"God is love!" is NOT the TOTALITY of the Gospel...and it is not REMOTELY enough to be presented as a SERMON...it is not ENOUGH of a MESSAGE...enough TRUTH...by which the Church can GROW and MATURE in Christ...enabling us to "earnestly contend for the faith."
You see:
Jesus NEVER commanded His DISCIPLES to PREACH love...He told them TO love.
Remember the words of Paul:
Ephesians 4:14-15 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
What did Jesus preach...and what did He command US to preach?
Luke 24:44-47 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Then...we discover this in the Book of Revelation...as Jesus appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos...and...as Jesus came to do one thing:
Speak to the CHURCH.
And...when He did...He REBUKED 5 out of 7 churches...telling them to REPENT.
5 out of 7:
Quite a percentage there!
Jesus would basically tell them one thing:
REPENT...or ELSE!
Does anyone reading here know what the NUMBER ONE theme found in Scripture is...based on SUBJECT MATTER?
It has been studied...and it was found to be this:
Warnings regarding FALSE PROPHETS and their PROPHECIES...and...WARNINGS regarding FALSE TEACHERS and their FALSE DOCTRINES.
From Old Testament to New Testament...more is said about this ONE subject than any OTHER subject.
The PRIMARY theme of Scripture...BEYOND the coming of a Savior...is that we MUST understand one VERY crucial thing:
TRUTH has an ENEMY...an ANTITHESIS...and Satan will send FALSE messiahs...FALSE teachers...and he will SEDUCE people into believing LIES.
That is the CRUX of Scripture...teaching us to grow in KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM so we may be able to DISCERN what is TRUE and what is FALSE.
Yes...Jesus LOVES us...but how can I DISCERN the difference in GODLY love and SATANIC seduction?
That is what is CRUCIAL to our EXISTENCE...and it is CRUCIAL to our UNDERSTANDING of Scripture.
Folks...it is not ENOUGH to be LOVED by God...allowing us to simply walk through life being LOVED.
We are called to CONTEND for the FAITH...to BATTLE Satan for SOULS!
Be sure...Satan is EARNESTLY contending for DECEPTION...for DELUSION...for ENTERTAINMENT and SELF-INDULGENCE to CONTINUE ON within the Church.
It often seems he is WINNING.
The VAST majority of churches are LOST...DECEIVED...DELUSIONAL...and fully SEDUCED by the HARLOT gospel.
Yet...THEY believe they are SUCCESSFUL..."relevant"...and even "evangelistic."
How FAR they "God is love!" is not REMOTELY the TOTALITY of the Gospel...and it is not REMOTELY enough to be presented as a SERMON...it is not ENOUGH of a MESSAGE...enough TRUTH...by which the Church can GROW and MATURE in Christ...enabling us to "earnestly contend for the faith."
You see:
Jesus NEVER commanded His DISCIPLES to PREACH love...He told them TO love.
Remember the words of Paul:
Ephesians 4:14-15 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—
What did Jesus preach...and what did He command US to preach?
Luke 24:44-47 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Then...we discover this in the Book of Revelation...as Jesus appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos...and...as Jesus came to do one thing:
Speak to the CHURCH.
And...when He did...He REBUKED 5 out of 7 churches...telling them to REPENT.
5 out of 7:
Quite a percentage there!
Jesus would basically tell them one thing:
REPENT...or ELSE!
Does anyone reading here know what the NUMBER ONE theme found in Scripture is...based on SUBJECT MATTER?
It has been studied...and it was found to be this:
Warnings regarding FALSE PROPHETS and their PROPHECIES...and...WARNINGS regarding FALSE TEACHERS and their FALSE DOCTRINES.
We are CONSTANTLY warned about DECEPTION...whether SELF-DECEPTION or being led astray by OTHERS.
From Old Testament to New Testament...more is said about this ONE subject than any OTHER subject.
The PRIMARY theme of Scripture...BEYOND the coming of a Savior...is that we MUST understand one VERY crucial aspect of TRUTH:
TRUTH has an ENEMY...an ANTITHESIS...and Satan will send FALSE messiahs...FALSE teachers...and he will SEDUCE people into believing LIES.
That is the CRUX of Scripture...teaching us to grow in KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM so we may be able to DISCERN what is TRUE and what is FALSE.
Yes...Jesus LOVES us...but how can we DISCERN the difference in GODLY love and SATANIC seduction?
That is what is CRUCIAL to our EXISTENCE...and it is CRUCIAL to our UNDERSTANDING of Scripture.
Folks...it is not ENOUGH to be LOVED by God...allowing us to simply walk through life being LOVED.
We are called to CONTEND for the FAITH...to BATTLE Satan for SOULS!
Be sure...Satan is EARNESTLY contending for those SAME souls...using DECEPTION and DELUSION...urging "leadership to CONTINUE ON with ENTERTAINMENT and SELF-INDULGENCE within the Church.
It often seems he is WINNING.
The VAST majority of churches are LOST...DECEIVED...DELUSIONAL...and fully SEDUCED by the HARLOT gospel.
Yet...THEY believe they are SUCCESSFUL..."relevant"...and even "evangelistic."
Sound familiar?
Revelation 3:15-21 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,[g] I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne."
No one TRULY "evangelizes" the LOST without CALLING them to REPENTANCE.
Period.
In TRUTH...we MUST preach MORE than "God loves you!"...or we preach no TRUTH at all.
~ Ron Smith
Friday, March 9, 2018
How We Treat God's Word is How We Treat Him
Those who treat the word of God without respect and lightly, must think this way about God too.
God is not a concept we enjoy believing in like Santa or the Easter Bunny, He is real and cares very deeply how we regard with seriousness His Word.
I am convinced that unconcern about how we use the Word of God is strong evidence that we do not take God seriously either. After all, Jesus Christ IS the WORD.
God is not a concept we enjoy believing in like Santa or the Easter Bunny, He is real and cares very deeply how we regard with seriousness His Word.
I am convinced that unconcern about how we use the Word of God is strong evidence that we do not take God seriously either. After all, Jesus Christ IS the WORD.
Stop Relying on Others
Stop relying on others to make you happy or feel joy.....except Christ.
Rule your own life through rational thinking and the principles of God.
Growth is the best course of action to take in combating the nonsense that is going on in the world today.
Turning the microscope on ourselves will help us to grow and change. The narcissist will never do this, they remain spiritual and emotional children.
We do not want this to happen to us, so we take action to evaluate our own lives in terms of God's Word to continue the path of Spiritual growth, deeply connected to Christ as we walk along.
If we find ourselves becoming the narcissist because we have been around them so much we have taken on their tactics and techniques, take a step back. confess that sin of copying others and begin again to seek Christ to work in your life.
Resisting the power plays of narcissists against you, is the only way to break through from their influence.
We do not need people to be successful in our walk, we only need Christ. If we are going to be dependent on someone let it be Christ, never another person.
Work with people not for them, when we are not employed by a friend, our goal should not be to keep them based on doing everything they want, but on mutual agreement to walk the same path. In a friendship, no one is above another, each has their own talents and callings, it ought to be the goal of the believer to encourage each friend in their calling, not to make them like us.
There are those who want our friendship on the basis of doing whatever they want their way. This is not a true friendship, it is one sided and can never come to anything meaningful. No one person has all the knowledge or all the talent, everyone has something to offer in any endeavor. When one person attempts to control everything in a relationships then there isn't team work, only selfish manipulation to dominate.
Friendships cannot be based on domination or control, they must be based on concern for the well being of others. If one person controls everything then it is not a friendship but slavery.
When we agree with our friend all the time, whether or not we believe they are wrong will bring a very low quality of life, beside being a form of dishonesty it is a denial of our true selves.
Do not let others change you into their idea of a decent human being. Let the Lord Jesus Christ Who lives in you be the one to change you into His image.
Stop sacrificing your identity to others, allow them to be them, but when they treat you with contempt because you will not become like them, then is the time to walk away, it is not a true friendship anyway and will be nothing but frustration all the time.
When we become what others want us to be just to keep the peace, we will be denying what God made us and His mission for us.
Small minded people will attempt to intimidate us into submission to their ideas and their own identity. No where in the word of God do we see a command to do this, it is a tactic of the devil to keep cliques in place, snobby people in control of others they perceive to be weak minded and to dominate those they think are weak compared to them. These people create drama over unimportant matters in an effort to demean and repress others.
People pleasers think that keeping the peace is the right thing to do, that it is morally good. But the Bible never at any time tells us to keep the peace so others will like us. It does tell us to tell the truth and live out our own lives as we follow Christ.
This resolve to speak truth and to follow Christ is going to cause others to become angry. It is a frustration to the controller when they cannot control us, their antics increase until they see that it doesn't work and then they will go away, even excluding you from things. These controllers see this as a punishment for not becoming what they want us to be, but in reality it is a blessing to us.
Do not allow manipulators to kill your personality or the resolve within you to live Christlike. If your friends require you to become them in order to remain friends, then it is best to exit the relationship and find others who appreciate you the way God meant you to be.
Those who treat you disrespectfully, often treating you like a child who must submit to them, is not someone who can be your close friend. A friendship cannot be based on disrespect, it must be based on mutual respect and love.
If there is no respect there is no love. When we love we respect. Never believe someone who says "I love you", but then treats you as though you are less than they. Love and respect are companions. There are those who teach that certain people deserve respect while others do not. They command everyone to show deference to the leaders while the leaders have no need to respect others. When you see this, run, these people are narcissists, lording it over the people to dominate, there is no love with these people.
If a leader will not listen to correction, believing that the Holy Spirit only works through Him, chances are good he is full of pride and the Holy Spirit does not work through him.
The Holy Spirit works in ALL born again believers. No matter our calling whether a leader or not, we all have something to offer to one another, no one is greater in wisdom than everyone else, all need the insights and perspectives of one another.
1 Peter 5:2-3 "…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. "
Philippians 2:2-4 "…2 then make my joy complete by being of one mind, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.…"
There are those who will punish you if you are too joyful, happy or confident, they are the ones who must be superior to you and everyone else, remove them from your lives. If you have to be in their presence, completely ignore their attempts at starting fights and exit.
It is hard to believe that there are these types in the world, but they seem to be increasing. The more unhappy and miserable the world is, the more they are going to attempt to destroy our joy in the Lord.
Romans 5:3-5
"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
1 Peter 5:8
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
John 10:10
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
The people who wish to bring us down or shape us into their own idea of good, will often be those used of the devil to distract us from God. Their man made rules, their personal ideas and everything they love that elevates them is often contrary to the Word of God, do not let them have their way.
Bottom line: Trust Christ every day all the time, then you will walk as He wants you to walk.
Rule your own life through rational thinking and the principles of God.
Growth is the best course of action to take in combating the nonsense that is going on in the world today.
Turning the microscope on ourselves will help us to grow and change. The narcissist will never do this, they remain spiritual and emotional children.
We do not want this to happen to us, so we take action to evaluate our own lives in terms of God's Word to continue the path of Spiritual growth, deeply connected to Christ as we walk along.
If we find ourselves becoming the narcissist because we have been around them so much we have taken on their tactics and techniques, take a step back. confess that sin of copying others and begin again to seek Christ to work in your life.
Resisting the power plays of narcissists against you, is the only way to break through from their influence.
We do not need people to be successful in our walk, we only need Christ. If we are going to be dependent on someone let it be Christ, never another person.
Work with people not for them, when we are not employed by a friend, our goal should not be to keep them based on doing everything they want, but on mutual agreement to walk the same path. In a friendship, no one is above another, each has their own talents and callings, it ought to be the goal of the believer to encourage each friend in their calling, not to make them like us.
There are those who want our friendship on the basis of doing whatever they want their way. This is not a true friendship, it is one sided and can never come to anything meaningful. No one person has all the knowledge or all the talent, everyone has something to offer in any endeavor. When one person attempts to control everything in a relationships then there isn't team work, only selfish manipulation to dominate.
Friendships cannot be based on domination or control, they must be based on concern for the well being of others. If one person controls everything then it is not a friendship but slavery.
When we agree with our friend all the time, whether or not we believe they are wrong will bring a very low quality of life, beside being a form of dishonesty it is a denial of our true selves.
Do not let others change you into their idea of a decent human being. Let the Lord Jesus Christ Who lives in you be the one to change you into His image.
Stop sacrificing your identity to others, allow them to be them, but when they treat you with contempt because you will not become like them, then is the time to walk away, it is not a true friendship anyway and will be nothing but frustration all the time.
When we become what others want us to be just to keep the peace, we will be denying what God made us and His mission for us.
Small minded people will attempt to intimidate us into submission to their ideas and their own identity. No where in the word of God do we see a command to do this, it is a tactic of the devil to keep cliques in place, snobby people in control of others they perceive to be weak minded and to dominate those they think are weak compared to them. These people create drama over unimportant matters in an effort to demean and repress others.
People pleasers think that keeping the peace is the right thing to do, that it is morally good. But the Bible never at any time tells us to keep the peace so others will like us. It does tell us to tell the truth and live out our own lives as we follow Christ.
This resolve to speak truth and to follow Christ is going to cause others to become angry. It is a frustration to the controller when they cannot control us, their antics increase until they see that it doesn't work and then they will go away, even excluding you from things. These controllers see this as a punishment for not becoming what they want us to be, but in reality it is a blessing to us.
Do not allow manipulators to kill your personality or the resolve within you to live Christlike. If your friends require you to become them in order to remain friends, then it is best to exit the relationship and find others who appreciate you the way God meant you to be.
Those who treat you disrespectfully, often treating you like a child who must submit to them, is not someone who can be your close friend. A friendship cannot be based on disrespect, it must be based on mutual respect and love.
If there is no respect there is no love. When we love we respect. Never believe someone who says "I love you", but then treats you as though you are less than they. Love and respect are companions. There are those who teach that certain people deserve respect while others do not. They command everyone to show deference to the leaders while the leaders have no need to respect others. When you see this, run, these people are narcissists, lording it over the people to dominate, there is no love with these people.
If a leader will not listen to correction, believing that the Holy Spirit only works through Him, chances are good he is full of pride and the Holy Spirit does not work through him.
The Holy Spirit works in ALL born again believers. No matter our calling whether a leader or not, we all have something to offer to one another, no one is greater in wisdom than everyone else, all need the insights and perspectives of one another.
1 Peter 5:2-3 "…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. "
Philippians 2:2-4 "…2 then make my joy complete by being of one mind, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.…"
There are those who will punish you if you are too joyful, happy or confident, they are the ones who must be superior to you and everyone else, remove them from your lives. If you have to be in their presence, completely ignore their attempts at starting fights and exit.
It is hard to believe that there are these types in the world, but they seem to be increasing. The more unhappy and miserable the world is, the more they are going to attempt to destroy our joy in the Lord.
Romans 5:3-5
"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
1 Peter 5:8
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."
John 10:10
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
The people who wish to bring us down or shape us into their own idea of good, will often be those used of the devil to distract us from God. Their man made rules, their personal ideas and everything they love that elevates them is often contrary to the Word of God, do not let them have their way.
Bottom line: Trust Christ every day all the time, then you will walk as He wants you to walk.
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