These last few months I have been encountering a challenge. Thinking that I am just growing older and aches and pains will come and go I didn't take seriously some pains until they became debilitating. Now I can hardly walk across a room without shortness of breath, exhaustion and feeling sick. So I have resolved not to do anything until my appointment on Wednesday for a heart check.
A battery of other tests were taken last week for which I have yet to learn their results. The test on Wednesday is a nuclear stress test, that should tell us more.
I am asking all my praying friends to ask the Lord for clear results as to the problem and if it be God's will, a solution. I know that all illness has a purpose if only to cause us to trust Christ more.
Today I am praising the Lord for the picnic at a brothers property where we enjoyed good fellowship. Its amazing how small problems seem when surrounded by loving kind and godly people. I cannot thank the Lord enough for this simple but lovely gathering of like minded believers.
John 15:13-15 "13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."
Acts 2:44-47 "44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Sunday, June 16, 2019
Few Will Follow Christ
It is interesting to me that so many people are johnny on the spot to judge someone as good simply because they are successful at something. I read an article about a man who is a pastor, he tripled the size of his church in 6 months by going door to door. Many people were excited about him as though the size of his church was evidence that God was blessing. It is also interesting how quickly people are to judge someone as good but very reluctant to judge anyone as evil.
Below is my response to the article praising this man for growing his church by going door to door.
"I do not judge this man as good or bad. He may be using marketing techniques. He may be so friendly that everyone likes him, in which case he may be watering down the gospel to a social gospel and Jesus loves every body. I worry about those who can bring in large crowds these days. I hope those he baptized are truly born again. Since I have not been there to see any of it I reserve judgement that it is good. How many people he can bring in is not a measure of the quality of his ministry."
Luke 6:25:26 "…25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way. "
In these last days of apostasy I am always worried when the focus of a ministry is numbers. We are living in the days of the remnants, those who are dedicated to Christ fully but they are few.
Matthew 7:14
"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Below is my response to the article praising this man for growing his church by going door to door.
"I do not judge this man as good or bad. He may be using marketing techniques. He may be so friendly that everyone likes him, in which case he may be watering down the gospel to a social gospel and Jesus loves every body. I worry about those who can bring in large crowds these days. I hope those he baptized are truly born again. Since I have not been there to see any of it I reserve judgement that it is good. How many people he can bring in is not a measure of the quality of his ministry."
Luke 6:25:26 "…25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way. "
In these last days of apostasy I am always worried when the focus of a ministry is numbers. We are living in the days of the remnants, those who are dedicated to Christ fully but they are few.
Matthew 7:14
"For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Saturday, June 15, 2019
Christ Must Be More Important Than Our Own Desires
Isaiah 29:13
"Therefore the Lord said: "These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men."
Matthew 16:24
"Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
1 Corinthians 4:16
"I urge you, then, be imitators of me."
If we say we are "Christians" then our life ought to reflect a determined desire to seek the will of Christ. His precious word will be more important to us than anything and anyone else. There will be no twisting of scripture to fit the culture or our own desires, all we see in His word will be according to His truth.
We cannot love Christ and fear the disapproval of man. We cannot love Christ and attempt to preserve our life for our own pleasure.
John 12:26
"If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."
John 14:15-16 "15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—…"
"Therefore the Lord said: "These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men."
Matthew 16:24
"Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
1 Corinthians 4:16
"I urge you, then, be imitators of me."
If we say we are "Christians" then our life ought to reflect a determined desire to seek the will of Christ. His precious word will be more important to us than anything and anyone else. There will be no twisting of scripture to fit the culture or our own desires, all we see in His word will be according to His truth.
We cannot love Christ and fear the disapproval of man. We cannot love Christ and attempt to preserve our life for our own pleasure.
John 12:26
"If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."
John 14:15-16 "15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever—…"
Perfect love casts out fear!
1 John 4:18
"18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love."
When we love Christ more than anyone or anything else we do not fear whatever comes at us from the world. We do not fear the loss of a relationship when we have spoken God's truth.
When our focus is Christ He is the One we wish to please. The opinions of others are considered only in light of the Word of God. No opinion is considered separately from the Word of God.
There will be many people who think very highly of themselves even becoming angry when we do not see things the way they see them. These people are focused on the culture not on Christ. Many of these people are looking to be treated as special and above others, the thought of being equal to or lower than others is monstrous to the narcissist.
When we love Christ we are comfortable in knowing that we are nothing compared to Him. We have no need to be special or above anyone else.
Philippians 2:2-4 "…2 then make my joy complete by being of one mind, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.…"
The narcissist will claim we do not get along with them. The truth is that they do not get along with us. They say and do anything they want expecting us to approve, but have no tolerance for our own choices for our own life.
It is impossible for the narcissist to be Biblical in their thinking when everything they do is based on appearances and self glory. The Bible is used merely as a means to feel superior rather than a document to discover God's heart and mind.
All of us must evaluate where our heart lies, a narcissist cannot evaluate self, it is too painful to admit their flaws. The righteous man evaluates their flaws to be able to be cleansed and grow in holiness, this is not anything the narcissist can do.
"18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love."
When we love Christ more than anyone or anything else we do not fear whatever comes at us from the world. We do not fear the loss of a relationship when we have spoken God's truth.
When our focus is Christ He is the One we wish to please. The opinions of others are considered only in light of the Word of God. No opinion is considered separately from the Word of God.
There will be many people who think very highly of themselves even becoming angry when we do not see things the way they see them. These people are focused on the culture not on Christ. Many of these people are looking to be treated as special and above others, the thought of being equal to or lower than others is monstrous to the narcissist.
When we love Christ we are comfortable in knowing that we are nothing compared to Him. We have no need to be special or above anyone else.
Philippians 2:2-4 "…2 then make my joy complete by being of one mind, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.…"
The narcissist will claim we do not get along with them. The truth is that they do not get along with us. They say and do anything they want expecting us to approve, but have no tolerance for our own choices for our own life.
It is impossible for the narcissist to be Biblical in their thinking when everything they do is based on appearances and self glory. The Bible is used merely as a means to feel superior rather than a document to discover God's heart and mind.
All of us must evaluate where our heart lies, a narcissist cannot evaluate self, it is too painful to admit their flaws. The righteous man evaluates their flaws to be able to be cleansed and grow in holiness, this is not anything the narcissist can do.
Friday, June 14, 2019
Good Deeds
Often in these last days of apostasy we are going to see people doing many good deeds to "soothe their conscience and bolster their reputation."
Matthew 6:2-4 "…2 So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Just recently I saw this phrase mentioned in a show I was watching on television. I was struck with the impact of this in observing so many "Christians" doing useless good deeds, seemingly to make themselves feel good about their life. Their spirituality is based in how good they look to others.
These Pharisee types are "others" focused rather than Christ focused. These Pharisee types are not concerned about developing the character of Christ in their lives, they are fixated on rules to appear righteous.This is the reason they so easily, without much thought judge the actions of their brothers and sisters on things that are not sin. They make up their own rules about obedience to Christ that were never in the Word of God.
These Pharisee types are determined to appear better than others based on their works more than developing inner character and holiness. Works oriented Christians will always look down on others who do not do the things they do or say the things they say. They are wrong about the Word of God more often than they are right. No one can be right about the Word of God when they are focused on searching the scriptures to see how superior they are to others.
Liberals do this all the time, they open a food bank to feed the poor in this country when the line to the food bank is around the block and nearly everyone in the line is obese. In other words there is no need for the food bank, its a feel good project that gets them the praise of others. No one has to sign up to get the food and no one is evaluated as to whether or not they really need it. When there is no accountability we can be sure there is a good deed done more for self glory than for the people they serve.
We see liberals providing abortion services for unwed mothers who made the choice to indulge in immoral activity outside of marriage, but don't want to face the consequences of their own actions. Abortion is the easy way out for the "helping liberal." Instead of teaching about chastity and helping an unwed mother to be able to provide for and raise her child they do the easy thing. It takes far more effort to help a woman care for a child than it does to sit in their fancy chair providing the map to the abortion clinic. AND THEY CALL THIS HELP!!!!
Instead of bringing the wonderful message of salvation to the masses involved in sin, they bail them out of consequences to be able to continue in their sin without any lessons learned.
When this happens there does not occur the necessary brokenness to heal a heart of its sin to become whole and blessed. The devil loves these feel good activities, it removes guilt over sin to help the sinner to remain in it without the ability to see the devastating effects of sin.
The same is true of the woman who remains silent when her husband is making terrible and ungodly choices. The woman is the helpmate to the man in every area of his life. The allow someone we love to continually sin is not love.
We see this often in the activities of Christians, learning all they can about the Bible to be able to impress others with their knowledge while violating most of the things in the Bible that they don't like to think about.
It is sad to me that most Christians do not see pride as a sin. They embellish things to appear special, they tell lies to impress others through half truths and they are angry at anyone who is not impressed by their attempts to appear spiritual.
A born again believer who loves the Lord should never be excusing the sins of pride, jealousy and contempt while at the same time calling it Biblical.
Have you ever met someone who was confronted about their sin of pride who shouted at you that they were not full of pride. When this happens there is no need for further discovery, our answer is given in the raging.
A humble, loving person will not rage at a confrontation they will ponder, pray and confess if the accusation is true. At the very least a humble person will ask the accuser why they think that to determine whether or not it was accurate.
Raging, ignoring, dismissiveness, disapproving grunting sounds and others signs of pride are evident in the one who can never confess their sin openly. These people are not sorry for their sin of pride, they excuse it as being for a good reason.
Proverbs 16:17-19 "…17 The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.…"
Our knowledge about the Bible is not an indicator that we are godly spiritual Christians. The devil knows the Bible better than we ever could, yet he is on his way to hell.
Good deeds are not an indicator that we are godly spiritual Christians. The devil loves to present useless good deeds to distract us from the gospel.
The good deeds that Christians ought to be involved in are those that Christ, the Holy Spirit leads us to do, not what the world thinks but what God commands. Each person will be given a task, often it does not look the way the world thinks it should look. The Holy Spirit is far more creative than the world or our own fleshly desires. When we get to the point where we are hearing from the Holy Spirit and obeying His voice, we are likely to be hated by most because they will not understand God's ways.
Never measure your walk by what man thinks, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit.
John 16:12-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…":
Good deeds done in the power of the Holy Spirit will always bring glory to God!!!!
Matthew 6:2-4 "…2 So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Just recently I saw this phrase mentioned in a show I was watching on television. I was struck with the impact of this in observing so many "Christians" doing useless good deeds, seemingly to make themselves feel good about their life. Their spirituality is based in how good they look to others.
These Pharisee types are "others" focused rather than Christ focused. These Pharisee types are not concerned about developing the character of Christ in their lives, they are fixated on rules to appear righteous.This is the reason they so easily, without much thought judge the actions of their brothers and sisters on things that are not sin. They make up their own rules about obedience to Christ that were never in the Word of God.
These Pharisee types are determined to appear better than others based on their works more than developing inner character and holiness. Works oriented Christians will always look down on others who do not do the things they do or say the things they say. They are wrong about the Word of God more often than they are right. No one can be right about the Word of God when they are focused on searching the scriptures to see how superior they are to others.
Liberals do this all the time, they open a food bank to feed the poor in this country when the line to the food bank is around the block and nearly everyone in the line is obese. In other words there is no need for the food bank, its a feel good project that gets them the praise of others. No one has to sign up to get the food and no one is evaluated as to whether or not they really need it. When there is no accountability we can be sure there is a good deed done more for self glory than for the people they serve.
We see liberals providing abortion services for unwed mothers who made the choice to indulge in immoral activity outside of marriage, but don't want to face the consequences of their own actions. Abortion is the easy way out for the "helping liberal." Instead of teaching about chastity and helping an unwed mother to be able to provide for and raise her child they do the easy thing. It takes far more effort to help a woman care for a child than it does to sit in their fancy chair providing the map to the abortion clinic. AND THEY CALL THIS HELP!!!!
Instead of bringing the wonderful message of salvation to the masses involved in sin, they bail them out of consequences to be able to continue in their sin without any lessons learned.
When this happens there does not occur the necessary brokenness to heal a heart of its sin to become whole and blessed. The devil loves these feel good activities, it removes guilt over sin to help the sinner to remain in it without the ability to see the devastating effects of sin.
The same is true of the woman who remains silent when her husband is making terrible and ungodly choices. The woman is the helpmate to the man in every area of his life. The allow someone we love to continually sin is not love.
We see this often in the activities of Christians, learning all they can about the Bible to be able to impress others with their knowledge while violating most of the things in the Bible that they don't like to think about.
It is sad to me that most Christians do not see pride as a sin. They embellish things to appear special, they tell lies to impress others through half truths and they are angry at anyone who is not impressed by their attempts to appear spiritual.
A born again believer who loves the Lord should never be excusing the sins of pride, jealousy and contempt while at the same time calling it Biblical.
Have you ever met someone who was confronted about their sin of pride who shouted at you that they were not full of pride. When this happens there is no need for further discovery, our answer is given in the raging.
A humble, loving person will not rage at a confrontation they will ponder, pray and confess if the accusation is true. At the very least a humble person will ask the accuser why they think that to determine whether or not it was accurate.
Raging, ignoring, dismissiveness, disapproving grunting sounds and others signs of pride are evident in the one who can never confess their sin openly. These people are not sorry for their sin of pride, they excuse it as being for a good reason.
Proverbs 16:17-19 "…17 The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud.…"
Our knowledge about the Bible is not an indicator that we are godly spiritual Christians. The devil knows the Bible better than we ever could, yet he is on his way to hell.
Good deeds are not an indicator that we are godly spiritual Christians. The devil loves to present useless good deeds to distract us from the gospel.
The good deeds that Christians ought to be involved in are those that Christ, the Holy Spirit leads us to do, not what the world thinks but what God commands. Each person will be given a task, often it does not look the way the world thinks it should look. The Holy Spirit is far more creative than the world or our own fleshly desires. When we get to the point where we are hearing from the Holy Spirit and obeying His voice, we are likely to be hated by most because they will not understand God's ways.
Never measure your walk by what man thinks, but only by the power of the Holy Spirit.
John 16:12-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…":
Good deeds done in the power of the Holy Spirit will always bring glory to God!!!!
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Repeated from 2016, "Bobble Headed People"
A Repeat from an article I wrote in 2016, someone shared it on their page, I thought it might be good to bring it back again for those who have not seen it .
How to be loved by everyone all the time.
First things to do is never disagree with anyone, smile big smiles while nodding your head up and down a lot when someone speaks. When we do this we are validating everything they say no matter what it is, making them feel wonderful about themselves. The goal of the robot is to continually do everything in accordance with the culture, the family and the community so that many people will adore you.
When anything is said that is against Scripture, never challenge it, never express it in any way while keeping the head moving up and down as the smile is prominently placed on the face in stoic fashion.
If you want to be loved by all people all the time, say nothing, do nothing and be nothings. Be very careful that no one knows how you feel about anything, that way no judgments can be made, no wrong interpretations can occur and no conflict will arise.
When others are picked on by the superior bully, never ever defend the righteous one. In doing so we will receive the wrath of the bully, while losing all their flying monkeys as our friends. (flying monkeys are those who do the bidding of the superior personality without question) Those who have elevated the superior one, to god like status, believing they can do no wrong, the flying monkeys will attack with certainty anyone who does not fawn over the elevated one.
When we live this kind of life, many people will love us, they will express glowing words about us at our funeral, they will seek to be your friend, you are the one whom anyone can go to with a problem.
No solutions will ever be offered because it might make the one who is sharing feel imperfect, they may get hurt feelings and lose their elevated view of us. Solutions are not the goal for many people today, they only muck up the sense of self perfection.
When seeking full approval of others sharing solutions, especially if that solution is not something that will elevate their personal status, only damages the relationship. Solutions are never the goal, the goal is always to make the person with a situation feel special about themselves.
I wonder how many reading this have lived a life of big smiles and nodding heads? Is it possible that we live in a culture that expects this continually?
We are of no use to anyone if our goal and purpose is to make people feel good about themselves. God’s word is full of solutions, the best ones, these are what we should be sharing with our brothers and sisters.
The goal of every believer should be to help with God’s principles and solutions. The only way to do this is to walk with Him, knowing His Word…..knowing His heart.
Of course we cannot always know the perfect solution because we don’t know perfectly of all sides of a problem. We cannot always offer specifics, but we can offer principles from God’s Word, while leaving room for those in distress to seek God for the specifics.
The most frustrating relationship is one based on smiles and nods when there is need for discussion. Discussion brings out solutions. Discussion for the believer must be based on the principles of God as outlined in His Word. Without God’s principles and prayer, understanding God’s way is not possible. Our human mind regularly defers to fleshly answers to problems.
Sadly many people would rather choose to believe there is no problem, to avoid the sense that they must help in some way. When our goal is temporary happiness for ourselves, we will never be helpful to anyone. There are those who are looking for answers that work, they need for us to remind them, we need for them to remind us when we are seeking God’s answers.
The goal of the culture of today has been to make people feel good about themselves, rather than finding meaningful and lasting solutions to the problems of life. All this has produced is a lot of people walking around pretending to be something they are not, happy as little clams feeling special, until one of those Bible thumpers comes along to actually make godly sense of a situation.
So many people keep on keeping on with big smiles and nodding heads while there is a holocaust raging in their souls. They must continually get their “happy” fix that lasts as long as they are pretending, but when reality hits, they hit bottom. Believing the only way to pick themselves back up is to find those superficial head bobbing smile machines who will make them feel better, but only while they are with them, when they go home, their old self emerges, leaving them right back where they were before.
God’s solutions through prayer and Bible reading are those that last. They produce permanent changes in the way we view life. They produce more faith that changes us, we no longer need the plastic smiles and nodding heads, we can tell the truth, find a solution while our joy is full, notice I said “joy” not happiness.
When we find a person who has been in an auto accident, a gaping wound on their arm is showing, do we rush to get them an ice cream cone and put a band aide on it, or do we rush them to the hospital for the uncomfortable fix of stitches and antiseptics?
Our country has been destroyed for lack of instruction and even worse lack of desire for truth. Instruction and correction is rejected by nearly everyone because of the stubbornness of the heart. We are going to be destroyed, going down, I wonder if the smiles and head nodding will cease when there is nothing left to save and no one left to impress? Israel of the past found out what happens when a country gets to where we are right now!
Isaiah 1:2-6 “Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth;
For the LORD speaks,
“Sons I have reared and brought up,
But they have revolted against Me.
3 “An ox knows its owner,
And a donkey its master’s manger,
But Israel does not know,
My people do not understand.”
4 Alas, sinful nation,
People weighed down with iniquity,
Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who act corruptly!
They have abandoned the LORD,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away [c]from Him.
5 Where will you be stricken again,
As you continue in your rebellion?
The whole head is sick
And the whole heart is faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head
There is nothing sound in it,
Only bruises, welts and raw wounds,
Not pressed out or bandaged,
Nor softened with oil.”
Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Matthew 4:4 “But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
How to be loved by everyone all the time.
First things to do is never disagree with anyone, smile big smiles while nodding your head up and down a lot when someone speaks. When we do this we are validating everything they say no matter what it is, making them feel wonderful about themselves. The goal of the robot is to continually do everything in accordance with the culture, the family and the community so that many people will adore you.
When anything is said that is against Scripture, never challenge it, never express it in any way while keeping the head moving up and down as the smile is prominently placed on the face in stoic fashion.
If you want to be loved by all people all the time, say nothing, do nothing and be nothings. Be very careful that no one knows how you feel about anything, that way no judgments can be made, no wrong interpretations can occur and no conflict will arise.
When others are picked on by the superior bully, never ever defend the righteous one. In doing so we will receive the wrath of the bully, while losing all their flying monkeys as our friends. (flying monkeys are those who do the bidding of the superior personality without question) Those who have elevated the superior one, to god like status, believing they can do no wrong, the flying monkeys will attack with certainty anyone who does not fawn over the elevated one.
When we live this kind of life, many people will love us, they will express glowing words about us at our funeral, they will seek to be your friend, you are the one whom anyone can go to with a problem.
No solutions will ever be offered because it might make the one who is sharing feel imperfect, they may get hurt feelings and lose their elevated view of us. Solutions are not the goal for many people today, they only muck up the sense of self perfection.
When seeking full approval of others sharing solutions, especially if that solution is not something that will elevate their personal status, only damages the relationship. Solutions are never the goal, the goal is always to make the person with a situation feel special about themselves.
I wonder how many reading this have lived a life of big smiles and nodding heads? Is it possible that we live in a culture that expects this continually?
We are of no use to anyone if our goal and purpose is to make people feel good about themselves. God’s word is full of solutions, the best ones, these are what we should be sharing with our brothers and sisters.
The goal of every believer should be to help with God’s principles and solutions. The only way to do this is to walk with Him, knowing His Word…..knowing His heart.
Of course we cannot always know the perfect solution because we don’t know perfectly of all sides of a problem. We cannot always offer specifics, but we can offer principles from God’s Word, while leaving room for those in distress to seek God for the specifics.
The most frustrating relationship is one based on smiles and nods when there is need for discussion. Discussion brings out solutions. Discussion for the believer must be based on the principles of God as outlined in His Word. Without God’s principles and prayer, understanding God’s way is not possible. Our human mind regularly defers to fleshly answers to problems.
Sadly many people would rather choose to believe there is no problem, to avoid the sense that they must help in some way. When our goal is temporary happiness for ourselves, we will never be helpful to anyone. There are those who are looking for answers that work, they need for us to remind them, we need for them to remind us when we are seeking God’s answers.
The goal of the culture of today has been to make people feel good about themselves, rather than finding meaningful and lasting solutions to the problems of life. All this has produced is a lot of people walking around pretending to be something they are not, happy as little clams feeling special, until one of those Bible thumpers comes along to actually make godly sense of a situation.
So many people keep on keeping on with big smiles and nodding heads while there is a holocaust raging in their souls. They must continually get their “happy” fix that lasts as long as they are pretending, but when reality hits, they hit bottom. Believing the only way to pick themselves back up is to find those superficial head bobbing smile machines who will make them feel better, but only while they are with them, when they go home, their old self emerges, leaving them right back where they were before.
God’s solutions through prayer and Bible reading are those that last. They produce permanent changes in the way we view life. They produce more faith that changes us, we no longer need the plastic smiles and nodding heads, we can tell the truth, find a solution while our joy is full, notice I said “joy” not happiness.
When we find a person who has been in an auto accident, a gaping wound on their arm is showing, do we rush to get them an ice cream cone and put a band aide on it, or do we rush them to the hospital for the uncomfortable fix of stitches and antiseptics?
Our country has been destroyed for lack of instruction and even worse lack of desire for truth. Instruction and correction is rejected by nearly everyone because of the stubbornness of the heart. We are going to be destroyed, going down, I wonder if the smiles and head nodding will cease when there is nothing left to save and no one left to impress? Israel of the past found out what happens when a country gets to where we are right now!
Isaiah 1:2-6 “Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth;
For the LORD speaks,
“Sons I have reared and brought up,
But they have revolted against Me.
3 “An ox knows its owner,
And a donkey its master’s manger,
But Israel does not know,
My people do not understand.”
4 Alas, sinful nation,
People weighed down with iniquity,
Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who act corruptly!
They have abandoned the LORD,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away [c]from Him.
5 Where will you be stricken again,
As you continue in your rebellion?
The whole head is sick
And the whole heart is faint.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head
There is nothing sound in it,
Only bruises, welts and raw wounds,
Not pressed out or bandaged,
Nor softened with oil.”
Psalm 147:3 “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
Matthew 4:4 “But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Romans 15:4 “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
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