Oh How I Love the Animals

I told my husband the other day that if I had a "bucket list" the first thing on it would be to visit the lion park run by a man named Oleg in Crimea Russia.

However, I don't have a bucket list because I want what I do in this life to be directed by God. God has not allowed me the resources to be galavanting all over the world so I am happy where I am doing what He has for me here.

I do have a desire to one day in the Millennium spend time with animals as well as people. I consider animals God's blessing to us, without a doubt they have more purpose than just food for us.

In the new earth, animals will not be dangerous to us, they will not eat one another or attack humans. What an amazing time this will be for the rest of eternity.

Imagine a world with only loving kind people who love Jesus Christ as much as we do and enjoy hearing about His Word and principles!!!

Isaiah 65:25 "The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain,” says the LORD."

2 Peter 3:13

"But in keeping with God's promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells."

All born-again believers have so very much to look forward to it ought never to be that we agonize continually over what we live with right now. This is merely a training ground for us as we grow in holiness and grow in trust toward our Lord. Hallelujah!

It's on the Inside First Before it becomes an Action

Whatever is already inside our hearts is what will come out when confronted with an error or corrected over a small matter.

Many people these days are "loaded for bear" meaning they have anger inside ready to emerge at the slightest attempt on the part of someone else to explain their behavior and how it affects others.

The culture as a whole has been trained by the self-esteem teaching that they ought never to accept or ponder a correction. They are entitled to praise and total acceptance of all their behaviors no matter how damaging, there is always an excuse given to allow for a lack of accountability.

No one can grow and change without correction and disagreement. The person who is always looking to be validated and refuses to engage cleanly in disagreement will be an angry person on the inside.

Those who are not angry on the inside do not snark and rage at others over disagreements. Wise people see disagreement as an opportunity to learn from others as well as impart their own wisdom to others.

Notice how immature our children's generation is in terms of discussing any matter to come to a mutual decision. It is nearly impossible in our culture to engage in disagreement to resolve a matter without someone becoming angry and combative.

When a culture as whole cannot receive correction there is loss of relationship, rational government decisions, incorrect and even destructive training in schools and even more sadly monstrous teachings against God's word in Christian churches.

The more we operate from the standpoint of feelings the more we disregard God's Word and bring paganistic advice to those in our sphere of influence.

Feelings are based on fleshly responses to stimuli, they often are not accurate leaving people feeling angry when there is no reason to be angry.

Feelings cause people to despise someone who has done nothing to them except dare to have their own views. When the innocent person has expressed their views innocently the hearer will interpret those views as personal attacks because they are not in agreement with what the hearer wants to believe.

When feelings become the go-to response those who base their attitudes on their feelings will misinterpret anyone who will disagree with them as the enemy.

We are living in a culture that thinks if they feel something that feeling must be accurate therefore there must be someone else to blame.

I knew of a situation in which a man corrected a woman in an e-mail about a wrong date she placed in her letter. He told her that she might want to change that date because it was incorrect. The response of the woman was to become angry and chastise him for the way he expressed himself. I read the letter and there was nothing wrong with the delivery, it was polite and kind but straightforward.

When we see this happening we know that the offended party is interpreting the comments of the man in terms of how she would do it if she were correcting someone, and that would be in angst and intimidation.

A narcissist sees every correction as a personal attack no matter how kindly it is delivered. When a narcissist does not want to be seen as in error about anything they will attack the delivery rather than the issue at hand.

Have you heard things like: "its the way you said it" when you are just being factual about something? How about "you are mean-spirited" when all you did was disagree in a calm and factual way?

When a narcissist is injured through correction no matter how mild they immediately go into personal attacks against your character as well as lying when they say "you said", but you didn't say what they claim.

One time I gave many scriptures to a woman to make my case about a particular topic. This woman came back to me and said; "you didn't even give scripture to prove your point." When I told her I did and sent the scriptures again she came back with insults against my character. Never at any time did I mention her character, I simply spoke the truth using God's Word. When someone does this we know they have lost the discussion and have moved into the blaming and intimidation for the purpose of causing a sinful reaction in us. This is all designed by the devil to cause us to sin. I did not sin in this conversation, I simply ignored her attacks and blocked her from my communications.

When we see someone operating this way in anger and lying against us we know one more word will not change their views. The best thing to do is leave them to the Lord and move on. Answering them according to their foolishness only makes us a fool just like them.

Proverbs 16:4-5 "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes.…

Matthew 7:6

"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."

Proverbs 23:9

"Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words."

Proverbs 29:9

"If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution."

I have experienced all of the tactics of raging fools who hated the truth. Yes, and I have watched a fool laugh at me for mentioning that we should trust the Holy Spirit and not our own minds.

We are living in a world now that is filled with fools and ragers, those who are living nearly entirely on the basis of their own feelings and personal desires. And, sadly many in the churches today are of this sort.

The only way to avoid becoming like these ragers is to avoid them and continue to speak the truth to anyone who will listen. Ragers will attempt to shut down our communication by making us feel guilty for telling the truth because someone became angry. Notice they blame the truth-teller and coddle the angry person?

Satan wants us to fear man, shut our mouths and allow evil to take over without any challenges. We are to be vigilant about proclaiming the principles in the Bible without our churches. Those who do not want to obey the Bible must be removed, but in our day this is rare so evil reigns supreme in the house of worship.

1 Corinthians 5:1-13

"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. ..."

Discipline for those who will not obey the Word of God is commanded in God's Word, it is not a suggestion but a command.

5 Undeniable Traits of Easily Offended People You Need to Watch Out For

I am in Full Support of the One World Government, Ruled by Jesus Christ

I bet it would surprise you to hear that I am in full support of a one-world government with one ruler, that person is the King of Kings!

Jesus Christ will rule after the tribulation as the One and Only Ruler over the entire world. All decisions will be just and perfect.

John 5:21-23 "…21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes.

22 Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,

23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."

Revelation 19:11-16

And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Jesus Christ is Enough

Have you ever met a daydreamer, someone who always seemed far off even when they were with you, as though they were living a different life in a different place in their own mind?

A daughter who was in continual turmoil in a dysfunctional angry family environment shared her story. There was always comfort and love there in her mind, something that she did not experience in her years with a narcissistic family. The people in her family didn't understand her aloofness but didn't care enough to find out what she was thinking. Except for one time when her mother asked her what was going on in her head. Being naive and hopeful she told her mother things about what she was thinking.

She expressed to her mother that she wanted to grow up and have a family that cared about one another and didn't fight bitterly with one another. She cried as she was sharing because of the deep hurt in her heart overall she endured with this family.

The daughter was sorry she had shared these things with her mother. The request to know what was in her daughter's mind was not genuine, it was to gather information to use against her. The daughter knew this because of the mother's answer to her daughter after sharing her deepest thoughts believing her mother really wanted to know.

It was my guess that the mother knew her daughter was hurting because of the hate and meanness the mother and father were displaying to one another and became angry at the "accusation" that something was wrong in the family.

Truth-tellers are always the scapegoats, rather than admitting things were not right the narcissists lash out at the scapegoat making them believe they are the problem by pointing out the hurt the narcissist causes.

The daughter's mother told her it was silly to expect to have an "Ozzie and Harriet" family. Those kinds of families didn't exist and she was being foolish in wanting this for herself. The mother gave this instruction to the daughter in a demeaning way to justify the fighting between the father and mother.

The mother saw her daughter withdrawing frequently to her room to read or take naps, she wanted to know her daughter's thoughts but not to help her only to further demean her if she dared to tell the truth about what was hurting her.

Never at any time did the mother pray with her, or encourage her to desire this good thing of a stable loving family life. Even though the mother attended church every week for most of her life she did not understand basic kindness even lacking all the fruit of the Spirit. She didn't really want to help her daughter, she wanted to appear superior to her using the daughter's hurts and desires against her as though the daughter was wrong for wanting what her mother and father could not give her.

The daughter became a wild child looking for love from others but staunch about remaining a virgin until she was married. The daughter could not remember a time when she was encouraged and smiled at by her parents for her accomplishments or desires for good things.

The mother even allowed her daughter to date at age 14 declaring that she would be pregnant by the time she was 16. The daughter was not engaging in immoral activity but the mother acted as though she wanted her daughter to fail by suggesting something that was not true.

The daughter continued her daydreaming until she was able to leave home and became a born-again believer in Jesus Christ. Over the years it was He Who delivered her from her daydreams because He became all she needed.

There is a lot more to the story but one thing the daughter learned was that when a narcissist is the head of a family or in her case the mother played the role as the head, all the other people in the family fall in line to treat the scapegoat the same way the mother did. As the years go by the mother influences the grandchildren and even attempts to influence everyone else in the extended family to think something is wrong with the daughter.

The rescuer came along and pulled the daughter out of the morass of devilsh attacks, that Rescuer was Jesus Christ. She was not immediately removed from difficulties or the influence of ungodly people but Christ became her strength through it. He gave her confidence that she could walk with Him through the flames and not be burned. Her struggles became challenges to grow and learn greater lessons that saved her from insanity.

The more this daughter relied on Christ the less she relied on herself, her daydreams, family, or anyone else. She became content to walk alone without the encouragement of anyone else except Christ.

Brothers and sisters, everyone who is born again must learn this lesson, that is to remain faithful to their commitment to Christ even when no one goes with them.

Psalm 62:5-12

"5 My soul, wait in silence for God alone,

For my hope is from Him.

6 He alone is my rock and my salvation,

My refuge; I will not be shaken.

7 My salvation and my glory rest on God;

The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.

8 Trust in Him at all times, you people;

Pour out your hearts before Him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah"

You can love those who have harmed you and are not sorry, but you are not required to keep company with them. If they show up at your door you can treat them with the respect they never showed you. The stronger person is the one who never acts in kind out of pride. We have no need of human acceptance or to elevate ourselves therefore we are free to be Christlike in spite of what others do. When we do not need the acceptance of others we never need to respond in any conversation to win over anyone else.

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Empowering the Abuser by Remaining with them is not Godly!

After I had been born again for about 20 years a relative approached me in the middle of a conversation about something else and proclaimed to me; "remember how you used to be" in a snarky tone meant to demean. It had nothing to do with the conversation which led me to believe she had been cogitating on it for a long time waiting for the opportunity to use it to embarrass me.

I was astounded at this because the person had been a Christian all her life, it made no sense that she would want to remind me, in an accusing tone a fellow believer of their past.

Every believer ought to be able to say; "I used to be sinful and I praise Him that He changed me into a brand new person never to be the old person again."

Anyone who accuses others of their past couldn't possibly have confessed their own sinfulness to be changed by Christ or they would never think of any born-again believer in terms of their sinful past.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

"9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,

10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and [b]in the Spirit of our God."

Notice in verse 11 God states "such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God."

When we become born again we are changed by Christ, only the devil would use a person's mouth to condemn us based on past forgiven sins.

It has been my experience that those who judge people on past sins will continually think of the character of the person they judge as still having the character of that previous sinful person. This is also a denial of what Christ did in their target, it is against Christ to attack another born-again believer about their past forgiven sins.

Keep in mind that those who refuse to see the changed nature and lifestyle of a person are those who have not been changed themselves or they would see the change and be blessed and pleased by your new life in Christ.

Matthew 7:21-23

I Never Knew You

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.’"

Sometimes it is frightening to me the number of people I have met over the years who claim to be Christians, even living fairly moral lives who do not have the fruit of the Spirit and do not understand the saving grace of Jesus Christ in changing a person.

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."

Romans 12:14-16 "14 Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.…"

It is astounding how many "Christians" lack the fruit of the Spirit and do not rejoice with one another but rather are jealously measuring others up to see if they are worthy of love, kindness, and gentleness.

Here is what God says about love;

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.

8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with."

Does love accuse someone of past forgiven sins?

Is love jealous of others?

Does love boast to appear superior to others?

Does love rejoice at the failings of others rather than the victories?

Does love choose to believe the worst about those who have been forgiven?

Does love gossip about a person's past when they are no longer living as they did before?

Does love demean to elevate self?

NO!!! Love does not act in the ways previously mentioned. In 1 Corinthians 13 we see the nature of a person who has been changed into a new creation by Christ, it is empathetic, kind and all the traits of the Holy Spirit. When someone lacks all these traits, attempting to appear superior to others it is a clue they have not been born again. These people need to confess their "self-righteousness" and ask to be cleansed of it by Christ.

Our culture is becoming more arrogant, self-righteous, and resistant to the gospel and correction than ever before. The entire culture even in the church has become narcissistic as God said it would in the end times. as in 2 Timothy 3 the people would have a form of religion but deny the power of God and the truth of His Scriptures.

There are far more false Christians in the church today than ever before and much more foolishness and back-stabbing as we see the end times approaching.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Difficult Times Will Come

"1 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."

2 Timothy 4:2-4

"…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.

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.

4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"

We see every day the propensity for people to love their fantasy while rejecting the truth. The truth-teller is rejected while those who lie against the Bible are elevated and respected.

In our day we see many people refusing to discuss important matters but ravenous to have their own opinion heard based on feelings rather than facts. The Bible in the church today is violated more than it is obeyed.

In our day we see families being unforgiving to one another because their pride will not allow themselves to self-reflect in order to ask God to change their sinful nature. We see that people will not repent to be forgiven, they love their sin and even twist the Bible to justify it.

In our day we see lies being told from the pulpit while the pew people believe all those lies. The itching ears are hearing what they want to hear and refuse to hear anything other than their pleasure.

2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but having itching ears, they shall heap to themselves teachers in accordance with their own lusts."

In our day we see most people intolerant of any form of correction even in the mildest terms, because of pride, these people look for preachers who will schmooze them and court them massaging their feelings until they can no longer think rationally or Biblically.

This list of "in our day" could be far longer than it is here, you all could add to it yourselves if you have been born-again and walking with Christ.

We need to understand these things so that we are not offended or taken off guard when we notice people acting in these disrespectful, mean-spirited, and demeaning ways. We must walk our walk in Christ no matter what others are doing refusing to become like them.

When we live in a culture of rudeness and disrespect it is human nature to slip into the tactics of the world in self-defense. We must not allow these disrespectful people to goad us into becoming like them.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34 " 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.…"

Only our pride makes us feel a need to answer a rude person back, but God says to ignore an insult. We are capable in Christ to ignore the insults and refuse to act the way they do in a response to them.

If the Holy Spirit leads us to speak the truth in words like; "that was rude", knowing that perhaps the person listening will learn from your response, of course, this is good because it came from the Holy Spirit to someone who is capable of learning from it. However when we realize this person will not learn and begins a fight over the correction then we are to walk away and stay away from them until they repent, which in our day is rare.

Christ and the apostles never remained in the lives of those who adamantly rejected them. To remain in the lives of those who have a lifestyle of rudeness is to be co-dependent. The fear of not being liked by someone is not godly and leads to our own regression in our walk with Christ.

Proverbs 4:23

"23 Above all else, guard your heart,

for everything you do flows from it."

When we spend too much time with wicked people allowing them to push our buttons and ultimately ruminating on their rudeness we are being drawn away from God. We guard our hearts by avoiding disrespectful people who refuse to change and moving on to others who are more open and honest, and capable of learning God's principles. We also want to spend our time with those who love God, those who will encourage us to obey Scripture and pray often.

Proverbs 13:19-21 "…19 Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but turning from evil is detestable to fools. 20 He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed. 21 Disaster pursues sinners, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.…"

When we choose our friends wisely spending time with those who love God with all their hearts and we will grow and blossom, we will be wise and discerning. And, we can pray for those we had to walk away from, never be deceived into thinking a person will change just because you remained with them to continually be abused by them, it merely enables them to continue to grow in their angst toward us. The more we tolerate the abuse the more they are empowered to continue.

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4 Biblical Tips to Not Be So Easily Offended