak out to warn him from his wicked way to save his life, that wicked man will die in his iniquity, and I will hold you responsible for his blood. 19 But if you warn a wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness and his wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, but you will have saved yourself.…"

Those who do not want to be helped will rage as well as ignore us, their reaction is not our business, that is God's business, leave it with Him.




We Warn to Help

There are those who might complain that we are too negative always correcting, instructing and exposing error and false preachers.

My answer to them is this; we live in a very wicked world in which mankind has stooped to the basest level possible to indulge themselves.

In this time we see apostasy in the church, corruption in the government and broken family relationships, usually for no other reason than the desire people have to elevate themselves by degrading others.

It is interesting to me that many believers can so freely ignore that which angers God, while pampering and comforting those who have mocked him.

We cannot win people to Christ by ignoring the very sin God tells us to warn them about. That makes no sense at all. We do not in others to Christ by treating them with the same closeness that we do Christian sisters and brothers who are in obedience to Christ.

To act overly friendly and accommodating to those who hate Christ is to diminish Him. After all, He hates their sin and their rebellion against Him Yes of course we do not treat anyone with disrespect but we do not become close to them the same way we are to our brothers and sisters.

2 Corinthians 6:3-14 "
13As a fair exchange, I ask you as my children: Open wide your hearts also. 14Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? "

Being overly friendly to the point of affirming everything they do is to validate the evil that they do.

Isaiah 26:10 "10 Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD."

We warn the unbelievers because we love Christ and the one that we warn. If that person who was warned becomes born again, then they become our brother or sister and are welcomed with great joy into the family of God. That is our ultimate hope in sharing the warnings with unbelievers. We want them to enjoy the freedom and love we do from our choice to become born again.

Our warning often includes the message that we cannot change ourselves. Salvation is so very easy, it simply a matter of saying we believe in Christ, the price He paid for our sin and we want Him to change us into a new creation.

Those who have been changed by Christ because they wanted to be cleansed from sin and saved from hell, are the happiest and most joyful people on this earth. Even impervious to the attacks of unjust people, the believer plods along trusting that Christ has our back no matter what we go through. Hallelujah!!!!

Luke 10:21-22 "21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.
22 All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

When we become born again the Scriptures are open to us in ways we never knew. The wisdom of God is so much greater than the wisdom of the world, we are filled with overwhelming joy at the learning of it.

We can speak the truth no matter how "negative" the world thinks it is and remain joyful because our hope is beyond this world. We await something far greater than our minds can imagine and it is coming soon for us.

Hallelujah!!!!