Pride and Heroes

1John 1:27 The ANOINTING which you have received of (HIM) abide in you!! YOU NEED NOT ANY MAN TEACH YOU, the same anointing teach you of all things is true & no lie as it has taught you, you shall abide in it!!!!!!!!

Only those who are full of pride need heros.

Trust Christ Not A Version

There are many KJV onlyistst who overlook the mistranslations in that version because they are convinced it was "inspired" by God. IT WAS NOT, the original Greek and Hebrew written down by the apostles were inspired, but all translations have inculcated into their translating, elements of their own western mindset.

I do not place my trust in any translation but in the Holy Spirit to enlighten what I read. We have the original copies of those inspired languages, but since we cannot read those, we have to depend on the Holy Spirit to help us in our understanding.

Many errors in thinking have come about because people have trusted languages in translations rather than the Holy Spirit, as well as trusting teachers and scholars over the Holy Spirit.

We should listen to people who have studied and then take what they say to the Holy Spirit rather than just buying into their view hook, line and sinker, simply because they have a Bible degree. Much that is wrong is being taught in the seminaries now and have been since the beginning of those institutions. Even Paul the apostles challenged those who heard him to go home and look to the scritpures to make sure the things he said were true. It would strengthen their faith to pray and read themselves. Paul was also teaching that we must learn from the Holy Spirit, not believing men alone. If this were true in Paul's day with the original languages, then why would we not do this with translated works, even the KJV of the Bible.
 
There are more likely to be problems with translations than with originals. We do not have the originals, but we do have original copies. The oldest copies should be the best ones, since the more we copy things the more likely to be errors.

Acts 17:11 "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."
I began with the NIV, the Lord showed me many things while reading it, but as I grew in the Lord, it became clear from the Holy Spirit promptings that something wasn't right. No one warned me against it, the Holy Spirit within me did that. Also when I was questioning the matter of divorce and remarriage, everyone who knew me was against my views, it was the Holy Spirit that showed me the evil of these acts, even though the Christian culture disagreed, all the scholars I knew of disagreed.

I knew it was wrong, as I began to ask the Holy Spirit for more information, He brought to me other scholars who were saying the things the Holy Spirit was telling me, to confirm that I had heard Him right. I did not come to my conclusions because others told me what I should believe. The Holy Spirit first prompted me, then I began to research to confirm what He said to me.

Never get caught up in following a group who claim to have the only truth, but rather question all of it, take it to the Holy Spirit in prayer and remain there while He begins to show you answers. Nothing He will say will contradict the Bible, but will instead open our eyes to what is there.

http://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible-questions/why/easter-in-the-bible/

Their Fruit Will Expose Them

Fruit of the Spirit: 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. "

It was an eye opener to me one day when God showed me that the "Fruit of the Spirit" is not deeds but rather character qualities that other believers are able to see. Non-believer cannot discern them, they base their evaluation of people on deeds.

Anyone can do good deeds to impress others and even fool themselves into thinking they are good people, but the true test is the "Fruit of the Spirit", that the Holy Spirit produces in us, they are deep character qualities not based on deeds, but an inner heart attitude.

A believer can often sense a spirit of lying and deception that non-believers can't see until the actions are so blatant they cannot be ignored. Often true believers can sense that spirit of deception even before actions reveal themselves.

Matthew 7:16 ""You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?"

Saying It Doesn't Make It So

No child of God will walk away from Him. When we chose to trust Christ He merely gave us what we wanted and that was to be changed into a new creation by Him. Even though we are weak and fail at times, we are still continually being cleansed until the day we die. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance. 

Ephesians 1:13-14 "13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory."

If someone walks away without a conscience over it, then they were never born again, they were only pretending or responding to an emotional hype, they never had it in their heart. They were never broken over their sinfulness and they never trusted Christ to change them.

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.’"

If anyone has a strong desire to return to the world, loving things that God hates, then that person never wanted Christ to begin with, they only wanted God for the safety they thought they would have or to elevate themselves in the eyes of others. 

When our motive to be close to God is to be accepted without desiring to please Him, then God will not save us, change us or answer our prayers.

John 9:31 ""We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him."

So many people today call themselves Christian because it makes them feel safe, good about themselves and special, but in their heart they have no inclination to seek God about anything. When they are confronted over a sin or wrong attitude they fight and devour those who try to help them grow in holiness. 

When we see these things, we know we have met someone who has an ulterior motive to labeling themselves "Christian", which does not please God.

Matthew 15:8 "'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME."

Saying "I am a Christian", does not make us Christian,
Saying "I love you" does not prove that we love.
Saying "I am a hard worker", does not mean we are hard workers.
Saying "I am a good person", does not make us a good person.

Do we see the face of our culture in the above sentences? Many people think that all they have to do is say something and that makes it so. Most of the criminals in jail will claim they are basically good people.

Evidence is required for the claims of these things. When we say "I love you", there has to have been a lifestyle of consideration and concern for the one we say we love. When we say "I am a hard worker", there must be evidence that others can see that prove it. 

Our culture no longer understands that in order for something to be true, it must be more than words, there must be attitudes and actions that back up our claims. It is better to keep our mouths shut while obeying God, we really are what we live, not what we say.

There is an old saying that goes like this; "your actions speak so loud, I can't hear a word your saying."

If you are a hard worker then you won't need to say it, others will see it. If you love God's way, there won't be a need to brag that you love, others will know it. If you say "I am a Christian", the evidence will be that we obey God as a matter of lifestyle, even if we fail we will be grieved over our sinfulness and desire to be delivered from the sin. 

A true believer never gives themselves excuses for their sinfulness while remaining in it, they are ashamed and want to be cleansed. When confronted they don't fight and argue they are ashamed, confess and turn from their sin.

John 14:23 "Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him."

1 John 3:9 "No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Hebrews 12:6 "FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."

1 John 3:14 "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death."

If we love God it will show in that we obey Him as a matter of lifestyle, we will love the Word of God and we will love other believers. Our love will include correction when necessary as well as comfort in hard times. 

If there is no love for God's Word, no love for the brethren and no desire to move forward in holiness, then there is no salvation, not that we earn salvation by these things but that salvation produces these things in us.

Organic Hype

I have read studies to indicate that all this hoopla about pesticides is just that, hoopla. My father lived in a time when there were no restrictions on pesticides, they used them too, he lived to be 90 years old and so did many of our relatives. They didn't eat any healthier than we do, except they couldn't afford eating out all the time.

They ate white bread, pasta, pie, jam with large amounts of white sugar in it, they loved pie and many other things that we would consider unhealthy today. 

My family were not people who exercise either, their jobs didn't provide any more exercise than normal day to day work. The most recent studies show that running is very bad for us and can shorten one's life. It makes sense that if we beat up our bodies regularly, it is constantly trying to heal from the abuse, it would cause a strain on all the body systems. The greatest threat to our hearts is stress, which includes life problems and physical exertion.

The natural food industry is laughing all the way to the bank as is the exercise equipment industry, the food is no healthier and it is not completely pesticide free. Exercise is proving to damage the body long term. It's all the end times "worship nature and the body", natural hype. I know I will not convince this generation, and that's alright, there are more important things to argue over, eating the "natural food", won't hurt anyone, except put a crimp in the pocket book and keep people in a constant state of worry that can damage their heart.

Jeremiah 17:7-8
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Proverbs 10:27
"The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened."

I don't see anything here in the above passages about the food we eat, it is trusting God that lengthens a person’s life, not the food we eat.

Matthew 15:11 ""It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."

I just have to expose the deception of the natural food craze. If the "natural food" industry can convince people all other food is bad, they can charge higher prices and they are doing that, while building a stronger market of people addicted to their food labeled "natural." 

All the "proof" I see is not from people who actually did the testing themselves, but from the "natural food" industry, they have a lot to gain by addicting their customers to the idea that they are in danger from eating anything but the food they produce.

We were told for years that coffee, butter and eggs were all bad for us, now that is all being retracted by the younger scientists coming up who have gone a little deeper in their research.

Just reading articles on the internet and listening to those who have been convinced by the hype is not a good way to get our information. There is no such thing as perfect food that will alleviate all illness.

The new bacon scare, is nothing short of ridiculous. They say that there is a 1% greater chance of bacon being harmful. Notice the "chance" word! The original chance was 5% and now it is 6%. The idea that bacon is as bad as smoking is ludicrous. Then they say 5 pieces of bacon a day is alright, I personally don't know of anyone who eats that much bacon that would be 35 pieces a week. 

We get illness because God ordained that we have it, perhaps to cause us to turn our eyes to Him. Many believers are turning their eyes to extreme nutrition that is not based on good science, trusting in those foods, when they aren't any better than the food we have had all along.

The natural food craze is a part of the end time’s deception, designed to make people continually paranoid about what they eat while placing their trust in the food rather than God. Notice too it creates an attitude of ungratefulness for what God has provided. 

I know people who buy special solutions to soak their vegetables to remove pesticides that are easily removed by running water over them. I once asked a dentist if the "Plax" brand of mouth rinse did any good in removing plaque on a person’s teeth. He laughed and said it will do as much good as water, in short, it has no value at all and one spends money on the "Plax", when water from the tap would do the same thing. This is just one example of advertising run amuck. This is also an example of the way the "natural" food industry has manipulated many people into believing they need their product, while charging silly prices for it.

In the churches I have been in, during the coffee hour, there was a lot of time spent talking about the food that they thought was healthy along with discussions and excitement about the ball games, God was rarely mentioned at all. What we talk about most of the time is what we treasure. Perhaps there is some pride involved in thinking we know so much and can mix with the world on this matter of "natural." 

Luke 12:34 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

If the "natural" craze were not popular, I wonder how many people would involve themselves with it? Often when something is widespread and popular it is because an industry is marketing it heavily while putting out bogus information to earn massive amounts of money. 

I don't believe the studies put out by the "natural foods" industry, nor do I believe the studies that claim we need supplements. If we are seriously ill then we need to have blood work done to check our levels, based on true science, then we may need iron or some other vitamin or mineral that our body is lacking, but based on levels of it in our blood. 

Far too many people are taking massive amounts of vitamins, spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year on vitamins their body doesn't need, and perhaps even causing illness from overdose. I have known two people in my lifetime who became very ill from taking too many supplements without checking with a doctor to see if there was a need, one of those people died from an overdose. YES, you can kill yourself, destroy kidney and liver over too many vitamins. 

When we place our trust in the "natural food" industry without praying about it, we put ourselves through stress and worry over nothing. They have lied to this culture. I notice too that the secular community was the entity that introduced all this hype and the Christians hopped on board. 

Perhaps it's time for believers to ask the Lord to open their eyes to this last day’s deception of worship of the physical body.

Burn the Pictures!

If you are not "worshiping the picture" of a man depicting Christ, then why are you having the picture?

Do you wish that picture was Him? Then you are pretending it is Him, a form of lying about God, since we know it is not Him.

Do you look longingly at it as if you were in that man's presence? If you are,  then you are pretending it is Christ even though you know it is not....a form of worship.

Why would anyone want to "pretend" that a man is God? Perhaps without props the faith is weak?

God said we are not to make "images" of Him in the likeness of any art.

Acts 17:29 ""Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man."

2 Corinthians 5:7 "for we walk by faith, not by sight--"

If we need to see a picture of Christ to build faith then we lack faith. When we look longingly at a picture of a man depicting Christ, we are desiring that man in the picture who we know is not Christ. There were no pictures of Him.

Those who need any kind of artifact to feel close to God are demonstrating lack of faith.

I am told the word for worship denotes the way a dog looks at his master. When we look longingly at a man wishing he was God then we are worshiping.

Often, believers criticize Catholics for having idols while they have some of their own. Why would pictures of a man depicting Christ be worse in the Catholic church than in the protestant church? Why would a statue of a man depicting Christ be worse than a picture doing the same thing?

Perhaps we ought to burn those depictions of Christ, knowing that our faith will soar as soon as we release ourselves from the idols that have kept us captive. The more I depend on the Holy Spirit that lives in me, the less I need to see with my eyes.

Immense and Intense Pride

When we were children, if we were rebuked by an adult, we were ashamed. Even as an adult if we were rebuked by another adult, especially if they were older than we, we were ashamed.

But now the children are fighting back and the younger adults are disrespectful to their elders. It is appalling to say the least, no humility just immense and intense pride.

Pride Goes Before Destruction

Our culture is into what I call the mantra, "what does it mean TO YOU" illness. Everything is interpreted in terms of what "I like", "I want", "I believe." Things don't have to make sense they just have to be what a person likes.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to reason with anyone any more. Any attempt to bring good sense to a discussion is quickly attacked to prevent any sadness or correction.

As long as someone "wants" to believe in something, it is now off limits as far as reexamination is concerned, what comes to mind is what the people continue with, no matter how much it is proven wrong.

I am appalled at the amount of "pretending" that goes on in our culture today. Everyone is into so much pretense that it is very difficult to tell who is serious, who is living a counterfeit life and who is genuine. One must get to know a person on a much deeper level, asking serious questions, while watching what emerges from them, to be able to see their response to challenges.

Those who refuse to be challenged on nearly any level, will display anger and even rage at the prospect that they may be wrong about something.

Psalm 37:8 "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil."

Ephesians 4:31 "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice."

Proverbs 15:18 "A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention."

Proverbs 27:5 "“Open rebuke is better than secret love.”
Those who cannot tolerate a rebuke, raging to intimidate the one who challenge them, show great pride and an inability to be taught. These people remain spiritual babies if they have ever been born again.

2 Timothy 4:2 "“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

Titus 1:13 "This testimony is true. For this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith,"

The purpose of a strong rebuke is to expose error, giving the one who is rebuked an opportunity to realize their need and ask God to change their heart. The Holy Spirit will not grow a resistant believer, they remain in their foolishness as long as they resist the correction of other believers.

Those who think they are special without need of correction, are arrogant and foolish ones, who must appear superior to others, while all the time remaining ignorant, lacking good sense and spiritual growth.

Hosea 4:6 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22
"16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 DO NOT QUENCH THE HOLY SPIRIT; 20 do not despise prophetic utterances. 21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil."

When we resist the Holy Spirit promptings long enough, He stops speaking to us. When God sends others to correct or instruct us and we resist, then God will not keep sending people and He will silence His Holy Spirit, leaving us vulnerable to the devil and the consequences of our own pride.

The Elephant Remains in the Room!

It is clear that atheists have chosen to believe what they want because they don't want to be accountable to God. God says the evil man has no excuse we have all seen His handiwork in nature.

There is no such thing as a person who does not believe in God, there are only liars who want to pretend He doesn't exist. "The fool says in his heart....NO God!!!!!"

Psalm 14:1 "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The fool hath said in his heart, (There is) no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good."

The words; "There is" has been added, meaning that the fool says no to God, He knows God exists and refuses to acknowledge Him. You might say he refuses to admit to the "elephant in the room."

How Did We Get This Way?

In the 1970's the teaching of "self-esteem" was instituted in the school system in a big way. I remember children coming home from school, elementary grades, telling me that the school psychologist came in once a week to talk to the students.

I was never informed about it, very unhappy, I went to the school and opted out of the psychology class for our children but by then it was too late, they had already been well indoctrinated into this teaching.

In one session they were told to look into a box, in the box was a mirror. They were told that if they looked into the box they would see the most important person in the world.

They were told that they couldn't love anyone else until they first loved themselves. I refuted this teaching at home, but the children never listened to me because everyone around them was telling them they didn't have to listen to their mother. They would only listen to "the experts", the experts being their teachers and Sunday school teachers. Extended family was continually against what I wanted for my children and I had no one to back me up.

Most homes at that time had no one in them that was Christian in our community, those who went to church were being indoctrinated into this thinking too. I argued often with people who claimed to be "Christian", they defended the self-esteem teaching, ignoring and even battling against the Bible that taught "denial of self."

Those who claimed to be "Christian" all around the country were attending church as a matter of tradition rather than devotion to Christ. I am also convinced that many who attended church wanted to feel elevated in their own eyes, so they became proud of the knowledge they thought they had, while all the time defending worldly thinking, denying Christ by denying His principles.

I was raised with the attitude that we went to church because "it was the decent thing to do", rather than we go to worship a Holy God Who gave us life and deserves our worship. Most of those whom I knew that attended church were very proud of how good they thought they were.

As an adult, whenever I questioned the teachings in a gathering of Christians, I was shot down as rebellious because the "experts" were the teachers and no one should question them. After leaving the Catholic church I was met with the same mentality in the non-denominational churches as I saw in the Catholic church, it was rude or rebellious to counter anything the teachers said and they were all teaching "self-esteem" as a way of life.

It became harder and harder to find a church that taught the Biblical truth of denial of self, they had all bought into the self-esteem teaching to such a degree that most people were keeping a distance from me if not rejecting me entirely. Even those who said they didn't believe in self-esteem were raising their children with elements of it every day, claiming they weren't.

By this time, in all this mess, I was seen as someone to be avoided, excluded and mocked. Even in my presence the disrespect was immense. I say all this to show how rebellious our culture has been for many years, while getting worse all the time. No one will listen to Biblical truth, even those who claim to read the Bible have been indoctrinated into the evil of "self-love."

Now to correct or admonish anyone at any time, in any way, is met with anger and rebellion. Many if not most people consider it rude to rebuke, because they have been trained all their lives to be madly in love with themselves, they cannot endure any form of correction whatever, without becoming enraged.

2 Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,"

Proverbs 12:15 "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise."

We are now living in the times of the fools, those being people who love to think highly of themselves, but are destitute in their spirit.

What happens when a country refuses to acknowledge God?

Ezekiel 7:26 "'Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be added to rumor; then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law will be lost from the priest and counsel from the elders."

Amos 8:11 ""Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord GOD, "When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD."

There are probably millions of Bibles in our land, even some of them are being read, but the people remain destitute in spirit, just reading it, knowing it and speaking about it, is enough for these people, they don't actually have a desire to obey any of it, they feel superior to anyone who would challenge them to question their own level of spirituality.

There is a famine, not because the Word of God doesn't exist, but because the people read, read and read some more and remain ignorant because they will not seek God in their reading. Their purpose for knowing the Bible is not to discover how to please and honor God but merely to become educated, for the purpose of elevating self.

2 Timothy 3:7 "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

1 Timothy 6:5 "Perverse disputing’s of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself."

Once again, another verse that tells us to withdraw from those who use knowledge as a means of self-exultation. These people cannot be reasoned with, they cannot be taught and will listen to nothing that does not make them look good.

Our reason for reading the Scriptures ought to be to learn the mind of Christ that we might be made more Holy by the Holy Spirit that lives in us. This takes humility, denial of self along with the deep desire to please Christ, not by our good deeds that make us look good, but rather by being changed in our hearts into a useful vessel that realizes we have nothing good to offer Christ, that He must work in us for His purposes.

Pride, arrogance and self-promotion have no place in the Believer's heart.

Revelation 3:17 "'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,"

Someone asked the question, "How did we get like this?", in reference to all this arrogance and rebellion in our country. The answer is quite simple, we stopped elevating Christ and His Words along with His principles, in favor of elevating self.

 

Ask God If You Were Ever Born Again

John 6:35-40
"35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, tha...t of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."

Many people "say" they believe and are Christian, but their heart which leads to actions and attitudes is evidence against them.

Matthew 15:8 "'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.:

Matthew 7:21-23
"21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

It is not enough to "say" we believe in Christ, if we are honest and sincere in our heart about following Him, then our outer actions and attitudes will be evidence of that.

So many think they are going to heaven but in fact will be hearing those terrible words, "I NEVER KNEW YOU."

Perhaps those who have doubts, still walking pridefully, should ask the Lord if they are born again, then do what is necessary to be cleansed, which is to confess your sinfulness, asking for Christ to change you into a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Prophesy Unfolds

It is interesting to me that so many non-believers just love this new pope. They are not even Catholic but enjoy his endorsement of all things no matter how wicked. If he is not the anti-christ he certainly is a mirror image of what the anti-christ will look like.

Everyone in the world except true believers will love the anti-christ. He will promise wonderful thing, peace, prosperity and love, only to bring such evil that there will be people who will want to die and cannot. There will be those who will ask the mountains to fall on them because of their great misery.

Luke 23:30 ""Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, 'FALL ON US,' AND TO THE HILLS, 'COVER US.'"

Revelation 9:6 "And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them."

Matthew 24:29 "“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

While the world is embracing the lies of the anti-christ, the true believers during that time will be holding fast to the Word of God and will be martyred for their faith. They will receive great blessing in heaven for their steadfastness that brings them to persecution.

Revelation 7:14 "And he said to me, These are they which come out of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Those who trust Christ during this time will be faced with immense heartache, but they will endure and face a wonderful eternity with great reward.

The time of the rapture is very near, when the believers will be taken out to go to the marriage supper of the Lamb. There will be those who trust Christ during the tribulation. After that time, the Lord Jesus Christ will come back with great wrath and power to fight against evil, and we who went up in the rapture will return with Him as His army, but we won't have to fight, He will do it all.

What an amazing prophesy we have to look forward to, when all evil is eliminated from the earth and the Lord makes everything new again. Imagine having the Lord Jesus Christ as our leader, while there will be swift justice for any sin during the Millennium and we the born again believers will rule with Him.

I don't know about you, but for me these are exciting times as we watch prophesy unfold, coming together in a miraculous way. As a born again believer my hope is being enlarged every day I see another prophesy unfold.

We Will Be Hated By All

I felt led to repost this! Many people are still buying into the lie that if we obey God all our friends and family will be at peace with us.

Actually the bible teaches the opposite. In our part of the country there is much disrespect for parents, dishonor for anyone is common. The only way to get along with everyone is to compromise our Christian principles and agree with those who are in rebellion against God.

I don't know about any of you but I become weary at the health wealth and prosperity gospel that some are spreading. There is no scriptural basis for it. Many have become discouraged thinking they have done something wrong because they don't live in wealth, they are sick often and all their relatives hate them.

There are those who say they don't believe the false gospel of prosperity, but live as though they must prove God is blessing them through feverish efforts to acquire wealth. They even deny their illnesses to pretend they are healthy when they need a doctor.

Next time someone attempts to convince you that God does not want you to be poor, sick, or persecuted, repeat these words to them.

Hebrews 11:35 "Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.

Hbr 11:36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.

Hbr 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted,
were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--

Hbr 11:38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, [in] dens and caves of the earth.

Hbr 11:39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,

Hbr 11:40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from "

Many people are being persecuted, beheaded and hung on crosses today in Egypt, what would you have to say to those people. The health, wealth and prosperity gospel is not the gospel at all, but a false one.

Matthew 6:19 ""Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;"

Mat 6:20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."

Mat 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

2 Corinthians 11:23 "Are they ministers of Christ?--I speak as a fool--I [am] more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.

2Cr 11:24 From the Jews five times I received forty [stripes] minus one.

2Cr 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;

2Cr 11:26 [in] journeys often, [in] perils of waters, [in] perils of robbers, [in] perils of [my own] countrymen, [in] perils of the Gentiles, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren;

2Cr 11:27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness--

2Cr 11:28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.

2Cr 11:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn [with indignation]?

2Cr 11:30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.

2Cr 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

2Cr 11:32 In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;

2Cr 11:33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands"

Luke 21:14 ""Therefore settle [it] in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;


Luke 21:15 "for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.

Luk 21:16 "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put [some] of you to death.

Luk 21:17 "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake"

Hmmm!!! Christ was our example and He did not escape poverty and persecution, what would make us think we would. Joel Osteen spits in the face of God when he writes a book entitled, "Your Best Life Now." This may be the best life now for those who are refusing Christ and ultimately will end up in a firey hell. But for the believer, nothing on this earth should take us captive, not wealth, not health nor the love of all the people that surround us. Our best life is to come when we go before the Savior and hear His Words, "Well done good and faithful servant."

We as believers yearn for our heavenly home and our husband that dwells in us now and will one day take us home.

Accountability in the Body

Interesting, we forget that when we do not handle sin God's way we have to continually deal with the effects of it. The sinner doesn't learn anything and will not stop, in fact over time the sinner becomes worse because they have learned that it is profitable in some way for them to continue in it.

Proverbs 19:19 "A man of great anger will bear the penalty, For if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again."

The "just love them" mantra only empowers those who walk in ...rebellion. True love is to rebuke them, if they repent then they will profit from that, if they do not repent then they go down the slippery slope of enhanced sin all by themselves, while we move away with the understanding that we cannot help those who refuse to listen.

Matthew 18:15-17 "15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector."

Boundaries For Giving

We have to make clear our boundaries. The entitlement mentality is growing since the onset of the self esteem teaching over the past 40 years.

We were raised to never ask others for things, it was impolite. We were raised that if we get something we ought to earn it. We were taught to share not merely giving what someone wants, but what is a real need.

Removing the incentive to work to earn our own way by indiscriminately giving while the recipient wastes the funds they have on foolish things, is dooming the recipient to a life of poverty.

Proverbs 10:4 "Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, But the hand of the diligent makes rich."
If you want to truly love someone, give them the opportunity to earn what they need, two things will happen, they will have dignity and they will not need our resources.

An old saying; "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

2 Thessalonians 3:10 "For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either."

The Culture Doesn't Understand Love

We know that our culture doesn't understand what love looks like. Love snatches people from things that will harm them. Hate encourages people to continue to do what they want that will destroy them. Simple!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=521453324684961&set=p.521453324684961&type=3&theater

Obedience?

John 14:15
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
So tell me, what is so hard to understand about this verse?

Correcting Wrong Doctrine is not Divisive

The culture has become so narcissistic that speaking against sin or correcting a wrong choice is unthinkable to most people. Most people feel free to correct us when things are culturally and politically incorrect, but rage against us when we speak the principles of God.

God's ways are not the ways of our culture. So much Scripture is being violated in the church gatherings that I can hardly call these gatherings "Christian." 

Those who rage the loudest and most intensely often are those who are in the church. They are unteachable, arrogant and divisive through wrong doctrine, but call those who use the Scriptures as the standard...divisive. 

It is not correction about doctrine that is divisive, it is bad doctrine or no doctrine that is divisive. We are no longer correcting wrong doctrine or putting out of the fellowship those who bring pagan practices, they are allowed to remain and even embraced, "just to encourage them."

I really hate that concept that we allow a baby believer to have his way in the church simply to "encourage him." Why on earth would we want to encourage a baby believer to bring in wrong teaching or doctrine?  

We need to be correcting and teaching the baby believer. If the baby believer leaves and becomes angry then we know we may be dealing with a pretender, who never became born again.

Anger at being taught or corrected is an indication that someone was never born again, they simply wanted the safety of the church and the enjoyment of the love of believers. 

A truly born again believer hungers after the truth, praying and listening to more seasoned believers to gain wisdom. When someone enters the church with the attitude that everyone should accept whatever they are without challenge, that person is not seeking Christ but personal glory.

The best way to weed out of the church the pretenders is to maintain Scriptural integrity, challenge where needed speaking boldly the truth, this all by itself will chase away those who are full of themselves whose aim is to be in a social club that elevates them personally. 

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, 3:17 That the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

2 Timothy 2:24,25 And the Lord's bond servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 2:25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth.

Matthew 7:3 And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye ?
7:4 Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye and behold, the log is in your own eye ?
7:5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

2 Thessalonians 3:14 And if anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of that man and do not associate with him, so that he may be put to shame, 2:15 And yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

1 Timothy 5:1 Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, 5:2 the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity.

Proverbs 6:23; 3:12; 23:13; 29:17; Jeremiah 30:11; Titus 1:13; 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:20; Revelation 3:19; Luke 17:3

Exercise of Little Valule

I am the crazy fringe that believes exercise is one of those "pragmatism" beliefs of the end times. Because it can take weight off then it must be good, but in fact, I believe it is one of the end times deceptions.

I am losing weight right now, very slowly, but without exercise, merely by my diet. Some of the medical community is now saying that we get enough exercise simply from going about our daily lives. It is enough to walk to the mail box and back, or mowing the law or other activities that expend much less energy.

Call me crazy but I have believed for a long time that our over emphasis on exercise is actually shortening lives, God says it is "of little value", and I believe that means "not very much at all." AND, I am convinced in many cases it is actually harming the body. So I am seen as a nut cake, just like scientists were when they proclaimed that the world was actually round. LOL

1 Timothy 4:8 "for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

I am also convinced that all this paranoia about food, is over blown. Of course there are some concerns, but I think it is far less important than many believe. Satan has managed to make people believe they have to be ultra sensitive to their food intake, causing arrogance, deviation from the spiritual things and even a detriment to the body itself.

If the devil can get our mind distracted with things that have little impact on our well being, he will keep our minds focused away from Christ.

Exercises that are a part of normal living, along with eating the four food groups in the proper proportions will be enough to keep our bodies healthy, until God decides to give us a "thorn in the flesh" to redirect our eyes toward Him.

When we are in perfect health with beautiful bodies, we tend to develop pride, while making ourselves godlike. Taking care of the temple of the Holy Spirit is good, but worshiping the temple is sinful.

2 Corinthians 12:7-
7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself!
8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

God did not say anywhere in the Word that we should work real hard to make our bodies beautiful. He did say that we should pay nearly all our attention on the inner man, that we might grow in holiness. The inner man is developed by knowing and obeying the principles of God.

Ephesians 3:16 "that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,"

All We Need Is Christ

Some evangelical churches don't talk like this but act as if the one who doesn't have a seminary degree can't know the bible enough to teach it, as though the Holy Spirit only goes to seminary. Many Bible school grads really do look down on those who did not attend a formal seminary.

God was talking to every believer when He said this;

John 16:13 ""But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."

Kindred Spirits Immediately

Emotions Can Be Enjoyed But Not Always Trusted

Emotions can be enjoyed but  not always trusted!

Emotions are a response to stinuli, they have little value. We have them but we sure can't depend on them for accuracy, they are of the flesh.

I don't say they are bad, it's wonderful to feel when the feelings match truth. However we cannot depend on them to decide important matters, we must use our minds for those things.

Obedience or Just Words?

Those Christians who don't believe that we are in the end times full of debauchery and rebellion, may not be seeing the signs because they are focused continually on their personal pleasure.

When I write a post speaking against divorce and remarriage because half of the couples in the United States are indulging in it in spite of the fact that it is condemned by God and people come to fight, we have a clue as to the rebellion in the hearts of people.

Believers will fight bitterly, using manipulative name calling to demean those who speak against sin, in a battle to defend that which God calls violence.

Malachi 2:16 "For the LORD, the God of Israel, says that he hates putting away: For one covers violence with his garment, says the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that you deal not treacherously."

Many believers who will not divorce and remarry themselves will defend those who do. They become rabid with hate and anger at the suggestion that divorce and remarriage is a sin against God, coming up with every reason possible to endorse, accept and embrace that which God condemns. They will even defend the remarriages as legitimate marriages when Christ called it adultery.

Luke 16:28 ""Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries one who is divorced from a husband commits adultery." (An ongoing state of adultery as long as the person remains with the second spouse.)

How many of you have lost friends because you stood against an adulterous marriage? How many believers live with the reproach of close family members, even church members who find our allegiance to God's word offensive?

I suggest that in these last days all our stands for righteousness will be met with anger and hate. Those who are sold out to obedience to God's Word, not out of legalism, but out of a deep love for our Savior, will be continually barraged with contempt from those who love their sin while loving their friends and family more than God. They would rather lose the fellowship of God to maintain the praise of men.

John 12:40-43
“He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them.”
41 These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.
42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;
43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the [d]approval of God."

Notice verse 42 "the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;"

Those who know in their heart the evil and violence of divorce and remarriage but say and do nothing are walking as the Pharisees did, fear of man rather than fear of God.

John 5:39-47
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;
40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from men;
42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.
46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me.
47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Many people will claim to know and follow the Bible, but at close inspection of their attitudes and lives, we see that their claims are only words, dead words that mean nothing.

Matthew 15:8 "'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME."

Our life, the way we operate on a daily basis, the things we speak boldly about and obey is the evidence of what and who we are, not words.

Anyone who defends sin is one who lies when he says he believes the Bible. If we believe in the bible as the inspired Word of God and the Holy Spirit as our teacher, then our lives will reflect that in how we respond to correction and each of the situations of life. When we regularly embrace sin by tolerating it in our acquaintances, then we have lied when we say we love God's Word.

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

John 14:26 ""But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

If we do not hear the Holy Spirit, if He has become silent, it is because we walk in rebellion.

1 Thessalonians 5:19-2
19 Quench (silence) not the Spirit. 20 Despise not prophesyings (expounding on the word, not future telling).
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

Ephesians 4:30 "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

When someone corrects us with the Word of God, our response will expose a lot about us. When someone is defensive and argumentative, chances are good that we have met with a rebellious heart. It doesn't matter how often they attend church, whether they do good works all day long or the things they say, if they continually rebel against the principles of God, then their words lie and their actions of deed doing are fleshly.

No true believer will fight and argue with us when they are confronted with their sin, they will become ashamed. Those who have sinned and are repentant will go to God in prayer to confess and reconcile, not only with God but with us also.

May many believers take this matter of obedience to God's Word to heart. Realizing that Words have little power but God blesses those who love His Word so much so that they are grieved when they have violated it.

Children Relating to Fairy Tales

This is another reason I don't like the "Easter Bunny" or "Santa Clause" or any other ferry story. It makes Jesus Christ look like all the other fairy tale characters.

When we teach children to enjoy these cartoon characters, so much so that we buy gifts supposedly from them, speak of them with fondness and dress up in costumes, we have made those entities very special. Why would a child think anything different about Christ from the Bible, they will think of Him as just another warm fuzzy cartoon character.

Ask a child sometime, who has been raised on all these fairy stores, if he believes in Jesus Christ, any child raised in church will tell you he does. Then ask that same child if they believe in the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause, he will say he believes in them too.

Conviction of the Holy Spirit Makes People Angry

Have you ever posted something generic with no names or details, but had principles of God all the way through it and someone became angry claiming "that you wrote about them." LOL

Interesting that some people see themselves in the Word of God but their names are not mentioned at all. Why do they think it is about them?

Conviction of the Holy Spirit leaps to mind!...

Proverbs 24:24-25
24
He who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
Peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him;
25
But to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.

The Law for the Law Breaker

The Law is for the law breaker to keep them in line when their heart wants to disobey, but those of us who are born again love the Law we have no need to be "kept in line" because we already desire to obey God's principles.

A lovely elderly lady I know once was asked what she had to give up to become a Christian. Rightly she answered; "I never had to give up anything that I wanted."

When we become born again our desires change because Christ changes our heart. We don't hav...e to work to do what is right because our heart desires to be righteous.

Any residue sin that we deal with eventually falls away as God makes us aware of it through His Word and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The more we see, the more we confess and thus the more we are cleansed by God from those sins.

It is my belief that anyone who loves their sin, refuses to admit they have it and rejects the truth of God, is not born again, no matter how many times they proclaim that they are Christians.

1 John 1:8 "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us."

2 John 1:9 "Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son."

 Leaving the faith is not evidence of loss of salvation but proof that the one who left never had salvation in the first place.

When we change ourselves to fit into the tenets of Christianity, we are operating in the flesh and are basing our salvation on our own good deeds, that will not stand the test. If we confess that we are sinners and Christ changes us into a new creation, we do not go back into sin, it is His Work that changes us not our own.

 Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

Avoid a Contentious Person

When encountering a narcissist, it is common to think we have done something wrong, even when we had done something kind to the narcissist, they will act as though we had done something wrong.

One way to evaluate if we are the one who caused trouble, is to ask God first and then evaluate what actually happened. When I have been wrong the Holy Spirit tells me, I cannot rest until I have made it right. However, when I can't figure out what I did and the narcissist refuses to engage in conversation about what happened, then I know I probably was not at fault.

One of the tactics of a narcissist is to deliberately refuse to work something out to help us understand, they know they are guilty and they enjoy the contempt and power they receive from keeping us, in their minds, in a one down position, while holding onto their false ideas about us.

The only solution to this problem of deliberate lack of communication to fix a matter is to remove ourselves from the relationship, if this occurs on a regular basis, go to prayer and wait for God to tell us when to begin contact again.

Without HONEST communication and the DESIRE TO RECONCILE a relationship, there can be no fellowship. True friends are grieved when there is a misunderstanding and desire to make things right, especially when they have been convicted of sin against another person. A godly friend will feel terrible that things are not pleasing to their friend, or that their friend is grieving over something.

A narcissist enjoys watching their target grieve, even getting a high from it. It is a devilish response to the plight of others. The only time a narcissist will help another person, is if it makes them elevated in the eyes of onlookers. Narcissists hardly ever do covert and hidden acts of kindness, there is always an audience.

Satan can keep us continually on the defensive all the time for no good reason, by using contentious people to unnerve us. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 God tells us clearly to disengage with these people.

 2 Timothy 3:1-5
"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, 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 [b]godliness, although they have denied its power; AVOID SUCH MEN AS THESE."

Proverbs 26:21 "Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, So is a contentious man to kindle strife."

2 Timothy 2:23-25 "Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,"

Proverbs 16:28 "A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends."

James 4:1-3 "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. "

The narcissist will also work to turn others against us by their relaying of false information based on their twisted view because of their contempt for us. Remember when Christ was accused of "claiming He was god", when He really is God. He went to the cross because evil men accused Him of things, much of them were lies against Him. They denied His good deeds much like the narcissist will deny our good deeds. The Pharisees were so full of themselves that they could not admit that there was One greater than themselves. They oppressed everyone under their authority needlessly simply to control them.

The apostles were martyred because they were believers not because they did anything wrong but because they did what was righteous.

Proverbs 26:20 "For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases."

When we remove the contentious and contemptuous person from our lives the peace and joy that we were robbed of, returns in abundance.

We will encounter many more of these types as the time gets closer to the Lord's return. We do not avoid completely all people who are this way, that would be impossible, however, we do not allow them to linger in our lives continually causing problems, which only would help to validate them. We must seek the Lord in when to remove them if it is His Will.

No one learns without consequences, far too often in our culture there is no discipline for bad behavior or the discipline is so mild that lessons are not learned. Because of our indulgent mentality, we have failed to teach good Christian principles while raising up monsters who are demanding and contribute little.

2 Corinthians 12:20-21 " 20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances;
21 I am afraid that when I come again my God may humiliate me before you, and I may mourn over many of those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced."

I am noticing here in 2 Corinthians that Paul wrote very boldly to the Corinthian believers, so boldly, that if spoken today, he would be summarily rejected even before he came, perhaps asked not to come.

Our culture is waxing worse and worse, if we are not aware of the tactics and manipulations we may be intimidated into silence. Let's learn the tactics of the devil, stand boldly against them and thwart them where possible through removal of ourselves from their influence.

Titus 3:10 "As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him,"