Rejecting the cultural Christianity I grew up with to embrace and enjoy a relationship with Jesus Christ. A place to come and share thoughts about almost anything. Especially things of the Lord. Please no Anonymous posts, I enjoy knowing who is writing to me.
Monday, January 20, 2020
The Respect is Missing!
God clearly commands children to obey their parents. To listen to their father's teaching and to obey the law of their mother.
Proverbs 6:20-21 "20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 21 Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.…"
This commandment to "bind them ALWAYS upon your heart is being violated continually among adult children.
As our children were growing up they were being raised primarily by the culture through their daily contact with the public school system. They were taught things their mother and father didn't agree with and the pull of the world was far greater than the influence of their parents. Not only were they adversely influenced by the schools and churches around them, they were also affected by the family culture that was also in rebellion against God.
As the years passed the children were trained by the culture to resist the training of their parents to become one with their culture.
Many times the children would reluctantly obey my commands to put away their coat or clean their room, even though they did what they were told it was not out of devotion and love it was to avoid being disciplined for not obeying.
Why did I think the obedience was to stay out of trouble? Simple put, when they thought I couldn't see or that they could get away with something they knew I would not approve of they would sneak and do as they pleased.
Sadly though these adult children carry their angst and stubbornness into adulthood as they remain disrespectful only more openly because I cannot punish them anymore. What does this tell me? It says that they were never willingly and lovingly compliant to begin with all their growing years.
Ones' character does not change because they suddenly grew up. The character that was inside all along in their youth is magnified as they grow up to be their true selves on the outside. When we let go of our children as they leave home is when we will see what they are made of, what has been there all the time emerges.
I once heard a story about a little boy who was being disciplined by his father. The father commanded the boy to go and sit in a chair as a punishment for bad behavior. The boy went to the chair and sat down. After sitting down the boy loudly declared; "I am sitting down on the outside up on the inside I am standing up."
God cares about the inside far more than the outside. Our heart condition is what drives our character and our actions. Those who are obeying just to be seen as good or merely to keep out of trouble will eventually let down their guard and become on the outside the character that was inside all along.
One example of this is when a young boy came home from school and removed his coat as he let it fall to the floor. The little boy knew the mother was a tidy person and would expect her to tell him to put his coat in its proper place in the closet.
The young boy knew his mother would be irritated that he had not done what he knew to do. He was enjoying the frustration of the mother who had been through this with the boy many times about other things.
When the mother commanded the boy to put his coat away one more time, the boy grabbed the coat, went to the closet and threw the coat in rather than hanging it on the hook. This is defiance in God's eyes.
How hard would it have been to walk in the door of the house, take the coat off as he went to the closet and hung it up the way he knew his mother wanted? Not hard at all!!!!
When a mother encounters these covertly disobedient actions there is a wedge created between the mother and the son. The wedge is created by the son who will not obey God in obeying the law of his mother.
Merely doing what the authorities over you ask is not necessarily obedience if it does not come from a heart that wishes to bless those God has placed over us.
The rebellion in our day is no longer covert because there is almost no accountability or punishment for those who defy authority. There is also no support for those who believe in standards and rules, they pretty much stand alone.
Another aspect of this rebellion is that the rebellious one always finds a way to blame the one who was reasonable in their command for being mean. Its sort of like the bully who pokes and pokes at his little sister and then accuses her of being out of control when she shouts at him to stop after several pokes.
I cannot count the number of appalling blogs I have read about daughters in law who come right out and say; "I hate my mother in law." These entitled brats have never learned to respect the mother of their spouse, treating them with the love and dignity one would treat their own mothers. My guess is that these same rebellious in law children never treated anyone with respect because they didn't know what it looked like.
Then there was one blog I read that blessed my socks off. It was a young newly married woman who said; "I love my mother in law." I saw the sweetness and respect in the tone of this letter and it made me realize there are still some out there who understand that if we love our spouse we treat their mother with love and kindness.
Those who get married and attempt to isolate our spouse from their mother are disrespecting the mother but also their spouse.
When we get married the mother of our spouse is to be treated as a mother to us also. It is respect for the spouse that we treat their parents with love. Only one generation ago both people in a marriage called the mother and father of their spouse; "Mom and Dad." It was expected and considered normal.
Now we have adult children calling their parent in laws by their first names, a disrespectful stance. Placing ones self on the same level as the in law parents is disrespectful.
Ephesians 6:1-2 "1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),…"
Proverbs 6:20-21 "20 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 21 Bind them always upon your heart; tie them around your neck.…"
This commandment to "bind them ALWAYS upon your heart is being violated continually among adult children.
As our children were growing up they were being raised primarily by the culture through their daily contact with the public school system. They were taught things their mother and father didn't agree with and the pull of the world was far greater than the influence of their parents. Not only were they adversely influenced by the schools and churches around them, they were also affected by the family culture that was also in rebellion against God.
As the years passed the children were trained by the culture to resist the training of their parents to become one with their culture.
Many times the children would reluctantly obey my commands to put away their coat or clean their room, even though they did what they were told it was not out of devotion and love it was to avoid being disciplined for not obeying.
Why did I think the obedience was to stay out of trouble? Simple put, when they thought I couldn't see or that they could get away with something they knew I would not approve of they would sneak and do as they pleased.
Sadly though these adult children carry their angst and stubbornness into adulthood as they remain disrespectful only more openly because I cannot punish them anymore. What does this tell me? It says that they were never willingly and lovingly compliant to begin with all their growing years.
Ones' character does not change because they suddenly grew up. The character that was inside all along in their youth is magnified as they grow up to be their true selves on the outside. When we let go of our children as they leave home is when we will see what they are made of, what has been there all the time emerges.
I once heard a story about a little boy who was being disciplined by his father. The father commanded the boy to go and sit in a chair as a punishment for bad behavior. The boy went to the chair and sat down. After sitting down the boy loudly declared; "I am sitting down on the outside up on the inside I am standing up."
God cares about the inside far more than the outside. Our heart condition is what drives our character and our actions. Those who are obeying just to be seen as good or merely to keep out of trouble will eventually let down their guard and become on the outside the character that was inside all along.
One example of this is when a young boy came home from school and removed his coat as he let it fall to the floor. The little boy knew the mother was a tidy person and would expect her to tell him to put his coat in its proper place in the closet.
The young boy knew his mother would be irritated that he had not done what he knew to do. He was enjoying the frustration of the mother who had been through this with the boy many times about other things.
When the mother commanded the boy to put his coat away one more time, the boy grabbed the coat, went to the closet and threw the coat in rather than hanging it on the hook. This is defiance in God's eyes.
How hard would it have been to walk in the door of the house, take the coat off as he went to the closet and hung it up the way he knew his mother wanted? Not hard at all!!!!
When a mother encounters these covertly disobedient actions there is a wedge created between the mother and the son. The wedge is created by the son who will not obey God in obeying the law of his mother.
Merely doing what the authorities over you ask is not necessarily obedience if it does not come from a heart that wishes to bless those God has placed over us.
The rebellion in our day is no longer covert because there is almost no accountability or punishment for those who defy authority. There is also no support for those who believe in standards and rules, they pretty much stand alone.
Another aspect of this rebellion is that the rebellious one always finds a way to blame the one who was reasonable in their command for being mean. Its sort of like the bully who pokes and pokes at his little sister and then accuses her of being out of control when she shouts at him to stop after several pokes.
I cannot count the number of appalling blogs I have read about daughters in law who come right out and say; "I hate my mother in law." These entitled brats have never learned to respect the mother of their spouse, treating them with the love and dignity one would treat their own mothers. My guess is that these same rebellious in law children never treated anyone with respect because they didn't know what it looked like.
Then there was one blog I read that blessed my socks off. It was a young newly married woman who said; "I love my mother in law." I saw the sweetness and respect in the tone of this letter and it made me realize there are still some out there who understand that if we love our spouse we treat their mother with love and kindness.
Those who get married and attempt to isolate our spouse from their mother are disrespecting the mother but also their spouse.
When we get married the mother of our spouse is to be treated as a mother to us also. It is respect for the spouse that we treat their parents with love. Only one generation ago both people in a marriage called the mother and father of their spouse; "Mom and Dad." It was expected and considered normal.
Now we have adult children calling their parent in laws by their first names, a disrespectful stance. Placing ones self on the same level as the in law parents is disrespectful.
Ephesians 6:1-2 "1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother” (which is the first commandment with a promise),…"
The Most Frightening Passage in the Bible
Christianity is not a religious system or a set of rules to follow, its not even a profession of faith. The life in Christ is a life changed completely from the old devilish sinful nature into a heavenly life seeking Christ Who lives in us.
We are trapped in this body of death and sin and must battle the flesh in prayer and Scripture study. When we do this we will not satisfy the flesh, but will live in the Spirit, Who is Christ.
Galatians 5:16-17 "16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.…"
However:
Romans 6:14-16 "…13 Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not!…"
Many "Christians" who say we are under grace so we should not be concerned about sin do not understand that grace has given us the ability to reject and avoid sin.
Accepting sin in the body is like drinking poison thinking it will not harm you because you eat good food all the rest of the time.
If you meet someone who defends sin and justifies it using grace as an excuse, even angry to fight to defend it, you may be encountering a pretender. A pretender is someone who believes they are saved but has little to no interest in seeking or pleasing God. They do not have the Holy Spirit even though they may have lots of head knowledge about the Bible, they do not understand what they have read in the Bible.
Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
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.’"
There are people who may have good works, even their whole lives who thought they were saved only to be turned away from heaven. I call this the most frightening passage in the Bible.
We are trapped in this body of death and sin and must battle the flesh in prayer and Scripture study. When we do this we will not satisfy the flesh, but will live in the Spirit, Who is Christ.
Galatians 5:16-17 "16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.…"
However:
Romans 6:14-16 "…13 Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? Certainly not!…"
Many "Christians" who say we are under grace so we should not be concerned about sin do not understand that grace has given us the ability to reject and avoid sin.
Accepting sin in the body is like drinking poison thinking it will not harm you because you eat good food all the rest of the time.
If you meet someone who defends sin and justifies it using grace as an excuse, even angry to fight to defend it, you may be encountering a pretender. A pretender is someone who believes they are saved but has little to no interest in seeking or pleasing God. They do not have the Holy Spirit even though they may have lots of head knowledge about the Bible, they do not understand what they have read in the Bible.
Matthew 7:21-23
I Never Knew You
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.’"
There are people who may have good works, even their whole lives who thought they were saved only to be turned away from heaven. I call this the most frightening passage in the Bible.
Going Home Soon!
Never feel bad or respond when others mock you for loving Christ!! Our home going will make it all worth it.
One Salvation One Family
One family was saved out of the flood in Noah's day!
One family was saved from the wrath of God in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot's day.
Only one family will be saved from the wrath of God during the tribulation taken out before the wrath begins. That family are the born again believers.
When we belong to God we are not appointed to His wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:8-10 "…8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation. 9 For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.…"
One family was saved from the wrath of God in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot's day.
Only one family will be saved from the wrath of God during the tribulation taken out before the wrath begins. That family are the born again believers.
When we belong to God we are not appointed to His wrath.
1 Thessalonians 5:8-10 "…8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation. 9 For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.…"
Transparency Brings Solutions
Only One Family Was Saved
In the days of Noah and Lot only one family were saved out of the wrath of God.
Only one family will be saved from the wrath of God in the tribulation through the rapture, that is the family of God, those in Christ who are born again.
We are living in those last days now when everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes and they are contemptuous toward God's message.
Only one family will be saved from the wrath of God in the tribulation through the rapture, that is the family of God, those in Christ who are born again.
We are living in those last days now when everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes and they are contemptuous toward God's message.
Christ is the Word!
The Bible is the WORD, Christ is the Word, the Bible is the essence of God and His principles. He has imparted to us His very heart in His Word.
To negate the Bible is to negate Christ.
To mock the Bible its to mock Christ.
To pluck scriptures out of context to make them say what we want to believe is to deny Christ.
To use only the parts of the Bible we like is to deny Christ.
As born again believers our marching orders are to seek diligently Christ through His word and prayer.
1 Corinthians 2:16
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
Without the mind of Christ the unbeliever cannot understand the Bible even if they read it from cover to cover. Those who don't know Christ will interpret the Bible in terms of their own fallen thinking.
We must have Christ to understand God's Heart.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
If you want to understand God you must be born again! Then you must study the Word with the help of the Holy Spirit, then there is growth and obedience.
To negate the Bible is to negate Christ.
To mock the Bible its to mock Christ.
To pluck scriptures out of context to make them say what we want to believe is to deny Christ.
To use only the parts of the Bible we like is to deny Christ.
As born again believers our marching orders are to seek diligently Christ through His word and prayer.
1 Corinthians 2:16
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
Without the mind of Christ the unbeliever cannot understand the Bible even if they read it from cover to cover. Those who don't know Christ will interpret the Bible in terms of their own fallen thinking.
We must have Christ to understand God's Heart.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16
"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
If you want to understand God you must be born again! Then you must study the Word with the help of the Holy Spirit, then there is growth and obedience.
Marriage is a picture of the relationships between Christ and His church.
In the case of marriage the relationship ends at death but with Christ and His church it never ends because it is spiritual.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"
When God makes two people one in marriage its His doing and nothing He has done can be undone.
Marriage is Spiritual not only flesh!
Mark 10:8-9 "…8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, no man not separate.” "
This is why God says if one remarries after divorce they are committing adultery.
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 "…10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife."
When Christ makes a repentant sinner into a new creation it cannot be undone, it is a work of God sealed with the Holy Spirit until He comes for us.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"
God never forces anyone but only gives us what we want that is to be changed by Him. When we marry He gives us what we want, that is to be joined as one to our spouse.
We battle our flesh continually, this battle goes on until we are taken out, the same is true with marriage. We battle our flesh in marriage too until one spouse dies.
God designed marriage to be a picture of our relationship with Christ. Those who are not born again do not understand these principles, the reason so many are divorcing and committing adultery in remarriage.
When two people, whether born again or not, commit through promises in marriage, the covenant, they are then joined as one by God. All of mankind is held accountable for their sin against God if they separate and live with another person they marry by the law of the land.
There will be those who tell you that unsaved people are not made one by God, but the Genesis account of creation shows that everyone is made one by God when they marry.
Genesis 2:24
"24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
From the very beginning mankind was under this standard until now.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"
When God makes two people one in marriage its His doing and nothing He has done can be undone.
Marriage is Spiritual not only flesh!
Mark 10:8-9 "…8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, no man not separate.” "
This is why God says if one remarries after divorce they are committing adultery.
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 "…10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife."
When Christ makes a repentant sinner into a new creation it cannot be undone, it is a work of God sealed with the Holy Spirit until He comes for us.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"
God never forces anyone but only gives us what we want that is to be changed by Him. When we marry He gives us what we want, that is to be joined as one to our spouse.
We battle our flesh continually, this battle goes on until we are taken out, the same is true with marriage. We battle our flesh in marriage too until one spouse dies.
God designed marriage to be a picture of our relationship with Christ. Those who are not born again do not understand these principles, the reason so many are divorcing and committing adultery in remarriage.
When two people, whether born again or not, commit through promises in marriage, the covenant, they are then joined as one by God. All of mankind is held accountable for their sin against God if they separate and live with another person they marry by the law of the land.
There will be those who tell you that unsaved people are not made one by God, but the Genesis account of creation shows that everyone is made one by God when they marry.
Genesis 2:24
"24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
From the very beginning mankind was under this standard until now.
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