Christ in us is the Authority Over Us!

1 John 2:27 "And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you remain in Him."

This passage was given to ALL born-again believers.

Those who would lead you to believe you cannot know the truth of the Bible without a "pastor" or a mentor" are in violation of the scriptures.

However, God does use each of us to teach one another where we may lack knowledge or wisdom. We are to share what we know and be willing to be taught ourselves where we lack.

Colossians 3:15-17 "…15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.…"

We help one another but no one is above another in the body of Christ. We are to heed the teaching of any teacher who stands in front of the gathering to teach, but we are also to test everything they say through the Word of God. If the person teaching is in error then the others are to judge and bring Scripture that proves their assertions.

Anyone who says you are not to speak in opposition to them as they speak is disobeying the Word of God.

Acts 17:11 "11Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true. "

1 Corinthians 14:30 " But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, then the first one is to keep silent."

Each man is to speak openly during the teaching, they add to the teaching or they correct the teaching. The teacher is not the authority over others. The teacher is to receive the input of the others that the Holy Spirit in each person has a voice.

The modern idea of a one-man paid pastor seen as the authority over others is not only not Biblical but it makes the men in the pews lazy to study the Bible on their own in their homes so they come to the gathering prepared to be led by the Holy Spirit.

Our modern Christian gatherings are so far from the first century model of the gathering that it hardly resembles what happened in those first house churches.

A reason so many Christians do not know their Bibles is that they have believed that only the one-man-paid pastor is the only one who can know because he was educated in seminaries. This is a false belief system coming out of Catholicism only tweaked a little to fit the Protestant model.

There is no hierarchy in the Christian gathering according to the Bible. There are respected teachers who are subject to all the born-again believers in the gathering.

God said this:

2 Timothy 2:24-25 "24 And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. 25 He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth."

This has been translated to sound like the preacher should be good at preaching, but in fact, the real meaning according to the original language means "the teacher should be teachable himself."

Any leader who is preaching must be able to be corrected, if he is not, if he is arrogant and attempts to have power over others, he does not belong in a position of teaching.

Elders and their attitudes:

1 Thessalonians 2:7

"On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children."

1 Timothy 3:2

"An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to be taught himself,"

1 Timothy 3:3

"not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money."

Fruit of the Spirit is vital in the life of the born-again teacher.

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

If an elder or teacher is given to rage, rudeness or superiority he must be rebuked, if he will not stop he must be removed of that position. God was not making suggestions in His commands of the qualifications of elders, these were commands and expected to be followed.

A challenge to all of us might be; how much of the Bible do we actually believe enough to follow? Praying for wisdom and truth in every single area of our Christian walk will bring about such eye-opening that cannot be shut again. Once we know the truth we will never go back to the beggarly things again.

Galatians 4:9 "But now that you know God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and worthless principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?"

It is one thing to know in our heads and quite another to actually follow what we say we know.

God will not Change a Stubborn Heart

God will not change the heart of a person who does not want to be changed, be sure you are praying in the Holy Spirit so as not to come against His perfect will.

We cannot change a person through our kindness, our sacrifice or our prayers. We obey God but we are not to attempt to manipulate someone into obedience to God.

We must tell the truth and walk in love but that is no guarantee they will trust in Christ. In fact, if we try to manipulate others with our live while remaining silent about their sin we have not obeyed God.

Proverbs 22:24 "24 Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man, 25 or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.…"

We see how the culture has been more influenced by the unbeliever than by the believers because the believers are remaining silent and are excessively tolerant of sin entitling those who are rebellious through their silence.

Being real friendly to an unbeliever while they say anything they please, while we nodd our heads in approval we are validating their sin through our silence.

Christ said we would be rejected by the world because we love Christ, this means that we are opening our mouths about sin and repentance and it makes rebellious people angry.

Matthew 7:13-15 "13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it. 15 Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.…"

Love is kind but it is not silent about sin. If we love others we warn them about their fate and give them the solutions to salvation which is a confession of their sin (repentance) and trusting in Christ. If they become angry then that is on them not us.

Praying Until God Tells You to Stop

In a discussion with a Christian sister recently we pondered the meaning of “leaving and cleaving” as the Bible instructs newly married people to do. We both agreed that leaving and cleaving meant to make our spouse a new family with their own traditions and habits. God never meant for total abandonment of parents in the leaving and cleaving. I can prove this by scripture.

Mark 7:8-13

“8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER’; and, ‘THE ONE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, IS [f]CERTAINLY TO BE PUT TO DEATH’; 11 but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is, [g]given to God),’ 12 you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thereby invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

Later after the discussion were some other thoughts, I express it this way:

A thought that came to mind after our discussion about “leaving and cleaving”, is that those who use this excuse never leave and cleave from their in-law parents. So they are being dishonest in their excuse.

When we realize that our children are those who are born-again, our real children we take no offense and more easily let go of those who do not love us.

A lady once told me to never stop praying for them. This is the tradition of our age, that we pray until we get what we want. It is not necessarily Biblical to do so.

I have stopped because God has heard my prayers for the past 45 years and they still count, every single one. There comes a time to accept God’s will and move on with our lives leaving them to God.

4000 more prayers have no more power than the last 4000. Perhaps continuing to pray is a way of begging God to change the heart of one who refuses to change.

Jeremiah 11:14 “14 As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me in their time of disaster.”

Prayer is not a magic potion that we pull out to get what we want. We must be clear to pray in the Holy Spirit according to His will.

There will be many children of born-again believers who will reject Christ, we know this because of Noah and the flood. Noah lived 950 years, he had many sons and daughters, and all the other relatives who died in the flood. All those people he preached to for 120 years were his own relatives. At some point he got on the ark and God closed the door behind him. No more prayers would help those who were perishing.

Never tell another believer to “never stop praying” we do not know God’s will. I never want to beg God for something that is not His will. And, I am confident that when I am led by the Holy Spirit to pray for someone, it will be in His will.

We love our children and their spouses but they are not more important to us than God is to us. When our children choose to reject the principles of God and walk in disobedience to Him, we have an obligation to walk away and leave them to God.

We cannot change the heart of our children by continuing contact with them. We have no way of influencing our children with more love, more time and tolerating continual conflict. We are enabling when we tolerate rude and abusive behavior.

When our children are choosing to violate God’s word then we must stand with God and let go so God can have his way. We do not know better than God what must happen in the lives of rebellious children.

We must follow the principles of the Bible with our children just as we do with anyone else.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us the last days mentality and its devastation. The 5th verses is clear what we are to do, blood or no blood, God always takes priority over our comfort or our loss.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

“3 This know also, that in the last days perilous (ragingly insane) times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

Following Christ will often lose us our families, our friends, and the community. When I became born again I lost all my friends and family who hated me. Even the believers didn’t want to believe I was born-again, using past sins against me as though they had never sinned. I was full of the fruit of the Spirit but they seemed to hate this, as though they liked me better when I was sinning and they could feel superior to me.

Brethren, get used to this and rest in Christ, remove yourselves from those who want to keep you down while Christ is rising you up. Praise God when someone wants to go with you on this path, and rejoice that those who do not are moving on from you.

I have always loved my children but I cannot change their hearts, God has to do that and only if they are willing.

No Expectations, No Disappointment

I have learned over the years not to have expectations of others. When we expect others to act the way we want them to act we are often disappointed.

We are disappointed because we are not taking into account their personalities, what God wants them to do or what is good for others. In reality, our expectations are all about ourselves and what we want.

When we learn to choose not to have expectations we will be much more peaceful and able to be giving freely when nothing is returned.

Our peace must be in Christ alone, not in what others around us are doing. Expectations only build sadness and resentment when they are not met. Again, the self is at the root of our fleshly expectations.

As a born-again believer, I expect God's promises because He said them and He never breaks a promise. However, human beings let one another down all the time. If we don't expect anything then we will not be sad or disappointed. Also, as born-again believers we know if something happens we have no control over then God has orchestrated it for our good.

Having said this I must make one exception, that is a spouse. We have a right to expect certain things from a spouse, but if they do not come through then we must give it to God and carry on as though we never expected it.

Love is not always easy but it is a command of God.

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."

The Wife a Coach as well as Lover

A wife is the "helpmate" that is "coach" of her husband sort of like the DCPI of the police commissioner, advising him on matters to help him think about all the nuances of life.

A husband and wife have differing perspectives, that's why they came together, to add something to themselves that they would not otherwise have. Each needs one another to have a whole picture. With only one there is half the equation, with two there is a whole.

We are two different personalities, two different genders coming from different backgrounds, it is silly to think that there will not be conflicts to discuss and work out in order to come closer to that "oneness" experience.

Having been married more than 50 years now I can tell you that each disagreement and resolution brought a little more spiritual and emotional growth.

This can only happen if two people who are married choose to love one another God's way and forgive God's way. When there is an injury the one who sinned confesses to God and to their spouse and the offended spouse forgives. Sometimes both say mean and rude things in an argument and both must confess and forgive.

The ultimate good is for both to turn to God, but if one will not then the one who wants to obey God does it by themselves and prays for God to make them what they should be, leaving their spouse to God to attend to.

I used to hear in the 1970's "it is better to divorce than to fight all the time", I say balderdash!!!!!! When anyone said this foolishness to me I said; "there is another solution, why doesn't one of you just stop fighting." It only takes one to stop for the argument to stop. Pride on both sides is what keeps arguments going.

And I might add, most struggles are insignificant, easily resolved if one party would just let go of their pride.

Proverbs 16:18

"18 Pride goes before destruction,

and a haughty spirit before a fall."

Lastly, learn to have a sense of humor over our quirks, accepting our spouse as an interesting person instead of an irritating one. After all, we are all irritating at times and we can be very interesting if we live within the personality God gave us and not according to the expectations of the people around us. Just a thought!!!!

Narcissists in the Church Gathering

If anyone comes to you and attempts to rage and intimidate you for not thinking like them, get away, you are dealing with a "Hitler" type.

Those who will not allow any thoughts spoken from others they do not like, are deeply demonic.

One of the devil's most used tactic is to shame anyone who brings scripture to the discussion. He hates God and he hates God's word, so he works to silence believers through intimidation, mocking and lies.

Anyone who allows it is a flying monkey, in other words they affirm the narcissist tactics by their silence. They have a fear of man instead of a dedication to God and principles.

When we stand by and watch a devil harm a brother in Christ without defending our brother, we are affirming the narcissist's vitriol.

1 John 4:20

"If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen."

1 Peter 1:22

"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,"

Psalm 82:4

"Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

Romans 12:9

"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good."

1 John 3:14

"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death."

We know there is no love when someone rages refusing to allow others to speak in order that his false doctrine prevails.

We know there is no salvation when someone rages and refused to answer the question; "have you been born again." A born-again believer will answer that question with pleasure and joy boldly without anger.

A person who rages at the question does not know what salvation is and is attempting to hide their ignorance by raging. Rage is a diversion to avoid answering and make onlookers think we did something wrong because the person raged. It is a very common tactic of the devil.

If someone rages because they were asked a question it is because they don't know the answer and are angry that they might have to submit in answering.

To the narcissist a question that they cannot answer, in their mind, shows them weak if they submit with an answer.

Ephesians 5:21-6:4

"21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

Everyone in the body of Christ is commanded to submit to others regularly, its what love is all about.

Ephesians 5:21: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. "

1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. "

Corinthians 13:13: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love."

What does love look like?

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

Narcissists rejoice when they have forced someone to back down because of their rages. This is not love, it is also not love to allow only their own opinion to be spoken freely while diminishing others to keep the favored alpha dog status.

When we read about love in the Bible we see it is opposing anything resembling the rage of a narcissist.

Brothers and Sisters keep looking up, we are going to encounter more of this raging as the end nears. Let us not be guilty of becoming like the ragers. We must speak the truth boldly but not be drawn into the narcissist trap of fighting back, we are commanded not to throw our pearls in front of swine.

Matthew 7:6 " 6 Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. "

When we discover we have been engaging with a narcissist or group of narcissists we must remove ourselves and avoid them.

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What the Bible Says about Covert Christian Narcissists