Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Jealousy causes blindness!
The more jealous a person is the less they can see.
The less they can see, the less discerning they become. Those who are blinded by jealousy will believe anything easily without evidence.
James 3:16
"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice."
James 4:2-3
"You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
For years every family gathering was overrun by talk of the sports figures and the games. I was mocked when I expressed that sports was not important and that it was no more "clean" than any other entertainment. Those who choose sports for their career have never grown up. They are children in adult bodies, desiring to be rich and famous. They are nothing more than entertainers seeking their fifteen minutes of fame.
Those in the family attempted to convince me that sports was good for children and good for the culture. As far as I could see there was no value for eternity in watching grown men chase a ball around the field while the spectators in the bleachers hollered for someone to win. At the end of it only the players won, they got the big bucks while the fans in the bleachers paid them to watch them get the big bucks.
There was pride involved, "my team won", O.K. my questions was "what did that get you?"
When we entertain ourselves, that's alright I guess, we all do to some degree, but the problem is when we make it so important that it becomes the discussion of every gathering, even in the worship gathering.
Just like the prophet lamented that he thought he was the only one, but God said no, there are 5,000 more that he did not know about.
We are finding this true on the internet. God is showing us that we are not alone and the Spirit in us is connected to the Spirit of all those other brothers and sisters that we have not yet met. It is a blessing though when we get to meet some of them. Hallelujah!!!
So many Pentecostals are getting into ritualistic and strange practices merely to "feel" and "appear" spiritual, just as every cult does. Rather than evaluating what is being said and done according to the Scriptures, they are leaning into good sounding things that detract from spiritual growth and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:17-24
The New Life
17 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.
18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—
21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."
How many believers here can relate to this description of the abuse that comes from "Christian" family. Not only those in the church but those in bio families?
The persecution that I have experienced has been some name calling on facebook, but the worst of it came from "Christian" family members who are into the world more than they listen to God. They defend ungodly things and mock and demean me when I come against it.
One example of this was my brother who advised a new believer, a woman, that she needed to watch porn with her unsaved husband because obeying her husband was more important than obeying God. In other words her husband took the place of God in her obedience.
The woman was devastated that she had to watch that XXX porn filth with her husband. I told my brother that it was sinful for him to tell her that, he managed to undermine her faith instead of make her strong against evil. He caused her to sin against God.
Another brother believes that we should be friendly to the unsaved and that friendliness will cause them to ask. No need to give out the gospel, unless they ask.
My sister in law went to a seminar and brought home a thick booklet on how to pray. I told her that if I thought it was that hard I would give up. Christ gave us the instructions in the Bible, it was only a short one in the Lord's prayer. He also told us that hypocrites believe they are heard by their many words.
Within the pages of this ritualistic book was direction to walk over bridges as they pray, as well as walking around neighborhoods as a ritual. God tells us to go into our rooms. Can God hear us better when we are praying for our neighborhoods if we walk around it or does God do magic to every car that passes over the bridge if we have stood on it and prayed. None of this is Biblical and none has value except to elevate those who want to be seen by others. These practices are nothing more than meaningless rituals and are not described in the Word of God.
Matthew 6:9-13
9 “Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]
Matthew 6:6-8 "…6 But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.…"
2 Corinthians 10:12 "12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they show their ignorance."
We live in a world full of judgment in which people look at others and determine their spirituality by their own standard, especially according to the culture. When someone does this they are walking in pride and jealousy.
Often "pew people" are more inclined to make judgments about others based on the false teaching that comes out of the pulpit rather than their own judgments that came from prayer, Bible study and leading of the Holy Spirit.
When the decision to judge another person is based on cultural practices instead of God's Word, there will have many wrong judgments. Sadly, there are many people who think unbiblical things are from the Bible, making the decision to believe as they please without researching and praying, they continue their wrong beliefs. Their advocates are many while the advocates for authentic Bible believers are few.
It fascinates me that someone will judge those as mean spirited who hold marriage in high regard according to the word of God, while completely comfortable with divorce and remarriage. Now the culture has gone one step further and is accepting and even embracing the "shack up" status of many church goers.
Those who speak against this sin are being treated as though they are saying something wrong. They are labeled "mean spirited" or "judgmental." Notice those who label true Bible believers, have no problem judging wrongly those who speak truth.
Yes, God said it and I believe it, that is, we will be targets for abuse when we speak the truth from the Bible. Those who love their sin and acceptance of the world standard will always be vitriolic when a truth tellers speaks boldly.
Proverbs 28:1
"The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion."
You will find yourself alone a lot if you dare to speak what God speaks from His Word.
Acts 28:31
"Proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance."
Ephesians 3:12
"In whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him."
Hebrews 13:6
"So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”
Why would God tell us not to worry about what man does to us? That answer is simple, we will be persecuted in various ways for standing for Christ. Others will exclude us, mock us, lie against us and even rage when they don't like what we say and do, even if the choice is for our own life.
Mockers hate that we make our own decisions apart from their pack. When we don't do what they do, go where they go and say what they say, they will work to gossip to ruin our reputation as well as poke at us hoping to create a reaction. Even the subtle pokes are designed to get us to respond in kind affording the one poking that they have something to hold against us, even if its just a reaction to their pokes.
In our country the persecution does not come in obvious forms, it is subtle and very covert, even in the form of jokes for plausible deniability.
Here is what God says about it:
James 1:2-8
Profiting from Trials
"2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
Matthew 5:10-12 "…10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
12 Rejoice and celebrate, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.…"
Here is the gist of the matter; when you are persecuted for Christ, because you desire to do everything according to truth, there is a special blessing at the end of this life, as well as the blessing of the close walk with Christ. So continue as the Holy Spirit leads, never shrinking from truth telling because of what man may think or do.
