God Is Exposing a COVERT NARCISSIST to You If . . .

Forgiveness God's Way

When Christ was asking God to forgive them "they know not what they do", He was asking the Father to extend forgiveness to the world based on the shedding of Christ's blood.

It did not mean the whole world would be saved, but that they would be given an opportunity to trust in Christ to become born-again.

People are not forgiven because we say we forgive them, they are forgiven when they are repentant. I suspect Stephen was doing the same thing, Christ did. God will not forgive someone just because we say we do, He will only forgive them if they are repentant.

Our prayer for loved ones to be saved is basically a prayer that God will work in their lives to cause them to see their need for Him. Praying for loved ones is not a magic bullet that forces them to trust in Christ. Christ will not save anyone who will not trust in Him.

1 Corinthians 2:13-15 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment."

Our desire for someone to be saved does not save them. Saying we forgive offenders does not mean they are forgiven. Our prayers are subject to God's will and the response of the sinner to desire Him.

When a culture is based on "feelings" they will think their desires are the same as facts. If they feel better about someone then that is the same as if everything is resolved.

This is why there is continual inconsistency when a person says I forgive them but I can't have contact with them anymore. There has been no forgiveness extended, its just talk and just a feeling.

When we know confession of the offense has been taken care of and the offended party has forgiven then the relationship can be restored which is why God designed confession and forgiveness, not for our feelings or a better sense about ourselves but rather for the sake of a reconciled relationship.

This principle is seen in God's plan of salvation for mankind. We are to repent, be sorry about our sinfulness and then He will forgive us. God will not forgive an unsaved person without the confession of sinfulness.

Romans 10:9

"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;"

If they do not confess, or believe, they will not be saved.

Acts 3:19

"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

Saying "I forgive" without repentance is nothing at all except hope for better feelings, it's smoke and mirrors that does nothing useful.

Saying we forgive someone who is not repentant is like saying you don't have pain in your broken arm just because you want to believe there is no more pain. The reality is that there is pain and it will only be healed with proper care. Pretending you arm has already healed when it is not will only cause you to do things that will further harm it. Pretending is not useful in the Christian life and it does not heal anything.

We are told not to do revenge but we are not told to forgive without confession of offenses. We can even love the person who offends but there can be no relationship until there is repentance.

Of course, this discussion has to take into account silly little things that everyone does, just irritating habits or having a bad hair day, we never respond to the petty things, we all have them and must be patient.

Relationship breakers are the big things that do much harm and are continual. The evil attitudes and wicked lifestyles must be removed from the believer's life until there is full on repentance and a changed heart by Christ.

The Holy Spirit helps us to discern when to remove ourselves and when to be patient.

Misusing Scripture is a Serious Matter with God

I am astonished at the number of times someone will pull a passage address out of their hat to prove a point but when going to that passage it has nothing at all to do with the discussion. Do they count on people not knowing the Bible and being impressed that because they threw out a passage address we will just believe them?

Someone gave me a passage Acts 7:60 supposedly having to do with bitterness for not forgiving. Let's look at the passage;

Acts 7:20 "20 At this time Moses was born; and he was beautiful to God. He was nurtured for three months in his father’s home. 21 And after he had been put outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was proficient in speaking and action."

I see no principles or lessons in this passage having to do with "bitterness for not forgiving."

This is how the enemy reacts to a challenge from the scriptures, they open the bible and point, do not read it and put up the scripture address as though they have made a point.

While I am sure a lot of people would be fooled by this tactic of intimidation and manipulation, it does not work on those who know the Bible. I find this tactic almost exclusively used by Pentecostals who are used to removing passages from their context to make them say what they want to believe but that God never said.

Beware fo those who misuse Scripture out of context. And, when they do, rebuke them and prove it with Scripture, its not hard because God said many people would claim to know the Bible when they really do not.

Fallen Man Misinterprets God's Word

Accepting sin in our friends and family is not love because it solidifies the one who sins in their sin. Our culture has made people comfortable in their sins and now the culture is resistant to God and the gospel.

Accepting sin in our brothers and sisters proves a weakness in us and the more we remain silent the further hardened to truth and correction we become too. "Bad company corrupts good character", just as God said it would.

He also told us to "come out from among them", we influence others to accept abominations when we do not stand up against them, or when we keep constant companions with those who love their sin.

Making others like us by pretending love is about making everyone comfortable only brings judgment on ourselves it does not cause the sinner to repent.

God's love has been perverted to mean the opposite of what God said His love looks like. When we coddle people in sin we are hating them right into hell.

We have people telling us to look to our "one-man-paid-pastor" for guidance instead of the Holy Spirit.

John 16:13-14 " 13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"

We have people telling us divorce and remarriage are sanctioned by God, which he detests.

Malachi 2:16

16 “For I hate [b]divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with violence,” says the Lord of armies. “So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

We have people saying: "trust yourself, God gave us a brain", as though this is wisdom. God gave us a brain and it is easy to see what we do with that brain when it is not trusting God.

Christians are repeating many things they think are godly statements that are against the Word of God. Remember Jesus Christ is the Word, He is the essence of His Own word. When someone defies His word with human wisdom, even defending the wrong interpretation when proven wrong, they are not trusting in Christ and are very likely not born again.

How do we test if a belief is right or wrong? It's easy ask the Holy Spirit and search His word for the truth. Many if not most things you discover people using is against the Bible and against Christ.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Difficult (perilous-ragingly insane) Times Will Come

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, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

Notice God said; "they will have a form of godliness" but they will deny Christ by their lifestyle and their attitudes.

Everything we believe must be prayed over and studied in the Word of God, if what we have been taught is against the Bible then the Bible is right and the teaching we received was not from God but from fallen and rebellious mankind.

The Lamb of God Who Takes Away the Sin of the World

“A rattlesnake bit one of my sheep in the face about a week ago. Deadliest snake that lives around here. The sheep’s face swelled up and hurt her terribly.
But the old rattlesnake didn't know the kind of blood that flows through the sheep. Anti-venom is most often made from sheep's blood. The sheep swelled for about 2 days but the blood of the lamb destroyed the venom of the serpent.
I was worried but the sheep didn't care. She kept on eating, kept on drinking and kept on climbing because she knew she was alright.
Often the serpents of this life will reach out and bite us. They inject their poison into us but they cannot overcome the Blood of the Lamb of God that washes away the sin of the world and the sting of death. Don't worry about the serpent or his bite, just make sure that the Lamb's Blood is flowing through your veins.”
~Author Unknown

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Our Body Exposes the Real Us!

Did you know that 97% of communication is non-verbal. How we live our lives and facial expressions say more to others than our words. Our real self leaks out through our body language and micro-expressions on our faces. We cannot completely hide the real us.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”

Sometimes people are uncomfortable with us because the Holy Spirit in us is being revealed in our bodies.

Sometimes believers who have never met feel a connection to us because the same Holy Spirit in us also dwells in them.

There have been times when the Holy Spirit revealed to me something was not right with someone through their body language or way of expressing themselves. I wouldn't know exactly what it was but later could reflect on some ways the person expressed themselves. Then something would happen and I saw what the problem was. I never judged until I had the answer clearly from God.

When I have met an authentic believer I saw the genuineness, and all the fruit of the Spirit knowing this person was my Spiritual sibling.

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."

I have met many Christians in my life, most of them lacked this wonderful fruit of the Spirit, while the genuine few were dripping with the love of God and full of all His fruit. This is the remnant God speaks of in these end times.

The remnant is those who are sensitive to their actions, they love God so much that the slightest sin of bad attitude or selfishness convicts them deeply and they confess it to be cleansed. They are continually growing in holiness and love correction, instruction, and righteousness.

The remnant are those who are left over, the few, the scraps that remain when they have been tested by God.

Romans 11:5 "…4 And what was the divine reply to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 In the same way, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.…"

All those who have chosen Christ because they believed in Him are the remnant, the small number that are authentic believers and will never give up their trust in Christ.