I am always dismayed when someone says, in reference to the worship service, "the Holy Spirit was present today."
When we are born again believers the Holy Spirit is always present in us. He should be the One guiding all worship for every believer.
We do not ask the Holy Spirit "to come", He already lives in every believer.
1 Corinthians 3:16
"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
1 Corinthians 6:19
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?"
2 Timothy 1:14
"Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you."
The Holy Spirit even worships for us!
John 4:23 "4:23
"But a time is coming – and now is here – when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers."
Philippians 3:3
"3:3 For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, exult in Christ Jesus, and do not rely on human credentials."
9. Romans 8:14 "For all who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children."
I have tried to stay away from too much discussion about politics here because it is an issue that brings conflict over something that has nothing to do with Christ or salvation.
But I feel a need to say a few things. Please do not come and try to convince me of anything other than what I am saying here. I have had far too much experience with narcissism and pretenders to be swayed this late in the game.
Here goes:
So many Christians are not seeing the narcissistic traits that prove the malintent of the presidential candidates. Malintent meaning "malitious" intent. There is a hidden agenda not at all what the Christians are expecting. Because they do not see the subtle signs, that are not nearly as subtle as they might be, they are being sucked in by their own hope and emotion.
Words do not express the truth in any candidate. They are well versed in saying whatever is needed to accomplish their goal, that being, power over others. I do not hear any candidate expressing a serious and deep desire to do the will of the people or showing a concern for the welfare of the masses. What little they do display is phony and diluted.
What we have in this election, are two people deeply vested in pursuing power and wealth their entire lives. They have drunk the wine of prestige and influence early on in their careers, deeply entangled in the web of trickery to gain their objectives.
No one who has lived their entire lives entrenched in this lifestyle will change their spots, just because they are in the public eye. They do however become very adept at manipulation, rhetoric and even intimidation to gain what they seek. Televangelists use these same tactics and methods to secure their position and affluence.
Bottom line!!!!! Things are not at all what they seem! Do not allow emotions and hope to blind you to truth. Go ahead and do as you are led by Christ while not allowing anyone to dissuade you from obedience to Him. However, and this is a big "however", do not place your trust in anyone or anything except Christ.
When our country falls, as I believe it will, no matter what happens in the election, the believers who have trusted Christ not only for salvation but also for everything else, will not be moved. They will not whine or cry over the outcome, they will not become discouraged, nor will they relent from their appointed task, that is to carry on as led by the Holy Spirit.
We are not in this world to be entertained, comfortable or pursuing happiness as we have been taught all our lives. We are here to spread the Gospel and grow in holiness while serving those Christ has sent to be a part of our lives.
Galatians 3:6-9 "6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith."
It is Israel that will be blessed and protected, no other nation can own this but Israel.
Our faith and trust is in Christ alone, for every thing!
For a few years now, from time to time, my husband and I have gone to breakfast at a local omelet restaurant a few minutes from our house. They make the best omelet and bacon in town from our perspective, along with very pleasant and welcoming waitresses.
On the kitchen door behind the cashier of that restaurant was a sign that read something like this; "Don't let these smiling faces fool you, these are mean vicious women."
Every time I saw that sign I laughed and enjoyed the sense of humor and the waitresses there thought it was funny too. We knew it was a joke because it was the opposite of truth, everyone enjoyed the little splash of humor.
Sadly political correctness set in recently and the sign was removed. I suppose the word "women" is no longer tolerable as well as a joke that teased a particular gender.
I find it very sad that all resemblance of personality is being removed as though we are all suppose to walk around like programmed robots saying and doing the perfect thing, so as not to offend the bratty and self righteous hyper-sensitive thought police.
We are encountering more and more chaos, egg shell walking and intimidation than I have ever seen in my life time. I notice too that people are less happy and almost completely devoid of joy because of this overreach of power to control our personalities, our thoughts and our expressions.
Becoming weary, of the few that manipulate and intimidate the masses while they do whatever they want I have lost any concern about expressing myself as have a few others. These bastions of self righteousness in the form of "thought police", do not place such restraints on themselves in their personal expressions but demand others do as they say or suffer for their independence.
The End of Comfortable Christianity by Bill Muehlenberg
Aug 26, 2016
"Let’s face it: believers in the West have had a dream run up until recently. It has been easy street, big time. Christians and non-Christians pretty much lived together conflict-free, and often one was not all that distinguishable from the other."
"In fact, for many, what they thought was Christianity was simply cultural Christianity. Everyone more or less believed in God, believed in Jesus, acknowledged the reality of sin, and so on. Most people gave mental assent to the Christian religion, and many went to church each week believing this was the thing to do."
"How many of these folks were actual regenerate believers is another matter of course. But the stroll through the park is now coming to an end. As things really do start to heat up, with anti-Christian bigotry and persecution now becoming the norm in the West, it is no longer a free ride for believers."
