Romans 15:13
"13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
As believers we can have joy through all things, that does not mean that we don't cry, feel sad, even deeply discouraged, but that we ignore the feelings and continue on to do what we should until the feelings pass.
The deep down joy is a part of our flesh and bone and can never leave us, even if the emotions cloud it at times.
The joy comes from the knowledge that we are obeying God no matter what the circumstances. And, when the sadness, tears and discouragement leaves the joy emerges reminding us that the joy is permanent and real and the feelings are temporary and flimsy without substance.
Focus on Christ and nothing without substance will stick to us. Our actions and attitudes will be the same no matter what our feelings are doing.
1 Corinthians 15:58
"58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."
James 1:12
"12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has [a]been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."
James 1:2-4
"2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various [a]trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces [b]endurance. 4 And let [c]endurance have its perfect [d]result, so that you may be [e]perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
Psalm 112:7
" He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord."
Acts 11:23
"23 Then when he arrived and [a]witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;"
Galatians 5:1
"5 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."
We are commanded by God not to allow ourselves to become lazy and stoic concerning our Christian walk. If we are walking closely with our Lord we cannot be indifferent to the things of the Lord, just the contrary, we become more excited about the Lord and His principles. The more we immerse ourselves in Him! The greater our devotion to Him the more we hate what is evil and love what is good.
Romans 12:9-12
"9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;
12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,
13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality."
The word "decimate" no longer means to reduce by one tenth, it has been used continually in recent years to mean "completely destroyed."
Not that long ago, many people understood that if a city was decimated, it meant that one tenth of the city was destroyed. Now when we hear the context of that word, we understand it to mean that the entire city was destroyed.
The word "fewer" has nearly been dropped from our language and replaced with the word "less."
The word fewer has long been used to refer to things that can be counted, such as "fewer apples in the bin." While the word "less" refers to things that cannot be counted but must be measured, "there is less flour in the bin."
I have been thinking long and hard about the need to convey the proper message to those with whom we speak. If we are using words that mean the opposite from the understanding of the person we are speak to, then we have given them a wrong message.
It is vitally important to understand what God is telling us in His Word. Many misunderstandings of God's truths have created cults that hold to a standard or principle, that isn't at all what God taught in His Word.
My hope is that all those who call themselves Christian will read the Word, praying over the understanding, even digging deeply as far as we are possible to discern what God is telling us, not based on our own cultural bents.
The misunderstanding about divorce and remarriage emerged from men's hearts, a desire to contort the meaning of God's Word by using English words that do not mean what God meant in His Inspired Word, but will give them the answer they want.
Many things believers hold to today are not accurate because they rely entirely on the English versions without knowledge of the original languages or seeking the Holy Spirit in prayer for truth.
I am woefully ignorant about the original languages, but when I ask the Lord to show me truth about a matter, almost inevitably someone comes along with the meaning of the original language that brings great insight.
I knew before I had done any real study on divorce and remarriage that these practices were sin. The Holy Spirit showed me, that even though most of our culture accepted it, somethings was just not right.
I began to pray reading the word more carefully, and searching out teachers who didn't say what I have heard all my life. God quickly brought the truth to me on these matters so completely, there could be no mistaking the truth.
Even when we don't know the original languages, God can warn us when something is taught that is amiss. He can bring uneasiness to our soul, it is our responsibility to go to prayer and then to study. When He brings the answer we can know it was Him, peace floods over our soul and the answer becomes clear. There is no backing up or confusion any more!
I just witnessed, on another thread a picture of a prominent Christian motivational speaker, his wife and he at the beach. The wife was late in her pregnancy wearing a very tiny almost non-existent bathing suit with her very pregnant belly completely exposed.
My question is: "how could any godly Christian man display his wife in this way in front of millions of people? I question the integrity and level of spirituality in a man who would not care whether or not his wife was seen in dignity.
The reaction of those commenting was, how lovely this couple was and what a good example of a marriage they had.
I was the only one commenting on the clothing......or lack of it, on the wife. I felt like I was the little girl in the story of "The Emperors New Clothes."
In case someone doesn't know the story, the towns people were told by officials of the King that the King would be coming down the street in his new clothes. What the people were not told was that the king would be coming down naked. As the king approached each group of people, there could be heard voices proclaiming how lovely the new clothes were, except for one little girl who shouted out boldly, "but he doesn't have on any clothes." The people were appalled that the little girl would say this and she was summarily chastised for saying such a thing, as though they really did see clothes.
We are living in such a culture as described in "The Emperors New Clothes." The king is not chastised for not wearing any clothes, however, anyone telling the truth about it are called trouble makers and scolded harshly for telling what they really saw.
Are we that blind, or are we so deeply frightened over the loss of crowd approval that we pretend to ignore what we see blatantly? Or, perhaps our culture is so immoral now we will see many Christians on the beach clad in clothing the prostitutes didn't even wear 150 years ago.
When the bikini first came out regular models wouldn't model in it, the designers had to get prostitutes to do that.
It seems that our culture is willing to overlook any and all sins as long as the person we are looking at is famous, or highly favored as a speaker or teacher. It is my humble opinion that no matter who the celebrity is, we ought to always tell the truth, perhaps particularly if they are influential, public and Christian.
Proverbs 12:19 "Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment."
To ignore or deny what we really see is lying! Do we get this, it is lying!
2 Timothy 2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth."
That is the first admonition in this post, to seek the truth. The second admonition is to tell the truth no matter how many people don't like to hear it.
Ephesians 4:25 "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another."
Our job as believers is to help one another grow in holiness, that is not possible when we ignore blatant sin. Do we understand that nakedness.....even partial nakedness on the beach is a sin before God?
There are two reasons for wearing scanty clothing in public, the first is to exhibit ourselves for men to see and the other is to keep up with the fashion. Neither of these things is good. If the culture is violating God's principles then we must not follow it.
Believers are fish swimming up stream against the current. Our greatest desire is to be acceptable to God not our culture. The culture has a father, that father is the devil, nearly everything it does is contrary to Christ.
John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
How do we swim up stream......its simply......ask God to change our hearts so that we do not desire the things of the world. When the desire is removed by God, then there is no struggle to be different, being different will come naturally without effort.
An elderly lady once was asked by a non-believer what she gave up to be a Christian. Her answer was "I never gave up anything.....that I wanted." When we have been born again we are not controlled by the culture, we are controlled by the Holy Spirit. When we fail temporarily, we are hounded by Christ Who lives in us and we return to obedience again, the sadness we feel in the sin drives us back to the Savior. We are not comfortable with sin or worldliness, we are only at peace when we are in sweet obedience to Christ.
The moral of the story, don't follow the culture it will only destroy you, follow Christ and you will see much peace and joy!!!!
1 Peter 3:1
"3 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;"
The word "conversation" here does not mean "speech", but rather, it means "life."
In short, God meant that the husbands could be won over by the "life of the wives."
This is why it is important to understand the meaning, one might believe that the wives should speak to their husbands, and it is partly true, except in the original language it means her life as a whole will witness to her husband.
After all, words are easy, it is by the life that support the words that make the difference.
A description of the pre-trib rapture, the protection of the saints because God takes car of His children who are not appointed to wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 "9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"
We are living in the time of man's wrath right now, but after the rapture of the church it will be the time of God's wrath, much more horrible than anything man could do.
Isaiah 26:19-21
"19 Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
21 For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."
Just as God shut the door on the ark for the safety of those who belong to Him, He will do the same before His wrath that will be poured out on the earth against all evil. God will hide His people in safety during the tribulation period on the earth.
Does anyone believe they can think any way they please as long as they hide their thoughts from others?
If you believe you can hide yourself, just remember the longer you continue in sin in your thoughts the greater the chances of them working themselves out into actions.
God judges the heart, he doesn't have to judge the actions, because before the action can occur, there has to be wickedness in the mind first.
Matthew 15:19 ""For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders."
Jeremiah 17:10 ""I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds."
Far too many people judge others as wonderful because they see people who are doing good deeds or restraining themselves from outward evil actions. Hiding what is in our heart doesn't make us a good person, it just makes us stealthful.
Notice in Jeremiah 17:10 God doesn't mention actions to be judged, He judges the heart and the "results" of the deeds. We are accountable for the things we cause in the lives of others.
Did you know that a person can go all their live without committing adultery, and still have adultery in their heart that will be judged by God?
Matthew 16:4 ""An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away."
God calls us adulterous when we merely lack faith and need Him to prove Himself in some physical or miraculous way.
Most people say "don't judge" when it comes to sin but we never hear them say "don't judge" when it comes to good deeds.
It seems to be acceptable to judge someone as good because of their deeds, but not acceptable to judge someone as bad because of their sin. I say that our deeds flow out of our heart but sometimes they are pretense for the purpose of earning kudos from those around us.
Many people will think they have lived a good life in their own righteousness who will be expecting to enter heaven only to be rejected by Christ. These people did good deeds, loved themselves and were proud, never having trusted Christ.
Those who are not changed by Christ but attempted to be good without Him, will be told in those fateful days, "I never knew you, depart from Me." Mathew 7:21-23. I can't think of anything more frightening and devastating than to believe you are going to heaven, only to be turned away at the gates of heaven and be thrown into hell.
It is always a good idea to ask the Lord to expose our own hearts to us that we might confess that which does not honor Christ. This is what cleansing is all about, confessing our sin to be cleansed, first in our heart and then our actions and attitudes will follow. Any attempt to cleanse ourselves is fleshly, will not last and doesn't honor Christ.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Often we are not cleansed because we don't ask or we ask to show off to others.
James 4:3 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."
If we want to be cleansed, walking with a pure mind we must ask God to do it in us, knowing we have no ability within ourselves to change our own heart. In short, only one who has humbled himself admitting his own inability to save himself or cleanse himself, will God work in their lives.
