There is Freedom in Following Christ Alone

2 Timothy 3 is talking about the condition of the churches in the end times. Notice they have a "form of religion" but deny God in the way they express it. They have created their own traditional system God never commanded and expect all "Christians" to adhere to this tradition of men.

If you feel alone a lot and sense a closeness to God more than ever before it's because you have been freed from the traditions of men and depend upon Christ more than anyone or anything else.

Mark 7:7-9 "7 And in vain do they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’"

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."

The end times of false religion will require us to meet in a building God never endorsed, have a hierarchy God never commanded, celebrate holidays God never oredered, and use formulas God never gave to those who love Him.

The false religion of the end times pressures Christians to be like them and to think like them, or there is a rejection of those who don't comply with their human traditions. Count it a blessing to be relieved of the burden of the ritualistic end times religion.

Matthew 24:12

"Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold."

1 Timothy 4:1

"Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,"

2 Peter 3:3

"Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires."

2 Timothy 3:15 "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."

A Pure Heart Leads to Righteous Actions a False Heart Leads to Spiritual Death

A pure heart leads to righteous attitudes and actions. A pure heart is not easily offended because those who love Christ are not convicted when one of God's principles is mentioned.

 
A prideful heart leads to worldly actions and reactions based on feelings that are self-focused and self-exalted. A self-absorbed person will take everything personally when a principle of God is mentioned, thinking that the mention alone is sending them a private message. It is not that the mention of the principle had anything to do with them but that because it convicted their own heart, they take it personally as though it was a message to them.

 
A righteous person who hears a principle of God which convicts them of sin in their heart will appreciate it, pray about it and desire for a change in their own character.

 
Those who possess the fruit of the Spirit of Christ are not offended by hearing a principle of God because they want to grow in holiness and are pleased that God brought the message to them no matter who it came from.

Those who are self-reflective with a desire to honor God care deeply about others and hate to unnecessarily distress others. A message bringing conviction is a blessing to the born-again believer who desires to walk as Christ walked.

Have you ever met someone who seems to be offended by the slightest things that most people don't even notice? These people can villify an innocent comment or kind action just because it makes them feel less than when the Holy Spirit convicts them of their own actions.

 
When we love others we are happy to allow them to be themselves when it is not sin. Their personality traits and personal bents are appreciated without judgment.
For the self-absorbed person, everything is framed as a personal attack even if it is only the mention of a principle of God that convicts their heart.

 
I have been told a number of times that "you did (or said) that just to shame me" When all I did was write a generic message to everyone while sharing God's principles. Arrogant people think everyone is thinking about them and every message is to them. They do not think in terms of the edification of the church, they think merely in terms of how they feel when they hear something.

 
Those who are highly elevated in their own minds cannot face the flaws in themselves, they must hide their real selves to continue to pretend in front of others. The confident person can admit their flaws and learn from them but the highly elevated person does not grow and change in their character because they cannot face the flaws.

 
God said it clearly when He told us to confess our sin to be cleansed.
1 John 1:8-10 "…8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us."

Those who cannot face their flaws are cowards who remain emotional and spiritual infants until they are convicted of the sin of pride, confess it to God and those they have harmed and desire to be changed by Christ.

 
Ephesians 2:9-10 "…9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life."

Those who depend on their false personal to influence people to believe something that is not true about them cannot be saved because they are depending on their own "goodness" to fool God and others into believing the appearance of goodness without a changed heart.

 
When we have the goodness of Christ our actions will flow out of our hearts, they will not come and go based on our feelings in the moment, they will be consistent day after day. Those who live a lifestyle of anger toward anyone do not have the fruit of the Spirit of Christ or they would be consistently kind and loving to everyone even when they have to correct others.

 
Pretenders are dishonest, hiding all the time, and hate others continually. They will only show kindness to those they wish to impress and remain rude and unkind to those they think are beneath them.

 
Those who love Jesus Christ do not look down on others but have compassion even for the lost because they know they were once in that condition and that they must battle the arrows of the devil regularly.

 
Born-gain believers are hypersensitive to the thought of harming others. The pretenders feel nothing about harming those they think deserve it, and they always have a good reason why someone they are jealous of deserves their disrespect and disregard.

 
The devil uses those who are highly self-exalted to torment those who love Christ. Sadly those who are used by the devil don't understand that those who love Christ cannot be harmed by him, but he keeps trying anyway.

 
1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

Philippians 2:13
For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

Titus 2:14
He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Those who are zealous to be seen as perfect can never be saved until they realize that they need to repent to be born again. No one who is born-again has a high opinion of themselves, coming to Christ requires realizing how filthy we are without Him.

 
Those who are born-again are authentically loving and kind without having to try or appear in pretense, it is who they are without thinking because Christ lives in them.

 
Colossians 1:10
"so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,"

James 2:17-18
"So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. / 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."

Matthew 5:16
"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Because the apostate church fosters pride in people many will say they are Christians who have never been changed by Christ into a new creation. They came to the gatherings to be exalted and for companionship thinking highly of themselves merely for associating with the group.

Matthew 23:1-32 "Hypocrisy Exposed
23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,
2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.
3 Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and comply with it all, but do not do as they do; for they say things and do not do them.
4 And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger.
5 And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
6 And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues,
7 and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by the people.
8 But as for you, do not be called Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.
9 And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven.
10 And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ.
11 But the greatest of you shall be your servant.
12 Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Matthew 23: 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"

Matthew 23: 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full [y]of robbery and self-indulgence.

26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean."

Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
30 and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31 So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.
33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?"

Take away: we are not to look to men as our leaders, if they say something good from God's word we follow that but we are not to follow them, only what they repeat in truth about God.

 
Christ alone is our leader, He lives in born-again believers and will be our teacher, guide, and protector.

 
Hallelujah that we are free to follow Christ even if no one else does.

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Covert Fools are Pawns of the Devil

We know a covert fool understands the rudeness and deceit they are exerting because they hide it from those they wish to impress and are secretly blatantly rude to those they disrespect.

When someone hides their true nature from some and not others they are making the decision to do what they do whether that is to trick the ones they want to impress with a false image or to treat others they disrespect with contempt through intimidation and mocking.

Often the disrespect on the part of the fool is born out of deep jealousy over someone who is confident and who they know they can have no control over.

The goal of the fool is to bring their target down fostering discontent and diminishing confidence. The hope is that the target will lose control out of frustration and return anger for anger. The smartest thing for the target to do is to remain calm, not answering a fool according to their own folly, and avoid the fool whenever possible.

When they realize they are not able to control the self-assured person they will gossip to others who will torment the hated one on behalf of the fool.

The fool makes the mistake of amping up their rudenss and engaging others to their own downfall. Eventually, those who have been used as flying monkeys to do the fool's bidding will realize they have been played and will remove themselves to avoid the drama.

Anyone who does not do the fool's bidding will be maligned too when they become aware and detach themselves.

Our world is becoming more foolish every day, rational thinking is no longer the norm but the exception. Our greatest hope and joy is to remain calm, seeking Christ for everything, and remain untouched by the devil's schemes. And, yes he has schemes every day all day long as he attempts to pit people against one another especially Christian against Christian.

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.…"

James 4:7

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

We can know the schemes of the devil by reading the Word of God. It began in the Garden with Eve when the devil turned Eve against God defending her disobedience through the lying justification of the devil. We do not have to be deceived as Eve was, we have the Holy Spirit and plenty of examples in God's Word and in life experience to show us how this wicked serpent operates to be able to thwart his plan to ruin our character.

Isolation is a Blessing to those who Walk with Christ

Galatians 4:16-17 "…16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. "

Those who wish to change us into their idea of righteousness will isolate us to cause jealousy for them. Then they will attempt to turn our friends and family against us so that we will be isolated from our support.

Sadly those who do such things lack good sense. They do not know that Christ is enough for us and that we do have others support outside their group.

Arrogance causes those who isolate us from their group to believe we want or need them. It never occurs to them that we don't need them and prefer not to have to endure their nonsense.

1 Peter 2:19-21 "…19 For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended. 20 How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:…"

Matthew 5:10-12

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you."

James 1:12

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him."

Romans 5:3-5

"Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

Those who depend on their groups for their validation are empty inside. When we depend on Jesus Christ Who lives in us we have great joy no matter what is going on around us. We need no "group-think" or validation from any group to progress in wisdom and holiness.

Those who depend on others to feel whole are placing their trust in human beings and will be devastated when those people are no longer available to them.

However, those who have trusted in Christ are content in whatever situation they find themselves because they know Christ in them will direct and guide them.

1 John 2:15-17

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever."

Fruit of the Spirit of Which the First is Love

The fruit of the Spirit is the following, it is not works, even though they produce works that glorify God. The fruit is the character quality of Christ. The "fruit" is singular, every born-again believer has all the fruit.

 
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."
The first of the fruit is "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."

This first fruit of love generates all the rest of the fruit. It is not possible to have the fruit without the love.

 
Ephesians 4:2
"with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,"

Colossians 3:12-14
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity."

1 Peter 4:8
"Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

1 John 3:16-18
"By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him? / Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth."

Philippians 2:3-4
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

1 Thessalonians 5:14
"And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone."

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