Be the One to Bring the Joy Back into the Room

I have met many people who just seem angry all the time. They are only happy when they get attention or want something else. I know it has to do with these end times written about in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

It is a challenge in our day to obey God when so many people walk into the room and suck all the joy out as though the devil had walked in the door.

As believers, we must remain continually mindful of God's Word, His promises, and our future reward so that we do not become caught in the net of the evil one through the influence of those who do not know Christ.

Here's what God tells us to help us maintain our joy.

Philippians 4:8

"8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is [a]lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

Keep looking up and only Christ will have power over us.

The Born-Again Believer Avoids Sin

Psalm 103:17-18

"But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them."

Born-again believers do not practice a lifestyle of sin blatantly defending their sin.

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.…"

Anyone who tells you it doesn't matter if a believer sins because they are "under the blood" is not understanding God's Word. When Christ changes us through our born-again experience we are no longer the same person, we hate sin as God hates it and love righteousness. A born-again believer would never defend sin, they would be ashamed of their sin and confess it to be cleansed.

1 John 1:9 … "8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us."

Proverbs 28:13

He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy."

When a believer sins they are tormented by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. If they ignore the Spirit and continue then He will stop speaking to them and allow them to experience the consequences of their sin and if they die without confessing it they will lose rewards in heaven.

1 Corinthians 3:15 "If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as fire."

Psalm 66:18 -

18 "If I regard wickedness in my heart,

The Lord will not hear;"

When we are born-again and fall into sin we eventually will confess to be cleansed of that sin.

1 John 2:1 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

Many Christians count themselves as not sinning because they do not do the big sins that have terrible consequences. The problem with this is that many people who are not born-again live good lives without big sins but are going to hell for not trusting in Christ.

God looks at the heart, the most law-abiding person can have sinful desires in their heart that they don't carry out because of the consequences, not because they are convicted of sin. Those who have not trusted Christ but rely on their good actions to carry the day will find out that they will not make it to heaven because their actions looked good. Their heart remained sinful and that is what takes them to hell.

This is why it is not good to judge a person as "good" when all you know about them is their good deeds.

Matthew 7:21-23 "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.’"

No one can have bad deeds and a good heart. If our deeds are evil then our heart is evil too. Many people count on being able to deny their sinful subtle attitude, they are comfortable as long as they can deny their sinful attitude and others cannot prove it. It's called "plausible deniability", when they have a desire to harm someone but do it so covertly that no one can prove it.

As believers we need not prove the attitudes and actions of others, we can leave the punishment to God. We can often see with God's discernment in us what they are doing but we need not correct it when we know they will deny what they do, we can allow God to correct them.

When we see ourselves tempted to respond to them in a rude manner we can ignore the feelings and pray that God will give us peace.

We must not do revenge and we must not respond in kind. When we bless everyone all the time we will have a clear conscience, walking in joy and peace no matter what others are doing.

Romans 12:19

"19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord."

By the way; The phrase "give him a taste of his own medicine" is ungodly and a form of revenge.

We must not allow rude and mean people to entice us to do as they do, we are to be Christlike no matter what others do.

"Plead the Blood" is not Biblical

There are no scriptures that say; "plead the blood of Jesus" over anything. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross was accounted to our penalty, to cleanse our sin. "Plead the blood of Jesus" over everything for protection is a Pentecostal term used for just about everything, it is not Biblical.

When we are in Christ we have no need for a "mantra", simple prayer because of our relationships with Him is sufficient.

Christians have no mantras or incantations commanded by God,, just prayer and belief is necessary for the born-again believer.

Alone with Jesus Christ

Amen, even among church attendees we can feel alone without spiritual support. Thankfully we have Spiritual support in Christ Jesus Who lives in us.

Active

We should be thankful for our elder years, they bring us closer to Christ and our homegoing.

Just recently I was on a video site about older women desiring to be as young as they can as long as they can through exercise and clothing styles.

I felt so bad for one woman in particular who said; "having gray hair is no badge of honor", as though it were a bad thing.

When we do not accept our station in life as given to us by God we are causing fear and frustration that need not be. Pretending to be young by acting young those who do it are demonstrating an immature mentality. Those who are mature are able to say with a smile and with joy that they are old and it's acceptable to them.

The fear of growing older has unfortunately overtaken America. People are working hard to appear younger than their age merely to impress others.

Sadly when the younger people want to pretend their parents are not old they are expressing a lack of empathy and kindness to aging parents who may need their help. Perhaps pretending their parents are youthful helps the children defer the help their aging parents may need.

Demeaning old age as though it is something to avoid is devaluing those who are elderly. We ought to be celebrating where we are in life, even more so, the many years we lived that gave us experiences that grow wisdom within our soul.

Those who desire to be perpetually young lack the wisdom of many years of experience that brought them to their age.

I hear young people all the time praising the elderly who can do all the things they did when they were young as though this is a badge of honor. It is a subtle way of ignoring those who have infirmities as they grow weaker with age. Looking with contempt toward those who are not able to do many things anymore is wicked and prideful.

I have no desire to do the things I did when I was young, not because I can't but because they no longer hold my interest. As we grow older our interests change as the wisdom of life has taught us what is of value and what is foolishness.

God cursed the earth because of sin. When this happened every human being grows old and will die. It is my considered opinion that God did this to show us our fragility to help us see our need for Him. As we age with many infirmities we see more our dependence on God than ever before.

It is through difficulties that we turn to God. Hardly ever does a person turn to God when things are just the way they like them to be.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10 "5 For we know that if our earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For indeed, in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven,

3 since in fact after putting it on, we will not be found naked.

4 For indeed, we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.

5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a pledge.

6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—

7 for we walk by faith, not by [d]sight—

8 but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive compensation for his deeds done through the body, in accordance with what he has done, whether good or bad."

We will not be judged by our youthful look, but by our character, as we walked with Christ, whether obedient or disobedient. Believers do not lose salvation but will be judged according to their reward. Their appearance and abilities in old age will not be a factor, except their attitude toward God's will for them will be everything.

Where is our focus, is it Christ or is it this life based on superficial appearance and abilities?

Correcting a Fool is Foolish

Proverbs 29:9

"If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet."

Proverbs 9:7-8

"Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you."

Proverbs 1:7

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."

Proverbs 18:2

"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."

Proverbs 29:11

"A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back."

Proverbs 26:4-5

"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes."

Thank the Lord for His Justice and Provision

Amen! I am convinced God allows difficult people to come in and out of our lives to help us practice how to be like Christ in their presence. Without BootCamp, we would not learn how to be reviled and still maintain joy in the Lord.

Adrian Rogers: How God Handles Hypocrites (2047)

Hoof Beats of the Four Horsemen – Amir Tsarfati

The Fleshly Nature Brings Self-Pity

Guyon Fenelon said the following, it is so true!

"The flesh always draws us towards the negative and self-pity. I read somewhere that self-pity will destroy a person quicker than any outward sin. As believers, God desires that we have a sunny, carefree disposition by setting our mind on things above!"

Unquote

Self-focus leads to anger continually, mainly because life doesn't give us all our desires and hopes. When we live a life in Christ we love His principles and guidance and are full of joy and peace.

Galatians 5:22-23 - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Those who are easily angered are allowing others to control them. When we have peace and joy of the Lord we will not be controlled by people because we are controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Even circumstances don't control our reactions, the very reason we can say what God said:

James 1:2-8

Profiting from Trials

"2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;

8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

When we walk with Christ we have no fears so there is no anger. When we walk with Christ we know that all that happens to us has a purpose and will produce greater character in us even if it is difficult.

Philippians 4:6

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Hallalujah!!!

Easily Controlled Ones

For those who are easily offended there is anger just below the surface all the time waiting for an excuse to emerge. Those who do not have an angry spirit do not rage easily if at all.

If you are easily offended then you are easily controlled!

There is no Better Friend than Jesus Christ

Someone asked me just recently why I cannot just listen to people without correcting them.

As a follower of Christ, I answered, I can't see any purpose on this earth for an old lady like me if I cannot bring my wisdom to those who are younger.

Sadly many of us in the culture have bought into the idea that we ruin people's happiness and fun if we bring correction to them when they say something ungodly. Not rocking the boat so people will like us may bring us lots of friends but it dilutes our own walk and prevents Spiritual growth.

In the bygone days when elders were treated with value and respect, it was common and revered for an elderly person to share their many years of wisdom with the young people, now it is called rude.

"Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old," says Job 12:12

In my generation, I am 70, there are many people who trained others in the ungodly philosophy of self-esteem, these are the people who reject correction, encourage enabling and have not grown emotionally and spiritually as they should have. Since life was based on feelings and pleasure, there was little time to learn God's wisdom.

The more someone repeats the wrong idea the less likely they are to be able to wrap their minds around rational and reasonable mature godly ideas. They even twist the scriptures to fit their own desires about pleasure with a sort of infantile view of Christianity. These are the times we are living in right now.

Anyone who desires to think with the mind of Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to train and teach them will be despised by most Christians today.

There are many false converts in the church today because immature believers encouraged them to pursue their happiness instead of a life filled with the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 12:15

"15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

But a person who listens to advice is wise."

Those who speak the truth and the principles of Christ will be hated by most people. This hatred comes in many forms, ignoring us when we speak, omitting us from functions and conversations, and snarky speech toward us while others watching say nothing, in agreement with the intimidator. We will be treated disrespectfully on a regular basis but it does not have to cause us to go silent.

Matthew 10:35-37 "…35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ 37 Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;…"

Micah 7:6

"For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's enemies are the members of his own household."

Do not be discouraged, keep speaking as led by the Holy Spirit and resolve to be content with Christ Who lives in us, there is no better friend than He.

The True Gosepl

Trust in Christ Brothers and Sisters