So many things modern Christians say are not Biblical, they come from the culture or psychology. Before you repeat the popular phrases be sure to check out God's word first to see if its even in there.
Things people say that are not Biblical
"God wouldn't want me to suffer."
"God would want me to be happy."
"Sin is not a problem because we are under the blood."
"God allows for divorce for adultery."
"We must say things in a way that it will be received."
"We should never judge others."
"We don't have to be different from the world if we are Christians."
"Obey your husband even if he asks you to sin because he is the leader."
"We should let go of doctrine for the sake of unity."
There are many more than these that we hear all the time. A good test of a person's heart toward God is to challenge those who use unbilbical phrases just like those above, to look in God's word for their truth instead of what people have told them.
If there is rage when they are challenged then you have encountered a rebellious heart. Walk away from them and stay away until they are humbled by God to receive truth from the Word of God.
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Feelings are not Facts!
"Feelings" are not "facts" and do not have to motivate us to obey them. We can be stronger than our feelings.
Think for a moment that Christ had horrid feelings before He went to the cross so much so that He wept drops like drops of blood.
Luke 22:43-44 "…43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. 44 And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. "
He didn't want to suffer, but was dedicated to obeying His Father. Christ could have come off of that cross but He ignored His misery and stayed where He must be to offer forgiveness to the world, even knowing the whole world would not, only some would.
We cannot allow our feelings to drive our actions either. With Christ inside of us we have the power to ignore feelings to obey Him.
Those who think they are free to sin because Christ extended forgiveness do not understand that His forgiveness is conditional to believing on Him. When we trust in Christ He makes us into a new creation, then begins His work in us.
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.:
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Romans 6:1-2 "1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?…"
If you follow your heart or your feelings you will be in error. If you seek Christ and His principles only then can you be in obedience to Him.
Think for a moment that Christ had horrid feelings before He went to the cross so much so that He wept drops like drops of blood.
Luke 22:43-44 "…43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. 44 And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground. "
He didn't want to suffer, but was dedicated to obeying His Father. Christ could have come off of that cross but He ignored His misery and stayed where He must be to offer forgiveness to the world, even knowing the whole world would not, only some would.
We cannot allow our feelings to drive our actions either. With Christ inside of us we have the power to ignore feelings to obey Him.
Those who think they are free to sin because Christ extended forgiveness do not understand that His forgiveness is conditional to believing on Him. When we trust in Christ He makes us into a new creation, then begins His work in us.
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.:
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Romans 6:1-2 "1 What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Certainly not! How can we who died to sin live in it any longer?…"
If you follow your heart or your feelings you will be in error. If you seek Christ and His principles only then can you be in obedience to Him.
Obedience not Results
The results are not our responsibility only obedience is our responsibility.
It's much better to obey God and leave the consequences to Him.
It's much better to obey God and leave the consequences to Him.
Hidden Dirt Works Its Way Out From Under the Rug
What so many Christians do not realize is that correction and confession of sin is necessary and it is love. No one will grow in Christ or be cleansed who will not be sorry enough to confess. As believers in Christ our ultimate goal is to lead people back to the principles of Christ that help those in sin.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
The world and the devil have lied to discourage people from accountability. We know that requiring accountability and confession is best for the offender, if they will repent.
Repenting and confessing are the most important things but the devil has made forgiveness more important, leaving the sinner in their sin further empowering and enabling them to go deeper into sin.
The psychologists make forgiving look like the kindness placing "feelings" more important than truth that resolves problems. Its similar to when the head house keeper is training a new house keeper to sweep the dirt under the carpet so that it is not seen, rather than seeking out the dirt to gather it into a dust pan and toss it out of the house so that it is no longer in the house at all. When the dirt is swept under the rug it remains in the house ready to infect others with the disease it carries. Not only will the dirt remain in the house it will work its way out from under the rug to fly all over the house.
Does a doctor put a bandaide on gapping wound and tell the patient to go home and take an aspirin? No the doctor cleans the wound, even cutting into it to get to the healthy tissue and then places medicines on it, telling the patient to allow it to heal. The instructions to the patient is to do nothing that would reopen the wound allowing it to heal correctly. Time and care is necessary to allow wounds to heal.
In the case of relationships the problem must be addressed, the salve of the word of God applied and actions after that will allow for healing.
If the offender will not listen or repent then the only way to heal is to remove ourselves until the offender is ready to listen and reconcile.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8 "…6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.…"
There are those who boast about how much they forgive unrepentant offenders, this is selfish lacking the wisdom of God to understand that our own feelings are never the goal in any transaction. The good of the other person comes before our own feelings of goodness.
Superficial reconciliation is not a cure for a bad relationship. All this does is to prolong the problems, even growing them to become worse. There is no concern about the offender, only for feelings of superiority.
Galatians 5:7-10 "7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?
8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
10 I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. "
When we attempt to discuss a matter with a sinning brother or sister and they refuse, then they are responsible for their refusal. If we do not approach them for a discussion then we bear the responsibility for not seeking a solution.
We cannot fix all relationships, in fact in our day most people will not discuss problems, they see a discussion as a personal attack rather than the love that wants to fix the relationship.
We cannot fix a person, they must want to hear the problem and pray about it. We can foster a fix for the relationship by addressing it, but only if the offender wants to be reconciled.
Sadly in our day most people do not want reconciliation, the only want to be allowed to act any way they please without accountability. This is the reason we see little spiritual growth in the world and now even in the church.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
The world and the devil have lied to discourage people from accountability. We know that requiring accountability and confession is best for the offender, if they will repent.
Repenting and confessing are the most important things but the devil has made forgiveness more important, leaving the sinner in their sin further empowering and enabling them to go deeper into sin.
The psychologists make forgiving look like the kindness placing "feelings" more important than truth that resolves problems. Its similar to when the head house keeper is training a new house keeper to sweep the dirt under the carpet so that it is not seen, rather than seeking out the dirt to gather it into a dust pan and toss it out of the house so that it is no longer in the house at all. When the dirt is swept under the rug it remains in the house ready to infect others with the disease it carries. Not only will the dirt remain in the house it will work its way out from under the rug to fly all over the house.
Does a doctor put a bandaide on gapping wound and tell the patient to go home and take an aspirin? No the doctor cleans the wound, even cutting into it to get to the healthy tissue and then places medicines on it, telling the patient to allow it to heal. The instructions to the patient is to do nothing that would reopen the wound allowing it to heal correctly. Time and care is necessary to allow wounds to heal.
In the case of relationships the problem must be addressed, the salve of the word of God applied and actions after that will allow for healing.
If the offender will not listen or repent then the only way to heal is to remove ourselves until the offender is ready to listen and reconcile.
1 Corinthians 5:6-8 "…6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.…"
There are those who boast about how much they forgive unrepentant offenders, this is selfish lacking the wisdom of God to understand that our own feelings are never the goal in any transaction. The good of the other person comes before our own feelings of goodness.
Superficial reconciliation is not a cure for a bad relationship. All this does is to prolong the problems, even growing them to become worse. There is no concern about the offender, only for feelings of superiority.
Galatians 5:7-10 "7 You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?
8 This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.
9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
10 I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever he is. "
When we attempt to discuss a matter with a sinning brother or sister and they refuse, then they are responsible for their refusal. If we do not approach them for a discussion then we bear the responsibility for not seeking a solution.
We cannot fix all relationships, in fact in our day most people will not discuss problems, they see a discussion as a personal attack rather than the love that wants to fix the relationship.
We cannot fix a person, they must want to hear the problem and pray about it. We can foster a fix for the relationship by addressing it, but only if the offender wants to be reconciled.
Sadly in our day most people do not want reconciliation, the only want to be allowed to act any way they please without accountability. This is the reason we see little spiritual growth in the world and now even in the church.
Christ and Our Trials
Christ goes through trials with the born again believers just as He went through with Job.
God encouraged Job to trust Him even more. Job never denied God during it all but he did ask God why? This is a normal and permissible question as long as it does not lead to accusation against God.
Those who say it is alright to be angry with God are foolish, not understanding the nature and will of God they think of Him as possibly doing wrong. Assigning wrong to God is bringing Him down to the level of humanity.
God does no wrong, God never makes a mistake, He does however have purpose for everything He does and it is perfect, even if we cannot see or understand what we are experiencing.
Revelation 16:7 "7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”
To be angry with God is to claim He does not know what He is doing, it is denying His divinity and His very nature of perfection.
Proverbs 19:3
"The foolishness of man ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD."
God has every reason to be angry with man, but man has no reason to be angry with God.
Job 42:6 "I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance."
Job was not angry with God but had questions of Him. When the Lord showed Job that he was a mere man and that God created everything He began to see that his focus was more on his pain than it was on God. He had not sinned but he had allowed his pain to be diverted from God to that alone.
Job 42:6
"6 Therefore I retract,
And I repent (change his mind) in dust and ashes.”
God often does not tell us why we are going through trials, rather He wants us to trust that He knows what He is doing.
Also, we learn to trust Him more when we see that nothing we can do will fix things. When the fix comes, whether it be learning to live with pain or healing of that pain, we will know that it was a miracle from God.
Yes, I said it, that it is a miracle from God to learn to live with pain. Some godly people live with pain their entire lives remaining faithful to God, even with joy in their hearts through the tears.
Tears are not an expression necessarily of weakness, they are the bodies way of stress relief. God gave them, He had His own tears before going to the cross. Are we above God that we would not have tears when He did?
It is prideful weakness in someone who cannot cry for fear of appearing weak. The very act of refusing to cry when our bodies demand it, is itself a weakness.
Romans 12:15
"15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."
Revelation 5:4
"Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;"
Weeping over the sins we see all around us is a sign of the godly empathy we were given by Christ Who desires that all men be saved. Those who do not weep for others lack the character that loves God and mankind more than they love themselves.
Psalm 56:8
"You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle Are they not in Your book?"
There are 64 verses on weeping in the Bible, this is why I believe it is a part of the Christian life as natural as breathing.
John 11:33
"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,"
If anyone is emotionally and empathetically constipated then perhaps they ought to read all the verses in the Bible about concern for others and the healing that comes from weeping over someone else's sorrows.
As my husband says frequently: "a sorrow shared is half a sorrow and a blessing shared is twice the blessing."
If anyone realizes they lack empathy for others they are revealing a character flaw, it would be time to ask God to develop in them the character qualities of the fruit of the Spirit.
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."
God encouraged Job to trust Him even more. Job never denied God during it all but he did ask God why? This is a normal and permissible question as long as it does not lead to accusation against God.
Those who say it is alright to be angry with God are foolish, not understanding the nature and will of God they think of Him as possibly doing wrong. Assigning wrong to God is bringing Him down to the level of humanity.
God does no wrong, God never makes a mistake, He does however have purpose for everything He does and it is perfect, even if we cannot see or understand what we are experiencing.
Revelation 16:7 "7 And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!”
To be angry with God is to claim He does not know what He is doing, it is denying His divinity and His very nature of perfection.
Proverbs 19:3
"The foolishness of man ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD."
God has every reason to be angry with man, but man has no reason to be angry with God.
Job 42:6 "I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance."
Job was not angry with God but had questions of Him. When the Lord showed Job that he was a mere man and that God created everything He began to see that his focus was more on his pain than it was on God. He had not sinned but he had allowed his pain to be diverted from God to that alone.
Job 42:6
"6 Therefore I retract,
And I repent (change his mind) in dust and ashes.”
God often does not tell us why we are going through trials, rather He wants us to trust that He knows what He is doing.
Also, we learn to trust Him more when we see that nothing we can do will fix things. When the fix comes, whether it be learning to live with pain or healing of that pain, we will know that it was a miracle from God.
Yes, I said it, that it is a miracle from God to learn to live with pain. Some godly people live with pain their entire lives remaining faithful to God, even with joy in their hearts through the tears.
Tears are not an expression necessarily of weakness, they are the bodies way of stress relief. God gave them, He had His own tears before going to the cross. Are we above God that we would not have tears when He did?
It is prideful weakness in someone who cannot cry for fear of appearing weak. The very act of refusing to cry when our bodies demand it, is itself a weakness.
Romans 12:15
"15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep."
Revelation 5:4
"Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;"
Weeping over the sins we see all around us is a sign of the godly empathy we were given by Christ Who desires that all men be saved. Those who do not weep for others lack the character that loves God and mankind more than they love themselves.
Psalm 56:8
"You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle Are they not in Your book?"
There are 64 verses on weeping in the Bible, this is why I believe it is a part of the Christian life as natural as breathing.
John 11:33
"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled,"
If anyone is emotionally and empathetically constipated then perhaps they ought to read all the verses in the Bible about concern for others and the healing that comes from weeping over someone else's sorrows.
As my husband says frequently: "a sorrow shared is half a sorrow and a blessing shared is twice the blessing."
If anyone realizes they lack empathy for others they are revealing a character flaw, it would be time to ask God to develop in them the character qualities of the fruit of the Spirit.
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."
End Times Trials
The deeper we are into the end times the more we are seeing the proliferation of narcissism.
The tribulation will be one in which every single person will be a narcissists except those who trust Christ during that time.
Christ will come back at the end of it with His church to destroy evil. He will destroy the wicked with the breath of His mouth.
I am convinced that our job on earth at this time is to learn how not to respond in kind to the devils that want us to fall.
We must ignore any "feelings" of anger that would try to well up. The purpose of the devil is to make born again believers do evil in response ruining our witness in the world. We cannot allow the narcissist to bait us into doing what they would do, that is to rage at someone.
Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution. 10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.…"'
If you remember the account of Job you will notice that the purpose for the devil attacking Job was to prove he was not loyal to God in times of trial. The devil thought he could prove to God that Job was only being loyal because God had blessed him.
All said and done after the demonic attack Job remained faithful to God proving his faithfulness was not superficial based on blessings but a deep loyalty to God no matter what God takes him through.
This has been the tactic of the devil from the beginning, that is to make the born again believer hate God, turning his back on the very God who made him. But with born again believers this does not happen.
We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God Who protects our soul from these tactics.
Sadly there are many pretenders in the church. They come to destroy the faith of many with their false doctrines as well as discouraging those who walk closely with Christ.
When we have trusted Christ the devil cannot harm our soul, but he will attempt to attack us through the hate of people as well as our bodies. Just like Job we can remain faithful, grow in holiness and trust Christ through every trial.
Anyone who comes to you and says we lack faith because we are not healed are acting like Jobs friends who love him, were well meaning but falsely judged him as having sinned because he was ill.
Our illnesses are not evidence that we are lacking faith, in fact we may have more faith than those who do not become ill. It takes more faith and trust in Christ when we are ill than it does when nothing is hurting.
Christ goes through the trial with the born again believer just as He went through with Job. God encouraged Job to trust Him even more. Job never denied God during it all but he did ask God why? This is a normal and permissible question as long as it does not lead to accusation against God.
When we have faith we know that all trials and illnesses have purpose for us and others but we don't always know why. Perhaps we will find out later why we go through trials.
The tribulation will be one in which every single person will be a narcissists except those who trust Christ during that time.
Christ will come back at the end of it with His church to destroy evil. He will destroy the wicked with the breath of His mouth.
I am convinced that our job on earth at this time is to learn how not to respond in kind to the devils that want us to fall.
We must ignore any "feelings" of anger that would try to well up. The purpose of the devil is to make born again believers do evil in response ruining our witness in the world. We cannot allow the narcissist to bait us into doing what they would do, that is to rage at someone.
Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution. 10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.…"'
If you remember the account of Job you will notice that the purpose for the devil attacking Job was to prove he was not loyal to God in times of trial. The devil thought he could prove to God that Job was only being loyal because God had blessed him.
All said and done after the demonic attack Job remained faithful to God proving his faithfulness was not superficial based on blessings but a deep loyalty to God no matter what God takes him through.
This has been the tactic of the devil from the beginning, that is to make the born again believer hate God, turning his back on the very God who made him. But with born again believers this does not happen.
We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God Who protects our soul from these tactics.
Sadly there are many pretenders in the church. They come to destroy the faith of many with their false doctrines as well as discouraging those who walk closely with Christ.
When we have trusted Christ the devil cannot harm our soul, but he will attempt to attack us through the hate of people as well as our bodies. Just like Job we can remain faithful, grow in holiness and trust Christ through every trial.
Anyone who comes to you and says we lack faith because we are not healed are acting like Jobs friends who love him, were well meaning but falsely judged him as having sinned because he was ill.
Our illnesses are not evidence that we are lacking faith, in fact we may have more faith than those who do not become ill. It takes more faith and trust in Christ when we are ill than it does when nothing is hurting.
Christ goes through the trial with the born again believer just as He went through with Job. God encouraged Job to trust Him even more. Job never denied God during it all but he did ask God why? This is a normal and permissible question as long as it does not lead to accusation against God.
When we have faith we know that all trials and illnesses have purpose for us and others but we don't always know why. Perhaps we will find out later why we go through trials.
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