The Evidence of Salvation is the Fruit of the Spirit

Matthew 7:15-20
You Will Know Them by Their Fruit
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a 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 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

The fruit is as follows:

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."

Another evidence of salvation is this:

1 John 3:13-15 "…13 So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.…"

Christmas History: Bible & Pagans - The Truth

We Don't Have to Wonder Anymore

It is no wonder why God said the end times would be fraught with "ragingly insane" thinking?

Sadly this mentality is in the church!!!

2 Timothy 3:1-5
"3 This know also, that in the last days PERILOUS (RAGINGLY INSANE) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

"We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals.
Transvestites lecture us on human biology.
Baby Killers lecture us on human rights,
And, Socialists lecture us on economics." Taken from a poster

Isaiah 5:20
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"

We see this backward and upside-down thinking in narcissists today. They do mean things and accuse others of doing them. All of these tactics are the work of the demons growing worse every day.

Do not do as the Evil One Does!

I understand the feeling that sometimes we cannot respect an evil person. But it is not a license for us to become like them by treating them disrespectfully and hatefully.

We are commanded in the Bible to treat others the way we would like to be treated, there is no exception to this principle.

Also we are commanded to bless those who curse us, in other words, we show them the respect they won't show us.

If we choose to treat someone disrespectfully because of how mean they are, then we have become just like them.

We cannot emotionally enjoy a person who is evil, but we can act Christlike in their presence, not allowing their bad behavior to cause us to do the same to them. Then we are no different from them.

It might help to know that disrespectful people love it when they have made us into their image by snarking back at them in response to their rudeness.

Luke 6:30-32 "…30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what is yours, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.…"

Romans 12:13-15 "13 Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.…"

Obeying God by remaining Christlike no matter what others are doing will often not influence the mean person to change, that doesn't matter, and its' God's business. We are called to obey even if it has no effect on someone else. Our goal is to grow in holiness ourselves, we have no mandate to work to change another person.

We must tell the truth and when it is not received we are to walk away leaving the other person in the hands of God.

The idea that we should learn "techniques" to manipulate someone into accepting what we say is not biblical and even dishonest. It presumes that people respond to stimuli just like animals. Animals will be loyal when we treat them well and become mean when they are mistreated, this is not true of human beings.

The idea that we can affect another person's heart through manipulation comes from psychology, spawned from Darwinism. Since humans are just another species of animal they must respond the way animals do.

The thinking of Darwin was foolish because even animals are not always loving and kind just because you say nice words to them. A lion will eat you if you approach him in the wild, he doesn't trust human beings, we are their food so they don't care how nice we are to them.

"Hurting people hurt people" is also not Biblical. Bad people hurt people. Many people are hurting and have been treated shamefully but they choose to do differently from the people who were mean to them. They treat people better than they were treated because they have a tender heart and care about others more than they cogitate about how they were treated.

Christ proved this point when He went to the cross. He was brutally murdered by wicked people but chose to die on the cross for the sins of others, even the ones who murdered Him. He could have stopped the events of the cross, He could have blown on His persecutors and made them disappear if He wanted, but He did not.

The takeaway from this article is; don't become like the evil person by exacting revenge or responding in kind to them. Just remove yourself and leave them to God.

There is nothing more wonderful than a clear conscience that comes from obeying God. When we have been reviled we do not revile in return, we walk away clean and full of confidence that God has this!!!

It Only Matters What God Thinks

Have you ever been in a group of people who defended someone because they were corrected?

I have experienced this, even in Christian gatherings. One person will say something unbiblical or rude, everyone else agrees with them and another person will say, "that is not biblical" or "that was rude" and the entire rest of the room defends the unbiblical rude person in an angry manner.

Then the shunning begins, when the group thinkers fear being corrected or exposed they use isolation and subtle ignoring to punish the one who wants more than anything else to obey God and help others grow and desire to grow themselves.

Godly people who love the Lord humbly take a correction. They go to prayer to see if the correction matched the word of God and make changes in their thoughts to obey God if the correction was Biblical.

The rebellious heart rejects correction, raging in anger they attempt to intimidate the person who cared enough to admonish them. If we love someone the best thing we can do is tell the truth, but the world sees this as a personal attack, the very reason most people are offended by a rebuke.

We are not counted as causing trouble because someone else became angry at our correction. It is the angry person who is causing division and trouble.

Because of the lie propagated by psychology that; "hurting people hurt people", many people now, in the culture and in the church coddle and massage the one who sins while beating up the truth-teller who desires to obey God.

Telling the truth is the new hate speech in the culture as a whole. Most people are followers wanting to be accepted by society. Because cultural acceptance is more important than God is, most will defend the ideas of the world they hear every day rather than evaluate them according to the Bible.

Sadly most people who say they believe in the Bible does not read or know it. Even those who have attended Bible colleges repeat the psychological nonsense they were taught in those universities.

Even if the teachers in those institutions claim they do not use psychology they really do because all their instructions, and the way they think is based on their education influenced by all the government school education they have received during the first 12 years of their schooling. The way the teachers relate to the children and their instruction on how to treat people is based on psychology, not the Bible. In fact, when someone brings up the Bible using it to find the truth, they are mocked and dismissed by the world and by Christians in the church.

"More is caught than taught" is an old saying that shows how the teachers handle the children has more influence than her words. Teachers are trained to resist making a child feel bad by correcting them. Teachers use psychology rather than the Bible. They do not train the children in the ways of the Lord but rather in the ways of the world.

Our culture as a whole is psychologically dominated, it drives how everyone operates. And, often it is against God's Word. Even more disturbing is that the Christian church is fully entrenched in this worldly thinking. It is no wonder our country is sliding down the slippery slope of total depravity. We are headed toward destruction thinking we are alright because we do what we want all the time.

Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

1 John 2:15-17

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

James 4:4

"You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

Satan knows how to make error look attractive while its effect is destruction.

2 Timothy 4:2-5

"Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

Colossians 2:8

"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."

Knowing God's Word and being led by the Holy Spirit is our encouragement to the believer. We do not have to wonder if we did or said the right thing, we will be confident. The world will not be able to intimidate us into silence when it comes to the truth. Of course, once we find out someone is a rager and resistant we can remove ourselves to avoid them, but it will not keep us from telling the truth to another person later.

Be full of joy no matter how ugly others act, they cannot remove our joy unless we care more about how others think of us than we do about what God thinks.

What is Love!!!

If we love our friends we will instruct them as well as correct when we see them deviating from God's Word.

Proverbs 27:6

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend,

But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy."

Romans 15:14

"And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another."

Colossians 3:16

"Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God."

Psalm 141:5

"Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me;

It is oil upon the head;

Do not let my head refuse it,

For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds."

Luke 17:3

"Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him."

1 Thessalonians 5:14

"We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone."

2 Timothy 3:16

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;"

The most important part of being a friend is to love them by helping them see the things that need change. Its not love to allow someone to feel good about you while they are dishonoring God.

In a World of Betrayal, BE FAITHFUL | Dr. David Jeremiah | Matthew 24:10

In the World of the End, BE DETERMINED | Dr. David Jeremiah | Matthew 24:13

End Times, 2 Timothy 3

We know the end times are here when we see the incredible disrespect and angst of our children's generation. It is shameful but they have no shame over it. They never apologize for rudeness and even concoct a story in their minds that they have a good reason to treat their elders with contempt.

I never thought I would say that I do not enjoy children anymore. I used to, but they have become so rude and demanding they are no longer enjoyable to be around. Sadly, they learned it from their parents who have coddled them and who have demonstrated disrespect toward their own parents.

There is a saying from times past that goes like this; "More is caught than taught."

Parents do not exhibit hospitality, kindness or empathetic concern about others, so the children learn by their example to be the same way.

Matthew 10:42 "42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

I have never met a godly born-again believer who was unthinking and rude. They all understand the importance of hospitality and kindness. However I have met many pretenders who have no desire to be hospitable, kind, and loving, they are much too self-absorbed to care about serving another human being.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

May the Lord double down on us in this matter of hospitality,, never allowing us to do as the culture does, but to do as the Lord has commanded in His Word.

If We Love Christ the World Hates Us

If the world cannot find something against you they will poke at every little thing you do and say to be able to blame you for something. If they can make you seem like the bad one they relieve themselves of their own heart conviction.

Why would the world hate us for how we live and what we say? After all, they don't have to do what we do. They hate us because they are influenced by devils who cause the world to believe they have something against us. The goal of the devil is to intimidate us into silence, accusing us the same way the devil does every day.

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 of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night."

John 15:19-21 "…19 If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. 20 Remember the word that I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well; if they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. 21 But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.…"

We are living in the end days when families will turn on their own, the ones who have been born-again. Members of our own families will use manipulation, accusation, distortions, gossip and everything else to destroy our character to anyone who will listen. Sometimes it's very subtle, the dismissiveness, subtle ignoring, and other tactics that cause those around them to think something is wrong with us.

Do not become discouraged when you feel alone or personally attacked, this is part of the existence of someone who wants Christ more than anyone or anything else.

Matthew 22:36-38 "…36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” 37 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment."

If we love Christ more than anyone or anything we will live as He wants us to live. When we do this we can expect to lose family and friends. It is a blessing to know that we are not alone, Christ and the apostles were rejected and even killed.

Luke 10:27

"And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

1 John 4:7

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God."

When we love Christ with our whole heart we can't help but love others the way He has loved us. There is no guile, anger or contempt in the heart of a born-again believer.

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."

No fruit, No Spirit, No Salvation!

10 Signs That A Narcissist Is Playing You For A Fool

Love is the first fruit of the Spirit

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."

When you encounter someone who does not have love, they also will not have any of the other fruit. They can pretend but it will be short-lived and phony.

In order to have the fruit of the Spirit we must have the Holy Spirit Who is the essence of this fruit.

No fruit, No Holy Spirit!!!!

John 16:13-14 "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.…"

Notice when someone has the Holy Spirit they will not glorify themselves, they will honor and glorify Christ Who lives in them.

Someone who fights to win for superiority over others is not being led by the Holy Spirit but by their own flesh. Those who live a continual lifestyle of this are not born-again. Those who are believers will be convicted when they act self-righteous and superior, desiring to confess it and be cleansed of it by Christ Who lives in them.

The fruit can be faked for a period of time but a life that is faking will not be able to sustain the appearance of the fruit. They will and often do take out their frustration on those they believe are beneath them or those they think others don't like. There is continual anger waiting to emerge in those who are pretenders. It doesn't take very much for them to find a small insignificant reason to rage at their target.

These fruitless people think that as long as others don't see what they do to those they persecute, they can continue to fool those for whom they love bomb. It is important for fruitless prideful people to have followers who have never seen the real them, and would not believe the targets who do know the real them and have been victims of their harsh, judgmental, and angry tactics.

When we encounter those who love to demean us we can allow it to bounce off of us to Christ, we can deflect the rudeness allowing Christ to deal with them. Remember those who are dedicated to being superior to others will want us to respond while they enjoy twisting everything we say and do to make us look like troublemakers.

Proverbs 26:4-5 – Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. The self-confident fool thinks too highly of himself and his opinions, and he shares them freely."

If we must answer a fool, we must remain calm, give them no real information and exit the conversation. The more we say the more ammunition for their lies. Let God deal with them while you remain trusting in Him, calm and confident.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

That Famine is Now!!!!

Confession is Vital to Relationship Reconcilation

I am convinced the only way a relationship damaged by selfish mean people is if they confess how mean they were and feel sorry they treated someone in this way. Without confession of sin and a desire to be different there is no reconciling of the relationship.

God will not reconcile a person to Him unless they are first broken over their sin and desire to be cleansed by Him.

The offenders should say something like; "I was so rude and disrespectful to you, please forgive me."

After all, remember Christ said the following:

James 5:16 "16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."

Healing does not occur in a broken relationship unless there is a confession of the offense.

1 John 1:9

"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Hurt feelings and destroyed relationships CANNOT heal unless there is a demonstration of sorrow over the offense. The one who offends and is not sorry cannot be trusted, they will do it again because they don't see it as something to be avoided, nor do they care about the one they harmed. Protecting oneself from feelings of embarrassment and preserving pride is all offenders who don't confess, care about.

Another aspect of healing relationships is dialogue. We must discuss what happened, everyone listening to each other with an attitude of "how could I have done better." Or, "that is something I don't ever want to do again, I do not want to ever offend you this way again."

Relationships are not superficial. If the life experience with someone is superficial it is not a "relationship." There are many people we interact with every day that are not relationships to us. They are acquaintances, a relationship is deeper.

John 13:34-35 "…34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.”

When we love others we will not be attempting to trap them or manipulate them or demean or dismiss them.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

If we want to be "Christ-like" we must make the Word of God our standard for everything all the time. The world will pull on us to become like them through poking and mocking, the devil knows how to push the fleshly buttons of a Christian. We must ask the Holy Spirit to keep us from responding to the pokes in the flesh. And, we are commanded to remove ourselves, sometimes permanently from those who have contempt for the way we want to follow Christ.

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

9 Very Subtle Signs Of Covert Narcissism

Do Not Fear the World

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

Ephesians 4:27
"And give no opportunity to the devil."

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."

Proverbs 18:10
"The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe."

God Says You're Not a Doormat (10 Scriptures to Prove It )

The Way of Salvation!

"I'm a good person I think I will become a Christian"

"My life has been pretty good, I do good to people, I think I will fit into those Christians that attend those church gatherings."

"My sins weren't as bad as the sins of others, I think I will make a good Christian."

"I'll go to church that will make good people like me."

I'll identify as a Christian, that will make me a better person."

I have heard all these phrases in different forms over the years. God never allowed me to think I was a good person, the very reason I knew I needed Christ to change me into something other than what I was, I had no strength of my own to be what He wanted me to be and I knew it. God broke my pride of self-reliance, which is why I could come to Him in brokenness.was

When I finally came to terms with the fact that I could do nothing to make myself what I should be in God's eyes was the day I confessed my sinfulness to God and he changed me.

All of the quotes I have written above are the very reasons the people who say them are not born again and will not become born-again unless they can humble themselves admitting they have nothing to offer God or anyone else. When they realize they are utterly wicked without remedy is when God will do great work in changing their heart from one of stone that relies on themselves to a heart of flesh vulnerable and ready to trust in Him.

God will not change anyone who wants to believe highly of themselves. It is through brokenness over our sins that we can come to Christ with our heads bowed low to accept His forgiveness.

Psalm 51:16-17 "…16 For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."

The gospel message is not one of encouragement for people to enjoy a better life, its one of warning that we are no good without Christ and that we must confess our sinfulness to Him and ask Him to change us into His image.

If we fall after being changed by Christ it is our flesh that falls and when Christ in us disciplines us to return to obedience. A born-again believer will never be comfortable in their sin or defensive of it, they will remain burdened with guilt until they confess to be cleansed.

1 John 1:9 was written to believers, not to the unsaved.

1 John 1:9 "“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

God will not ignore a repentant heart!

The unsaved must confess they are sinners to become born again, that is for salvation. Confession for the believer is to be cleansed and grow in holiness.