Greater Dependence and Greater Discernment!!!!

The reason most Calvinists do not completely follow Calvin is that they don't read ALL of his writings or they could not call themselves by his name. They also never say; "I am a follower of Jesus Christ", which is too embarrassing but saying "I follow Calvin" makes them sound intellectual.

Calvin was a Catholic who left the church and brought with him to the protestant denomination many Catholic doctrines that are not Biblical. He murdered real Christians who wanted to be rebaptized when they left the Catholic church, they no longer believed in infant baptism, so he killed them for their "heresy" as he saw it.

If followers of Calvin read all his writings and prayed to compare them with the scriptures they would no longer follow Him. It's the "pick and choose" syndrome, follow what you like and pretend you do not see what you don't like. Very common and childish.

Many Christians do this all the time and those who are pretenders. The pretenders are those who came into the church merely to feel safe but have no interest in the Word of God or Jesus Christ, only in the system that keeps them safe.

Matthew 7:21-23 "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.’"

No one will enter heaven who tried to be good without Christ or who has no interest in a relationship with Him. Some even say it takes a relationship with Christ but do not know what that really means.

I have had more side-ways glances as though something is wrong with me when I mention depending on the Holy Spirit. Those who do this think it is a "cop-out" or "pat-answer" because they have never experienced hearing from the Holy Spirit nor do they consult Him regularly for matters in their lives.

Those who walk with the Holy Spirit guidance every day understand what it is like to depend on Him moment by moment.

Isaiah 11:1-5

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

"And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins."

This passage was describing Christ's walk on this earth. Because we have Christ's Holy Spirit living in us we can walk this way too.

When the Holy Spirit comes to reside in us after we have been born again, we too have what Jesus Christ had, the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:13

13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.

Perhaps those who mock the Holy Spirit's guidance do not have Him.

Romans 8:8-10 "8 Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness."

John 14:17

"the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you."

John 14:23

"Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

1 Corinthians 3:16

"Do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple, and that God's Spirit dwells in you?"

Galatians 4:6

"And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

Ephesians 3:17

"so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,"

Philippians 1:19

"because I know that through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, my distress will turn out for my deliverance."

Born again believers understand the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, they do not mock Him or the one who speaks of Him. If there is mocking and resisting then it is possible the one who does this is not saved.

Just some thoughts to move us toward greater dependence on the Holy Spirit and greater discernment about all things as we move through this world.

Why Do They Not Like the Bible

Amen, Amen Faith without Works is Dead!

Super Sweet Golden Retriever & Ginger Kitten Will Melt Even the Hardest ...

Praise God for the animals He gave us to enjoy!!!

Gentle Golden Retriever and Cuddly Kitten Are Pure Cuteness

Just had to share some midweek cuteness!!!!

Be Sober, Be Vigilent the Devil is Roaming

When you know your enemy you have a better chance of defeating him. The devil is our enemy Christ in us has defeated him. We must lean into the Holy Spirit refusing to consider the tricks and see the evil behind them.

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

Matthew 16:22-24 "…22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” 23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.…"

Christ looked at Peter but addressed the devil who was influencing him.

When you are looking at a person who has done harm and continues to attempt to harm you, do not see the person, discern the devil who is using that person. That person needs Christ in order to stop being influenced by the devil. Even believers who are lazy Christians can be influenced by the devil's ideas and thoughts, we see it all the time.

Those believers who defend sin, who walk in indifference to the Word of God, who throw the born-again believer under the bus to be accepted by the culture around them, are being influenced by the devil. We also encounter pretenders who say they are Christians but use the Bible to twist according to their own ideas and personal comfort and gain.

When Peter used his human wisdom to influence Christ his thoughts were not his own, they were the very thoughts of the devil, not because the devil believed these things but because he wanted to cause Peter to ruin God's plan. Sure, many people think the thoughts they have are their own and good ones, but in reality, those thoughts were placed by the devil to destroy the work of Christ. We know this because the thoughts of the devil are irrational at best, no matter how good they sound.

When you are called by God to do something and a superficial disobedient Christian comes along and chastises you for doing what God told you to do, you know where those ideas come from, they come from the father of lies.

Matthew 4:10

"Away from Me, Satan!" Jesus declared. "For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'"

We need not explain ourselves to the person or the devil, just simply reject the attempt by saying, "I see that you do not understand, nevertheless I will do as God tells me to do."

The devil uses people to bring sadness, anger, and contempt toward others who desire to obey Christ. We need not walk in anger or sadness when we know it is the devil who is working to ruin us. He cannot ruin us when Christ is defending us. He can only ruin our witness if we let him through refusing to seek Christ in all things.

Our walk with Christ is so free, free of the influence of the devil when we make a practice of consulting with the Holy Spirit continually. We need not see any person as a threat to us knowing their words are not their own, but those of the one who desires to destroy us and our witness, that is the devil. When we trust in Christ we do not fear losing a friend who will not stand behind our decision to obey Christ.

If we must diminish our walk with Christ in order to keep a friend then that person is not a real friend anyway. Our friends who love God will want to support whatever God is telling us to do, they will be an asset and not a detriment. We too want to be loyal and faithful friends to those who want to walk with Christ. Let us also BE the friend to others that we need for ourselves.

Hallelujah!!!!

What is Love?

Love is not words, nor is it acts of kindness. Does this shock you to hear this?

Love is a mentality of deep concern about another human being.

People can do acts of kindness to elevate themselves, this is not love, although kindness can come from a heart of love.

People can say kind things, this too is not love, however saying kind things can come out of a heart of love.

When we love someone we care what happens to them, whether or not their life aligns with the principles of Christ. When our lives align with the principles of Christ that is where there is the greatest blessing.

When we love someone we are more interested in their inner heart than their outward expression. When the inner heart aligns with the outward expressions there is where we find genuine Christ-like love.

Many ungodly people do acts of kindness because it makes them feel good, without much if any concern about the person for whom they do the deeds. These people need to have others observe the good deeds to gain their favor or accolades.

Matthew 6:1-2 "1“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2So 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 honored by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.…"

The truly loving kind person never tells others about their good deeds. They are satisfied that the person receiving their gift of care is blessed. No blessing has to come back to the giver who has the love of God residing in them.

When Christ died on the cross for the sins of others, He had no blessing to Himself, it was completely sacrificial. He had nothing to gain by the terrible monstrous torture He went through on the cross, except that He loved those He died for, those who will trust in Him.

Truly godly kind loving people do their acts and have their attitudes because it is the mind of Christ from whom they operate.

When we are born again walking with Christ we do not have to work up kindness or love, it is a part of our very being, therefore it is not something we have to think about or try to be, it is as natural as breathing to us.

Those who walk in self-exaltation cannot possibly have the mind of Christ or the desire to be like Him. They are completely satisfied with themselves, they are their own god in their own mind.

The fruit of the Spirit is not good deeds, it is the very nature of God. It has become a sort of DNA to our soul.

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."

When we fail and temporarily lean into our feelings through the desires of the flesh we are tormented with guilt that we have offended the Holy Spirit that lives in us. We cannot stand to continue with the wrong attitude or action. Those who love the Lord and live by the Holy Spirit hate sin as much as Christ in them does. This is why born-again believers are so sensitive to any thought that they may have hurt someone.

1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"

These are some clues whether or not someone claiming to be a Christian has been changed into a new creation by Christ. When we are changed we are no longer the person we used to be, loving the way unbelievers think, we now love the way Christ thinks.

Hallelujah!