The 1950's Version of Time Out

Yes, my brother and I got in trouble together, he stood in one corner and I in the other, those were are most fun times of making faces at one another from across the room while laughing our heads off. Being in the corner was fun for us.

It was the 1950's version of "time out."

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Come to Become Cleansed

Today's Christian places far too much emphasis on the phrase "come as you are", causing people to believe we come which ever way we like and stay which ever way we are, this could not be further from the truth.

We are to come to be cleansed, not to be accepted in all our unrighteousness.

Psalm 51:2
"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin."

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

Want Wisdom, Seek Christ

The Lord will only speak to those who want to hear, they show that they want to hear by seeking His Word and asking in prayer for wisdom.

Jeremiah 29:12-14 "…12 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 14'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.'…"

The Prosperity Preachers are Lying

The "Health, Wealth and Prosperity preachers are encouraging principles antithetical to the principles of Christ as demonstrated in the Bible.

The "Health, Wealth and Prosperity preachers tell you that you should expect and decide to be prosperous, that it is a blessing from God to be so. They bring ungodly techniques based on pagan practices used to appease their gods, in order to gain an advantage. They instruct their people to go after health and wealth and once achieved according to their own desires, they can count themselves as special and above those who have not gained worldly wealth.

The wealth that is the most treasured by true believers is not that of material or physical wealth, but rather wisdom that can only come from the Holy Spirit.

Christ teaches not only are we not to seek health and wealth, we can expect many trials in these areas of our lives. Those who belong to Christ are continually subject to redirection, pain to refocus and difficulties to teach and train us.

Those who act as though someone must have sinned because they have many trials are judging based on their faulty belief system that God blesses in a worldly way when we are walking with Him, when in fact the closer we walk with Him the more training and trials He will allow for our spiritual growth and understanding. He tests our faith to show us areas that need work in our lives, as well as strengthening us against evil and for good.

God says that if we are not disciplined by Him, then we are not born again, we are "illegitimate children." Children who think they are saved but have never been given the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 12:7-9 "…7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?…"

1 Peter 4:11-13 "11 If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. 12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.…"

In these end times, in this 2 Timothy 3 world we can expect to encounter many who not only are refusing Christ, but claiming to love Him who are in opposition to Him. We can see that many still want to feel safe in Him, have His perks while ignoring most of His principles. Of course hanging on to the principles they like and that seem to elevate themselves in some way, while demeaning and mocking the principles that convict them of sin.

It might be good to warn those who think they are blessed with material wealth and seem to never have trials, that perhaps they are not born again. If they were born again, then they would have trials, they would be rejected by the world and they would be growing in holiness.

2 Timothy 4:3
"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,"

Stubbornness is a sure sign of one who has not been changed into a new creation by Christ. If a born again believer demonstrates stubbornness they will be disciplined and soon learn to reject it in themselves asking Christ for cleansing from it.

The Lion Roars Louder These Days

There is a spirit behind all the evil that goes on, it is the spirit of Anti-christ. This evil is spreading and increasing everywhere, be ready by being filled with the Holy Spirit.

1 John 4:1-6 "4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error."

1 Peter 5:7-9 "…7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.…

Ephesians 6:11-13 "…11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand.…

Serving is His Business!

Don't feel a need to explain yourself when you are serving Christ. He is the only One Who directs us in what to do and when to do it. We are not in bondage to the expectations of others.

When we are obeying Christ we are free to ignore the pressure of others to do what they think we should be doing.

Glory to God that He is the One we are answerable to and what a blessing that is!!!

Colossians 3:23-24 "23 Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men, 24 because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.…"

Exponential Growth of Narcissism

Has anyone else noticed that this is growing exponentially in this generation, the idea that everyone is special? God teaches that NO ONE is special, only Christ.

I am aghast at how prevalent this is among so many, as though it is the entire culture and they all think it is good and normal.

Personally I believe the increase of this mentality of superiority is associated with the mentality of self esteem that has been taught the past 40 years, actually excessively praising children making them demand special treatment, as apposed to choosing to blend in as we were taught to do as children.

I am 64 years old and blending in "the melting pot" was the overall mentality of our culture which led to respecting one another, accepting our selves even in our flaws, even being able to say we were flawed.

Now days if you tell someone they need work on something in their character they become enraged that you don't think they are perfect and wonderful.

I have actually been told by a couple of family members that they do not respect me. I didn't take it seriously, other than being sad that I could not have a relationship with those who do not respect me.

What I realized was that those who have demeaned me by using the manipulation of lack of respect, in this way, had no respect for anyone but themselves. I was just the one they targeted for verbal abuse because I dared to correct them about something. Instead of dialoguing with me about my concerns they simply raged to shut the discussion down to maintain their status of control.

When we encounter a person who is full of themselves in this narcissistic way, we learn quickly that nothing can be worked out with them, the relationship is based on nothing more than their need to be superior and their enjoyment in demeaning another human being for personal elevation, then we have reached the end of the relationship.

Sadly God warned us about these people and that in the last days it would be mostly our experience. He said it would be as in the days of Lot and Noah, when everyone did what they wanted to do without regard for others, no matter how much they harmed their targets.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 gives us the description of these people while instructing us to turn away from them. They are not to be in our lives if we have a choice because we are called to live in peace and the narcissist will bring nothing but turmoil and hatred to the relationship.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, 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 men as these."

Notice in this Timothy passage that God said they would be "haters of good." The more we walk with Christ and the more we teach His principles the more we will be hated by the narcissist. Not only will they hate us but they will attempt to make us and others think we did something bad, mean or wrong by speaking truth. These types hate the truth, it convicts them of their own sin even when all we do is live our lives to please the Lord.

John 15:17-19 "17 This is My command to you: Love one another. 18 f the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. 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.…"

Knowing these principles and having the wisdom that comes from Christ frees us from the bondage of false guilt. We no longer agonize over how we have been treated because we know where it comes from, the father of lies the devil and we know Who has our back, that being the Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Hallelujah!!!!