Friday, July 26, 2024
Never Be Intimidated by Guilt Trippers: They are Hypocrites
Have you ever been told by someone that you shouldn't correct others while they were correcting you for correcting? Irrational isn't it!
Have you ever been chastised for judging a matter while someone was judging you for judging? Irrational isn't it!
The Real Gospel
Amen!!!! Because people don't understand the gospel they don't follow His Word. His Word is the very essence of Jesus Christ.
If We Follow the Bible We will differ from the World Greatly
Once again I have encountered chatter about forgiveness that the Christian community teaches which is not Biblical. The belief that we forgive those who are not repentant for our own sake is no where found in Scripture. This idea was added to incorporate psychology based on Darwinism and humanism not the Bible.
Here is what God teaches:
Forgiveness is for the reconciliation of the relationship. God commanded us to "confess" our sin and the offended to "forgive", both are commanded, two sides of the same coin. God told us to forgive when they repent. We do not become bitter because they will not confess to be forgiven. God does not forgive us when we are not repentant.
Luke 17:3-5 "…3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”…"
It takes faith to do things God's way because the world and the devil will tell us the opposite of God's ways to thwart the principles of God that work.
It is psychology that has taught for years to forgive for our own sake, this is not what God said. We are to forgive to reconcile the relationship not for ourselves. When an offender refuses to be sorry then the relationship remains broken. We pray for them but we distance ourselves. If we encounter them we treat them with the respect they didn't give us but this is not forgiveness or reconciliation. This is to glorify God and keep ourselves from bitterness.
Luke 6:27-29 "27 But to those of you who will listen, I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone takes your cloak, do not withhold your tunic as well.…"
When we ignore an insult, avoid wicked people and live according to God's word we will glorify God and this will anger the world.
To reconcile with someone who continually sins against us is to invite ungodly responses and perhaps to live in frustration. God does not want us to remain with those who are contentious, they will divert our attention from Christ to the problems they cause.
1 Peter 3:9
"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."
Titus 3:9-11 "9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless. 10 Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.…"
Narcissists will often poke at small things that do not matter to God to cause a reaction out of us so they can feel justified in their attempts at upsetting us. We must not allow their endeavor to shame to cause in us an ungodly reaction.
Satan can convince a pretender that what they do to others is justified and even good, but it is a lie and will decide many.
Have you ever noticed when you write something about a principle of God there will be those who get angry as though you spoke it to them even when their name was never mentioned?
This is because the world is in the spell of the evil one, he loves to cause anger and division in those who do not know Christ. If the devil can provoke a pretender into pressuring an authentic Christian into doubt and silence he counts himself as having one won something. He has won nothing and will never be able to cause a believer to leave Christ but he can cause others to stop listening to them.
Romans 16:17
"Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them."
Avoiding the ungodly pretenders is a command of God, its not a choice but a mandate.
2 Peter 2:1
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."
Pretenders deny the word of God when they say they are "Bible believers" but do not do what God says to do. They do not love the brethren nor do they follow Christ, they only say they do.
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.”
1 John 4:20-21
"If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also."
What does this love look like?
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."
When there is love there is no assuming anything, but there is concern and dialogue to learn the intentions of the other person through listening.
When there is love there is no boasting or competitive spirit but there is joy, glee and encouragement for someone else's accomplishments.
When there is love there is not secrecy and manipulation to frustrate but there is openness, honesty and a desire to protect the feelings of others.
When there is love there is no gossip to gain others to ourselves and against others but there is a refusal to share guesses about others when there is no evidence of wrongdoing.
When there is love there is no judging of things we have little knowledge about but there is open conversations about what we see to learn the heart of the one we love to be a support to them.
When there is love there is no jealousy or envy over what someone else has but there is joy and pleasure in seeing others prosper whether it be in Spirit, in health, in accomplishments or financially. Our joy is magnified when we see others progressing.
We see how easy it is to discern love from hate when we know the word of God intimately and desire to follow the ways of Christ.
Only Through Jesus Christ
Its not up to me to make someone else look good, its up to them to be good. They can only do this through Jesus Christ.
The Problem with Selfishness
The real model of this problem of intense selfishness is described in the Bible clearly.
The problem of narcissism is growing rapidly because we are in the end times as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 in which the selfish mentality has exploded in the past three generations.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "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, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
Things that used to be forbidden and completely unacceptable, such as disrespect, rudeness and self-exaltation, loving self above others, are now the social norms. In fact, they are celebrated as boldness when really they are demonic manifestations in a person's mind affording them the belief that there is a good reason to be this way.
One of the most insidious problems of the modern Christian is the propensity to claim to be "Bible Believing" while simultaneously dishonoring and disobeying most of what is in the Scriptures.
2 Timothy 4:3
"3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires,"
We are living in these last days full of deception everywhere we look with nearly everyone. Families do not love one another anymore no matter how much they mouth the words; "love ya", its only words and is not practiced in deeds.
People seem to be satisfied with themselves merely to "say" something that makes them feel special without any evidence that what they say is true. Lies abound as the devil convinces people they are special and should be praised continually.
John 12:42-43 "42 Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. 43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God."
Proverbs 29:25
"The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high."
John 5:44
"How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?"
John 7:18
"He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood."
Testing Relationships to Remain Faithful to Christ
When someone shows you who they are through their responses, believe them. The clues will pile up through their relations.
There have been many times when I saw a response from someone that was very ungodly but they think they were right.
When you know the signs of an ungodly person who acts as though they wee never born again, ask God what you are seeing before you become involved with them as a close friend. There are many fakers in the world today.
It is best to recognize pretenders early on in the relationship to avoid the mess they bring when they are controlled by the devil to diminish or ruin your walk with Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:33 " Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
There are two ways the evil company derail our walk with Christ, the first is they will attempt to control you through many covert means causing you to respond badly to their nonsense. The second way is to gossip against you to cause others to treat you the same way they are treating you.
The devil knows the more pressure that comes to bear on us in negative and ungodly ways the more likely we are to turn our focus to the problem people than to Christ.
The devil will use these self-decieved people attempting to convince us we are the problem. No matter how kind and loving we are the worse they become hoping, at some point we will finally give up our love of Christ and respond badly, this gives them an excuse to believe we were the problem all along.
This is why God said; "bless those who curse us", it does not mean that we rush to be sloppy and friendly to someone who is mean and rude. It does mean that we do not respond the way they hoped we should with rudeness. And, we "avoid such people" when we see what they are, that is minions of the devil to bring destruction to our souls.
God told us what it would be like in these end times in 2 Timothy 3. In verse 5 God tells us clearly to stay away from those who cause trouble, even more so those who are troublemakers and call themselves Christians.
Every contact with these people will be seen as an opportunity to bring more poisonous venum to your mind. Their goal is to cause an emotional break down so they can call you insane. When the truth is they are insane and cannot exist without harming or ruining another human being.
There is no safe way to speak with a person so full of obsession with dominance and hatred.
Narcissists use people and love things and status, they do not love people. If they are being friendly or seemingly kind they want something from you. If you do not give them what they require of you they will treat you disrespectfully as well as attempt to turn others against you.
Narcissists are never sorry for their actions, they only justify them. The only thing and the best thing we can do is avoid them as we pray for God to show them. Any attempt to show them what they have done and what they do on a regular basis you will be met with rage or tears depending on whether we are dealing with an overt or covert narcissist. Overts rage and coverts cry when confronted with their hatred.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 Is a description of the end times church gatherings.
"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, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
Notice the phrase; "avoid such people as these."
1 Timothy 4:1
"Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,"
2 Timothy 4:3
"For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires."
Jude 1:18
"when they said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires."
When we disengage with the narcissist who makes trouble at every visit we find our joy returning in full measure. We have to stop thinking that remaining in a spiritually and emotionally abusive relationship will be an example to them and it will help them change. Just the opposite is true, we enable those who are mean and rude by remaining with them.
God said; "bad company corrupts good character." He also said "do not keep company with an angry man."
1 Corinthians 5:11-12 " 11 But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12 What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?…"
It is important that we keep our inner circle free from haters who love to dominate and harm others especially if they claim to be Christians.
2 Thessalonians 3:6
"Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us."
Those who regularly treat others with contempt and disrespect are living disobediently and must be avoided. It is true that we become like those we spend the most time with, it is vitally important that we spend our time with those who walk in love according to the 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, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.…"
This fruit is not works or actions, it is the very character qualities of Christ that are a part of the very being of the one who possesses them because they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
Many people who attend church gatherings do not have this fruit and we can sense something is off because they have never been born again.
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.’"
In these last days we will encounter the mentality of Matthew 7 and 2 Timothy 3 as we move toward the rapture. We are watching life just like those days of Lot and Noah, in which no one will be corrected and most people have a pretense of religion but are not changed by Christ.
This is not meant to discourage but to encourage us that we are watching prophesy play out before our very eyes and it means that our hope of leaving this sin-sick and rebellious world is very soon.
Hallelujah!!!!
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