There is a lot of false Christianity going on these days based on feelings and talk but no born again experience. We know that because the fruit of the Spirit is missing in many people we encounter.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 So then, you will know them by their fruits."
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Narcissism in the Days of Noah and Lot
The face of narcissism in our day and in the days of Noah and Lot:
They rage when you mildly disagree with them.
They mock you when you operate according to your own belief system.
They punish you with the silent treatment when you have boundaries and will not do everything they think you should do.
They gossip against you with others to turn hearts away from you simply for making the choice to follow your own heart, especially when it pertains to the things of God.
They use manipulation and intimidation when you do not do what they do, go where they want you to go or assert yourself in the face of their attempts at control over you.
And very sadly they often use "religion" to cause false guilt so that you will feel guilty about doing what God has led you to do.
The religious narcissist will hate everything God loves and love everything God hates and claim God is the reason. They believe they have the truth when what they do and say flies in the face of God's principles and standards.
Narcissists are more interested in molding you into their image than they are in truth.
Narcissists are easily manipulated by the culture to do as it does to be popular or to fit in. These weak minded individuals will follow the latest trends in everything, clothing, vacations, cars and other material possessions as well as popular beliefs.
Narcissists are continually deeply jealous of others who are happy and secure in in themselves. They hate that those who are content to walk with God are so joyful. Their aim is to remove the joy from them and take away any support system they may have.
The narcissist has the false belief that they think for themselves but they do not. They rage, punish, gossip, manipulate and intimidate when anyone dares to live their own life the way they believe God wants them to live.
If you think you do not have a narcissist in your life, just look around you, in your community, in government, in schools and every other venue. Our culture as a whole is a narcissistic culture, sold out to self and lies continually.
We have Hollywood celebrities threatening to kill our president. They are clever by drawing cartoons depicting the death of our president hoping some nut job will do the dirty work for them.
When the nut job does carry out the threats of the film stars the film stars will stand back and say in a low convincing voice, "I didn't do it." When in fact they deliberately incited the action making them complicit in it even if they never fired a shot.
If our president is ever shot then all those film stars who called for his death should be rounded up, arrested and executed for treason. But it will not happen in our day because the liberals who are in charge of everything refuse to follow the laws to protect others with whom they disagree.
In families we see those who rage for no good reason at all just because you will not be just like them. They accuse us of things that are not true hoping it will cause us to respond badly so they can accuse us of being out of control.
Knowing what we must endure everyday within our culture and that God prophesied it is a comfort to reasonable, loving and empathetic individuals. Our joy cannot be extinguished because we know where all this comes from and where God is taking us.
The devil is orchestrating all this mess but God is still in control. A born again believer can remain calm, joyful and steadfast in their walk in spite of the wickedness all around us.
We are living in the days of Noah and the days of Lot, when everyone does what is right in their own eyes and no one will listen. But even worse these selfish and narcissistic types want to ruin anyone who loves God.
In Noah's day: Genesis 6:5,11,12 ...'And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.'
IN LOT's DAY: - Jude 1:7 ...'Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.'"
2 Peter 2:4-6
"4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;"
In our day we have many "religious" people who think they are on their way to heaven. They have been indoctrinated by a modern false gospel that brings happiness based on feelings rather than the joy that comes from Christ living in someone. This false happiness based on circumstances and pleasure will one day prove to be a sham! Indulging in rules and religious practices to appease God as though He can be manipulated, they will see they didn't love Him or obey Him as they claimed.
Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"
The religious narcissists of our day have a form of religion but deny God in the practice of it. They do things to impress others while pretending to be godly inside. Their inside is black as coal, filled with all the tactics and desires of those of a narcissist.
Matthew 23:27-28
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
In Jesus day the "religious" leaders were the worst for their arrogance and harsh treatment of others to control them. We have the same thing going on today. The religious leaders teach false doctrine to control the people and punish those who adhere to the Bible and the Holy Spirit as they seek holiness through Christ rather than the appearance of holiness by human effort.
Our righteousness as born again believers is not based on good works but on Christ Himself, the good works are the outcome, the result of seeking Christ for His purpose.
When Christ is working in us we are free to speak truth, free to do as we are led by Him. No man can deter us from what Christ has called us to do. We can freely execute the boundaries God has given us without guilt.
Many people will attempt to bring drama and foolishness into our lives to distract us, but they cannot as hard as they try, they cannot.
1 Thessalonians 2:17-19 "17 Brothers, although we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in heart), our desire to see you face to face was even more intense. 18 For we wanted to come to you— indeed I, Paul, tried again and again— but Satan obstructed us. 19 After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?…"
Satan will try to thwart us in our walk but he cannot overpower God or the Holy Spirit. If God wants something to happen the devil will not be able to thwart His plan.
Bottom line: Just stay prayerful, seek the Holy Spirit and trust that Christ in you will lead you where He wants you to go. He will work in you what you should be. "Being" holy is far more important than "doing" things. Being Christlike must be first or the works are dead works.
They rage when you mildly disagree with them.
They mock you when you operate according to your own belief system.
They punish you with the silent treatment when you have boundaries and will not do everything they think you should do.
They gossip against you with others to turn hearts away from you simply for making the choice to follow your own heart, especially when it pertains to the things of God.
They use manipulation and intimidation when you do not do what they do, go where they want you to go or assert yourself in the face of their attempts at control over you.
And very sadly they often use "religion" to cause false guilt so that you will feel guilty about doing what God has led you to do.
The religious narcissist will hate everything God loves and love everything God hates and claim God is the reason. They believe they have the truth when what they do and say flies in the face of God's principles and standards.
Narcissists are more interested in molding you into their image than they are in truth.
Narcissists are easily manipulated by the culture to do as it does to be popular or to fit in. These weak minded individuals will follow the latest trends in everything, clothing, vacations, cars and other material possessions as well as popular beliefs.
Narcissists are continually deeply jealous of others who are happy and secure in in themselves. They hate that those who are content to walk with God are so joyful. Their aim is to remove the joy from them and take away any support system they may have.
The narcissist has the false belief that they think for themselves but they do not. They rage, punish, gossip, manipulate and intimidate when anyone dares to live their own life the way they believe God wants them to live.
If you think you do not have a narcissist in your life, just look around you, in your community, in government, in schools and every other venue. Our culture as a whole is a narcissistic culture, sold out to self and lies continually.
We have Hollywood celebrities threatening to kill our president. They are clever by drawing cartoons depicting the death of our president hoping some nut job will do the dirty work for them.
When the nut job does carry out the threats of the film stars the film stars will stand back and say in a low convincing voice, "I didn't do it." When in fact they deliberately incited the action making them complicit in it even if they never fired a shot.
If our president is ever shot then all those film stars who called for his death should be rounded up, arrested and executed for treason. But it will not happen in our day because the liberals who are in charge of everything refuse to follow the laws to protect others with whom they disagree.
In families we see those who rage for no good reason at all just because you will not be just like them. They accuse us of things that are not true hoping it will cause us to respond badly so they can accuse us of being out of control.
Knowing what we must endure everyday within our culture and that God prophesied it is a comfort to reasonable, loving and empathetic individuals. Our joy cannot be extinguished because we know where all this comes from and where God is taking us.
The devil is orchestrating all this mess but God is still in control. A born again believer can remain calm, joyful and steadfast in their walk in spite of the wickedness all around us.
We are living in the days of Noah and the days of Lot, when everyone does what is right in their own eyes and no one will listen. But even worse these selfish and narcissistic types want to ruin anyone who loves God.
In Noah's day: Genesis 6:5,11,12 ...'And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.'
IN LOT's DAY: - Jude 1:7 ...'Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.'"
2 Peter 2:4-6
"4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;"
In our day we have many "religious" people who think they are on their way to heaven. They have been indoctrinated by a modern false gospel that brings happiness based on feelings rather than the joy that comes from Christ living in someone. This false happiness based on circumstances and pleasure will one day prove to be a sham! Indulging in rules and religious practices to appease God as though He can be manipulated, they will see they didn't love Him or obey Him as they claimed.
Matthew 7:21-23 "21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"
The religious narcissists of our day have a form of religion but deny God in the practice of it. They do things to impress others while pretending to be godly inside. Their inside is black as coal, filled with all the tactics and desires of those of a narcissist.
Matthew 23:27-28
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
In Jesus day the "religious" leaders were the worst for their arrogance and harsh treatment of others to control them. We have the same thing going on today. The religious leaders teach false doctrine to control the people and punish those who adhere to the Bible and the Holy Spirit as they seek holiness through Christ rather than the appearance of holiness by human effort.
Our righteousness as born again believers is not based on good works but on Christ Himself, the good works are the outcome, the result of seeking Christ for His purpose.
When Christ is working in us we are free to speak truth, free to do as we are led by Him. No man can deter us from what Christ has called us to do. We can freely execute the boundaries God has given us without guilt.
Many people will attempt to bring drama and foolishness into our lives to distract us, but they cannot as hard as they try, they cannot.
1 Thessalonians 2:17-19 "17 Brothers, although we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in heart), our desire to see you face to face was even more intense. 18 For we wanted to come to you— indeed I, Paul, tried again and again— but Satan obstructed us. 19 After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?…"
Satan will try to thwart us in our walk but he cannot overpower God or the Holy Spirit. If God wants something to happen the devil will not be able to thwart His plan.
Bottom line: Just stay prayerful, seek the Holy Spirit and trust that Christ in you will lead you where He wants you to go. He will work in you what you should be. "Being" holy is far more important than "doing" things. Being Christlike must be first or the works are dead works.
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