There are three things going on with Christians on Facebook, two of which concern me.
I am see a lot of fear mongering about what the things we are not able to do right now. Yes, much of what is happening is irrational and foolish, however, is carrying on about continuously going to change anything?
Because of all this attention to the injustice, there is fear. The continual discussion about these matters show a sense of fear and a sense of loss of control.
When we are trusting Christ we notice what is going on but it does not frighten us enough to discuss it. We are not interested in continually dwelling on the events of the end times to the exclusion of what Christ is doing.
As born again believers shouldn't we be so focused on Christ that none of it brings fear to our heats. None of it makes us angry that we do not have the freedoms we used to have. I admit things are downright silly right now, but I almost see the humor in it because God is clearly speaking.
What is going to happen when the economy tanks and much of what we have is taken away, will the joy still be there, will the trust in Christ still be there? Or will we be winning and complaining about what we lost?
The people I am enjoying are those who know enough to be aware but are unconcerned about all that is happening and all that might happen.
When we are complaining a lot it is a sign that we are living in fear. Shouldn't we rather be grateful for the safety God has given us?
James 1:2-8 "2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
If you are without peace pray that the Lord will give it to you and begin to praise Him instead of complaining about all that is going on.
If you sense a loss of control pray that you will release a spirit of trust in self to allow God to be the One in control.
The most frustrated people in the world are those who must control everything around them. They are the biggest complainers when they cannot have control over everything. We are a culture that pretty much has our own way most of the time. When we lose our freedoms we tend to focus more on that than on Christ Who knows we have lost them and even made it happen.
Amos 3:6-7 "6 If a trumpet sounds in a city, will the people not tremble? If calamity comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it? 7Surely the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets."
God told us a long time ago that we would go through trials, He warned us about the consequences of rejecting His Word. He warned nations what could happen when they go off into paganism and Gnosticism. We are there as a nation, we deserve whatever God does to us.
Rather than continually blaming the people we think are doing this we might think again and realize the people of this nation brought this on by their rejection of God's Word. As a nation, we deserve the hand we have been dealt.
Perhaps its time to begin to praise Him!!!
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Think About It
"Why does the guy beat his head against the wall? When asked why he was doing it, the reply came back; "because it feels so good when I stop."
Give it to God
The Objects of Narcissists
Narcissists do not see their friends as people, they see them as objects for their purposes. A narcissist does not feel anything about their coffee pot when it breaks they throw it away and get a new one because it is just an object, this is how they feel about their friends.
Born again believers cannot be acting like this. The born again believer must take the stance that others are more important than themselves. Because the Holy Spirit lives in us we ought to be reacting to things differently from those who are not born again.
Philippians 2:3-4 "3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.…"
People are not objects to be used they are human beings needing kindness and love as well as acceptance in differences as long as those differences are not heretical.
Born again believers cannot be acting like this. The born again believer must take the stance that others are more important than themselves. Because the Holy Spirit lives in us we ought to be reacting to things differently from those who are not born again.
Philippians 2:3-4 "3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others.…"
People are not objects to be used they are human beings needing kindness and love as well as acceptance in differences as long as those differences are not heretical.
Remaining with a Spouse
Feelings cannot be the main reason we remain with a spouse. Feelings come and go and they lie to us. We must base our commitment in marriage on truth. God said He made us one in marriage, therefore we know we cannot end what God joined. I did not say we should not end, I said it is impossible to end. mes we had to choose love when we didn't feel it.
Feelings cannot be the main reason we remain with a spouse. Feelings come and go and they lie to us. We must base our commitment in marriage on truth. God said He made us one in marriage, therefore we know we cannot end what God joined. I did not say we should not end, I said it is impossible to end.
Those who divorce are those who go into marriage thinking it will be everything they want it to be. They are sizing up their new spouse for how much that person will do for them.
When we go into marriage with a selfish attitude about what the other person will bring to us we are likely to fail.
Those who pretend to end a marriage through divorce by the decree of the land have not ended their marriage. They have the paper, they have the decree of the judge but they do not have either of these things from God.
Pretending to end a marriage by divorce is merely allowing adultery in the new marriage. It's not a new marriage as everyone seems to want to think, its adultery because the first marriage is still glued together.
Mark 10:11–12
"11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
1 Corinthians 7:39
"39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord."
God said this and I believe Him.
Feelings cannot be the main reason we remain with a spouse. Feelings come and go and they lie to us. We must base our commitment in marriage on truth. God said He made us one in marriage, therefore we know we cannot end what God joined. I did not say we should not end, I said it is impossible to end.
Those who divorce are those who go into marriage thinking it will be everything they want it to be. They are sizing up their new spouse for how much that person will do for them.
When we go into marriage with a selfish attitude about what the other person will bring to us we are likely to fail.
Those who pretend to end a marriage through divorce by the decree of the land have not ended their marriage. They have the paper, they have the decree of the judge but they do not have either of these things from God.
Pretending to end a marriage by divorce is merely allowing adultery in the new marriage. It's not a new marriage as everyone seems to want to think, its adultery because the first marriage is still glued together.
Mark 10:11–12
"11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
1 Corinthians 7:39
"39 A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord."
God said this and I believe Him.
The Blood of Christ Transforms our Spirit not our Bodies
Our sinfulness is covered by the blood of Christ if we are born again. But our bodies are not!!! The blood of Christ healed our sinful nature, transforming our spirit into His Spirit, but it did not have to do with the body. Our bodies were not transformed. That will not happen until we are taken in the rapture.
If my body were transformed then I wouldn't look like this anymore, I would have a perfect body. That's not happening as long as we are on this earth.
People still get sick for God's purposes, and they still die for His purposes. Sometimes we glorify God more in illness by our joyful loving attitude in the middle of it, than we would if it were healed.
People love to boast of having been healed but do they boast when they have infirmities. This might be a clue as to their trust in Christ.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 "…8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. 10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.…"
God's power is shown in our weaknesses. Difficulties do not make us who we are, they reveal who we are!
2 Corinthians 12:9
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. "
If my body were transformed then I wouldn't look like this anymore, I would have a perfect body. That's not happening as long as we are on this earth.
People still get sick for God's purposes, and they still die for His purposes. Sometimes we glorify God more in illness by our joyful loving attitude in the middle of it, than we would if it were healed.
People love to boast of having been healed but do they boast when they have infirmities. This might be a clue as to their trust in Christ.
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 "…8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. 10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.…"
God's power is shown in our weaknesses. Difficulties do not make us who we are, they reveal who we are!
2 Corinthians 12:9
"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. "
Raptured by our Savior in the Clouds
Those who are believing the church will not be rapture until the end of the tribulation will believe the antichrist will be that Christ they are looking for. These people are looking for the antichrist right now. If you talk to them the first thing they think about is "who is the antichrist." Born again believers are not looking for the antichrist, they are looking for their Savior in the clouds.
Luke 21:27-28 "…27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Why would we be looking up as described in Luke? WE are looking up because we are looking for our Savior in the clouds to take us in the rapture.
Born again believers know that Christ will not come to earth when He comes for His church. He will come in the clouds, call us up and take us to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The rapture is not the "second coming of Christ", He will not come to earth then. The second coming is when Christ will set His feet on the Mount of Olives.
Zechariah 14:3-5 "…3 Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south. 5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and ALL THE HOLY ONES WITH HIM.…"
As you can see in verse 5 all those who were raptured it'll be with Him.
Zechariah 14:9 "9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.:
Luke 21:27-28 "…27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Why would we be looking up as described in Luke? WE are looking up because we are looking for our Savior in the clouds to take us in the rapture.
Born again believers know that Christ will not come to earth when He comes for His church. He will come in the clouds, call us up and take us to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
The rapture is not the "second coming of Christ", He will not come to earth then. The second coming is when Christ will set His feet on the Mount of Olives.
Zechariah 14:3-5 "…3 Then the LORD will go out to fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. 4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south. 5 You will flee by My mountain valley, for it will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and ALL THE HOLY ONES WITH HIM.…"
As you can see in verse 5 all those who were raptured it'll be with Him.
Zechariah 14:9 "9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one.:
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