Focus on Christ not the Mess on Earth

Do You Love the Lord Jesus Christ This Much?

I knew a man who loved the Lord Jesus Christ with all His heart. He yearned for the return of Jesus Christ or just leaving this world in death to be able to be with His Lord.

One day as he was working in his garden at the age of 95 he keeled over in a massive heart attack. A few hours later he awakened in the hospital as the faces of his family loomed over him praying that he would regain his strength and continue to live.

As he opened his eyes he heaved a huge sigh in disappointment. His family members asked if he was in pain, and his answer was "No, I am not in pain, I was hoping I would be waking up in heaven with Jesus!!!!

This is when we know how much we love Christ when we would rather go home to Him than spend one more day on this earth.

Even though the old man had family who loved him, he still loved Christ more than he loved his family.

Matthew 10:37

37 “The one who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and the one who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."

If Jesus Christ does not take first place in our hearts over everyone else on earth then He is not important to us. Or, even worse perhaps those who ignore or neglect Him don't really believe in Him. Their confession to be a Christian is only emotionalism and words without substance.

How could we know how much Jesus Christ gave to save us, His very life and still place Him second to others?

“You shall have no other gods before me” Exodus 20:3.

If anyone else takes priority over Jesus Christ we are engaging in idolatry.

If we have regard more for a person than we do for Jesus Christ we have left our first love. God is a jealous God.

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Revelation 2:4).

Deuteronomy 4:24

"24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."

If you have placed God first in your life you know how wonderful it is to no longer be in bondage to ungodly ties that keep us locked into worldly thinking. We are free to speak the truth and leave the results to God. If no one else loves us we know He loves us and will never leave us.

Matthew 13:23-33 "23 But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”

Weeds among Wheat

24 Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

25 But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and left.

26 And when the wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident.

27 And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’

28 And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’

29 But he *said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.

30 Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’

The weeds have entered the church buildings in these last days of apostasy, we cannot avoid them, but we can remain faithful to God anyway, avoiding those who say they are Christians but do not have the fruit of the Spirit. We may even have to leave gatherings that will not obey the word of God.

Believers are enjoying the blessing of living in these last days. The days the prophets wrote about but didn't understand what they are writing, we are watching play out in front of our very eyes. Perhaps one day the impact of this will hit us and we will realize what a privilege it is to see it first hand. Hallelujah!

Narcissist View of Others

The narcissist's view of others is continually wrong because they must view others as less than them in order to feel superior to them.

Narcissists are Mockers

Narcissists enjoy arguments, their goal is to win over others to demonstrate their superiority. Their superiority is only in their own mind.

Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution. 10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.…"

Proverbs 13:20

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

Those who think they must remain friends with narcissists to be better Christians are not understanding that we must protect our own hearts from the influence of narcissists.

If we spend a lot of time with a narcissist we are in danger of becoming like them because of their attempts to cause anger in us through continual poking and prodding.

We don't want to be spending time with the devil, so why would we want to spend time with those who are controlled by the devil?

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

2 Corinthians 6:16-18 "…16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17 “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”…"

Since we know we cannot reason with the devil we also know we cannot reason with someone controlled by the devil.

We must surround ourselves with those who love Christ as we love Christ. They will help us to remain faithful when we are tempted to respond to something in a fleshly way. Openness and honesty is the way of the born-again believer, deceit and secrets are the way of the narcissist.

It isn't easy to find those who authentically love Christ in these last days of the end times. However, there is a remnant and God will reveal them to us as needed. I thank God for Facebook where we can connect with other believers who love Christ and are filled with Him. Hallelujah!!!!

True Repentance

God never told us to forgive those who are not sorry. People who are mean do not change because we "say" we forgive them. Forgiveness is for the reconciliation of a relationship, not for our own good feelings. A relationship cannot be reconciled when one party is continually harming another without remorse.

Luke 17:3-4

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them.”

If someone has not repented toward God they will not repent toward you, at least not authentically.

Narcissists will say they are sorry or make an excuse if they see they are having consequences that are uncomfortable but it is not authentic and is manipulative. We know this when the offense is continually repeated.

Those who are truly sorry for how they have harmed someone else don't want to repeat the same sinful behavior again.

One evidence of real repentance is forsaking the sin and never returning to it again.

John 14:15-31

15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."