Here is the Gospel:
Romans 10:8-10 "…8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.…"
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
Gospel is Veiled to the Parishing
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Cultural Christianity is Without Christ
We have been engaged in a "cultural Christianity" in the United States for generations now. Following the rules became more important than following Christ, AND many of the rules were not even Biblical, they were man made to keep people under the control of the leaders. It was not Christ Who was leading individuals, but man oppressing other men.
No where in the Bible will you see anything resembling leaders forcing, intimidating or using covertly oppressive tricks to keep people under their thumbs. Husbands are not to act this way either.
1 Peter 5:2-4 "…2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.…"
Because the church has implemented man's rules rather than God's principles, they have gone so far off the mark that it is a corrupted gathering in most cases.
No where in the Bible will you see anything resembling leaders forcing, intimidating or using covertly oppressive tricks to keep people under their thumbs. Husbands are not to act this way either.
1 Peter 5:2-4 "…2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.…"
Because the church has implemented man's rules rather than God's principles, they have gone so far off the mark that it is a corrupted gathering in most cases.
Lying Against the Truth
Many in the church gatherings today claim to be "Christian" but in their attitudes and actions they lie against the truth.
Psalm 10:4
"The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him All his thoughts are, "There is no God.""
Psalm 10:4
"The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him All his thoughts are, "There is no God.""
The Lying Lips
Isaiah 29:13-14
"13 Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
"13 Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
Bringing a Gatling Gun to a Knife Fight
All you have to do to the narcissist is to point out one weak spot in their armor to help them learn to do better, and they see it as an all out assault on their being, worthy of complete contempt toward us.
We come with a butter knife to scrape off the sin or flaw that needs attention and they return with a Gatling gun to blow you away as though you had done a terrible thing, when all you were doing was scrapping away the sin to help.
Not only do they bring their Gatling gun to devastate you, they bring their friends with their bayonets to wipe the floor with you through their gossip and over exaggerations about your behavior.
The narcissist never takes a look at their own behavior, which is why they never apologize for anything, even when they are confronted with exactly what they did, they refuse to admit they did it or they claim they had a good reason.
One of my all time favorites, that I have been blessed to have experienced, is for them to say, "I don't know" when asked why they did something. Or, my second favorite is to claim they didn't do something you know they did. Absolute denial of their bad behavior to maintain their false image is continual with a narcissist.
When we know all these things it is a blessing, because now we know where it is coming from and from whom it is coming, meaning the devil himself. He works to infect and twist the mind of the narcissist to choose to believe things about themselves and others that are not true.
Just like Eve in the garden of Eden, the serpent made Eve doubt God's Word. Then he enticed her to believe she could be a god herself. This was the first demonstration of the tactics of the devil to build self will and pride in Eve. Adam was no better, he was easily manipulated to partake with Eve, without challenge, even though he was created to be her protector, he made no attempt to protect her, she was on her own and neither of them trusted God.
Had they trusted God they would have understood that when God spoke a command He knew what He was doing and why. They didn't trust God, they trusted the evil one because their sinful hearts wanted to be what the devil promised they could be, but it was a lie and led to the loss of everything they knew as well as a much harder life and now a death that never had to be if they had only trusted God.
Genesis chapter 3 tells us all about it.
More Scripture in context shows us that mankind has been rejecting and mocking God all along, continually attempting to elevate themselves above God as well as any other authority in their lives.
Deuteronomy 32:5
"They have acted corruptly toward Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation."
Romans 1:29
"being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,"
Psalm 14:1
"The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God " They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good."
Acts 7:51
"You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did."
Romans 3:11
"THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;"
2 Timothy 3:8
"Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith."
Psalm 62:4
"They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position; They delight in falsehood; They bless with their mouth, But inwardly they curse. Selah."
Sadly, many people who darken the doors of the church buildings are full of this pride and arrogance that destroys love toward the people who meet together. They have ruined families and communities and governments with this monstrous desire to be like gods.
Psalm 10:2-4
"In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him All his thoughts are, "There is no God.""
Notice in the Psalm 10 passage it says that "the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted", the challenge of the wicked is to continually bludgeon those they perceive as weak. To the wicked a weak person is one who has love, empathy and righteousness, one who cries for those in peril, will be hated by those who lack the love of Christ. One who loves truth will be the target of the "SELF righteous." They will mock, demean, gossip against and treat with contempt, anyone who will not succumb to their tactics.
The goal of the narcissist is to treat the righteous with such contempt that they become consumed with defending themselves, giving into the narc to become just like him.
We cannot allow our flesh to get in the way of our dealings with narcissists. We must seek the Holy Spirit to speak through us and work on our behalf to avoid falling into the trap of the narcissist, whose goal is to cause us to fall into fleshly reactions.
How do we recognize the narcissist? 2 Timothy 3 tells us all we need to know. God tells us to avoid them, to prevent ourselves from becoming like them.
1 Corinthians 15:33 " 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
The goal of the devil is to use narcissists, as described in 2 Timothy 3, to cause the righteous to falter and to fall into sin. We must resist the devil by knowing God's Word and through trusting that Christ in us will work through us.
James 4:7
"7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
How do we resist the devil? The answer is by submitting to Christ. Christ in us will give us the details and particulars as we move through our encounters.
We come with a butter knife to scrape off the sin or flaw that needs attention and they return with a Gatling gun to blow you away as though you had done a terrible thing, when all you were doing was scrapping away the sin to help.
Not only do they bring their Gatling gun to devastate you, they bring their friends with their bayonets to wipe the floor with you through their gossip and over exaggerations about your behavior.
The narcissist never takes a look at their own behavior, which is why they never apologize for anything, even when they are confronted with exactly what they did, they refuse to admit they did it or they claim they had a good reason.
One of my all time favorites, that I have been blessed to have experienced, is for them to say, "I don't know" when asked why they did something. Or, my second favorite is to claim they didn't do something you know they did. Absolute denial of their bad behavior to maintain their false image is continual with a narcissist.
When we know all these things it is a blessing, because now we know where it is coming from and from whom it is coming, meaning the devil himself. He works to infect and twist the mind of the narcissist to choose to believe things about themselves and others that are not true.
Just like Eve in the garden of Eden, the serpent made Eve doubt God's Word. Then he enticed her to believe she could be a god herself. This was the first demonstration of the tactics of the devil to build self will and pride in Eve. Adam was no better, he was easily manipulated to partake with Eve, without challenge, even though he was created to be her protector, he made no attempt to protect her, she was on her own and neither of them trusted God.
Had they trusted God they would have understood that when God spoke a command He knew what He was doing and why. They didn't trust God, they trusted the evil one because their sinful hearts wanted to be what the devil promised they could be, but it was a lie and led to the loss of everything they knew as well as a much harder life and now a death that never had to be if they had only trusted God.
Genesis chapter 3 tells us all about it.
More Scripture in context shows us that mankind has been rejecting and mocking God all along, continually attempting to elevate themselves above God as well as any other authority in their lives.
Deuteronomy 32:5
"They have acted corruptly toward Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; But are a perverse and crooked generation."
Romans 1:29
"being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,"
Psalm 14:1
"The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God " They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good."
Acts 7:51
"You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did."
Romans 3:11
"THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;"
2 Timothy 3:8
"Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith."
Psalm 62:4
"They have counseled only to thrust him down from his high position; They delight in falsehood; They bless with their mouth, But inwardly they curse. Selah."
Sadly, many people who darken the doors of the church buildings are full of this pride and arrogance that destroys love toward the people who meet together. They have ruined families and communities and governments with this monstrous desire to be like gods.
Psalm 10:2-4
"In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him All his thoughts are, "There is no God.""
Notice in the Psalm 10 passage it says that "the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted", the challenge of the wicked is to continually bludgeon those they perceive as weak. To the wicked a weak person is one who has love, empathy and righteousness, one who cries for those in peril, will be hated by those who lack the love of Christ. One who loves truth will be the target of the "SELF righteous." They will mock, demean, gossip against and treat with contempt, anyone who will not succumb to their tactics.
The goal of the narcissist is to treat the righteous with such contempt that they become consumed with defending themselves, giving into the narc to become just like him.
We cannot allow our flesh to get in the way of our dealings with narcissists. We must seek the Holy Spirit to speak through us and work on our behalf to avoid falling into the trap of the narcissist, whose goal is to cause us to fall into fleshly reactions.
How do we recognize the narcissist? 2 Timothy 3 tells us all we need to know. God tells us to avoid them, to prevent ourselves from becoming like them.
1 Corinthians 15:33 " 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
The goal of the devil is to use narcissists, as described in 2 Timothy 3, to cause the righteous to falter and to fall into sin. We must resist the devil by knowing God's Word and through trusting that Christ in us will work through us.
James 4:7
"7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
How do we resist the devil? The answer is by submitting to Christ. Christ in us will give us the details and particulars as we move through our encounters.
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