Nothing in this universe is an accident. And, everything that happens in our life God already knows about. Its down right silly to try to figure things out for ourselves. Gwendolyn Wehage
Dawn Martin said this:
"Did you know that the sun is 400x bigger than the moon and 400x further away? You still believe this to be an ACCIDENT!"
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Wisdom or Foolishness You Choose
Are you lacking wisdom? Are Your prayers being answered?
James 1:5
"5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [a]without reproach, and it will be given to him."
There is no excuse for the believer to lack wisdom. All we have to do is ask for it.
However, God will not answer the prayer for wisdom while we are in sin and rebellion.
James 1:6-7 "…6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.…"
James 1:5
"5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [a]without reproach, and it will be given to him."
There is no excuse for the believer to lack wisdom. All we have to do is ask for it.
However, God will not answer the prayer for wisdom while we are in sin and rebellion.
James 1:6-7 "…6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.…"
Noah Obeyed God
Notice that Noah, out of the compassion of his heart didn't let some of them into the ark. His compassion was for those who might listen but no one would.
He preached 120 years while no one would listen. When the time came to close the doors he obeyed God because God's justice and will came first above any "feelings" Noah might have had. We are not told his feelings, but he was a human being, it must have grated on him some to hear all that screams and fear coming from those in the water.
Sometimes we have to ignore the appeals of those who are in disobedience and move forward to obey God.
My feelings would have been horror but not for their death in the water, for their refusal to listen and their destiny being hell.
He preached 120 years while no one would listen. When the time came to close the doors he obeyed God because God's justice and will came first above any "feelings" Noah might have had. We are not told his feelings, but he was a human being, it must have grated on him some to hear all that screams and fear coming from those in the water.
Sometimes we have to ignore the appeals of those who are in disobedience and move forward to obey God.
My feelings would have been horror but not for their death in the water, for their refusal to listen and their destiny being hell.
Conflict Followed Christ
"Conflict followed Jesus everywhere. The controllers were offended by anyone refusing their control, and made life miserable for Him and His followers. When “Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all that were buying and selling”, He became a marked man." Larry Jones
If you are following Christ you will be treated the way Christ and His followers were treated. You can expect even those who are "religious" full of their own pride desiring to be superior, to work against what God is doing in your life.
Matthew 10:35-37 "…35 For I have come to turn ‘A man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;…"
Perhaps those who are popular among the superficial Christians or unbelieving family members are not walking with Christ. When we love Christ, follow His principles and live as He tells us to live we will be hated by all who do not want this for their life.
The narcissist cannot tolerate someone walking according to their own convictions, they want followers of them.
When someone dares to obey the Holy Spirit while speaking the truth to those who claim to be Christian, they will be rejected, mocked and gossiped about by all those who love their religiosity.
Scripture is not important to most superficial Christians. The goal of most people is to be safe and comfortable in their own efforts. Christ demands that we trust him, seek His Holy Spirit and actually obey what He tells us.
Luke 11:13
(13) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will {your} heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
Notice this verse tells us not that we will get what we want when we trust the Holy Spirit, but rather we will get His good gifts, the ones He wants for us.
The Holy Spirit is not being consulted by most professing Christians today. Those who walk superficially are depending on ritual as well as words rather than truth and obedience.
Every time i have consulted the Holy Spirit for the direction I should go I have seen clearly which way to go. When I tried to figure out for my self the right course to take, often it didn't work out. Even when it appeared to work out there were pitfalls that could have been avoided.
When I attempted to reason with unreasonable and prideful people I was always met with hostility and rage. The Lord gave me clear direction to withdraw from these people. We cannot get out of the world but we can limit the time spent with those who do not love God. We can remain long enough to share Christ's truths, when they are rejected we can move on.
We all forget to ask God in our day, but most don't ever bother to ask to be guided by God. We see this because of the numerous violations of Scripture that plague the Christian community.
When Jesus Christ said; "if you love me you will follow my commands", He meant it. The reverse of that is that if you do not seek Him you are demonstrating contempt for Him.
Perhaps those who refuse to be corrected by the words of the Bible or even another believer using the Scriptures as the standard, really doesn't love God as they say. Believers who love Christ want to be shown Scripture to prove God's will, it matters not who that someone is, just that Christ is lifted up.
When someone wants to discuss a matter from the Bible those who love Christ would enjoy the study together.
Those who love themselves seek only to elevate themselves. Winning in a discussion is all that matters, truth and Christ take a back seat to winning.
Love is not a part of the narcissist discussion, using others and winning over them is all that matters. This is the reason one cannot finish an idea in the presence of a narcissist, they dominate the conversation, elevate their voice when they are proven wrong and begin personal attacks not relevant to the conversation to disarm their target.
We live in a culture now where these tactics of rebellion are used regularly by many. Be warned that if you run into this a lot, its not about you, its the narcissistic rebellious culture that we live in as we actually walk through 2 Timothy 3 in real time.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
“Difficult Times Will Come”
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.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
If you are following Christ you will be treated the way Christ and His followers were treated. You can expect even those who are "religious" full of their own pride desiring to be superior, to work against what God is doing in your life.
Matthew 10:35-37 "…35 For I have come to turn ‘A man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;…"
Perhaps those who are popular among the superficial Christians or unbelieving family members are not walking with Christ. When we love Christ, follow His principles and live as He tells us to live we will be hated by all who do not want this for their life.
The narcissist cannot tolerate someone walking according to their own convictions, they want followers of them.
When someone dares to obey the Holy Spirit while speaking the truth to those who claim to be Christian, they will be rejected, mocked and gossiped about by all those who love their religiosity.
Scripture is not important to most superficial Christians. The goal of most people is to be safe and comfortable in their own efforts. Christ demands that we trust him, seek His Holy Spirit and actually obey what He tells us.
Luke 11:13
(13) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will {your} heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
Notice this verse tells us not that we will get what we want when we trust the Holy Spirit, but rather we will get His good gifts, the ones He wants for us.
The Holy Spirit is not being consulted by most professing Christians today. Those who walk superficially are depending on ritual as well as words rather than truth and obedience.
Every time i have consulted the Holy Spirit for the direction I should go I have seen clearly which way to go. When I tried to figure out for my self the right course to take, often it didn't work out. Even when it appeared to work out there were pitfalls that could have been avoided.
When I attempted to reason with unreasonable and prideful people I was always met with hostility and rage. The Lord gave me clear direction to withdraw from these people. We cannot get out of the world but we can limit the time spent with those who do not love God. We can remain long enough to share Christ's truths, when they are rejected we can move on.
We all forget to ask God in our day, but most don't ever bother to ask to be guided by God. We see this because of the numerous violations of Scripture that plague the Christian community.
When Jesus Christ said; "if you love me you will follow my commands", He meant it. The reverse of that is that if you do not seek Him you are demonstrating contempt for Him.
Perhaps those who refuse to be corrected by the words of the Bible or even another believer using the Scriptures as the standard, really doesn't love God as they say. Believers who love Christ want to be shown Scripture to prove God's will, it matters not who that someone is, just that Christ is lifted up.
When someone wants to discuss a matter from the Bible those who love Christ would enjoy the study together.
Those who love themselves seek only to elevate themselves. Winning in a discussion is all that matters, truth and Christ take a back seat to winning.
Love is not a part of the narcissist discussion, using others and winning over them is all that matters. This is the reason one cannot finish an idea in the presence of a narcissist, they dominate the conversation, elevate their voice when they are proven wrong and begin personal attacks not relevant to the conversation to disarm their target.
We live in a culture now where these tactics of rebellion are used regularly by many. Be warned that if you run into this a lot, its not about you, its the narcissistic rebellious culture that we live in as we actually walk through 2 Timothy 3 in real time.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
“Difficult Times Will Come”
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.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
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