Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Obligation to Parents or Love for Them?
Many years ago a woman said and did things to promote Christ in the lives of her children. They were angry at her for it but held their tongue.
After they got married and left home they remembered they disliked her but they didn't remember why. Then they relayed to their spouses that they didn't like her causing the spouses to dislike her too, but based on their feelings not on what actually happened.
The children were constantly disobedient in covert ways, rolling eyes, delaying obedience, and many more sneaky ways. When they left home they stopped the covert things and went right to overt because they could no longer be punished for their disrespect.
Over time they contrived things in their mind to justify why they despised her even though their memory was not based on fact but more on how they wished to feel about her.
Many parents experience this phenomenon, the false memory syndrome based on feelings not on facts.
It is not a false memory if the same things that happened to us in childhood continue to happen in adulthood. This is a different matter.
Many adult children look back on their childhood and understand why their parents did certain things and see it in reality. But the narcissistic child will retain their own ideas to justify their childish rebellion, even maintaining the same attitude and actions in their adult years that they had when they were children in rebellion.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 "…22 But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”"
When a child grows up remaining in the rebellion of their youth they will become more disrespectful and contemptuous toward their parents for no other reason than they remember that they didn't like their parent then and continue to dislike them as they grow older.
When asked by the parent what they are so angry about the child has no answer. Usually, they use dismissiveness and disagreement continually to diminish the status of the parent, relegating the parent to nothing more than another peer they are in competition with, not with the honor God commands from His Word.
Exodus 20"11-12 "…11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. 12 Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you."
This instruction to honor parents was not a command just to do things for them to fulfill an obligation, it was a command to revere their wisdom, listen to their counsel, and see to their needs in the elder years. Those who merely grudgingly take care of the parents' needs or do not at all are in violation of the scriptures.
Mark 7:8-13 "8 Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”
9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is certainly to be put to death’; 11 but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is Corban (that is, given to God),’ 12 you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thereby invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down, and you do many things such as that.”"
Thinking with the Mind of Christ
Godliness questions God about everything to discern the truth.
"Religious" people look all around to see what others are thinking and doing and do what impresses those others.
Do not get on anyone's band wagon brothers and sisters, use your mind of Christ to know the truth.
Still Looking Up!
Isaiah 1:14-16 "…14 I hate your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.16 Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!…"
Malachi 2:16-17 "16 “For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel. “He who divorces his wife covers his garment with violence,” says the LORD of Hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith.17 You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”…"
The churches in this nation no longer speak against the violence of divorce and remarriage. Yes, remarriage is just as much violence against spouses and children as divorce is, they are two sides of the same coin. And yet, these people who attend gatherings every week sit in the pews completely accepting of these two sins.
The sins in the apostate evangelical churches are many. The lifestyles are abhorrent even to the unbeliever, after all, why would they listen to us when we are no different from them. One thing the unbeliever hates more than our sin is our hypocrisy. We claim to be of God and live as sinfully as the unbeliever.
Most people today who claim to be Christian lack all the fruit of the Spirit. This is the evidence the Lord tells us to observe in people to discern whether or not they are actually born again.
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.…"
In pride and arrogance the "evangelicals" "claimed" this country for God. They looked to the safety of their lifestyle and their pleasures under the pretense of righteousness while their heart was bent on preserving their coveted lifestyle, their wealth, and their personal choices under the god and guise of "freedom."
When a Christian is more concerned about their "rights" than they are about their holiness the "rights" become an idol.
It is possible the Lord would not hear the prayers of the "evangelicals" because their heart is deceived and proud. They have used God as a prop to get what they want without true dedication to Him. They claimed they obey the Bible but violate more of it than they obey.
Even becoming enraged when another believer challenges them about their acceptance of sin because they are hell-bent on defending their choices. They reject anyone who challenges them to obey Christ.
I am not convinced that believers were worried about being able to freely speak the gospel to others who are unsaved because they wanted friendship with the world and rarely spoke boldly about their faith. The faith of most evangelical apostates today has been nothing more than words without substance. This is why I am convinced God placed the masks over the faces using a pandemic to do it, as a demonstration of our shame.
Do we not understand that God has brought about all this foolishness because of our sin, allowing ungodly people to oppress us to show us our focus is all wrong?
There is a saying; "better the devil you know than the devil you don't know." Trust was placed in a man who lies and decides to pretend to be just like them when in fact he is just the same as the other candidate. The only difference is that the "devil we didn't know" was the one who sounded just like us at times without any fruit of the Spirit. The other candidate was easy to spot, the deceiver was covert using many lies fooling many people. The other devil was blatantly against the ideal of the Christian but the other was covertly pretending to be one of them.
God does not hear the prayers of those who pray presumptuously or those who pray to pretend to care about righteousness but secretly covet their pleasures and freedoms more than righteousness. God will not hear the prayers of the people of a nation who are more interested in following a man than in following Christ. Those whose focus is on this world and this life are easily deceived.
Born again believers can follow Christ no matter what government they live under. In fact, it has been shown that the church grows more in persecution than it does when things are safe and pleasurable. So then why are "evangelicals" looking for ease of living? It's because their safety and lifestyle are more important to them than the gospel.
The goal of the born again believer ought to be to share the gospel as led by the Holy Spirit not to be safe and comfortable.
At this time in history, we are living at the end of the age in which there will be many deceptions. The devil is working hard to discredit God's people, lead them into apostasy, and create fear in them.
Nowhere in the Word of God do we see a command or suggestion to make sure our life is comfortable and free.
2 Timothy 2:8-10 "…8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David, as proclaimed by my gospel, 9 for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained! 10, For this reason, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.…"
Never do we see an example in scripture of believers fighting for freedom in their nations. We do not see them fighting for their personal rights. These things are humanistic ideas, not godly ones. IF we are being oppressed it is because God is disciplining us to realize our need for Him. People do not turn to Christ when things are easy and happy, they turn to Him when they have nowhere else to turn. And, yes God is going o do that in our apostate nation. that pretends to be Christian.
Matthew 10:22
"And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."
Here is the life God has for born again believers;
Mark 16:15-16 "15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.…"
These brothers and sisters are our marching orders. Saving a nation is not one of the commands. We know that we are living in the end times. These are times when all governments are going to fall including America. We cannot stop what God has already prophesied to us.
Mark 13:10
Verse Concepts
The gospel must first be preached to all the nations.
Corinthians 1:21
"For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe."
Perhaps now that the election is over we can turn our eyes toward God again. And, no the eyes of most Christians were not on God in this election, we know that because they spoke more about their candidate than they did about Christ, nearly continually from what I have seen. God and the Bible, God's Word, were used as props without dedication to them.
1 Samuel 16:7
"But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Isaiah 26:3
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."
Proverbs 3:5
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding."
Matthew 6:33
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
If we become oppressed for our faith it is ordained of God. God often uses wicked men to punish or train His children.
1 John 4:1
"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."
Philippians 1:9-10
"And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,"
Trust no man, seek the Holy Spirit for discernment so that you will be able to walk in righteousness. Take your eyes off of the world and its systems and return them to Christ. Christ commanded us to "look up" when we see the miseries of the world and their deceptions increasing. Are we looking up yet?
Luke 21:28
"28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
Look up Brothers and Sisters we will be going home soon!!!
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