Friends of Christ!!!

John 15:15
"15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you."

Those who have been changed into a new creation by Christ are friends of Christ. He has made us known to the Father and we belong to Him. Hallelujah!!!

Who Rules You, the Holy Spirit or Your Teachers?

If anyone is still depending on teachers to guide them after many years of being a believer, then they are still spiritual babes.

Hebrews 5:12-14

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil."

We are not to depend on teachers all of our lives as believers. We are to enjoy them, listen while evaluating what they say, and gleaning truth but never trust in them the way we should be trusting in the Holy Spirit. All of us have the Holy Spirit Who leads us all into truth if we want it. No man could ever take the place of the Holy Spirit.

If anyone believes their pastor-teacher is the ultimate authority then they have an idol.

Acts 17:11-12 " 11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true. 12 As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.…"

The apostle Paul was inspired by God to write Scripture and yet the Bereans sought God and His Word to make sure he was telling the truth. We all need to be Bereans.

Apostasy Rules these Last Days

The state of our country and our churches within our country today.

Revelation 3:16-18 "…16 So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!

17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.…"

Apostasy Reigns in America

The American church is in apostasy! Many are diluted into thinking we are blessed because we are Christians when the fact is too much prosperity dulls the heart and causes pride.

Many ungodly people are wealthy, wealth is not the measure of godliness. What happens in our hearts when we become a wealthy country is a sign of our hearts.

We are wealthy but look what we have done with it!!!! We indulge in immense sin and even condone it in the churches.

Our wealth does not mean God is blessing us, He has tested us by giving us wealth and we have failed. We have clamored to preserve our wealth and our freedom to the exclusion of God's principles. We are a proud and rebellious nation.

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.…"

Holy Spirit Motivated People

Have you encountered a person who must control everything and everyone?

I notice that narcissists are intimidated by those who are emotionally intelligent.

They work to bring down the one who has it all together emotionally because they do not, they must feel superior to others.

We know when we have met an emotionally immature person, they become irritated in any disagreement. They are even angrier to the point of rage when they perceived that they have been shown they were wrong or in their mind "have lost."

I was chastised once because the narcissist in my life wanted me to care whether or not I won at bowling. I said I liked to do my best, but enjoy the game more than I care about winning. They truly did not understand this because narcissists are all about winning in everything, even in conversations.

Truth doesn't matter very much to the narcissist winning is all that matters. We are seeing more of this “win at all costs” in our culture and even in the church because of the self-esteem teaching that has indoctrinated most people in America.

When every child is given a prize for participating and praised ad-nausium for every little thing they accomplish, there comes a time when the culture becomes intolerant of correction. Many people cannot function unless they are going to be noticed for what they do.

A high functioning, rational, and the emotionally mature person can function well even when there are no prizes for their effort. These people gain joy and pleasure from the challenge of the work and the accomplishment at the end. They need no one else to notice or anyone else to fawn over them for their skills or products.

When we are dependent on others for adulation for what we do then we are not going to do well when that adulation is removed. Self-motivated people do well when no one is looking.

Born again believers are self-motivated because they have the Holy Spirit living in them. They have no need for human beings to support them, even though it is nice when they do, they will remain steady and productive if no one comes alongside them because Christ is everything for them and He lives in them.

That is not to say that self-motivated people don’t have their ups and downs like everyone else, they do, but they come out with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. In other words, they are more “Holy Spirit-motivated” than they are self-motivated. Their strength comes from Christ Who lives in them when there is no one else who supports them. Hallelujah

John 14:25-27…25 All this I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. 27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.…”

Brothers and Sisters take great hope and joy in knowing this, it will carry you through when you feel alone.

“Is the Church More Divisive Than Ever?” w/ Amir Tsarfati | Hello, Hope ...

Warnings Bring Rejection Its Alright!

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.…"

Have you used God's word recently to warn someone about preachers who teach false doctrine and then found your friendship suddenly dissolved?

Has the person who used to appreciate you gossiped against you, refused to discuss your disagreement, and began treating you as an enemy?

Some of us have experienced this many times because we made the mistake of believing we could openly share the Bible with those who said they were Christians.

It is a dead giveaway when love is withheld and anger replaces the friendship with contempt. This suggests to me that the person who rejected us never was truly our friend or they would be allowed us to share openly without fear of rejection.

Sometimes we experience more rejection from other Christians than we do from unbelievers. This has been a lifelong experience for me ever since I became born again.

I was in the Catholic church where God was not mentioned outside the building and only in spoken mantras read from a book without any sense of passion during the mass.

Then when I became born again I expected the congregations to have more fervor for the Word of God only to be met with contempt and hostility when I would want a Biblical answer for what was being preached.

Most gatherings now have become apostate, preaching a social gospel of works or "appearances" without understanding what it means to be born again.

Not only do the cultural Christians not want to hear from the Word of God but they exclude from their lives those who consider salvation through Christ a lifetime walk not just something we say.

I would be happy to explain what it means to be born again and why dependence on the Holy Spirit after salvation is so very important. You are welcome to message me and we can have a chat.

John 3:1-12 "1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;

2 this man came to Jesus at night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus responded and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”

5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

6 That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it is coming from and where it is going; so is everyone who has been born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus responded and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “You are the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you people do not accept our testimony.

12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? "