1 Corinthians 15:1-4
"15 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you [b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,"
If you do not hold fast to Christ you were never born again, you were players in a stage production designed to elevate self.
Those who have believed in vein are those who pretended to believe but were using God to feel safe, accepted by men and even blessed. Their heart was all about themselves!
Who are these people who believed in vain? I cannot always tell but each one who reads this need to ask God for themselves if they are one of these who were not sincere, were not broken over their sinfulness and had no desire to follow Christ.
If you still feel special and superior to others you have not been born again. Those who know they needed a Savior and were broken over their sinfulness could never treat others as lesser than they since they know they were as sinful as anyone else they might judge.
1 Corinthians 15:8-10
"8 and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, [b]and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me."
We should all be able to say right out loud without equivocation when looking at an unborn sinner: "except for the grace of God there go I." This mentality produces a burden for the lost a desire to help them learn truth and a sadness at those who refuse.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
The Great Illusion
If you become angry when your sin is exposed then you are against God.
If we write something that convicts someone of their sin then the prudent thing to do is for that one who is convicted to set aside their pride, confess their sin and become cleansed of it by God. To resist this is to resist God.
Nathan told David a story that showed him his own sin framing it as a story that David could understand. When David realized Nathan was speaking about him, he became convicted and sorrowful.
If you do the same with others and they become angry that you spoke about their sin through a third party story you know that person who got angry did identify with it and was guilty but unrepentant. Sadly there are many people like this, they don't even believe they have sinned so when it is revealed they rage as though the truth teller did something wrong. This leads me to believe they know they have sinned but deny it.
2 Samuel 12
Nathan Rebukes David
1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.
6 He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!
9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.
10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
12 Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.
14 However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”
15 So Nathan went to his house."
David repented after hearing this rebuke from Nathan. Sadly far too many people refuse to repent when confronted with their sin of pride and covert attacks against believers. They retaliate instead of heeding the warnings to repent. They gossip against the "Nathan's" of the world while embracing those who defend their sin.
There are even those who boast of their goodness as though their boasting proves their elevated view of themselves. The more a person boasts of their good deeds the less likely they are true. When someone must brag about themselves it is an attempt to be seen as good rather than actually being what they claim. Pretenders often use words rather than actions in their evidence.
The more a person boasts of their goodness the less I believe them. Boasting is born out of a heart that cannot stand on its own, it must have the praise of others to be able to feel successful. Those who are walking with God have no need to boast, their joy comes from pleasing God without a need to impress anyone else.
Those who think they are teaching through their boasting are showing a lack of spiritual understanding of evidence that matters the most, that is the evidence of their life.
"Actions speak louder than words." Words mean nothing when the actions are not evident.
James 3:13 "13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom."
Matthew 12:33-35
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34 You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35 The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
Matthew 15:7-9 "…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.’”…"
James 2:17-19 "…17 So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.…"
The only words that have weight and are completely true are those spoken to us by God in His Word the Holy Scriptures.
God will not honor the boasting of prideful people.
Proverbs 29:22-23 "An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression. 23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor."
Matthew 23:12
"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
If we write something that convicts someone of their sin then the prudent thing to do is for that one who is convicted to set aside their pride, confess their sin and become cleansed of it by God. To resist this is to resist God.
Nathan told David a story that showed him his own sin framing it as a story that David could understand. When David realized Nathan was speaking about him, he became convicted and sorrowful.
If you do the same with others and they become angry that you spoke about their sin through a third party story you know that person who got angry did identify with it and was guilty but unrepentant. Sadly there are many people like this, they don't even believe they have sinned so when it is revealed they rage as though the truth teller did something wrong. This leads me to believe they know they have sinned but deny it.
2 Samuel 12
Nathan Rebukes David
1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.
6 He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!
9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.
10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
12 Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.
14 However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”
15 So Nathan went to his house."
David repented after hearing this rebuke from Nathan. Sadly far too many people refuse to repent when confronted with their sin of pride and covert attacks against believers. They retaliate instead of heeding the warnings to repent. They gossip against the "Nathan's" of the world while embracing those who defend their sin.
There are even those who boast of their goodness as though their boasting proves their elevated view of themselves. The more a person boasts of their good deeds the less likely they are true. When someone must brag about themselves it is an attempt to be seen as good rather than actually being what they claim. Pretenders often use words rather than actions in their evidence.
The more a person boasts of their goodness the less I believe them. Boasting is born out of a heart that cannot stand on its own, it must have the praise of others to be able to feel successful. Those who are walking with God have no need to boast, their joy comes from pleasing God without a need to impress anyone else.
Those who think they are teaching through their boasting are showing a lack of spiritual understanding of evidence that matters the most, that is the evidence of their life.
"Actions speak louder than words." Words mean nothing when the actions are not evident.
James 3:13 "13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom."
Matthew 12:33-35
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34 You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35 The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
Matthew 15:7-9 "…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.’”…"
James 2:17-19 "…17 So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.…"
The only words that have weight and are completely true are those spoken to us by God in His Word the Holy Scriptures.
God will not honor the boasting of prideful people.
Proverbs 29:22-23 "An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression. 23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor."
Matthew 23:12
"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
Pride Goes Before a Fall
If you become angry when your sin is exposed then you are against God.
If we write something that convicts someone of their sin then the prudent thing to do is for that one who is convicted to set aside their pride, confess their sin and become cleansed of it by God. To resist this is to resist God.
Nathan told David a story that showed him his own sin framing it as a story that David could understand. When David realized Nathan was speaking about him, he became convicted and sorrowful.
If you do the same with others and they become angry that you spoke about their sin through a third party story you know that person who got angry did identify with it and was guilty but unrepentant. Sadly there are many people like this, they don't even believe they have sinned so when it is revealed they rage as though the truth teller did something wrong. This leads me to believe they know they have sinned but deny it.
2 Samuel 12
Nathan Rebukes David
1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.
6 He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!
9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.
10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
12 Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.
14 However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”
15 So Nathan went to his house."
David repented after hearing this rebuke from Nathan. Sadly far too many people refuse to repent when confronted with their sin of pride and covert attacks against believers. They retaliate instead of heeding the warnings to repent. They gossip against the "Nathan's" of the world while embracing those who defend their sin.
There are even those who boast of their goodness as though their boasting proves their elevated view of themselves. The more a person boasts of their good deeds the less likely they are true. When someone must brag about themselves it is an attempt to be seen as good rather than actually being what they claim. Pretenders often use words rather than actions in their evidence.
The more a person boasts of their goodness the less I believe them. Boasting is born out of a heart that cannot stand on its own, it must have the praise of others to be able to feel successful. Those who are walking with God have no need to boast, their joy comes from pleasing God without a need to impress anyone else.
Those who think they are teaching through their boasting are showing a lack of spiritual understanding of evidence that matters the most, that is the evidence of their life.
"Actions speak louder than words." Words mean nothing when the actions are not evident.
James 3:13 "13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom."
Matthew 12:33-35
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34 You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35 The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
Matthew 15:7-9 "…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.’”…"
James 2:17-19 "…17 So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.…"
The only words that have weight and are completely true are those spoken to us by God in His Word the Holy Scriptures.
God will not honor the boasting of prideful people.
Proverbs 29:22-23 "An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression. 23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor."
Matthew 23:12
"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
If we write something that convicts someone of their sin then the prudent thing to do is for that one who is convicted to set aside their pride, confess their sin and become cleansed of it by God. To resist this is to resist God.
Nathan told David a story that showed him his own sin framing it as a story that David could understand. When David realized Nathan was speaking about him, he became convicted and sorrowful.
If you do the same with others and they become angry that you spoke about their sin through a third party story you know that person who got angry did identify with it and was guilty but unrepentant. Sadly there are many people like this, they don't even believe they have sinned so when it is revealed they rage as though the truth teller did something wrong. This leads me to believe they know they have sinned but deny it.
2 Samuel 12
Nathan Rebukes David
1 Then the Lord sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 “But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.
6 He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.
8 I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!
9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.
10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
12 Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.’”
13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.
14 However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”
15 So Nathan went to his house."
David repented after hearing this rebuke from Nathan. Sadly far too many people refuse to repent when confronted with their sin of pride and covert attacks against believers. They retaliate instead of heeding the warnings to repent. They gossip against the "Nathan's" of the world while embracing those who defend their sin.
There are even those who boast of their goodness as though their boasting proves their elevated view of themselves. The more a person boasts of their good deeds the less likely they are true. When someone must brag about themselves it is an attempt to be seen as good rather than actually being what they claim. Pretenders often use words rather than actions in their evidence.
The more a person boasts of their goodness the less I believe them. Boasting is born out of a heart that cannot stand on its own, it must have the praise of others to be able to feel successful. Those who are walking with God have no need to boast, their joy comes from pleasing God without a need to impress anyone else.
Those who think they are teaching through their boasting are showing a lack of spiritual understanding of evidence that matters the most, that is the evidence of their life.
"Actions speak louder than words." Words mean nothing when the actions are not evident.
James 3:13 "13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom."
Matthew 12:33-35
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.
34 You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
35 The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
Matthew 15:7-9 "…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.’”…"
James 2:17-19 "…17 So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.…"
The only words that have weight and are completely true are those spoken to us by God in His Word the Holy Scriptures.
God will not honor the boasting of prideful people.
Proverbs 29:22-23 "An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression. 23 A man’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor."
Matthew 23:12
"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
A Changed Mind Results in Changed Actions
Repentance is a change of mind toward God and toward sin.
When we change our mind it results in a change in actions.
The WAY we think determines our outer actions.
One cannot separate their actions from their heart intent.
Some people sin and say "God knows my heart", yes He does, He knows that your heart is sinful because your actions prove the heart condition.
James 3:13-16
Wisdom from Above
"13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and [a]selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, [b]natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and [c]selfish ambition exist, [d]there is disorder and every evil thing.
One can pretend with good behavior for a time to fool others but eventually the real them is going to sneak out of their heart resulting in evil actions.
One cannot have a pure heart and be evil on the inside at the same time. This brings a dilemma that confuses us. We know we sin at times even though we desire to live for God. However, the heart leaks out into actions so that we can see the condition of our heart. We need to pay attention to the actions to see a problem in the heart.
Those who think they can separate their actions from their heart do not understand that the heart is what drives the actions.
One who is not a liar could not even tell one lie. But we have all lied at times, even if just in small ways, this shows us there is need for more cleansing.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we want to be cleansed of everything that is not good in our hearts we must confess whenever an action reveals something about ourselves.
If we discover we have offended another human being, the cure God gives us is to repent in our heart and then to confess to those we have offended. God will not work in a stubborn heart. This is why we see so many people who are Christians who remain spiritual and emotional babies all their lives, they will not confess, they will not reconcile with those they have harmed and they will not turn to God for truth about themselves.
When we meet people who refuse to confess and deny the evil they have done or excuse it in some way, we know we have met an unrepentant heart.
When we change our mind it results in a change in actions.
The WAY we think determines our outer actions.
One cannot separate their actions from their heart intent.
Some people sin and say "God knows my heart", yes He does, He knows that your heart is sinful because your actions prove the heart condition.
James 3:13-16
Wisdom from Above
"13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and [a]selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, [b]natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and [c]selfish ambition exist, [d]there is disorder and every evil thing.
One can pretend with good behavior for a time to fool others but eventually the real them is going to sneak out of their heart resulting in evil actions.
One cannot have a pure heart and be evil on the inside at the same time. This brings a dilemma that confuses us. We know we sin at times even though we desire to live for God. However, the heart leaks out into actions so that we can see the condition of our heart. We need to pay attention to the actions to see a problem in the heart.
Those who think they can separate their actions from their heart do not understand that the heart is what drives the actions.
One who is not a liar could not even tell one lie. But we have all lied at times, even if just in small ways, this shows us there is need for more cleansing.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we want to be cleansed of everything that is not good in our hearts we must confess whenever an action reveals something about ourselves.
If we discover we have offended another human being, the cure God gives us is to repent in our heart and then to confess to those we have offended. God will not work in a stubborn heart. This is why we see so many people who are Christians who remain spiritual and emotional babies all their lives, they will not confess, they will not reconcile with those they have harmed and they will not turn to God for truth about themselves.
When we meet people who refuse to confess and deny the evil they have done or excuse it in some way, we know we have met an unrepentant heart.
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