We are to examine ourselves daily as Christians to see if we are obeying God, not for salvation but for emotional and Spiritual cleansing and growth.
Those who are in the church should examine themselves to see if they were ever born again or just playing church to feel safe when they need God.
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."
If someone cannot, because of pride, admit their flaws and failures, it is quite likely they have never been born again.
2 Corinthians 14:4-6 "…4 For He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. And though we are weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him to serve you. 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can’t you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you— unless you actually fail the test? 6 And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test."
There was a man who claimed to be a Christian who acted irritated every time a drug addict or thief repented and became born again. He asserted that we don't have to admit all our wrong stuff to be a Christian, as though he never had to do it himself because he never did those big bad sins like those other guys.
Luke 18:9-14
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 Now He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood and began praying this in regard to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, crooked, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’
13 But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to raise his eyes toward heaven, but was beating his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other one; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Perhaps the one who was irritated at those icky druggies and thieves thought that he was saved because he never did those bad things, so he deserved salvation. He appeared to despise those who used to live those terrible lives but no longer do because of the Holy Spirit Who now lives in them.
Phariseeism is alive and well in the Christian church today, as well as many false Christians who think they deserve salvation because of how good they think they are or, worse, because they spoke some words that automatically gave them an "in" with God.
They joined a gathering full of people who thought they were saved by their words alone, even without any desire to be transformed by Christ and little interest in obeying the Word of God.
Those who walk with Christ will have all the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Notice the first fruit is love, and all the other fruit operates from that fruit.
Galatians 5:22-26 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."
It is not possible to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us without a sense of love and all the other fruit.
We don't see this fruit manifesting often in our culture because most people who have asserted Christianity have never been born again; they have only trusted in themselves and not Christ.
Matthew 7:21-23 "I Never Knew You
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.’"
When Christians fail, they hate it, confess is and move forward in Spiritual growth.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"
Those who rage when confronted with their sin very likely are not controlled by the Holy Spirit if they were ever born again.
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Recognizing Brothers and Sisters
How to recognize if someone is born again and walks in the Spirit! These qualities are Spiritually discerned, not works but produce works led by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 7:15-20
"You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
What is the fruit of the Spirit?
Galatians 5:22-26
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."
The very first fruit is love, which energizes all the other fruit!
Matthew 7:15-20
"You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
What is the fruit of the Spirit?
Galatians 5:22-26
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."
The very first fruit is love, which energizes all the other fruit!
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Each One Must Trust in Christ Alone
We are living in the end times; there is no fixing the problem of government or the idea of what church is now.
This country was based on freedom and "government by the people and for the people." It was not based on "For God and by God.
Man wanted to be in control without the input of God, while pretending it was about God by tacking Him onto the end of everything instead of making Him the center of everything.
This is why our culture in the churches is still pretending; everything is based on the culture and not on Christ.
If you doubt what I say, then test it with Scripture. Ask several people in the church what they know about divorce and remarriage, what they know about forgiveness, and what they know about the way of salvation. In most cases, they will give you a cultural answer based on psychology and based on the culture that is not Biblical.
If you correct them with Scripture, you will be met with anger and rejection. Even asking the questions will anger some people because they do not like thinking Biblically; it makes them very uncomfortable.
I have met with less opposition from unbelievers in the community than I have from church attendees because they know they don't know what the Bible says.
Many people attending churches today are not born again so they tend to develop an attitude of pride in how good they think they are for attending those buildings called churches. They want to feel safe for having a "religion" but have no desire for Christ.
Many have god-speak, even knowledgeable about the Bible, while twisting what it says to fit their culture. Denying Christ's principles is the same as denying Him.
Matthew 7:21-23 "I Never Knew You
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.’"
Matthew 15:8-9 "8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
9 And in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
Matthew 25:1-13 "25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.
2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them;
4 but the prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps.
5 Now while the groom was delaying, they all became drowsy and began to sleep.
6 But at midnight there finally was a shout: ‘Behold, the groom! Come out to meet him.’
7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
8 But the foolish virgins said to the prudent ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’
9 However, the prudent ones answered, ‘No, there most certainly would not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
10 But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
11 Yet later, the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’
12 But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour."
The five virgins who did not have enough oil, were those who knew of Christ but did not have the Holy Spirit, they had tasted the good fruit but did not possess it.
There are those who are pretenders, thinking they will get into heaven on the coattails of other believers. They think association with authentic Christians will get them in, but they are mistaken; no one else gets another person into heaven. Each person must make their own choice to trust in Christ; then He sends the "oil", the Holy Spirit to live in them. He is the seal that guarantees heaven. And He will only dwell in those who have repented and trusted Christ.
No woman will get into heaven who is trusting in her husband to get her there. All a woman's sins are on her alone; she can never use her husband as an excuse to sin to please him.
God will always ask, "But did you obey Me?" The Lord Jesus Christ always comes before anyone or anything else.
No one inherits the Holy Spirit from someone else; each one must trust in Christ alone.
This country was based on freedom and "government by the people and for the people." It was not based on "For God and by God.
Man wanted to be in control without the input of God, while pretending it was about God by tacking Him onto the end of everything instead of making Him the center of everything.
This is why our culture in the churches is still pretending; everything is based on the culture and not on Christ.
If you doubt what I say, then test it with Scripture. Ask several people in the church what they know about divorce and remarriage, what they know about forgiveness, and what they know about the way of salvation. In most cases, they will give you a cultural answer based on psychology and based on the culture that is not Biblical.
If you correct them with Scripture, you will be met with anger and rejection. Even asking the questions will anger some people because they do not like thinking Biblically; it makes them very uncomfortable.
I have met with less opposition from unbelievers in the community than I have from church attendees because they know they don't know what the Bible says.
Many people attending churches today are not born again so they tend to develop an attitude of pride in how good they think they are for attending those buildings called churches. They want to feel safe for having a "religion" but have no desire for Christ.
Many have god-speak, even knowledgeable about the Bible, while twisting what it says to fit their culture. Denying Christ's principles is the same as denying Him.
Matthew 7:21-23 "I Never Knew You
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.’"
Matthew 15:8-9 "8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
9 And in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
Matthew 25:1-13 "25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.
2 Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent.
3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take extra oil with them;
4 but the prudent ones took oil in flasks with their lamps.
5 Now while the groom was delaying, they all became drowsy and began to sleep.
6 But at midnight there finally was a shout: ‘Behold, the groom! Come out to meet him.’
7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
8 But the foolish virgins said to the prudent ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’
9 However, the prudent ones answered, ‘No, there most certainly would not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’
10 But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the groom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut.
11 Yet later, the other virgins also came, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open up for us.’
12 But he answered, ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’ 13 Be on the alert then, because you do not know the day nor the hour."
The five virgins who did not have enough oil, were those who knew of Christ but did not have the Holy Spirit, they had tasted the good fruit but did not possess it.
There are those who are pretenders, thinking they will get into heaven on the coattails of other believers. They think association with authentic Christians will get them in, but they are mistaken; no one else gets another person into heaven. Each person must make their own choice to trust in Christ; then He sends the "oil", the Holy Spirit to live in them. He is the seal that guarantees heaven. And He will only dwell in those who have repented and trusted Christ.
No woman will get into heaven who is trusting in her husband to get her there. All a woman's sins are on her alone; she can never use her husband as an excuse to sin to please him.
God will always ask, "But did you obey Me?" The Lord Jesus Christ always comes before anyone or anything else.
No one inherits the Holy Spirit from someone else; each one must trust in Christ alone.
Gossips and Liars will not Inherit the Kingdom of Heaven
Why do people who never communicate with us, don't live near us, or rarely interact with us seem to act as if they hate us?
They hate the version of you they created in their own minds that was not true, but satisfied how they wished to see you.
Jealousy develops because of the competition to be superior. Those who desire to be superior work to ruin our relationships with others.
Those who gossip hate that we are content and joyful in our lives. They concoct stories in their heads that they want to believe and pass them on to others to divide and destroy any possibility of others appreciating and loving us.
These people are dedicated to misunderstanding everything we say and do, without ever speaking to us. They choose to take out of context what we say, while interpreting all our actions as wrong or foolish.
This phenomenon is growing in the end-times culture in which competitiveness and self-exaltation dwell deeply in the hearts of those who desire worship from others.
Satan hated that God loved Adam and Eve so much that He created them and then gave them a paradise in which to live out their lives.
Because of his pride and jealousy, he sought to turn the couple against God, making them question His commands. Satan enticed the couple to not only question God but ignore all the love He showed them.
After they disobeyed God, they no longer felt love and joy walking with Him in the garden; they ran from Him, hid from Him, and blamed others for their own rebellion against Him.
The sad thing is that Adam and Eve didn't realize what an amazing existence God gave them and believed the lies of the devil.
Often, the person who is being maligned by the devil is a kind person who has done nothing wrong to those he deceives. The only way the haters can justify their anger toward their target is to make up more lies to believe.
They must also gossip their lies to others so that they have a sense of allies who will fall in with them; it removes their guilt and diminishes any chance of repentance for making up things that are not true.
The gossipers rarely admit what they have done and never return to all the people they lied to for setting the record straight.
Some of these gossips think all they have to do is be friendlier to their target to make themselves feel better after ruining relationships. They expect the one they harmed to feel close again, even though they left a flood of lies to a number of people who will never find out the gossip was lies.
We cannot forgive unrepentant people but we can show them the love and respect they never gave us. Forgiveness requires both confession of sin and then the relationship can be truly reconciled.
This is rarely done in our culture. Reconciliation is not sought; confession does not happen, so relationships remain broken. We act as we should when in company with gossips, but we avoid them if we can.
It is impossible to trust someone who doesn't think they did anything wrong in their lies. They want to be absolved of their sin without confession or admitting anything was wrong.
It is impossible to trust someone who still believes their lies and who is not sorry they destroyed our relationships.
Christ never remained with those who lied against Him. He rebuked them and moved on when they were not repentant.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Difficult Times Will Come
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
Pray for those who have harmed you, pray for their salvation and pray that you do not become like them through our responses. Silence is a good tool when dealing with wicked people; use it often.
They hate the version of you they created in their own minds that was not true, but satisfied how they wished to see you.
Jealousy develops because of the competition to be superior. Those who desire to be superior work to ruin our relationships with others.
Those who gossip hate that we are content and joyful in our lives. They concoct stories in their heads that they want to believe and pass them on to others to divide and destroy any possibility of others appreciating and loving us.
These people are dedicated to misunderstanding everything we say and do, without ever speaking to us. They choose to take out of context what we say, while interpreting all our actions as wrong or foolish.
This phenomenon is growing in the end-times culture in which competitiveness and self-exaltation dwell deeply in the hearts of those who desire worship from others.
Satan hated that God loved Adam and Eve so much that He created them and then gave them a paradise in which to live out their lives.
Because of his pride and jealousy, he sought to turn the couple against God, making them question His commands. Satan enticed the couple to not only question God but ignore all the love He showed them.
After they disobeyed God, they no longer felt love and joy walking with Him in the garden; they ran from Him, hid from Him, and blamed others for their own rebellion against Him.
The sad thing is that Adam and Eve didn't realize what an amazing existence God gave them and believed the lies of the devil.
Often, the person who is being maligned by the devil is a kind person who has done nothing wrong to those he deceives. The only way the haters can justify their anger toward their target is to make up more lies to believe.
They must also gossip their lies to others so that they have a sense of allies who will fall in with them; it removes their guilt and diminishes any chance of repentance for making up things that are not true.
The gossipers rarely admit what they have done and never return to all the people they lied to for setting the record straight.
Some of these gossips think all they have to do is be friendlier to their target to make themselves feel better after ruining relationships. They expect the one they harmed to feel close again, even though they left a flood of lies to a number of people who will never find out the gossip was lies.
We cannot forgive unrepentant people but we can show them the love and respect they never gave us. Forgiveness requires both confession of sin and then the relationship can be truly reconciled.
This is rarely done in our culture. Reconciliation is not sought; confession does not happen, so relationships remain broken. We act as we should when in company with gossips, but we avoid them if we can.
It is impossible to trust someone who doesn't think they did anything wrong in their lies. They want to be absolved of their sin without confession or admitting anything was wrong.
It is impossible to trust someone who still believes their lies and who is not sorry they destroyed our relationships.
Christ never remained with those who lied against Him. He rebuked them and moved on when they were not repentant.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Difficult Times Will Come
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
Pray for those who have harmed you, pray for their salvation and pray that you do not become like them through our responses. Silence is a good tool when dealing with wicked people; use it often.
It Matters What We Celebrate
The devil loves it when God's people diminish their witness to the world by celebrating things the world loves and God hates.
Scripture Out of Context
Satan enticed Eve in the garden, just as he is doing now with everyone. He causes people to misinterpret God's Word, even lying and claiming things are in Scripture when they are not; they add to God's Word to sow doubt in the minds of those who want to obey God.
Satan causes people to distrust what God said by making them believe it is alright to interpret God's word any way they choose to win an argument or to justify sin.
He works to cause doubt about God's Word, so they will defy the word of God and claim it is the right thing to do. We must resist the devil when he causes trouble and tries to make us think we are wrong in obeying Him.
I am encountering many more Christians than ever before who are using Scripture out of context to justify what they want to believe. They are defensive about their desired false doctrine and refuse to ask God.
Instead of asking God what is true, dishonest Christians defend vehemently wrong doctrine and, worse, vilify those who defend God's Word.
Scripture taken out of context that does not pertain to the question at hand is lying and it is coming from the devil, working on minds to cause them to practice and enjoy what God hates.
Revelation 22:12-15 "12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work [h]deserves. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying."
Those Christians who are honest and seek Christ about things people think are questionable will have an answer from God. They will not immediately come back with an unreasonable and silly response using Scripture out of context.
Matthew 15:8-9 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
It is dishonest to take Scripture out of context without praying or studying to show oneself approved. Those who want to know the truth will ask God.
II Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Satan causes people to distrust what God said by making them believe it is alright to interpret God's word any way they choose to win an argument or to justify sin.
He works to cause doubt about God's Word, so they will defy the word of God and claim it is the right thing to do. We must resist the devil when he causes trouble and tries to make us think we are wrong in obeying Him.
I am encountering many more Christians than ever before who are using Scripture out of context to justify what they want to believe. They are defensive about their desired false doctrine and refuse to ask God.
Instead of asking God what is true, dishonest Christians defend vehemently wrong doctrine and, worse, vilify those who defend God's Word.
Scripture taken out of context that does not pertain to the question at hand is lying and it is coming from the devil, working on minds to cause them to practice and enjoy what God hates.
Revelation 22:12-15 "12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to reward each one as his work [h]deserves. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life, and may enter the city by the gates. 15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral persons, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying."
Those Christians who are honest and seek Christ about things people think are questionable will have an answer from God. They will not immediately come back with an unreasonable and silly response using Scripture out of context.
Matthew 15:8-9 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;
9 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
It is dishonest to take Scripture out of context without praying or studying to show oneself approved. Those who want to know the truth will ask God.
II Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
Scripture Out of Context is Deceptive
Isaiah 29:13 "
Then the Lord said, “Because this people approaches Me with their words And honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of the commandment of men that is taught;"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)