Get To Know Your Friend

It is important to get to know our friend's hearts. Why do I say this?

Because we often interpret circumstances and words based on how we think rather than how someone else meant the events.

When we know the heart of our friend we will interpret their comments and actions according to their heart and not how we think.

Kind people assume others are being kind!

Mean people assume others are being mean!

We tend to believe about others what we would do ourselves. This is why when a narcissist accuses you of lying and you are not, they are believing it because they lie frequently, even living a lie with someone different inside than what they allow us to see.

When you tell something to a kind person they will believe what you say because they will not jump to ugly conclusions. It is not in their nature to see ugly things unless there is a pattern that can be seen over time.

People who have love in their hearts are often more easily fooled because they love to think the best of others. This is why they must develop God's discernment to be able to correctly assess matters so as not to be fooled by wicked people.

1 John 4:1

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

Philippians 1:9-10

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,"

Narcissists want proof that you are good but choose not to believe it.

Kind people have to have lots of proof that someone is bad before they can see it.

The born again believer who has discernment will see the signs but wait for much proof before deciding the character of a man.

Matthew 7:15-20 "Philippians 1:9-10

"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,"

Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

The End Times character of most people are described in the following passages.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Difficult Times Will Come

3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, [a]haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [b]godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.

Bottom Line: The unsaved have only their own senses and personalities with which to judge the character of a man. Often they judge by some kind deeds and words of flattery. But the born again believer knows the character of a person by the leading of the Holy Spirit and the descriptions given to us by God in His Word.

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Do not Allow the Devil to have a Foothold

Narcissists are not interested in resolving problems. They are only interested in winning in the competition of conversation with anyone who wants to get to the bottom of things.

Narcissists will lie and use selective memory to win. They will gaslight by saying "you said this" when you didn't say what they claim. They will change the nature of events to fit with their desired belief.

Narcissists are deeply invested in fantasy thinking. When they do this they can count on their own thoughts validating them rather than exposing the real them to improve their behavior and attitudes.

It is not a blip on their radar to self evaluate anything since they must be perceived as always right. They will twist the truth, make you look as though you got everything wrong as well as punishing you when you are not convinced by their rantings.

The best thing to do when encountering these people, and you will encounter more of them as we are moving toward the end times, is to not answer them according to their folly, which is what they deserve, total dismissiveness while they are going off on you.

Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution.10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.…"

When we know where this mentality comes from we can see that it's a spiritual problem with the devil as the manipulator behind it all. He controls the mouths of many people these days. They think they are in control but they are not. The devil operates by mind deception and feelings control. Those controlled by him will think they have a valid reason for their rudeness, they are his pawns.

When we know this we can feel sorry for them rather than angry with them. It helps to know its not about us at all, its the devil attacking us to cause problems. He wants the narcissist to fight bitterly against us and he wants us to become ungodly in our responses. We do not have to be provoked by ungodly people, we can remain calm and emotionally stable.

James 1:5-8 "5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

When we become angry and fight back we have given the devil control over us.

Looking to Christ, Thinking with His Mind!

For those of you who are devastated that your candidate didn't win the election, or may be found to be the loser eventually, perhaps you ought to ponder these thoughts.

Do you know God's plan? Perhaps our new president will become born again and lead the country into righteousness. Do you know for sure this will not happen?

NO, no one knows God's purposes in His decrees.

Do you know God's plan? Perhaps the Lord is going to plunge the country into such devastation in these end times that many spiritually lazy people will repent and become born again out of their fear. Do you know for sure this will not happen?

NO, no one knows God's' purposes in His decrees.

Do you know God's plan? NO, none of us know God's plan for this country.

Do you defend all the sin in this country merely to be able to live the free and happy life you wish to continue?

If you do then your focus is not on Christ, it is on yourself and your pleasures.

Anyone who is devasted by the loss of their favorite candidate is indulging in idol imaginings, in fantasies about what they think will happen when they have no way of knowing the future.

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts."

They say continually on here, "only God knows the heart" when defending sin in people but they will not apply their own principle to those who run for office. I know the hearts of people by their words and actions, but I will never say I know what God is going to do in the future.

We are living in the end times in which God is going to allow devastation because of the sin upon the earth and America is no different from the rest of the world, perhaps worse in some ways. We have flooded the rest of the world with pornography as well as defending many other sins within our churches. WE claim to be a "Christian" nation and yet we act worse than many countries with higher standards than we have.

Our church gatherings are no different from the world. They are full of people defending and engaging in divorce and remarriage. They bring the super bowl into their gatherings, they preach false doctrines that God hates and they coddle sinners instead of removing them from the gatherings as God commanded.

1 Corinthians 5:12-13 "…12What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”

The leaven within the church has overtaken the people, so much so that they defend it, encourage it, and indulge themselves in it.

Galatians 5:9, KJV: "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."

There is now more leaven in the church than there are authentic born again believers who love the Word of God.

2 Thessalonians 2

Stop looking to the world for your help and safety, begin looking entirely to Christ.

Happy Feelings are not Love!

Love is not a happy "feeling", its deep concern for the well being of another human being. Sometimes the fix comes with sadness. Ultimately though after the sadness and the attitude and actions have been adjusted to the principles of Christ, then comes the great joy that does not disappoint!!!

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

Do not hate those who chastise you with the word of God! Recognize that they love you so much they are taking a chance on being rejected by you to help you love Christ more.

The Steadiness of the Believer

If you find yourself continually being drawn back into sin after you confessed Christianity, then you may not have been born again. One of the first things that happen to a born again believer is their hatred of sin that they used to love.

Romans 12:9

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

Jude 1:23

Save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

1 John 4:8

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Psalm 5:4

For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.

The spirit of the natural man without Christ still loves their sin. The man who has been changed into a new creation by Christ hates sin. The Holy Spirit stirs within a born again believer when they come close to sin. If they fall into it they are tormented until they confess it to be cleansed. A pretender who wants to consider themselves Christian do not hate sin, they remain in it and even defend it.

The born again believer does not walk in a lifestyle of sinfulness. They have been cleansed and continue to be cleansed when they fall. They are growing in holiness more each time they confess to be cleansed.

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:…"

Trusting in the Holy Spirit

YES, and they will justify it the same way apostate Christians do today. They will say, "The Lord knows my need", or "the Lord will forgive me," and worse of all they say; "The Lord knows my heart." Why they think this excuses sin is beyond me, except that they do not read the Word or ask the Holy Spirit. Perhaps mostly they do not have the Holy Spirit or they would seek Him.

Because they have no sense of what it is to seek Christ or to find the truth in the Bible through the teaching of the Holy Spirit, they will believe whatever is expedient, just like they do with a man who claims things they like to hear.

Alan Brayshaw said this:
"Many will perish for a lack of Knowledge." They will take the mark 666"

Test All Things!

I left the cultural Christianity I was raised with to embrace a relationship with Jesus Christ. When I became born again the Lord began to open my eyes to the lies I was taught in the churches growing up. It was astonishing how many things the modern church embraces that fly in the face of God. 

Most people who attend churches will not compare the Bible with what they are hearing or seeing in those gatherings. They just suck it all up as though it were candy, even becoming angry when someone challenges whatever their idol in the pulpit feeds them. 

2 Timothy 3 tells us what the last days' apostasy would look like and it is here. AS the scripture says; "they have a form of religion but deny God."

If you are a thinking believer you will question all things as God commanded and reject the teachings of the wolves of today.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 "21 but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. 22Abstain from every form of evil.…"

Matthew 7:13-29
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
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 will enter.
22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
The Two Foundations
24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”
28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;
29 for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. 

2 Timothy 3 tells us what the last days' apostasy would look like and it is here. AS the scripture says; "they have a form of religion but deny God."

If you are a thinking believer you will question all things as God commanded and reject the teachings of the wolves of today. 

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 "21 but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.…"