Was the Old Really Changed or Just Hidden Better

Some people get out of drugs, they clean up their life but the old residue of pride and rebellion becomes modified into a Christianized form. The resistance of obedience to God's Word in much more subtle ways continues. In short the sinful nature seems to have remained even though the crime ends.

Some people exchange their crime for a better life and a form of religion that keeps them out of trouble and makes them LOOK better to those around them, but the rebellion against God remains.

I have seen people who didn't commit crime anymore but continued to be mean spirited and arrogant as though the only thing they no longer did was the crime, they still act angry and superior.

Narcissistic people can learn what works in a culture. They learn to be more sneaky in their attacks, their covert acts allow them plausible deniability as they pretend they didn't do anything when they deliberately hurt others.

The bottom line here is this; if the only thing that has changed is outer behavior while the inner man remains spiteful and mean, then there needs to be some self reflection to see if they were actually born again or just pretending to have a better life.

Matthew 7:21-23
"21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

Dawn Martin

August 27 at 10:33 PM

If you are living the same old life that you always lived even when you profess to be born again, guess what, the same old road of destruction, ie. hell fire awaits you, & hell is forever!!
REPENT!!

Danger Signal (David Wilkerson)

The Roaring Lion Roams

I am convinced that devils are influencing the minds of people to be angry and mean to others they fear. They fear the Holy Spirit and they fear strength.

Wild animals become dangerous when they are fearful. We see this all the time. Those who need to feel powerful over others will attack in various ways those they perceive as stronger and more confident than they.

Devils are as active today as they were 2000 years ago. They work to destroy the testimony of the believer while causing unbelievers to torment the believer.

1 Peter 5:8-9
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

Eve experienced this in the garden when the devil caused her to doubt God, even disbelieving God so she would disobey Him. The devil appealed to Eve's baser nature to feel special and powerful.

When the devil wants to destroy the born again believer he sends his minions to cause anger in those who are close to the believer. If he can remove all the believers support systems, he thinks he will be able to undermine the faith of the believer and ruin their testimony. The devil does not understand that the born again believer does not operate from his/her own strength, he/she has the strength of Christ living in them. The devil cannot harm them.

1 John 4:4
"4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."

1 John 5:18
"18 We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him."

The devil causes lies to generate hatred toward those he despises. The best way to harm a born again believer is to cause those who should love the believer to despise them through distortions and half truths.

Those who are pretenders create rules that God never gave to oppress and frustrate the believer who is obeying God.

I once encountered a family of Christians who believed that the husband could do no wrong because he was the leader of the family.

When the husband wanted to watch a movie that had filthy language in it, the wife stood against the movie, saying that she could not watch it and that her husband should not either.

The pretenders treated the woman contemptuously for speaking the truth about the movie because in their mind the woman should obey her husband even if he is causing her to disobey God in order to obey her husband.

Never did the pretenders stand with the mother for her declaration that the movie is not something believer should be watching, but rather treated her shamefully for saying anything. Its probable that the pretenders wanted to see the movie too and used the disobedience of the husband as an excuse to watch what they should not watch.

There is a very foolish and damaging doctrine afoot that states that the woman should obey her husband even when he encourages the wife to sin against God for his own pleasure. They say God has a purpose in all things even sin.

This is a damnable lie from the father of lies. If we obey our husband instead of God we are making our husband the god of our lives, he becomes the false god that we worship over Jesus Christ. If we do not stand against sin we help it grow.

When the husband oppresses the wife to obey him in sin, he is disobeying the word that tells him to love his wife in understanding. He as the leader will be accountable for frustrating the wife through demanding her to sin.

This world is full of non-believers who want to sin and encourage others to sin, this is expected from those who do not know God. The very sad thing is that many born again believers are living in families in which everyone in the family claims to be Christian but who will oppress and demean the strong believer who chooses to walk uprightly.

These same pretenders will think up a reason to accuse the believer of something to make them seem as the bad ones for standing for truth.

Brothers and Sisters we are living in difficult times for the born again believer. The devil has increased his pressure upon the believer to give up their standards to have friends. They are pressured to give up their faith, their joy and their freedom in order to obey the god of this world. And, the pressure often comes from those within the church itself.

The pretender would like you to believe that you are the problem when you stand strong for Christ......don't believe them it is merely the devil whispering lies in their ears and their choosing to believe him.

2 Timothy 3 is a picture of the state of the apostate church in these end time. We must be strong in the power of Christ and resist the temptation to give into the threats and mistreatment of the pretenders.

2 Timothy 3:1-5
"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.…"

The more we stand strong the stronger we become! Strong muscles come from painful exercise. This is true of the spiritual life too, we become stronger as we practice our faith.

Romans 5:3-5
"…3 Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."

The pretender would like you to believe that you are the problem when you stand strong for Christ......don't believe them it is merely the devil whispering lies in their ears and their choosing to believe him.