I Never Gave Up Anything That I Wanted

I never had to give up anything when I became a Christian, when I became born again the sinful lifestyle fell off because I no longer wanted it. Christ made me a brand new person, I no longer thought the same as I used to and I hate the things I used to enjoy. If someone is working real hard to stay away from sin, then I suggest they may not have been born again. The desire to sin repulses us, we may battle with old habits, but we don't like them, eventually we get to the place that we can't stand to be there anymore and we run from all that sin.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Ezekiel 11:19-20 "And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

Ephesians 2:10 "For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

2 Peter 1:4 "By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."

1 Peter 3:18-22 "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him."

You see....it's all about Christ. He paid the price, we confess our sinfulness and trust what He did on our behalf and He does all the rest of the work in us. He takes us through life experiences that prune us as a gardener prunes a rose bush, cutting out the limbs that do not produce so that new vibrant and beautiful limbs can grow. A plant cannot stay healthy without pruning, just as a believer will not grow healthy and strong without difficult life experiences.

It is when we have difficulties that we can see the real us. Our responses to those difficulties reveal to us our inner heart attitude, either choosing self will or God's will. Those who are close to the Lord are the ones who turn to him in difficulty. Those who do not turn to God will not grow healthy. 

 

When there is an angry response to a rebuke or correction, that is our clue that rebellion still remains that God must deal with. Do not think for a minute that a stubborn heart is going to get away with anything. If we belong to God, there will be discipline for anyone who will not seek God. His purpose in this discipline is to bring us back to obedience and righteousness.

Titus 3:5 "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,"

Hebrews 12:6-8

6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons." 

The Hearts of the People Refuse to Turn

What happens when a nation turns it's back on God!!!! We are there folks, things continue the downward slide, no politician and no legislation will make a difference, as long as the hearts of the people are hell bent on living any way they please without restraint. I am now convinced that even a national disaster will not wake up the people. It is coming, there will be terrible consequences for our sin as a nation, but it will not turn the hearts of the people to God. We have miserable consequences right now, murdering babies, devastated and broken families and much more, yet these miseries do not change the attitudes or actions of the people.

Isaiah 3:8-12
“Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling; their words and deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves.

Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds. Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them! They will be paid back for what their hands have done.

Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.”

Pragmatism is Sinful

Pragmatism destroys accountability and obedience, it is sinful. When our decisions are based on what we think works, rather than God's principles, we are walking in disobedience, using pragmatism as an excuse to defy God.

http://biblicaltruth.info/Articles/Pragmatism.htm

Doing it God's Way

I think it is time that I address something I see happening a lot these days, that is damaging to the Christian walk.

There are those who use experiences as their measure of truth, even though their experience is not Biblical, they say if it brought them to Christ, it is alright to be unBiblical because it works. This is pragmatism and patently unbiblical.

Pragmatism: an approach that assesses the truth of meaning of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application."

Just because something seemed to work does not mean it is alright to do it. We ought to seek out God's way of doing things, it matters the way we reach our conclusions.

Pragmatism is rampant now, the idea that we can do anything anyway we want if there are good results is ludicrous. We must do things God's way guided by the Holy Spirit and it will always line up with Scripture. Just because something appeared to work does not mean its alright to do it, nor is it evidence that it really did work, there are many hidden attitudes that come with disobedience against God.

Pragmatism always leads to doctrinal error, which leads to sin.
Luke 6:46 ""Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"
God is not pleased when we use human methods to carry out His will, He wants us to do His will His Way!!!!!

Doesn't seem real hard does it? Unless we are stubborn and willful, like a spoiled child who wants to have his own way because it is popular.

Pragmatism: "testing the validity of all concepts by their practical results."
This practice of pragmatism has no place in the Christian life. We are not to base what we do on what we think will work. Our culture is steeped in psychology based on secular humanism. The devil can make anything look right, when it is all wrong.

We are to simply obey God when He tells us to preach or teach, He will speak through us. We are not to evaluate whether or not something works before we preach or teach.

Matthew 10:19 ""But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say."
When we are born again the Holy Spirit comes to live in us, He is our voice, our hands and our feet. We are to let Him do the speaking through us, not figuring out in our human minds what we should do but rather trusting Him, that He will do the speaking using our mouth. We are to walk when He prompts us to walk and do with our hands what He has prompted us to do.

Too many people do not understand what it is like to know when God has spoken through them, they may have trusted Him for salvation but they have not trusted Him for daily life. That's why we have so few Christians who are bold in their Christianity. In fact many are embarrassed at the mention of Christ or His principles in the company of others outside the church building.

May many who call themselves by Christ's name learn what it is to hear the voice of God and sense the joy that comes from it.

Pragmatism is one of the devices used by many people to bring in extra-Biblical revelation, through private manifestations. Those in these movements believe they are hearing from God but some are hearing from the demons and others are lying about hearing anything. After all satan is the father of lies, the whole movement of the charismatics is based on lies.

God says: 1 Corinthians 2:14 "But 1 natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually 2 appraised."

Matthew 7:13 "13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it."
What happens when we think it is alright to use any method because it appears to work, is nothing less than denying God's principles. When we ignore His principles to follow after man's way, we are saying that man's way is better than God's way.

Let Go of the Gifts!

One of the tactics of a narcissist is to pretend to be a helper and giver, while all the time doing their good deeds to manipulate others. Their goal is not to bless someone, but to control them.

Anyone can say anything, words have little value, even negative value when they are expressed without any actions as proof of what is being said.

"Actions speak louder than words" because much of the hurt that people feel has more to do with an attitude displayed toward others than what they actually say.

James 2:14-16 "14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?"

It is important that we pray for the Lord to put His love in our hearts, so that when we do speak the words will be fleshed out in how we act. If our good deeds are not guided by the Holy Spirit, they become nothing more than sources of pride.

When we do things to honor God, we never have to remember what we did, there are no strings attached, no records kept, no expectations except the hope of blessing someone else.

We do not give to get from God, but we will receive the joy of having honored Him, even if there is no other earthly treasure that comes.

Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Acts 20:35 "In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Matthew 6:1-34 "“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ..."

I once heard a preachers say, "if you always tell the truth, you never have to remember what you said."

It is also true of giving, if we expect nothing in return, we never have to remember what we gave.

There is nothing more burdensome than receiving a gift that has strings or expectations attached, it is better not to receive it, than to be placed in bondage about what we do with it.

I was once given a chair by an elderly lady. When she gave me the chair, she made it clear that I was not to paint it, recover it or do anything to it because she liked it just like it was. She knew that I am someone who is always fixing up things. That chair was a burden from the first day I got it, I worried about forgetting the command not to do anything to the chair. I don't have a great memory sometimes I forget things especially if I have had them a long time.

One day this lady came over, during her visit she reminded me that I should never do anything to that chair. It was then I realized that this was going to be a source of manipulation and control over me, so I politely told her that my memory was bad, I didn't want to hurt her feelings by forgetting and doing something to the chair, that I would have to return it to her. She was surprised, but not angry, she took the chair back and the burden of it walked out the door with her as she left with it.

A gift with attachments or expectations is not a gift at all. I tried to teach my children that if they give a gift, they should never care what happens to it after that, if there is an expectation as to what is done with it, then it was never a gift but rather a loan that would continually be monitored and burdensome.

I am thankful for all the lessons in the Word that lift our burdens while cleansing our attitudes. The less we hang on to emotionally in this world, the freer our spirits. Nothing in this world should hold us in bondage.

1 John 2:15 "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

Leave the Past in the Past

Anyone who hates us because of past sins, are usually arrogant and have sins of their own that still remain.

Why wouldn't anyone get excited about the change in someone? Because they enjoy disliking you, they may even be jealous that you are making wonderful changes, they prefer to have disparaging thought about you.

It is obvious that those who want to believe things about us that are clearly in the past, are people who enjoyed our failures when they were happening, and desire to see us that way still, when none of it exists any more.

I have known people who had monstrous sins in their life before they became believers in Christ. When they trusted Christ and were completely changed, I was excited and blessed that it happened, even desiring to become friends with them because of the new connection we now had in Christ.

When we meet someone who wants to hold past sins against others, it is a sure sign we are dealing with a wicked person who loves the pain and failures of others in order to bolster their own self importance. It is only arrogance that motivates someone to enjoy demeaning one who has moved on to better things. It is also this same arrogance that leads these self proclaimed judges to feel superior to those they wish to punish indefinitely.

When we see this happening, judging others on the basis of past failures that do not exist anymore, we can be sure those people will never be an asset to our spiritual growth, nor will they be a positive part of our lives.

Sadly there are more of these people in the world than there are godly ones who rejoice at victory over sin. The best course of action is to remove ourselves to continue to move forward in the Lord.

There was a saying on the news feed once that I thought fit this discussion, it goes like this;

"One night I prayed to God, I asked could he please remove my enemies from my life, and before you knew it I started losing friends." Meek Mill

Our desire ought to be to surround ourselves with those who love the Lord, those who are not concerned about the past but love seeing the Lord work in their friends lives.

It is far better to be alone with the Lord than to be surrounded by people who love to judge us according to the past or based on their prejudices against us rather than real evidence. Those who would rather believe evil about us than have a conversation with us to find the truth, are attempting to keep us in a "one down" position for their own personal elevated status. These are not our friends, they are not an asset to our Christian walk, nor will they ever desire the best in the Lord for us.

Wicked men love to covertly hide their sin, cloaking it in pretense of concern, when really their desire is to ruin their target. Those who hide, keeping secrets, do it because they are up to no good, they have no good in mind for those they hate. Hiding, refusing to discuss something openly is a sure sign the hider has an attitude he doesn't want anyone else to see.

Proverbs 6:12-16 "A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:"

Ecclesiastes 12:14 "For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Psalm 5:4 "For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you."

Psalm 34:21 "Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned."

Micah 2:1 "Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand."

The state of man without God is always bent toward selfishness and evil.

Romans 3:10-18
10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good, not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Because we are living in the end times, we are going to see the unsaved come against believers more intensely than we have ever seen in our past. They will not want to admit that God has worked in our live, it convicts them of their own sin.

Remember:
Proverbs 28:1 "28 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion."

Better Trust Christ the Country is Going Down

There is something wrong with all the candidates for president!!!!! They all give me the creeps, something is just not right. Call me radical or crazy, but this election has been the silliest and meatless I have ever seen. The whole shooting match looks like a stage production to manipulate emotions rather than anything of substance.

No one is talking about moral standards or righteousness, it's all about the borders, health care and the economy. None of that is going to be straightened out as long as we use the name of Christ to get votes without any intention of seeking Him for ALL matters, not just physical safety and monetary gain.

I am disgusted folks, far too many believers are focusing on personal life comfort with little attention to righteousness and holiness. This is the reason I have no hope for this country.

A candidate can't win on those platforms, the public as a whole, including church goers are embarrassed to hear these things. Sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but the country is going down and none of the people running are saying the things that God wants to hear.

1 John 3:6-10 "No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."

When the main focus of every candidate is "the border, finances, health care and personal freedom" we have lost the country and will never rise again.

Superficial Forgiveness

Never cheapen the sacrifice of Christ through superficial and meaningless forgiveness.

http://utmost.org/it-is-finished/

It is Finished!!!!

The Law was added UNTIL THE SEED (CHRIST) would come. He has come, His job to provide salvation has been fulfilled, IT IS FINISHED.

John 19:30 "Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."

Galatians 3:19
"Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed (Christ) would come to whom the promise had been made."

God Will Go Through With Us

Isaiah 37:36
"Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, all of these were dead."

And, we think we need political leaders.....we do not need to worry about all that, God will always be there for His people, if He does not bail us out, He will go through with us.

Christ is Mercy, Islam is Cruel

This is all true, it does however have a spiritual element to it, in that it was concocted and is orchestrated by the devil himself.

"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." (John 10:10-11)

Notice that every principle of the Islamic system is exactly opposite of the principles of Christ.

Christ elevates and teaches honor for women and the protection of their husbands. Islam teaches that women are to be used and abused at the will of any man. There is no protection for women, only abuse.

1 Peter 3:7 "You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."

Christ teaches love, of which there is no concept in Islam. Love, tenderness and empathy is seen as weakness to be punished in the Islamic system.
Notice that we do not see Muslims helping others, they take but they do not give.

1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God."

1 John 4:21"And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."

John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

John 15:12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."

Matthew 25:35 "'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;"

1 John 2:10 "The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him."

Christ teaches choice to obey or not to obey, Islam uses conversion by the sword. Murder and destruction are in store for anyone who does not think like a Muslim or bow to their false god.

Christ instructs us to "teach" his principles with love toward those who are lost, that they might choose Him. Never anywhere in God's Word does He instruct us to do evil to anyone. It is through teaching and preaching that we impart the choice to the unsaved.

Titus 1:1 "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness--"

Christ has mercy, Islam has no mercy. Because Christ is love and justice, He is all just and all merciful.

Ephesians 2:4-5 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—"

Christ teaches repentance and forgiveness, Islam has no concept of forgiveness. Nothing can be forgiven, everything must be punished, even when unjustly accused, there is no tribunal to discover the truth, only immediate and brutal punishment, many lies told to justify cruelty to those they place under subjection to harsh rulership.

If we know the Bible, then we realize just how opposite of Christianity is to Islam. Christ is the answer for life, love and mercy, Islam is devilish and cruel.


Trudi Gretsinger
2 hrs ·

This is an excerpt of Magda Borham's brutal message for Americans:

She clarifies what few Americans understand: Islam is not a religion. Islam is a totalitarian political ideology that rejects the basic principles of freedom and liberty protected by the U.S. Constitution. In fact, Islam is the clearest and most present danger to America’s existence.

She explains the suffering of minorities, like herself, a woman, who has lived through Egypt’s transformation into an Islamic country. She writes:

“Like so many others I have been burned by this transformation. This transformation has seen me witness and experience Islam turn my home country to ruins and its followers are now threatening to bring the same fate to your own country.

“Islam is a supremacist racist political and social ideology wrapped in a thin peel of religious rituals. It seeks domination and supremacy over all other systems and religions. Islam is worse than Nazism and fascism systems combined without any doubt.”

She warns Americans that they will suffer the same fate unless they end the senseless immigration policies that are enabling Muslims to freely invade with the intention of destroying America from within. She points to decades of failed liberal policies that have eroded American values, which she argues Muslims are using against Americans to their own detriment.

We Fight Against Demons in Prayer

Ephesians 6:12 
"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."

Next time we feel compelled to fight against a person, it might be good to remember that the person who does evil is merely responding to the promptings of demons.  

2 Thessalonians 3:2 "And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith."

It is only those who have the Holy Spirit who have the ability to resist the devil.  Non-believers have no strength, ability or inclination to resist the devil they are completely at his mercy.

James 4:7 "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

We are either at the mercy of the devil or the mercy of Christ. Satan's mercy is deepest evil at best, his hate knows no bounds, his ruinous activities destroy everything he touches.  

Christ's mercy is life and an eternal paradise with Him Who possesses perfect and lasting love.

Self Love God Satan Thrown Out of Heaven

Psychologists see the truth about narcissism as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, however they don't have the correct answers to why it happens or how to cure it.

God says that man kind is predisposed to these traits of self love that leads them to self worship and disregard for Him and others.

Those who are deeply narcissistic, are that way because they have not trusted Christ to cleanse them of their sin of self love.

Of all the sins that exist, this is the foundational sin that got the devil thrown out of heaven and destroys all relationships.

May those who are steeped in this sin of self love be deeply convicted, confess their sin, asking God to change them into a new creation.

It is my belief that no one who is born again will be deeply narcissistic, because when we have trusted Christ, He changes us into a new creature. When He does this we are no longer comfortable with the sin of self love.

1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Timothy 3

There is only one hope for someone in the condition of self love and that is to be deeply broken over this sin, asking Christ to change the heart to desire what Christ desires, total surrender to Him and a deep love of others.

Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and [a]foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships/2014/05/key-traits-of-narcissism/

Do Not Pamper A Wicked Man

Someone who uses the excuse that "I am not perfect", is doing two things, first they are saying they don't care that they are offending God and secondly they have no intention of seeking God to change them. When a believer is confronted with bad or sinful attitudes, an authentic believer will be ashamed, confess and desire to go on to be better with God's help.

This attitude of confession and turning from sin, is what will sustain them in the future, preventing them from repeating the same sin over and over. When someone will not confess their sin, they are not repentant, their desire is to be forgiven without ever changing their behavior.

We live in a culture that rewards the evil person and punishes the righteous. There have been times when I have rebuked a believer for a wrong action or attitude and their response was rage and retaliation. Many believers experience this frequently, which is the reason they often hold back advice, they expect others to rage and exact revenge when they point out a flaw in need of repair.

Isaiah 26:10 "Though the wicked is shown favor, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the Lord."

The reason so many people believe that we should bless a wicked man, is because our culture has taught for the past 50 years they Paganistic and psychological idea that evil people do evil because they have had some trauma in their life, that they are basically good and no one is truly evil. This is patently wrong, the Bible teaches that the heart of man is wicked and can only be different when man trusts Christ.

This excuse of past trauma does not fly in light of Biblical teaching for many reasons, but we only need one reason, that is that Adam and Eve had the perfect environment with the perfect parent, the Father in heaven, for their example and companionship and they still chose to disobey, lie about it and blame others for their sin.

Genesis 3:8-13 "8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

The verses that are often used to justify blessing an evil man are taken out of context as a mandate to go out of our way to give good things to evil men, when we do this, we solidify and justify the evil in a man's heart. The heart of man does not change because we gave someone something they want, it only changes when they see their own evil heart, desire to be changed by Christ and then He comes into man to change their heart.

An evil man can act and appear as though he has changed, when nothing has in his heart, just to keep the "blessing" coming. It is the heart man that needs the change not the outer appearance. The best blessing we can give a evil man is to show him that he is evil, tell him the remedy, the Gospel and support him when he has become broken over his sinfulness.

Getting a wicked man to like us does not help him come to the Lord, it only lets him feel comfortable in his sin.

Many times I have experienced people who grow deeper into their heart of wickedness because there were no consequences for their sinful behavior. It is when we come to the end of ourselves that we see that all our evil didn't bring us anything but misery. To continue to pamper a wicked man is to help him remain in his sin, AND THIS IS NOT LOVING!

Of course I am not saying we should treat people in a mean way, that doesn't work either. We are to handle their evil with appropriate Biblical consequences, speak truth and if they will not listen or learn then we are to remove ourselves and allow the consequences from God to teach them.

Remaining friends with a wicked man who refuses to repent, is only becoming a part of their evil, a help to their evil lifestyle.

Acts 17:30 "The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,"

John 8:24 "I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”

Psalm 37:1 "Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!

Psalm 37:1-40 "Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. ..."

2 Thessalonians 3:2 "And that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith."

Acts 3:19 "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out,"

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Romans 13:4 "For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer."

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

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Psalm 73:1-28 "A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind."

Hebrews 13:6 "So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

1 Thessalonians 5:22 "Abstain from every form of evil."

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,"

Isaiah 1:16-17 "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."

1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,"

The remedy for a wicked man is to hear the Gospel, repent of his sinfulness and trust Christ. When this is done in truth and sincerity, then the man will become born again and Christ will begin to work miracles in his heart. He changes the heart of stone and evil into a heart of flesh and righteousness. When someone becomes born again they don't have to work at hating sin, they will take on the new nature of Christ by His hand and never want to return to the old man.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

The Peace Keeper

As I pondered today, situations that I have encountered over the past few years, I was struck with the fact that so many people in our families and churches have succumb to the belief that godly peace is something we manufactured in our flesh to keep others happy with us.

In an effort to keep everyone happy we have minimized the scripture to the level of "feel good reading, when life is hard" rather than the source of wisdom for the daily living of our lives. When the Scriptures are not taken seriously, any good book on happiness will do for us.

This reminded me of an article I once read, that differentiated between the "peace keeper" and the "peace maker." I was intrigued by the title of the article because it seemed to practically scream out at me, "this is what you have been seeing, but couldn't put into words." So I read the article and was pleased to discover that I had been observing in relationships, whether in church or in family, just what God had been saying to me and now confirmed in writing by someone else. Sometimes we don't trust the inklings of the Holy Spirit, when we feel we are the only ones aware of the problem.

First let's see what a peace keeper looks like in terms of actions, then we will be more able to discern the attitude involved in peace keeping. The peace keeper is someone who seeks to smooth things over when a wrong has been committed. They pride themselves in keeping everyone feeling good and happy, while at the same time winning friends by ignoring or glossing over an ongoing problem.

Peace keepers are hopeful that the problem will go away on it's own and then everyone will get over their hurt and be friendly to one another again eventually. Neglect never is a solution to a sore or injury in physical terms, why would we think that it would be a solution in emotional or spiritual terms? Not to mention that it is unbiblical.

The use of flattery, is one of the main techniques of a peace keeper. They think if they flatter in some way, the truth will not be exposed about them.

What does God say about flattery? Proverbs 29:5 says "A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet."

I know a woman, we will call her Zelda, who was so much of a peace keeper that it was difficult to hold a conversation with her. When she visited with anyone, she would continually nod her head in agreement with an occasional "oh yes" to show that she was listening. Once in a while during the conversation, if one could call it that, she would get real chatty and say, "that's nice." It was like pulling teeth to get her to offer a comment longer than two words or an actual opinion about what was being said. I wondered if there was anything happening inside her head. If this had been only one encounter with her over a life time of visits, I would have thought something was on her mind, or that she was overwhelmed with another concern. I had encountered this woman several times myself and watched her with other women too, so I knew that it was not just me, but a pattern in her life.

Zelda, never confronted anyone about anything. Everyone loved her because she was like their faithful dog, Bowzer, who just accepted whatever anyone said or did, without the challenge. She laid at their feet offering nothing but friendly short platitudes and adoring looks. She was the first one other ladies flocked to when they had a problem and needed someone who would listen, but remain silent and accepting. Her face was frozen in a permanent smile as her head swayed to and fro in total agreement with all that was shared.

Zelda was very careful to come across as in agreement, no matter what was being said. One day something unusual happened that confused me. Zelda was not herself that day. I witnessed her blow up in anger at someone who had confronted her about a sin in Zelda's life. Zelda shrieked in anger, stomped off while shouting as she left the room that she never wanted to see or speak to this woman ever again. Wow! What happened to our mild mannered shrinking violet?

From the book "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse
" we find this quote, "For some, healing has been short-circuited: Jesus' precept, 'the truth shall set you free,' has been replaced by man's precept, 'to be nice is better than to be honest' and 'keep (false) peace at all costs."

This is entirely unbiblical not to mention useless in resolving misunderstandings.

Zelda, having been confronted about an offense she had committed against this woman, seemed to not be able to handle criticism to such a degree that she was willing to lose a friend to maintain her facade. She had evolved instantaneously from that dog eyed adoring puppy into a ravenous wolf. How could this be? Perhaps Zelda was never the adoring puppy dog at all, but inwardly has always been the wolf in sheeps’ clothing. Perhaps that waving head and sweet smile were nothing more than acting to manipulate perceptions.

Once the play acting was over and Zelda's inner being was discovered, she now was impervious to spiritual growth as long as she was too prideful to admit her sin and be reconciled to those she had wounded. Her "peace keeping" was not so peaceful after all. It was only peaceful until she had to be accountable in some way to others. Then all that peace keeping unfolded into a war that would cause more devastation in the lives of others.

Peace keeping promotes a spirit of deception and lying. Showing forth a face of kindness to convince others that we are a spiritual person, is lying.

Pretending to love, when we really are indifferent to the needs of others is the worst kind of fakery. We can get others to trust us and then use what they have said against them later, or worse, use what they have said to manipulate them into serving us in some way, even if it is only our egos that are stroked. This is spiritual blackmail.

Peace keepers lack integrity, they are self absorbed while attempting to deceive others into thinking they are deeply concerned. The concern does not reach a depth greater than the end of their lips. They withhold information for the purpose of maintaining their personal appearance. They do not say what they mean and they do not mean what they say. They are in a sense hiding themselves for their own advancement.

Jude 1:16 "These are grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts; they speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage."

Another very disturbing trait of the peace keeper is their uncanny ability to cover up the sins of the people they like. I say "like" instead of "love", because it is not loving to cover up the sin of an unrepentant person. It is not love of the sinner and it is not love of the victim.

There are rare occasions when the peace keeper may point out a flaw in another person, but only to defend themselves when they are approached about their own sin. The focus is still themselves.

In short, the peace keeper is playing a role, they are not authentic, they appear warm and gentle on the outside, but inwardly they are deceitful and contentious. They leave a wake of frustrated people where ever they go.

I knew of young woman we will call, Bunny, who was so jealous of another woman that she concocted lies and exaggerations about the object of her jealousy to the point where the victim lost friends and family, who believed the lies. Her tactics were to distort the events to the point that they were barely recognizable. This woman too, was a Zelda type, always appearing to others as the victim, when she was the perpetrator. When confronted with her sin, she, like Zelda, stomped off and isolated herself from anyone who required her to be accountable.

Had Zelda and Bunny reacted with humility and sadness at the discovery of their sin, we could have concluded that they were truly sorry for the trouble they had caused. But since there was violent anger, we can be sure there was guilt also.

When a person is humble, they are embarrassed, not mad. When a person is not guilty, they are humble and not angry. The explosion of anger in Zelda and Bunny was evidence that they were guilty and would fight in an effort to convince others they were not guilty when they knew they were. It is also an attempt to make the accuser look like the bad guy.

The peace keeper does not seek God honestly for their direction, but for justification of their sins. They may even use scripture to support and validate their sin, but it is taken out of context and misused.

The peace keeper is a person who seeks to smooth things over for superficial peace that does not only mask the problem but exacerbates it in the long term, causing greater turmoil. As an author once stated "throwing a rug over a gasoline spill next to the fire only causes an explosion." Would we cover cancer with a band-aid, or a gapping head wound with a cap.

The peace keeper relies entirely on their own desires and feelings, to evaluate life and friends. They are almost entirely motivated by self interest. This is a picture of a narcissist and a manipulator. In short, they do not make peace, they create devastation by ignoring God's principles of friendship and resolution of problems, to maintain an appearance. When that appearance is exposed as a sham, then they must put out of their lives anyone who knows the truth, rather than repenting.

Zelda is of this sort, she never offers lasting help to anyone. She never instructs, corrects, rebukes or teaches. She is nearly worthless in terms of a valued friendship to anyone. Zelda would put a band-aid over cancer. She would pretend there wasn't a gapping wound in your head that needed stitches, but would help you on with your hat to keep the blood off her floors while pretending that it was to help you. Or worse yet, she would shout at others to come and help with something that she could have done. Doing, being and saying nothing is the trademark of the Zelda's of the world. If they say, do and be nothing, then in their mind they can be accountable for nothing.

Our church culture as a whole are peace keepers. They look to the fast food fix, the quick easy answers and those that are pleasurable. In short, our church culture does not care deeply about people, but only about pleasure, materialism and financial gain.

After all the bad news concerning the peace keeper, we need to reflect on the principles of the peace maker.

Peace makers desire a cure to the problem and are willing to walk the hard road to get to the place of safety.

The peace maker desires to do things God's way. They seek the scriptures for His principles to address the problems of life. They are deeply concerned about the well being of others. They are more concerned about the long term affect of a matter rather than immediate happiness.

If we love God first we will not fear mans' reaction to God's standard. We are merely the messenger who brings God's word for the solutions. When we will not speak the truth, we doom the hearer to a life of superficial phoniness that leaves them spiritual and emotional babies.

God says "By this we know if we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments." 1 John 5:2 "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments."

God's command to love our brothers is summed up in loving God's commands. The most valuable things we can do for our brothers and sisters in the Lord is to LOVE HIS COMMANDMENTS. If we claim to love our brethren but do not love God's commandments, then we do not love our brethren.

If we love God's commandments then we will use them to instruct our brothers and sister in the Lord. We will hold fast to them and plead with our family to follow what God says.

God has given us the ten commandments as a guideline for knowing His will.
When we are "peace keepers", this is what we do to the commandments of God:

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
If we are a peace keeper we violate this commandment, because we are placing the approval of people above God.
2. Thou shalt make no graven images.
When we are a peace maker we are creating an image of God in our minds that is not truth.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of they God in vain.
When we are a peace keeper, we are emanating an air of godliness that is not true, we call ourselves Christians but do not
find God's word sufficient for all things, then we are vainly using His name as ours, in short we are "taking the Lord's name in vain", claiming to be a Christian while acting like a heathen.
4. Keep holy the Sabbath.
When we dishonor God in peace keeping, we are not concerned about holiness at all, let alone true worship. We can not worship what we do not know.
5. Honor thy Father and they Mother.
When we live a lie, based on selfish ambition we dishonor our parents with our lives.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
God says when we hate our brother, it is the same as murdering him. When we are more concerned about our personal comfort and being accepted than we are about God's truth, we are hating our brother.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
When we place other things and people above God we are committing adultery against Him.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
When we are peace keepers we are stealing the truth from our brother, keeping it from him that which would help him.
9. Thou shalt not lie.
When we are peace keepers we are telling a lie. We display loving kindness, when deep inside we have no love for others, only for ourselves.
10.Thou shalt not covet.
When we are peace keepers we are coveting the admiration of others rather than promoting the worshiping of God.

When we are peace makers this is what we do to the commandments of God.

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
We love to honor God above everything and everyone else, he gets all the glory while we serve Him and others.
2. Thou shalt make no graven images.
We do not place our trust in images made by human hands.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of they God in vain.
We live a life dedicated to making God look good. We quote Him, we thank Him and we worship Him.
4. Keep holy the Sabbath.
We desire to worship with others collectively, keeping the day set aside for Him.
5. Honor thy Father and they Mother.
We have a deep reverence and love for our parents.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
We do not murder, nor do we hate. We love our fellow man to the point of self sacrifice
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
We do not betray a loved one. We honor those who love God.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
We do not take what is not ours and we do not have a sense of entitlement to anything. All things belong to God.
9. Thou shalt not lie.
We do not manipulate or lie to get our way.
10. Thou shalt not covet.
We do not want what others have, we are not jealous of others.

It must be said that all of us break the commandments regularly if only in our hearts. But as we grow closer and closer to the Lord, the more we hate dishonoring God. We hate the sin that we find in ourselves. We confess it and God begins a work of cleansing us. God will not do the work of cleansing if we will not confess.

How do we shed the life of peace keeping and become a peace maker? We confess what we are and ask the Lord to change us. He knows just what to do to help us change.

Showing Off is Sin!

Next time you see a video of someone giving to the poor, taking a selfy giving someone shoes or food or a place to live, please don't praise them! Anyone who makes sure others are watching their good deeds, even to the point of putting it on the internet, we can be sure that they are showing off while violating the Scripture that tells us not to do it.

Matthew 6:1-4
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with... your Father who is in heaven.
2 “So when you [a]give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
3 But when you [b]give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."

We Will Know Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ

When we die, I am convinced that we will know those whom we knew in life who were born again, when we leave this life and go to heaven.

1 Corinthians 13:12 "For presently we see through a glass in obscurity; but then, face to face. Presently, I know in part; but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known."

Matthew 17:3 "…2And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."…"


Peter seemed to recognize Moses and Elijah, even though he had never seen them in real life, they existed centuries before Peter was alive.

We will be able to see the nail prints in Christ's hands. After His death when He appeared, He still had the signs of the crucifixion, the means of our salvation.

John 20:25 "So the other disciples were saying to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe."

His Will Not Ours

When we ask the Lord, we must ask in an attitude of humility, ready to accept whatever His answer is going to be, whether it is our desire or not .

Only those things that are within His will, He will answer. I will not have the power to do everything I want that is not in His will. I could APPEAR to be getting what I want, demanding things from God and get myself into trouble for not consulting Him.

James 4:3 "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."

Isaiah 30:1 "Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:"

When we arrogantly proclaim that we can have our own way no matter what and that God has to comply, we are showing contempt for God's will. When our will becomes more important than the heart of God, we are pretending to care about Him but in fact are showing disregard for Him.

Rebellion comes in many forms, often cloaked in possitive attitudes and actions, but in fact are out and out rebellion, "doing it our way", rather than seeking God for His answers!

No One Can Boast!

Exactly, no one has a reason to feel superior or prideful, we can all admit our hearts have been the same. It is only through Christ that we can have victory over this flesh!

Charm is not a Virtue

Our culture elevated "charm" to the level of a virtue, but the Bible does not. Charm is associated with manipulation and superficial ornament to be taken on and off, it is more of a verb, deliberate action rather than a character quality.

Definitions of Charm:
noun
1. the power or quality of giving delight or arousing admiration.
"he was captivated by her youthful charm"
2. a small ornament worn on a necklace or bracelet.
verb

delight greatly.
"the books have charmed children the world over"

control or achieve by or as if by magic.
"pretending to charm a cobra"

God says this;
Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised."

The Rudeness of Narcissists

An excellent article on tactics of narcissists and those who must control others to feel superior.
http://narcissistschild.blogspot.com/2015/07/rudenessit-can-be-narcissistic-tool.html

Count All Trials As Joy

When we accept God's will, we will have joy through all that He has for us. We share our troubles with other believers for them to pray and to encourage us and them, when things look more difficult than we think we can handle the fellowship of the believers lightens the burden.

Galatians 6:2 "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ."

There are only two reasons we assume we have a right to health, wealth and prosperity, first is that we want to believe it and secondly it is being shoved down our throats every time we turn around in this culture. 
 

We are even judged at times for lacking faith or spirituality when we are physically ill or living on meager funds. Those who judge on the basis of these things are arrogant and self righteous, believing they have arrived at spirituality, when in fact they more likely lack it.

We know that God has a purpose in all things, the more we obey Him, the more likely we are to be rejected for our faith, demeaned and lied against. The devil's aim is to minimize our witness of the gospel but God's purpose is to strengthen us through the exercise of faith in Him. Without trials there is no strengthening.

James 1:2-3
"2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience."

Yes Judge!!!

When we don't judge as we are commanded to do, we end up accepting anything.

Notice how so many people use the verses below to justify "don't judge" mantras. It is only the first verse in this passage that says that, it has been plucked out of context to justify acceptance of any and all sin. Let's analyze the rest of the verses below the "don't judge" verse and let's remember that in the original text in Greek, there were no verse divisions, one had to read the entire text to get the meaning.

Matthew 7:1-6
"7 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3 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?
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?
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."

We are told in verse 2-3 how to judge and never elevating self when we are doing the same thing we accuse others of doing. We are not innocent for not judging when we are doing the same thing, both the one being judged and ourselves are guilty of sin, we just have no right to arrogantly judge another for doing the same things we are doing.

In verse 5 we are told to get ourselves right, stop our sinning first and then we can help our brother see his sin.

All sin has already been judged by God. The judgement we are using is not our own, it is God's standard. We are merely the messengers of God to inform those we love, of the sin they are in, the consequences of it and the remedy.

Galatians 6:7-8 "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

Isaiah 59:2 "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear."

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."

1 John 3:4 "Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness."

The Remedy:

1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

When we are confronted with sin in our lives our response ought to be to feel ashamed, confess it to those who know and to God, asking to be cleansed of that sin, thought Christ.

Today's response to a rebuke is often "don't judge" or "your judging" as though it is wrong to do so. If we do not ever judge circumstances or actions, then we will remain foolish and be of no use to anyone else.

Luke 17:3 ""Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him."

Matthew 18:15 ""If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother."

When someone staunchly proclaims that we are not to judge them, refuses to listen and remains contemptuous against us, we can be sure that the conversation has been spurned, the party refuses to receive it and it is time to move on.

Matthew 18:17 ""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."

2 Timothy 3:5 ""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."

We are commanded not to keep company with those who claim to be saved but live in sin as a lifestyle.

Romans 16:17-18 "17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. 18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

Those who claim to be Christian but will not tolerate a rebuke or correction, cannot learn until their heart of pride is broken into a humble heart of flesh. God is the only One Who can effectively work on them, He knows exactly what is needed, we do not. Sometimes we must get out of God's way so those who walk in rebellion will see only Him.