Canceled for Your Faith

CANCEL CULTURE

(Turning Point devotional, 10/20)

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Revelation 11:7 When (the two witnesses) finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

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The church at Corinth took the drastic step of expelling a member because of his unrepentant, sinful lifestyle (1Corinthians 5). That was necessary to prevent sin from "leavening the whole lump" (1Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9). Today, a form of ex-communication called "canceling" is taking place on the basis of opinions, not sin. A canceled person is shunned or snubbed when he or she offends the sensibilities of some group for cultural, political, or religious reasons.

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When Christians are canceled today for the biblical values and views, we find ourselves in good company. Jesus Himself experienced the ultimate form of cancelation by being crucified. The day is coming when those who hold biblical views will be canceled, even killed - as pictured by the persecution of the two witnesses in Revelation 11. The Antichrist will forbid the preaching of the Gospel during the Tribulation and "cancel" followers of Christ (Revelation 6:9).

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If you experience being "canceled" for your faith, take heart. It is nothing more than what Jesus predicted (John 15:20).

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TURNING POINT

"It is better to be persecuted for having said the truth than to be favored for having flattered" - Augustine

(Turning Point devotional, 10/20)

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God Never Winks at or Ignores Sin

For those who think God just winks at or ignores sin after you are born again, think again!

Romans 6:14-16 "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! 16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?…"

1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"

John 1:13

"children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God."

God would never change a person into a new creation merely to leave them to their own devices to sin freely without conscience.

1 John 2:29

"If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him."

Matthew 7:18

"A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."

Fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Never "Claim" or "Demand" from the Lord!

We never have to "claim" anything that God has given to us. We do need to be grateful for it. "Claiming" his promises surmises that we have something to do with gaining them.

We see no verses from the Bible that tell us to claim anything.

When God promised something to His people He keeps those promises whether or not we remember them. It is good to acknowledge and be grateful for His faithfulness to us, but His faithfulness to us has nothing to do with our own performance or words.

Words have no power as so many would claim. The only power they have is to hurt someone with mean-spirited words or words of encouragement. However, our words cannot make things happen merely by their expression.

John 15:7

"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

This verse is not "claiming" it is merely asking. Claiming has the connotation of demanding something as yours. We ought never to demand anything from God.

Also notice the condition to receiving from God, we must be abiding in His Will. When we pray we are seeking His desires not our own.

2 Peter 1:4

"By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire."

We have promises from God so that we can "become partakers of the divine nature" of God. And, to escape corruption.

Our purpose should not be to use God as one would use a servant barking orders at Him. Our purpose is that we glorify Him in all our dealings and desires.

2 Peter 1:3

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,"

What are we called to? "His divine power for life and godliness."

Every time we hear a phrase that is often used in the church we should be evaluating it according to the Bible. It is no wise to use phrases others use without knowing if they are Biblical.

Think about it..... better yet pray about it.

No Excuses to Believe Lies

There is no excuse for a born-again believer to celebrate Halloween. I used to do all of the Holidays, I was raised to enjoy them. After becoming born-again and leaving the Catholic church, God opened my eyes to them, all desire for them was removed and I never regretted leaving them in the past.

It took a few years after my born-again experience for my eyes to be opened to their origins and purpose for the devil in distracting people from Christ.

I began to see their distraction and wickedness. Unfortunately, I was alone in my family about this matter of holidays. I was mocked, shunned and rejected for my desire to shed anything that did not honor God. This is the case for many people who have been enlightened about the celebrations Americans love more than anything else.

The devil is replete with manipulations and pressures from family and the rest of the world that something is wrong with us when we are content to leave the holidays out of our lives.

All the devil has to do these days is attach the name of Christ to something pagan and the Christian culture leaps to enjoy it. This is just how superficial the apostate church has become.

It is really the desire to partake of the poisonous fruit that causes one to pretend something is endorsed by God when it is a trick of the devil.

It happened to Eve in the garden, she believed the devil when he attempted to prove God lied to her. She preferred the lie of the devil to the commands of God because the lie appealed to her fleshly desires.

The same is true of us when we love our holidays and conspiracy theories. These things appeal to pride and the flesh, capturing those who are in bondage to their arrogance and pleasure-seeking mentality.

Believers can break free from their bondage through prayer. The simple prayer that I prayed many years ago will set them free. That prayer was that God would show me only truth, that I would not believe anything that was not from God. After I prayed that God began to open my eyes to so many things it was shocking. I didn't have to look for the clues or work to study what they were, God showed me. When my eyes were opened I could never return to the old thinking.

Because it was God Who opened my eyes, they could never be closed or deceived again. When it is God who changes us we cannot change ourselves back. Our mind becomes the mind of Christ, we no longer think the same way and could never think again as we used to think. My change in thinking had nothing to do with a fad or favorite preacher, or anything other than God showing me personally.

Every believer should be seeking truth above all else while willing to lose everything and everyone they have to follow Christ.

Luke 12:53

"53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

If you seek the Lord with all your heart you WILL lose the love of people you love. They will abandon you, mock you, and reject you as a person for not thinking the way they want you to think, for not indulging in the things they love that God has removed from your heart.

Praise the Lord that none of this rejection will phase you. It will hurt a little in the beginning but as you grow stronger you will not grieve at the loss of someone who does not love God. You will pray for them but then you will move on to live your life as God intended for you. Hallelujah!!!

James 1:2-4

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

James 1:2-4

"2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, 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."

We cannot become strong when things are easy, we gain strength by having to stand when we are losing something or someone we love.

May the Lord bless you with Spiritual strength as you seek Him always for everything.

Preparing to be Raptured!

The only preparation necessary to be raptured when Christ returns is to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. I notice that the closer we get to being raptured the more the authentic believers are "looking up" as God commanded us to do. We are in joyful expectation of being with our Husband, as the bride of Christ.

Luke 21:27-29 "…27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” 29 Then Jesus told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.…"

God told us to look up and keep our focus on Him, not looking around to all that is happening, allowing it to wreak havoc on our emotions while destroying relationships over things we have not seen for ourselves and cannot authentically prove. Christians should not be worried or downcast during these times. We ought to be a beacon of light and hope during the darkest of times.

Romans 16:17-18

"I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive."

Psalm 109:2-4

"For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer."

What does God say our response to all this mess? We are to resist the devil and give ourselves to prayer.

James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Do not look around, or sideways or down, but look up as we are commanded to do!!!! Hallelujah

Demonic Conspiracy Theory Lies: Ignore Them and Love God Only

Amen! Demonic activity is rampant even in churches today. If he cannot cause unbelief in someone he will lie against the nature and character of God as he did with Eve. He convinced her that she could be her own god, knowing what God knows. She fell for it and so have many people in the churches today. They follow demonic doctrines and believe they are following God.

1 Timothy 4:1

"4 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"

2 Timothy 3:12-14 "…12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in the things you have learned and firmly believed, since you know from whom you have learned them.…"

We have those in the church today who are attempting to divert our attention from Christ and place it on the details of evil in this world. They will even be angry with those who do not engage in conspiracy theories with them.

They will accuse us of being "uninformed" as though it is real information from these cultic political news sights. These people have been deceived and intimidated to believe things that are not even true as a means of distracting the brethren from Christ.

In turn, those who follow these cultic entities use mocking and intimidation on others to shame them into capitulating to follow their ways. The devil is very clever in his tactics to divide the church over lies and brainwashing.

Do not allow those who have left the narrow road to follow the wide one to intimidate you into endorsing their foolish endeavors.

Isaiah 44:20

"He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, "Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?"

And yes!!!! You will be alone often, even maligned by others for resisting the pull to agree with these cults. You will be mocked for "not being informed", it is the devils tactic to draw us into foolishness and deter us from our Christian walk, do everything to resist it, even if it means removing someone from your life who will not relent from their rantings about the secret knowledge they believe they have found on the internet.

James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

It is quite common for those who follow these cults to refuse to listen, refuse to allow you to speak the truth and fight and argue against you to shut you down. Keep speaking, if those hearing refuse to listen remove yourself and move on to others who might be saved from the cult that has captured their heart.

Expect isolation, rejection, and mocking, it is the favored tactic of the devil to attack your emotions to weaken you. We do not have to be emotional about losing someone if we love God more than we love men. We can grieve at the road they have chosen, but we must not feel bad about losing a friend who does not care about loving God or us.

We must keep our focus, that is on Jesus Christ and our calling on this earth, which is the gospel and living as those who follow Christ. Do not allow anyone to deter you from that calling!

1 Corinthians 1:26

"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;"

Romans 10:13

"for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Ephesians 4:1

"Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,"

They will say to you, "you must be informed about all the evil in the world", resist believing this lie from the devil.

Isaiah 5:20

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;

Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;

Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"

Should a Christian be interested in conspiracy theories?