Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Disordered Thinking of the Narcissist

Disordered thinking of the narcissist may include evaluations based on desired beliefs rather than truth.

If a narcissist treats someone with contempt because they don't like what you believe, they will consider it wise and with good reason. The narcissist counts themselves as attempting to show you right from wrong by intimidating and coercing you into submission to them.

However if we disagree with the narcissist they consider it contempt and a personal attack. We are a "bad person" for daring to have our own views.

The rational person who is trying to help shares their views out of concern and love. We do not attack the character of the person we correct, we simply share to help.

The narcissist demands, coerces and demeans to show the one who disagrees with them that they are inferior in character.

In one case the rational kind person wants to help, in the case of the narcissist he/she only wants to control you choosing to believe you are of questionable character for not agreeing with them.

This is why the narcissist comes unglued when corrected, they believe you are acting the way they act. They believe you are attacking because if they were correcting you they would be placing your character into serious question. The narcissist is attacking but the loving person is sharing to help.

Proverbs 12:14-16 …14 By fruitful speech a man will be filled with good things, and the work of a man’s hands will reward him. 15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel. 16 A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.…"

Proverbs 15:18
"18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
But the slow to anger calms a dispute."

Proverbs 10:23 "23 A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes, but a person of understanding delights in wisdom."

The narcissist is a fool, he searches for reasons to be angry with people when there is no reason. This kind of fool listens to no one, he never grows past infancy in his responses to challenges. Every thing he does is based on having his own way while expecting everyone else to bow to him. This narcissist bends to no one but demands that everyone bend to him.

We cannot help these kind of people since everything they say and do is based on elevating themselves they will not hear criticism that might help them grow a little more.

In our modern culture criticism is considered mean or rude. However in times past this word was considered a good word. Criticism was used to help one learn a better way. It was helpful and good to listen to criticism.

Criticism in the old way of thinking was the analyzing of a situation to correct errors or redirect a path that could be better. So many words like this have changed over the years to become known as bad things, but in fact in a culture of the past they were words that helped one grow in knowledge and wisdom.

Since evaluating anything has become forbidden in our culture we are seeing people who are middle age who have no more wisdom than they did when they were young. Sadly those who do not grow regress. When we are not moving forward we are moving backward.

The narcissist has spent a life time of resistance to instruction, correction or criticism leaving them in an emotionally infantile responses to life. A toddler gets angry and has tantrums when they are told no, much like the adult toddler who never learned to receive correction or discipline wisely.

Proverbs 15:18 "18“
":18 A hot-tempered man stirs up strife,
But the slow to anger calms a dispute."

Do we want to be mature and wise seniors or are we content to be children in adult bodies, we get to choose by the way we respond to God's commands and correction from those who walk with God?





Christ Destroyed the Works of the Devil

The love of the narcissist is tantamount to hate. When someone loves themselves so much they are willing to trample on another person to feel elevated, this is the worst kind of hatred. The devil did this in heaven wishing to be above God He not only raged against God he took many legions of angels with him.

Satan is the ultimate narcissist, his desire for self glory took him to a place of total denial of anyone but himself. When he could not win against God he determined to take as many angels and humans with him who would hate God too!

Did he think for one moment what would happen to the legions that followed him, no and it didn't matter to him as long as he had a following. The angels that now follow Satan are now devils and will be going to hell for eternity.

This is how narcissists react to the strong person who will not be moved by their antics. When the narcissist cannot control us they will attempt to manipulate how others view us. They will enlist others by their gossip and false accusations. The same thing the devil did with the legions of angels who followed him. It didn't matter to the devil what the consequences would be, in fact he very likely thought he could win against God with his armies of created beings.

Their hatred and antics have no boundaries. They cannot tolerate believers who stand by the Word of God. They will accuse the believers of things the narcissist is doing and the believer is not. They will use half truths and out and out lies to diminish the witness and resolve of the born again believer.

Revelation 12:9-11
"9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
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 of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even [b]when faced with death."

The brethren "overcame" because of the blood of the Lamb", not that the brethren were now more comfortable in their sin, but that they now had the power to overcome the devil and his angels by the power of Christ.

Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He continually goes to the throne of heaven to accuse those who belong to Christ. Satan is the monstrous liar who will do the very things he accuses others of doing.

The devil will even attempt to make believers think they were wrong in doing what was right in God's eyes. He will sling accusations such as "your judging", or "your mean spirited", when we speak of God's standards and truths.

This is the tactic of the narcissist, the narcissist is controlled by the devil. When the narcissist thinks they have an accusation against someone that is only their own idea, it will be coming from the father of lies, the devil.

When we know our enemy and his tactics we can remain joyful and powerful as Christ works in us to thwart the devil's plans.

1 John 3:8
"the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."

Hebrews 2:14-15
"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."

They Perverted the Rainbow

Interesting isn't it, the first rainbow was a promise to the world of no more flooding, but is now being used to justify the sinners who practiced homosexuality, the very reason God sent the flood to destroy the world. Satan is the father of lies and works to mock anything that belongs to God.

At the end of every culture is the sin of homosexuality. This is the point at which God says to us "enough is enough", the sin is to the point of abomination, then is when He destroys those societies.

Bonnie Cooke
The first time a rainbow appeared was after the flood and came with a promise from God. That's what the rainbow means!

2 Timothy 3 Difficult Times

We are living in difficult times. Especially difficult for those who love and follow Jesus Christ.

We live among "Christians" who think the Bible is a book of suggestions, some good and some to ignore. They become angry when the principles of the Bible are brought to bare on any conversation but call themselves "Bible believing" Christians.

We have no right to call ourselves Bible believing if we negate any part of God's Word. Not all of the Bible was written to us, but all of it was written for us.

When God presents a principle in His Word we can count on it as a direction and command to us. The old testament commands about food were given to the Jews before the death of Christ, after He came He gave a new directive about food. The old testament directives were finished and the new directive is clearly presented in the New Testament, the time of the church.

"The New Testament is hidden in the Old and the Old is revealed in the new."

We do not do all the practices of the Jews but the reason for those practices are revealed and bring us good lessons about our relationship with Christ as well as other human beings.

It is clear that the end times bring with it a staunch rebellion against God and all His principles. Many people in churches today are cherry picking which verses they wish to follow and negating the ones they do not like.

When an authentic Bible believer comes along to bring to bear ALL principles from God's Word as valid and all practices of the New Testament remain commands, they are ignored, mocked and isolated from those who wish to "do what is right in their own eyes."

Much of scripture is twisted to justify sin as well as even celebrate it. One of the most monstrous doctrines of our day is hyper-grace in which it is taught that God no longer hates sin, its really no big deal, we just place it under the blood and all is good.

This monstrous belief in hyper-grace has trampled on the terrible sacrifice of the cross and the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:1-2 "1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?…"

What part of "certainly not" do the presumptuous types not understand. Christ did not die on that horrid death on the cross to make it more comfortable to sin. He died to do away with sin. He died that we might live free of sin. If we fall then He provided an advocate for us and the way of confession to be cleansed of our sin.

1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

God hates sin so much that it required the killing of the innocent Lamb of God. How then can so many who claim to be Christian take sin so lightly as to excuse it as being under grace.

Those who obey the command to love God with all their heart, soul and mind, hate sin as much as God does. Sin will not be ignored by these who love Him, it will be dealt with in order to bring the sinner to confession to be cleansed.

Never be intimidated by those who call us unloving because we speak truth to help others learn to walk circumspectly (carefully looking around, watchful and alert) with God.

When I looked up the definition of "circumspect" I realized it had far more to do with being alert, discreet and watchful than it did with merely being upright.

When we realize the depth of circumspection it leaves us astonished at how superficially words have been interpreted in our day.

As born again believers we ought to be growing deeper in our wisdom as we question all things, evaluate all things and hold fast to the truth of those things God shows us.

The world will be angry that we want to go deeper, they love their superficiality, its less work to be ignorant. When we find ourselves ignorant about a spiritual matter we ought to desire to know the depth of the truth.

Be warned that we are surrounded by people who do not appreciate depth to become wiser. They will not encourage us or involve themselves with our quest to learn God's truth. Thankfully we have the Holy Spirit and will not be without companionship even if no people are in the room, we will always have Christ.

What a blessing when we do meet others who love to question and evaluate all things according to God's Word and through prayer.

John 16:12-14 "…12 I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it. 13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you."

Hallelujah!!!!





In the Last Days Bad will be Called Good and Good will be Called Bad

On another post this poster was called "hate", clearly the person who said this does not understand what God's love looks like. Here was my response to that accusation.

"It is never hate to warn people they are living in sin. It is love to warn from God's Word. God says that homosexuality is an abomination worthy of hell. The good news is that God can save them from hell if they repent (change their mind about sin) and ask God to change them into a new creation. When God does that we no longer desire the sin we used to love.

More good news is that the one who turns from homosexuality to embrace the love of Christ they will be guaranteed of heaven by trusting in Christ.

Christ paid the penalty for all sin, all we have to do is admit that we are sinners and confess that Christ paid for it. He then will come into us, change us and keep us safe from sin until He takes us out of this world.

To call out sin is love! To remain silent about sin just to be liked by others is a form of indifference to their lost condition.

Indifference is a form of hate. When all we care about is being liked by others, when their lost condition doesn't matter to us, then we are indulging in narcissism, a self love that cares nothing about others and everything about ourselves. "

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Out of the Heart

We only speak from the heart. Whatever is in our heart will come out in words and actions.

A thief was a thief because of what was in his heart before he ever stole even one thing.

A liar was a liar in their heart before they ever told one lie.

Matthew 6:21
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Proverbs 3:5
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Proverbs 4:23
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

In order to speak and act right we must conform our hearts to Christ.

Romans 12:2
"2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Anyone who tries real hard to be a good person will fail. Pride comes from thinking we can make ourselves good. Only the change that Christ makes in our heart will be authentic and permanent, He gets the glory and we have a new heart.

Psalm 51:10
"10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."





Taking Captive Every Thought

Satan is placing thoughts in the minds of people that make them anxious, angry and frustrated when there is no reason to have these feelings.

Satan is placing jealousy in the hearts of those who think someone else has more than they do. The more they are jealous the worse their attitudes and actions become.

When pride dwells in the heart so also does anger! When jealousy is present in the heart there follows angry attitudes and actions that destroy relationships.

When pride jealousy and anger dwell in the heart there is the root of the destruction of relationships.

Nothing that comes to dwell in the mind stays in the mind. Every thought that is pondered ends up becoming an action. This is why God said:

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,"

When someone rages irrationally over silly things it is likely they have had many continual angry thoughts dwelling in their mind. No one can rage instantaneously, there must be a thought life that builds over time until finally there is an explosion.

Often these explosions of anger catch people off guard, they leave the hearer stunned with disbelief asking "where did that come from." Nothing of significance happened, nothing bad was going on and all of a sudden there is rage flowing from the mouth that seemed to come from no where.

Satan is in the business of destroying relationships, his main goal is to ruin the relationship between God and us and between others and us. If he can keep us preoccupied putting out brush fires we will never see the raging inferno coming.

There is a solution to all this mess for the born again believer. We can keep our mind focused on truth while resisting the fleshly desire to respond to the ploys of the devil emerging from another person's mouth and actions.

Ephesians 6:12
"12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

Christ rebuked the devil when Peter had a wrong response. Christ said to the apostles "one of you is a devil" in reference to Judas who was in the room.

Christ knew that the sinful attitudes and actions were not coming from the human beings that he was conversing with, it was the devil who was influencing their thoughts. In the case of Judas there may have been possession, while in Peter there were influencing thoughts.

When we find ourselves saying and doing things in opposition to Christ we can assign the thoughts that caused the words and actions to the devil or our flesh.

The solution for the thoughts that cause attitudes and actions is to trust in Christ. When we have Christ dwelling in us we are able to ignore the evil thoughts, even push them out as we cleanse our minds with the word of God.

Romans 12:2
"2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Philippians 4:8
"8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

The more we dwell on the word of God the uglier the world looks to us. The more we know the principles of God the less we can be drawn into the lies of the devil.

When so many people have a perverted view of truth who are church members, the deeper apostasy grows within the church.

The devil has been very clever in inculcating people into the church who have not been born again, those who have been steeped in psychology, who pervert the principles and doctrines of God in order to keep up with the devolving culture.

When our focus is on the culture rather than Christ we can expect the society in general to be even worse than the apostasy in the church.

The world is in the church now far more than ever before. The end times of apostasy are here, few who say they are Christian have been born again.

2 Timothy 1:7
"7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline."

Born again believers do not have to be intimidated by the antics of the pretenders, we can be bold and kind at the same time. They will accuse us of being unkind when we tell the truth because it convicts them of sin. However if we are anchored to the rock the tricks of the devil need not have effect on us.

Proverbs 28:26
"26 He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
But he who walks wisely will be delivered.:

Those who are "religious" trust in their own hearts. Those who are led by the Holy Spirit trust Christ and all His principles.




Taking Captive Every Thought

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4HMF-lAKWY