2 Timothy 3:1-5

Do not fall into the narcissists game, his/her trap!

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!"

The End of all Things is at Hand

1 Peter 4:7-19 "7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:
11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Suffering as a Christian
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.
16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
18 And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."

Using the Enemies Tactics is only to become like them!

I don't know who started it but this idea that we should put up a rainbow flag with the proper colors to combat the homosexual agenda is playing right into the devil's hands.

God never told us to do such a thing so we should ignore their foolishness and just live out our Christian life.

Proverbs 26:4-5
"4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you yourself will be just like him.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes."

Narcissists love to cause fights and divisions; they not only expect people to fight back, but they want it more than anything. If they can keep Christians distracted with foolish arguments, they can keep them from sharing the gospel.

It is interesting to me that people would waste their time putting up a flag to debate with fools, but never share the gospel with anyone. There is a sort of fighting spirit in those who do the "tit for tat" combat with fools.

When we fight back in the flesh, we are not only becoming like the fool we are, but also making them think they are wise for being able to agitate their enemies.

Proverbs 23:9 "Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words."

2 Timothy 2:23-24 "But reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing."

Proverbs 22:24-25 "Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man, or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare."

The more controversy the wicked man can generate through his foolish antics, the more he can keep people focused on his depraved cause.

Perhaps there is some pride in those who think they must win over their enemy, as though God cannot take care of it.

We Obey What and Who We Believe

"More is caught than taught!" We need to teach, but if our actions are not the same as our words, the children will follow our actions and ignore our words.

When we say we believe the Bible, then everything you do and say should reflect the principles of God's Word, and the actions should follow the words. If there are only words without actions, then it is a lie that we believe the Bible.

Many Christians will say they are Bible believers, but negate more of the Bible than they obey. Just knowing what to do is not enough; we only truly believe when we do what Christ commanded.

Denying what Christ said in His Word, the entire Bible, is to deny Him.

James 1:22-25 "22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.
24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

Believing means following. When we truly believe in God and His Word, then we will follow His commands. When we fail, we confess it to be cleansed and remain uncomfortable until we do.

Those who refuse to listen to the truth, even defending the lie, are likely not born again. I am confident that no one who has the Holy Spirit living in them could remain comfortable in their sinful actions and attitudes.

When the Bible is used as a guide book of suggestions it is not believed as the Word of God. It makes me wonder if those who use it this way have ever trusted in Christ.

In our culture conservatives will be so ennamored with a political figure they believe eveyrthing he says and ignore all his flaws to remain loyal. Sadly we do not see this kind of devotion to Jesus Christ on the part of most who say they are Christians.

Shouldn't those who have the God of all creation living in them speak of Him more than anyone or anything else?

Matthew 7:24-25 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock."

Luke 11:28 "But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Past Forgiven Sins and Repentance

It always disturbs me when others want to hold past forgiven sins against their target, when the problem no longer exists.

Everyone is foolish in their teen years if they are smart, they learn from it and change their behavior.

Those who want to hold past forgiven sins against others love to feel superior and want their target to suffer with guilt the rest of their lives. That all by itself is sin!!!!

There is no purpose in dredging up past failures on others to hold over their head except to pretend to be superior.

Those who have repented in the past from sins and learned from it are in a better place than those who refuse to admit they have failures. Those who refuse to admit will never grow or change, they remain emotional and spiritual infants until they confess to God and those they harmed.

1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

God never told us to confess our sins to just anyone who had no part in the knowledge of that sin. Some people think we are accountable to them for sin we never committed against them. God never tells us to confess to one another sins not done against them.

Psalm 32:5 "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah"

God told us to confess our sins to those we have sinned against and only them. Unless there is sin that has not yet been confessed and then a friend is allowed to confront them in love about their sin so that they will confess it and forsake it. This is far different from reaching into the past when the sin has already been dealt with and expunged by God through repentance.

Galatians 6:1-2 "1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him with a spirit of gentleness. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ."

Asking someone who has repented why they did something is not only useless, it is arrogant. The only answer anyone could give for their sin is that they wanted to do it. No one can give an excuse for any sin.

The reason someone would ask "why did you do it", is to further heap unnecessary grief on the one who is repentant. This is evidence that the person asking the question is full of pride and reveling in your grief.

Remember that anyone who loves to see our failures is never anyone we should share our lives with, they will only look for every opportunity to keep you in guilt, grief and feelings of total failure. Avoid such people as this, they will never pull you out of the bog, they will push you further into it just to feel powerful over you.

Everyone has sins they had to repent from; their very nature was full of sin before they became born again. No matter how clean you think a life is, they are still headed for hell if they have never trusted in Christ. No one is without sin, to act superior and rude toward a repentant brother is to believe they have never sinned.

Romans 3:23 "23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

Those who love Christ grieve with a repenting sinner and are full of joy that they repented.

Galatians 6:1-3 "Bear One Another's Burdens
6 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
2 Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself."

Flying Monkeys and their Choices

Flying monkeys can choose to ignore the gossip, or they can ask the one gossiped about; they have a choice.

I do blame people who treat others badly because of what they have heard and not seen for themselves.

They are pawns, of course, but it is a choice to believe something merely because they want to maintain the friendship of the one who is a rumor monger.

It is one thing to listen to a trusted friend and perhaps even believe them, and quite another to pass the information to someone else.

When truth is the most important thing to a believer, they dismiss gossip, leaving room for another side to the story. Many people present to others what they want to believe about a situation rather than sharing facts.

The prejudice against a person will determine how a story is shared.
It is unwise to believe the first version of an account without witnesses to corroborate the story.

There are those who are dedicated to misunderstanding someone because they dislike that person. Because of this, it is my practice not to pass on information shared with me by a friend, not because I think they were wrong in their observations, but because there is the element of "needing to know." Does the person I share information with have a need to know it, or are we just attempting to gain converts to ourselves?

I like to share life stories I have encountered with people without their names. I do this not to gain converts but to teach life lessons about the encounters I have personally had with people. I don't like to share things I have heard or observed without all the information about an event.

And, this may be a shocker to some, I do consider even good stories no one can prove as a form of gossip. It doesn't matter if the act is good or bad; if we cannot prove it is true, then we should just ignore it.

Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

It is corrupting to pass on good or bad information that may not be true and cannot be proven. Even if the information sounds good, we might be believing a lie if it is only one person's perspective without truth.

Proverbs 6:16-19 "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."

Lying of any sort, whether gossip to demean and tear down, or gossip to cause others to idolize someone because of good deeds.

It is not gossip to call out, even publicly, the false gospel of a preacher who has influence over many people. In cases like this we are to rebuke in the presence of all so that others may fear committing the sin that occurred.

1 Timothy 5:20 "Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning."

It is reasonable and even commanded that we call out the gossip when they are causing division while destroying relationships because of their idle chatter.

We have to remember that not everything we see or everything we hear is our business. People are treated with contempt based on gossip they have heard without justification and without knowledge or wisdom.

1 Thessalonians 4:11 "11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we instructed you,"