I Don't Keep The Commandments

I don't keep the ten commandments, I walk with Christ. I can't do anything else except love His principles and His laws. It isn't a matter of trying real hard to keep them, they are simply a part of me.

Do I have to tell myself to eat food, no that comes naturally without too much thinking, it is natural and normal. That's how it is for the believer, they don't have to think about not stealing, they just hate the act of stealing, don't want any part of it. It comes naturally for the believer to not steal. In fact if they accidently picked up something in a store, forgot they had it and walked out, they panic to get back to the store and return it. The idea of taking things that don't belong to them, no matter how small is unthinkable.

When we have trusted Christ He places His commandments in our heart, we love them. However they are irritating to those who are unsaved who come in contact with a believer.

The Spirit within us is aggravating to the spirit within an unsaved person. They think they don't like us, so they conjure up reasons we must be doing something bad or wrong. They think we are causing them to dislike us, but in reality it is Christ Whom they are drastically uncomfortable with.

I have been accused of being a "goody two shoes", not sure what that means, but it was used many years ago to describe someone who didn't break the rules, who enjoyed obeying authority. When there is a slight of disobedience, there is deep conviction, no matter how small the infraction is, because of that intense sense of displeasing God.

Before I was born again I obeyed authority to keep out of trouble. After becoming born again I wasn't concerned about keeping out of trouble, but rather that God would be unhappy with me.

I liken it to the way a dog reacts to his master. If the master shows any anger at the dog the dog cowers in sadness, licks the masters hand and rolls over on his back as a sign of submission to gain back the approval of the master.

Believers are like that dog, they just hate displeasing God, it also transfers to our attitude toward others. We hate to be mean, it displeases God to be unkind and we can't stand to hurt anyone even the animals. Empathy is a huge part of the existence of a believer.

When there is no empathy, little kindness and much covert meanness, I have to wonder if the person who does this is even saved.

God works His principles into our hearts, even before we know all the principles we are compelled to follow them. God also places a yearning in the hearts of those who have become born again, a yearning for His Word.

1 John 3:13-15 "…13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. 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. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.…"

We Got What We Wanted, Now Live With It

The blessings are off this country and have been for some time. We have not felt the full impact of the loss of blessing but it has been here nonetheless.

Our families are destroyed, our babies murdered, homosexuality embraced and promoted, every form of deviant behavior is being legalized along with drugs. What part of this is a blessing.

When God takes off His blessing all He has to do is give us our head, allow us to run amuck in our sin and that alone will destroy us.

Then there is the added curse of foreigners taking over our government, bringing carnage we have not yet seen in this country. Even our president is a foreigner of sorts who has throw God out to replace Him with the false god of Islam.

So "how is all that freedom to do what ever you want, when you want it, the way you want it" working out for you?

Trusting Christ in a Disaster

With all the earthquake activity around the world right now and the 9 pointer that is expected in our region soon, there should be concern from those who are not born again.

To those who do not know Christ as their Savior, I ask this; "do you know where you will go if you died in that earthquake?"

The possibility of thousands of deaths due to natural disasters is quite real now as we pass through the time in history when God is unleashing on the earth deadlier than usual weather and quakes.

For believers I want to remind you that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of God, when disaster comes, even if we are without human companionship we are never alone.

Christ said He would never leave us or forsake us and that He would always provide. Granted, we will not be living as we did before, but more simply without creature comforts and pleasure toys.

When we realize that our goal is not to have all we desire on this earth, or to engage in every form of personal delight, we can rest in and enjoy God's protection no matter what comes.

The believers who survive any disaster will have the answers for those who do not yet know Christ. We can bring hope to the hopeless and comfort to the devastated.

Perhaps our mission as believers has not yet arrived. It is the believers who will bring stability in a world full of chaos and uncertainty.

Above all, we must remember that God has a purpose for us in all things, when we keep our eyes focused on Him, we will get through anything or we will die and float away to heaven. Either way, we can trust in Christ no matter what comes.

Proverbs 3:5 "…4 So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.…"

If we do this, we can ask God in the middle of a disaster which way to go, how to accomplish necessary work and He WILL answer our call for help, we can count on it.

They Won't Listen and They Will Mock

Personally I used to feel devastated by the way people were acting, I spent many long hours trying to figure out, while I was doing my normal routine, what could "I" do about this or that, how could I get people to listen to me. Guess what.....they never listened.

When I was the only one in my circle of friends, family and church who was saying "self esteem" teaching was evil and contrary to God's Word, they were all treating me like I had two heads.

Now even the secular psychologists are seeing the dramatic increase in narcissism, some attributing it to the self esteem teaching, praising children for every little thing while building up their pride. Sadly the church will not let go of the teaching even though some seculars are letting go of it.

The way that I have handled it has been to pray continually, learn as much about the nature of these end times and realize it is not the end of anything, but the beginning of birth pangs for leaving this world.

Now I am able to see the humor in some of the foolishness, while praying often for the persecuted believers. I still get aggravated but never devastated any more.
I have even been able to put behind me relationships that are not God honoring, continual drama and self promotion was something I encountered regularly, even those who loved to feel spiritually superior walked about with a swagger in the step and a haughty look on their face.

The day the Lord opened my eyes to what was happening was the day of total freedom from all this mess, now I watch but I do not engage, now I observe but it does not become a part of who I am.

I see life now as though I am watching a movie, it isn't about me at all, but about the end times scenario, the culmination of evil doing it's thing right before Christ comes. I feel empathy for those who are victims, but I also know if they turn to Christ, He will show them the way and He will strengthen them as He has strengthened me.

Isaiah 41:9-11 "…9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its remotest parts And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. 10 'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' 11 "Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.…"

Remain Faithful To God's Ways

As I was pondering this morning the different levels of the 2 Timothy 3 personality, I was reminded of an incident many years ago that was a perfect example of the covert tactics of a self absorbed individual. Someone who can make trouble when there is no trouble, merely to manipulate someone to feeling bad about doing good. Here is my story.

I was visiting with a family member, a woman whom I appreciated and even elevated at some point in my life, until many years later I realized what she was, then sadness overtook me when I discovered her covert tactics that had undermined a number of other relationships, while causing self doubt.

While sitting at this woman's table, she offered me a piece of pie. I was looking forward to the pie, told her how good it looked and accepted her offer of a piece of it.

As she was cutting the pie I noticed that she was cutting a very large piece, almost a quarter of the pie. I politely asked her if I could have half of the piece she was cutting, since I couldn't eat that much.

She looked at me with anger on her face, grunted a sigh of contempt as though I had done something wrong or terrible, after which she handed me the pie abruptly showing that she did not approve of my request for a smaller piece. I complimented her on how good the pie was and how much I enjoyed it.

Had this been the only time I experienced this I would have thought that she was having a difficult day and that the show of contempt had nothing to do with the pie but something else she was feeling.

However, I had already experienced many insignificant occurrences of this sort of contempt with her, I began to wonder what I was doing wrong. A sort of feeling of "death by a thousand cuts" enveloped me, causing me to analyze what was going on, throwing me into research on the subject of manipulation.

Years later after some important research of the attitude of manipulators, I realized that the pie incident and many others like it, was not a reflection of me as a person or of anything I had done wrong, but more about the controlling attitude of the person serving the pie.

Realizing that attempting to cause guilt over small matters was a ploy to demean into submission the one who did not bow to the whim of the narcissist.

Then came these thoughts that brought much insight into the mentality involved and what to do about it.

The woman who baked the pie was not interested in giving me a piece of pie that she thought I would enjoy. Her aim was to elevate herself through praise and adulation someone was expected to give over a very large piece.

Asking for a smaller piece left me in control of my own choices, while in her mind she was diminished by the request for a smaller one. Notice that I had praised her already for the good looking pie, that I was looking forward to a piece to enjoy, but in her mind it was not enough, I had to enjoy it her way, further praising her for the size of the piece.

The woman with the pie was acting irritated at me, even avoiding me the rest of the day, causing others in her presence to believe I must have done something wrong to hurt her. This became a regular tactic with her, the small things were often blown out of proportion to demean me.

The sad thing about covert manipulators is that they feign victim in the presence of others who believe the narcissist without really knowing what happened. These people are called flying monkeys. They are not concerned about the justice or truth of a matter, only that they take the side of the one who is angry to remain in the good graces of the manipulator.

When these events happen once or twice in a lifetime, we can dismiss them as someone in a bad mood that they will get over. However when these things happen over and over again on a regular basis, we can surmise that manipulation is happening, possibly over jealousy or guilt that the narcissist has in their own heart.

One of the main tactics of a narcissist is to ruin the targets reputation in the eyes of their flying monkeys while isolating the victim from others, through the lies and deceit.

The problem is that if we were to tell others about the pie incident and all the other covert things, it would make us look crazy and petty, they would then begin to avoid us while remaining friends with the manipulator.

It is not only not pleasant being around these people, it takes the grace of God not to react in kind. It has been my experience that any attempt to talk to narcissists about their actions, only leads to more and greater abuse.

I am thankful that God showed me that I never reacted in kind to those who have abused me, I am free of guilt over wrong doing. One of the things God made clear is that I cannot change another person, I can only pay attention to my own responses to injustice.

Proverbs 26:4-5
"4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes."

Luke 6:27-29
"27 "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 "Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either.…"

Proverbs 4:14 "…13 Take hold of instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life. 14 Do not enter the path of the wicked And do not proceed in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, do not pass by it; Turn away from it and pass on.…"

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 godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."

Romans 12:18-20 "…18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. 20 "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD."…"

Proverbs 12:16-17 "16 A fool's anger is known at once, But a prudent man conceals dishonor. 17 He who speaks truth tells what is right, But a false witness, deceit.…"

In these verses and many others we see that our response to injustice and rudeness is to never seek revenge, always treat with kindness those who treat us badly, do not argue or fight with abusers, they will only abuse more and blame you for it and if God leads, remove ourselves from unruly, devious and covert abusers.

Most of all stay innocent in our responses while praying for the abuser. No matter how much we are harmed, the most freeing is the ability to look at our own actions and see that we obeyed God in responding or not responding His way. We must seek God for each individual circumstance, each one may have a different path that God wants us to obey.

Lastly, never look at the responses of others, the abuser or the flying monkeys as a measure of our righteousness. The devil would have us believe we are evil when we have obeyed God, these narcs and their flying monkeys are being used by the devil to cause doubt about ourselves and what God told us to do and be.

Ephesians 4:26-27 "…26 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and do not give the devil an opportunity."

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

Walk in the freedom of Christ to be and do His will, no matter who comes against you for it. The devil is ramping up his efforts to destroy believers in these end times. This is the reason I write so much about this phenomena of narcissism, it has increased, it is devised by the devil and has the ability to undermine a believers faith if they do not understand what is happening to them.

Go with God, don't allow the narcissists and their flying monkeys to determine our walk with Christ through their manipulative tactics. And, remember they are nothing more than pawns in the hands of the wicked one, the devil.