Most people in our culture today are driven by emotions they cannot control nor do they think are inaccurate. When we live by emotions we will be wrong more times than we are right.
When someone fights to defend their "rights" and their "freedoms" everything will be based on their own desires and not on the will of God. God never promised us freedom from people or governments. Our freedom is in the Spirit able to walk with God unashamed and unhindered, whether in the world or in a jail cell.
2 Timothy 2
Be Strong
2 You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
3 Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
5 Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.
6 The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.
7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel,
9 for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.
10 For this reason, I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.
11 It is a trustworthy statement:
For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."
God's will does not always look the way we think it should look.
Joseph was thrown into a well by his brothers who were jealous of him. This might have been something to whine about, but Joseph accepted his fate and it lead to him becoming a ruler in Egypt.
Adriana Rogers said the following:
5 Ways to sink a ship:
1. Decide in haste.
2. Depend on worldly wisdom.
3. Take the easy way out.
4. Follow the crowd.
5. Base a decision on circumstances.
There have been many examples in the Word of God in which God had terrible things happen to the apostles or the patriarchs of the Old Testament that ultimately ended up being blessings and salvation to them and even others.
How believers respond to difficulties and hardships can be a witness to the unsaved world all by themselves.
When we base our decisions on feelings we will often be resisting God's will. He is not first and foremost in our lives when we camp on feelings for our wisdom this is based on our own desires, not His will. "The wisdom of the world is foolishness."
The devil will tell you the same thing he told Eve, "you can be like God, you don't have to consult him, just do what you want." These words are not expressed this way in the Bible but it amounts to the same message.
Genesis 3:1-5 "3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from [a]any tree of the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” "
The devil basically told Eve that God lied to her. He said the Lord was keeping secrets and that the fruit was not bad to eat. He told her that she was as great as God and did not have to obey his authority, she could make her own decisions based on her own desires.
This is exactly what the devil is doing today. He is telling the believer, "you can divorce and remarry", God didn't really mean what He said, He just wants to make you miserable. Or worse yet many who obey the devil say God didn't say it at all, it was a mistake.
Satan is telling believers they should forgive sin that has not been repented of, this sidesteps the need for repentance that cleanses the one who has sinned, leaving the unrepentant sinner remaining in their filth while it grows worse. It also perverts and denies the need for a sinner to repent to become born again.
Satan is telling believers they should love themselves first knowing that this leads to their loving ONLY themselves. This destroys their Christian service and witness as they focus on their own desires and will instead of God and others.
Satan is building pride in the believer to cause conflict in the body as well as conflict with others who are unsaved. Instead of living out their faith and speaking it in boldness, many are focusing on themselves to be loved and appreciated by everyone as well as getting their own way. They are useless to the kingdom of God, their water is luke warn without value.
Revelation 3:15-17 "…15 I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! 16 So because you are lukewarm— neither hot nor cold— I am about to vomit you out of My mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.…"
The world is looking at the believer today saying, "why should I believe you, you are no different from the unsaved." This is a shame to the church but is rampant in our day of apostasy.
Think about it!!!!
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