Sharing in Christ on the Narrow Path

If anyone is wondering why I don't have family members who engage with me on Facebook its because we think so differently from one another.

I love family and have no desire to argue and fight because we walk a different path.

My love has little to do with superficial platitudes to ingratiate others to me. My love is to share what God has shown me so that we can enjoy Christ together and grow in holiness together.

Romans 12:10

"Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor."

Ephesians 4:11-16

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ."

My purpose on Facebook is to enjoy the fellowship of those who love the narrow path I have chosen and are walking it with me. And, to teach the Word of God as I learn from others who are also teaching the Word of God. We share something much deeper than superficial matters we are deeply family, the family of Christ.

2 Timothy 2:15

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."

May we enjoy the narrow path with all those who love Christ too.

Gossip is Always Tainted!

"Be careful what you believe when you hear gossip, you may be hearing it from the problem."

So You Think there are no man-made Traditions in the Protestant Church?

That which is described as the "Protestant church" has prided itself in not having ungodly rituals or traditions like the Catholic church, but it does.

Many things that the "Protestant" church practices come right out of Catholicism.

Ask God to show you, you may be surprised how many!

Discernment is Key to Everything!

"Be careful what you believe when you hear gossip, you may be hearing it from the problem."

Self Esteem Teaching is the Bondage of the Age

People are more insecure and immature than ever before but think they are special and superior. Self Esteem teaching did this!

Becoming Free in Christ to Follow Him Instead of Men Who Love to Rule Over Others

If anyone says to you that a particular English word is not in the Bible, remind them that the Bible was written in Greek and Hebrew, no English words are in the Inspired Word of God.

When we translate from one language to the other we must choose the English word that best fits the meaning in the other language. Some Greek and Hebrew words mean a sentence that is difficult to convey with one English word.

This is why we must depend on the Holy Spirit to bring the true meaning.

An example of this is the phrase in the Old Testament; "a woman's desire will be over her husband but he will rule over her." This is the translation from Genesis 3:16.

However, in Hebrew the phrase really means; "a woman's desire will be to rule over her husband but he will rule over her." If we look more deeply into the context we see that this condition of husband and wife battling one another continually is a condition of the fall and not what should occur in a Christian marriage in which Christ has deleted the fallen state to replace it with His Love.

There are so many misunderstandings we have because of our English translations.

Unless we are seeking Christ, reading His Word and obeying what He says we will not be able to understand what He says in His Word.

Translations are often interpreted according to the culture at the time of the translation. Our Western mindset does not think like the Jewish mindset of Jesus' time.

So many things we were taught to believe were not true but the culture lives according to them.

This article is not to cause division or undermine one's faith, just the opposite. My desire is for anyone reading this will question all they have been taught, pray for understanding and then read the Bible in context as the Holy Spirit guides.

I am not a fan of "verse by verse" teaching, because context is needed to understand any verse. And, the chapter context must be interpreted in light of the entire rest of the Bible.

It is not true that God helps those who help themselves, He helps those who cannot help themselves.

It is not true that leading over someone means dominating and forcing. Leaders are to lead by love, teaching and by their own example.

It is not true that one must go to seminary to be able to teach. God said it is the Holy Spirit Who leads us into all truth.

It is not true that we should love ourselves first before we can love anyone else. God says we should deny ourselves and count others better than ourselves.

It is not true that pastors should be paid and have authority over the congregation. "Pastor" is a calling not a position or title. They are to be servants, humble and speaking truth as they love the people in the group.

It is not true that we must meet on a particular day of the week. God said we are free to choose which day and that only two or three together is considered enough to honor God and encourage one another.

There are many cultural things we have been taught about the Bible that God never commanded and yet the culture judges those who do not follow these human-mandated rules.

We are free in Christ to avoid and resist the man-made rules to follow Christ. In fact, we can more fully follow Christ when we do not adhere to the rules of men who think they are holier because they make and enforce these rules.

So, my challenge to everyone is to ponder each rule people are adhering to and pray while reading the word to see if it is a command of God.

In my personal experience, I see people following man's rules and not God's commands, thinking they are better Christians for it. When we are in bondage to man's rules we cannot be in obedience to the Commands of Christ.

Challenge and test everything while praying and reading the Word so that you will be free from ungodly prideful rules made by men who love to dominate others.

Out of Sync with the World

As a born-again believer have you ever found yourself feeling completely out of sync with everyone around you?

While the world and family members are measuring their worth and superiority based on personal accomplishments and wealth, you are deeply interested in the spiritual matters and character that produce loving relationships.

You see life in terms of how kind and loving people should be to one another rather than what others can offer you. Worldly accomplishments seem pale and unimportant in comparison to loving relationships

We are living in a world that is almost completely dedicated to being self-accomplished and appearing exalted above others, to the world only these people are worthy of love.

The prosperity gospel that is being preached to one degree or another in churches today is fostering a selfish mentality in those who attend them.

For many years now school systems and the culture have taught people to love themselves first before loving others. God says the opposite, the devil managed to convince several generations to love themselves above others. Here is what God says about that:

Romans 12:9-11 "9 Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another. 11 Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.…"

The world thinks love is something you say, but believers know love is how you treat others continually. Love is a heart condition that flows from our hearts to our actions.

The devil has convinced people that if they just say; "love ya", that is what love is, but in my observance of life I see the words replacing the actions. Words are easy, living out what we say is the evidence of the truth.

The love of this world is entirely selfish and conditional to what one person can offer another through adulation.

Because we don't think like the world, we don't process information the way the world does, we will be seen as strange and unworthy of love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 "4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The world only loves if someone measures up to its ideas of grandiosity. It sees itself as perfect while those who love Christ are diminished. The world lacks affection, kindness, empathy and everything that makes for deep relationships, sacrificial to one another and abounding in graciousness. And to top it all off the world is mean and rude but calls the Christian mean and rude for desiring the higher standards of God which leads to wonderful and loving relationships.

The devil always accuses the believer of the very things he is but the believers are not. This is a favorite tactic to frustrate believers. When we know this tactic and can recognize it we are less likely to fall into the trap of becoming like the world around us. We have no need to defend ourselves with those who love themselves more than God and more than anyone else.

We can walk righteously without praise and without encouragement from people because our encouragement comes from Christ Who lives in us.

Satan's goal is to cause us to react so that he can accuse us of the very things he is guilty of but we are not. If he can ruin our witness for Christ by frustrating us into becoming angry he can diminish our faith and our testimony.

The world is ruled by the devil and it loves what the devil loves. The devil wanted to be superior to God and his goal is to make mankind think it should act superior to others. The desire to be special and better is not from God, it is from the evil one.

When someone thinks they are superior to others they will never confess their sinfulness to become born again. Instead, they will continually clamor for self-exaltation to appear superior, it is their life-blood continually.

Philippians 2:3-5 "3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: "

Truth-tellers will be those who love Christ more than themselves, these are the ones who will be hated. To face the truth about the mentality of the world is unthinkable to the one who has been trained by the world to love themselves more than anyone else and more than God.

The entire culture, including most Christians, have been brainwashed and indoctrinated that someone cannot love others unless they love themselves the most. God teaches that we cannot love others as long as we love ourselves more than anyone else, including God.

Every human being is born loving self too much. It is only Christ that can change that human nature of selfish love into one who loves others better than themselves.

Sadly our entire culture is so entrenched in this mentality of "self-love" that it cannot wrap its mind around God's ways. Everything Christians hear in church is interpreted according to this wicked and false mindset. This is the reason "correction" is the new hate speech. Correction is now seen as rude and "unsolicited advice" is the new mantra that is used to shut down helpful and holy communication to cause spiritual and emotional growth.

People are more insecure and immature than ever before but think they are special and superior.

If we are to resist thinking like the world we must be immersed in the Word of God and asking the Holy Spirit to protect us from the false indoctrination of the devil and the world.

The culture has made "self" their own idols.

John 17:14-16 "…14 I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.…"