Thinking highly of oneself is the foundation for a downfall.
Ecclesiastes 7:16
"Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?"
Psalm 22
"A Cry of Anguish and a Song of Praise.
For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David.
22 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
2 O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
3 Yet You are holy,
O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4 In You our fathers trusted;
They trusted and You delivered them.
5 To You they cried out and were delivered;
In You they trusted and were not disappointed."
"6 But I am a worm and not a man,
A reproach of men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
8 “Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
"9 Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb;
You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.
10 Upon You I was cast from birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb."
"11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near;
For there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me;
Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 They open wide their mouth at me,
As a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water,
And all my bones are out of joint;
My heart is like wax;
It is melted within [l]me.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd,
And my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
And You lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
18 They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots."
"19 But You, O Lord, be not far off;
O You my help, hasten to my assistance.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
My only life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion’s mouth;
From the horns of the wild oxen You answer me."
"22 I will tell of Your name to my brethren;
In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise Him;
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel.
24 For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard."
"25 From You comes my praise in the great assembly;
I shall pay my vows before those who fear Him.
26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the Lord.
Let your heart live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations will worship before You.
28 For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship,
All those who go down to the dust will bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
30 Posterity will serve Him;
It will be told of the Lord to the coming generation.
31 They will come and will declare His righteousness
To a people who will be born, that He has performed it."
Isaiah 53:5
"5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed."
In the Hebrew the word "stripes" is not plural as it is in these verses, it was singular, meaning by the blow from the Father, the separation from His Father as the sin of the world was laid upon Christ on the cross.
The blow from the Father, the separation from the Father was far worse for Christ than any physical misery. Yes the physical brutality was the means by which Christ died and rose again, but it was not the means through which are sin are forgiven, nor was it the means through which we are physically healed. The sins of the world were laid upon Christ on the cross, not the physical problems.
We were not healed from physical illness, we were healed from our sinful nature, but only if we trust in Christ and His payment for our sin.
God does heal often, but other times He leaves us in our infirmities to make us stronger. Just as the workout coach pushes us harder until the muscles break down. When the muscles repair themselves from the strain, they become stronger than they were before.
Difficulties, illnesses and infirmities cause us to lean on the Lord more, as well as making us see the power in the faith in Christ as we go through tough things.
James 1:2-3
"2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."
1 John 2:1-3 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours alone, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments."
There are many people who are being judged as lacking faith because they have physical infirmities. I suggest to you, based on Scripture, that perhaps often the ones with the greater faith are those who must trust Christ through life long infirmities. Do not be so proud as to think you have greater faith because you are not enduring illness.
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?…"
Many people do not take God seriously because he is just another friendly ferry story like the Easter bunny and Santa Clause. We have so much fantasy in this world today, the science fiction movies, the alien abduction hoax and others, that the cultural Christians think of God as just another one of those "fun to think about fantasies."
Alan Brayshaw
" Jesus is Coming Soon and Most are not Ready. "They just don't believe it."
Bio-polar issues are a very big part of the end times, the irrational way in which many arrogant people communicate is shocking.
The continual switching back and forth from friendly to hateful is a sign, not of true emotions but rather of deliberate manipulation to intimidate.
I believe much of the word salad used by the narcissist to win arguments has become more common. They string a lot of words together that have no meaning and when that doesn't unnerve their target they rage to intimidate.
Be sure that in these last days we will see much more of this! Just take a look at the childish actions of the liberals when they are told what is right and wrong, they become like toddlers having a tantrum.
Now we are not only seeing this in liberals but even in conservatives and worse yet in the church.
Correction is the new hate speech in the minds of those who are madly in love with themselves. Anyone daring to correct anything they say and do will be met with intense hatred and revenge.
Proverbs 12:15-17 "…15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to counsel. 16 A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. 17 He who speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness speaks deceit.…"
Believers hate revenge, they leave their frustration with injustice to God while they walk away from those who intimidate and manipulate. God is all powerful and He takes revenge for us.
Hebrews 10:30 "30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
Romans 12:19
"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
The people running for office need to call for repentance and confession of sin. God will not hear the prayers of a nation that does not respect or honor Him. He will not heal the land of a people who hang tightly to their sin while claiming to be Christians.
Matthew 15:8 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”…"
Jeremiah 14:10-12 "…10 Thus says the LORD to this people, "Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account." 11 So the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 "When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence."…
There is no indication whatever that this nation is getting ready to repent, just the opposite. The nation continues hard after sin, increasing in wickedness every day. Babies are still being murdered in the womb, pornography is rampant, children are in rebellion, arrogance abounds as though self is the god we worship.
No, there is no movement toward repentance and will not be unless a terrible disaster occurs to wake up a sleeping people. Even then the hearts of the people have become so hardened, that admitting sin and confessing it is unthinkable to most.
The hearts of this country have turned to stone, it is evidenced in the manifestation of 2 Timothy 3:1-5 as God describes the end of the end of the church age.
Looking to go home soon!!!! Who wants to come? The only way to become born again is to trust Christ Jesus, confess sinfulness and a desire to be changed into a new creation by Him. He will then come to live in you, cleanse you until He comes for you. No one can trust in any good work, no matter how good or how many, nothing of ourselves will be able to get us into heaven.
Ephesians 2:8-9
"8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Those who add their own rules or interpret God's commandments to suite their desired belief system are in disobedience to God.
Romans 10: 3 & 4 "For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.. ."