The Phone Conversation From Hell

I knew a lady who talked so fast and so long that she forced others to be seemingly rude in order to be able to leave a conversation.

One time a friend of mine got a call from this woman and tried to tell her that her "soap-opera" was coming on and she had to go.

The woman acted like she didn't hear her at all and continued talking. So my friend put down the receiver next to the base and went off for an hour to watch her soap. When my friend came back to the receiver. The woman on the other end was still talking and didn't even know she had been gone.

This is common for narcissists to see a body standing right in front of them but have no acknowledgment that the body is a person and not an object.

When an entire culture views everyone as objects to be used it will become deeply unconcerned about its fellow man.

The devil will use people in our lives to cause frustration, his arrows are flying on overdrive to discredit and anger the born-again believers, we cannot allow him to do this.

When we encounter the devil's arrows we can remain calm, even see the sense of humor in it while faithful to the fruit of the Spirit Who lives in us. Our clear conscience is far more important than what anyone does to us.

Let's not treat the narcissist the way they treat us, let's frustrate the devil by deflecting his arrows through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 6:11-18

"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints'"

1 Peter 5:8-10

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you."

Loving God is Protection to Those Who Love Him

For those who think God's ways are "restrictive." 

Cultural Christianity Explained

Amen! I am convinced most of the people I know are of this ilk. They have no fruit of the Spirit even though they have been in church gatherings all their lives and I am 70 years old, they are older than I. Their children have been raised with and are comfortable with this cultural Christianity. 

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.’"

Fruit of the Spirit: All born-again believers must have this fruit.

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

Most of the people I speak to about God claim to be Christians and are embarrassed at the mention of the name of Jesus Christ.

Those Who Think Highly of Themselves are Builders on the Sand

Let God Take Care of It

Narcissists will deliberately poke at someone to cause them to sin and then point the finger when they do. This is no excuse for the one who responds to the sin of the narcissist by sinning themselves because we always have the option of resisting sin through the power of the Holy Spirit.

If we trust in Christ we know He will eventually have justice on our behalf without us lifting a finger in revenge. The narcissist wants us to sin in response to their attacks, that's why they do it. They want to believe we are bad people so they can justify their sinful behavior toward us. This is a favorite tactic of the devil and the reason God said to leave the revenge to Him.

Romans 12: 19

19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Take comfort in knowing that no one will get away with sin, eventually, God will take care of it for us, either in this life or the next. In the meantime, we pray to remain faithful to Christ while resisting the devil's attacks.

It is more important for us to remain faithful in our walk with a clear conscience than it is to force someone to see the evil of their ways. God knows exactly what is need and He will take care of it.

Isaiah 55:9

"9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts."

We cannot possibly know what's best for everyone, but we do have the principles of the Bible to show us our responsibility and how we should respond.

1 Corinthians 1:27–29

" 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,

29 so that ano 1man may boast before God."

God's Got This!!!!!

Correction is the New Hate Speech

The biggest lies we see today are within the apostate church with false doctrine.  Those who love their false doctrine will rage when they are confronted with the Bible passages that prove them wrong. 

Narcissists Take Everything Personally

Narcissists take everything personally. They will take an innocent comment and make it sound like it was rude when it was not. And worse, they will tell their perspective to others in hopes the others will hate you too.

The Pharisees did this to Christ. The accused Him of evil when all He did was pure and righteous.

Proverbs 29:8-10

"8 Arrogant people inflame a city,

But wise people turn away anger.

9 When a wise person has a controversy with a foolish person,

The foolish person either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

10 People of bloodshed hate the blameless person,

But the upright are concerned for his life."

Today's In-Law Children

It is very common in our world today for in-law children to turn our children against us. I cannot count the number of times I have seen this happen to parents who love the Lord.

The in-law children will convince their spouse that something is wrong with their parents and their only allegiance should be to the in-law parent.

There is a jealousy that in-law children often have to be the only ones special in their new spouse's life. They are insecure and believe their new spouse can only love one person, and that they should not love others, only them.

There is also a lack of tolerance for different ways of doing things, and a strange resentment toward in-law parents merely because they have a different family dynamic than their own families of origin.

Selfishness is in overdrive in our culture now. Those who want their own way all the time refuse to consider that their spouse loves their own family too. I have seen many families abandoned and hated by an in-law spouse without just cause.

Luke 12:53

Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

We know that a child of ours cannot be turned on a dime by a narcissistic spouse, there has to be some underlying angst in the child that allows an in-law spouse the ability to turn them.

We are living in the last days as described in Scripture, in which our children's generation cares only about themselves all the time, carrying this indulgent indifference into their new marriage and sadly retaining it through the senior years of their parents.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, [a]haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [b]godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

I have also seen indulgent in-law children attempt to turn a parent against another parent in an effort to harm the one they don't like. Loving on the favored parent is a favorite tactic of the narcissist to cause division in the marriage relationship. This is far more common than we realize.

Choosing favorites over silly things is Satan's way of building the pride of one party while attempting to diminish the confidence of the one they despise.

The tactics of the in-law children are legion. I say it that way because I am convinced these tactics and in-law children are being controlled by the devil. I am convinced of this because the anger is irrational and without foundation or they would be willing to have a sit-down conversation to resolve a problem. Not only will these people not sit down to talk something through, they will not respond when asked to explain why it is happening.

I have heard a number of testimonies of people who have been ghosted by their children and in-law children, meaning they disappear, block and ignore all attempts of the parents to contact them, without any discussion or explanation. They just disappear without a word.

When someone has no desire to talk openly without anger to the one they think has offended them in some way, we know there is probably not a legitimate offense.

Those who love others want to resolve a conflict, however in the case of the abandoned and ignored parties, those who are abandoned and ignored don't even know why this is happening. Even if they try to discuss it before the ghosting they found the mere attempt to understand was enough for them to be cut off forever and worse, cut off from their grandchildren.

I have known people who attempted to contact their adult grandchildren after they left their parent's home who were unresponsive, making it clear the parents had poisoned the children against them.

The good news is that God can take care of the elderly without their obnoxious children. Chances are good that the elderly are better off without adult children treating them disrespectfully, raging at them and even stealing their possessions. Sometimes God removes the adult children in order to protect the parents from elder abuse.

Life is so peaceful without angry, selfish family in it. May the Lord give the elderly the strength to draw a line in the sand when they have been mistreated while at the same time regaining their joy at the lovely peace within their own homes.

Philippians 4:6-7

"6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all [b]comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Our family is the family of born-again believers who love Christ the same way we do, we can be joyful in that.

Jan Markell Ministries 2023 💙 Living on Borrowed Time

7 Reasons Jesus Must Return Soon

To Disobey the Bible is the Same as Disobeying Christ

Jesus Christ is the very essence of His Own word, to deny His word is to deny Him. He is called "The Word."

John 1:1

"1 In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Many people think they can play fast and loose with God's Word as though it is a book of suggestions they can change any time it doesn't suite them.

John 20:30–31

"30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

Psalm 119:89

"89 Forever, O Lord, your word

is firmly fixed in the heavens."

Psalm 107:20

"20 He sent out his word and healed them,

and delivered them from their destruction."

Psalm 33:6

"6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

and by the breath of his mouth all their host."

Anytime someone changes the meaning of the Word of God or denies it's truth they are denying Jesus Christ Himself.

John 14:15-24. "Jesus says: “If you love Me, keep My commandments … He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me … If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

Those who do not care what the Bible says do not love Christ, they are pretenders.

Matthew 15:7-9 "…7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”…"

If you speak the scriptures to someone who says they are a Christian and they act angry or disinterested you have very likely met a pretender.

Pretenders are those who attend a church gathering and all the church functions but do not speak of Christ nor do they want to hear His name except from the pulpit. These people trust the preachers they like but never make sure the preachers are teaching from the Bible correctly.

2 Timothy 2:15

"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

Spiritual and Emotional Growth can only happen in Christ

Romans 12:3

"3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith."

There is a big difference between confidence and self-esteem. Those who are arrogant have high self-esteem but are in fact, lacking in confidence. No one has to act arrogantly and superior who is confident.

Hebrews 13:6, “So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?'

Those who are confident know themselves well, they are able to look at their flaws as well as their strength without a need to be superior to others.

Psalm 27:13, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

Those who lack confidence, those who are fragile emotionally as a six-year-old child would be are the most unhappy people lacking the joy of the Lord.

Humility is our friend, when we become confident in the Lord and our walk with Him we need not be arrogant.

Philippians 4:11–13

"12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Those who are humble and confident have no need to impress anyone else or demean others to feel special. These people are focused on spiritual and emotional growth. The prideful person does not grow either emotionally or spiritually, they remain infants and continually have tantrums when they are not seen as special.

Sadly, if these arrogant types would self-reflect they would see how freeing humility and confidence is and dispose of their arrogance in favor of spiritual and emotional progress.

Many people I have met who claim to be Christian have not grown at all in their long lives, even into old age. I feel bad for them because they have no idea what they are missing while they are trapped in a life of underlying anger and frustration.

Old age is often a key to how someone lived their entire lives. Those who have not grown do not remain the same, they grow worse. They are less loving, less tolerant, less kind, and more self-absorbed. Every bad trait of these people is magnified in their elder years.

Let's not be people who have stagnated and regressed as we grow older. Let's be people who age like fine wine, the longer we live the more we love. Hallelujah!

5 Undeniable Traits of Easily Offended People You Need to Watch Out For ...

It is the Holy Spirit Who Teaches all Born Again Believers

Many who have a degree from a Bible college or seminary think their degree affords them special recognition above everyone else. They assign a unique distinction above all those who do not have degrees from human educational systems.

God made it very clear that no man is above another man and that education and status is not God's standard. God expects us to hear from the Holy Spirit. Many who attend these institutions have never been born again and do not have the Holy Spirit.

We know this because they lack the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

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

These qualities God mentions in Galatians are character and spiritual qualities given by the Holy Spirit Who lives in those who have been born-again. Born-again believers can discern whether or not someone has these special character characteristics.

Far too many church attendees base their opinions of a "pastor" on how well they deliver a sermon, whether they are knowledgeable of the scriptures or if they are just a nice guy. Did you know someone with all these things people like can go to hell if He is not born-again. The fact that he is a one-man-paid pastor, is the first clue that he is not seeking God for the function and order of the church gathering.

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.’"

Be very careful to avoid elevating someone with a degree, they may be an imposter.

2 Peter 2:1–3
False Prophets and Teachers
2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep."

We are living in the end of days now, there will hardly be left any faith upon the earth right before Christ comes to take out His church, and most all preachers will be in disobedience to the Word of God, meaning they are rejecting Christ by rejecting His Word. He is called the Word. When someone negates and changes His word they are denying Him, He is the very essence of His Own Word.

His Word is God's Spiritual breath to mankind, His love letter to us!

What if you received a letter from a grandfather from generations ago. Would you put it on a shelf leaving it unopened? My guess is you would immediately open that letter and pour over every word at the excitement of a letter from a long-lost relative.

How seriously can we take Christ if we neglect His word and even worse change it to suit our own desires. Most people who do this are pseudo-Christians without love for God. God says the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, not any man.
May the pseudo-Christians repent and become born again so that they too will go to heaven.

Let the Holy Spirit be Our Voice

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

When there is an absence of this love, there can be no born again experience.

John 15:12 "12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you."

Luke 6:31

"31 Treat people the same way you want them to treat you."

1 Corinthians 16:14

"14 All that you do must be done in love."

Proverbs 17:17

"17 A friend loves at all times,

And a brother is born for adversity."

Those who love you do not gossip against you, they do not believe gossip about you when they hear it, they rejoice in your accomplishments and weep at your failures. They are deeply connected to the Spirit in us desiring God's best for us.

Those who love us never wish harm to us or create chaos and troubles to dominate us.

When we know the love of God and have it in our own hearts we know what Christ's love looks like, however, those who do not know Christ do not understand His love and operate according to their pride and self-will. These people have no love, even their good deeds are manipulation to gratify self.

Let's be those who love God's Way no matter what the evil world is doing. Let's not allow the devl's pokes or our emotions to control our reactions or responses. Let's allow the Holy Spirit to be our voice.

THIS is Why Satan's Demons Won't Leave You Alone

This is exactly what we believers need to hear in these last days as the devil works on everyone to destroy their faith.

The Christian Walk of Respect

The key to our Christian walk is to show respect to everyone even if they do not treat us respectfully. If we focus on being Christ-like, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through us, we will be less concerned about how others act toward us.

Everything others do toward us is on them, good or evil. Everything we do with others is on us.

Of course, we will choose our friends wisely so that we have companions to walk with us while we walk with Christ on the path we have chosen.

Proverbs 13:20

"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."

Proverbs 18:24

"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother."

Proverbs 27:17

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

Authentic believers who have Christ-like love care deeply for their friends. They are loyal, loving listeners using the word of God to encourage. When we fall our friend weeps with us standing beside us to help us get up again.

1 Corinthians 15:33

"Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Galatians 5:14

"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Those who love others are not looking for past forgiven sins to hold against someone they don't like. Those who love one another weep with a repentant one, when their friend falls, they do whatever they can to restore them with gentleness and kindness.

Galatians 6:1 "Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well."

The goal of the loving and kind believer is to restore someone who is repentant, not to judge or punish.

Born-again believers love to forgive those who are sorry, they love to restore, they love to encourage. Only those who are controlled by the devil enjoy keeping someone down even after God has forgiven them.

The devil is the one who goes before the throne accusing the brethren, this is who is behind the thoughts of those who love to punish those who are forgiven.

Revelation 12:10 "

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night."

Never allow the devil to continually batter you with guilt after God has forgiven you. Do not keep company with those who love their false judgments and their punishing tactics.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

Seek friends who love and be a friend who loves God's way.