This should be the prayer of every person who comes to Christ for salvation, in fact, anyone who did not come this way cannot be born again. One of the criteria for salvation is to confess our sinfulness desiring to be changed by Christ.
Anyone who says their sins weren't so bad, cannot be born again!
And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. (Luke 18:13 KJV)
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. (Psalms 19:12 KJV)
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. (Ezekiel 18:21 KJV)
Friday, June 12, 2015
Don't Look Back
No point in looking backward, especially when God changed us into a new creation. When we are looking backward in our walk, we will trip because we can't see where we are going!
What If We Were Like Pets?
Wouldn't it be wonderful if people would be like my pets, they listen to everything I say and love to be with me.
When I leave a room they follow, when I go outside to work they run with the lawn mower, when I go in the car they scramble to get into it with me, they are completely trusting of me.
No human being would be like this, they are completely satisfied with me and whatever I am doing!!!
What if we had this same attitude toward God? Perhaps He gave us animals to show us how much we should love Him.
When I leave a room they follow, when I go outside to work they run with the lawn mower, when I go in the car they scramble to get into it with me, they are completely trusting of me.
No human being would be like this, they are completely satisfied with me and whatever I am doing!!!
What if we had this same attitude toward God? Perhaps He gave us animals to show us how much we should love Him.
The Chronic Liar
The chronic liar is somewhat like the person who hears the simple gospel but doesn't want to accept it.
The liar will tell lies when the truth would serve him better.
The rebellious heart of the unsaved rejector of Christ, wants to feel in control of their own destiny, never pondering the idea that trusting Christ removes all the stress of attempting to work their way to heaven.
Believing in self is an exercise in futility, we may get along in life for a time, never knowing how much better things would go if we just relinquished our control to God.
The liar will tell lies when the truth would serve him better.
The rebellious heart of the unsaved rejector of Christ, wants to feel in control of their own destiny, never pondering the idea that trusting Christ removes all the stress of attempting to work their way to heaven.
Believing in self is an exercise in futility, we may get along in life for a time, never knowing how much better things would go if we just relinquished our control to God.
You Shall Know Them!
Next time someone tells you that you cannot know what is in a person's heart, perhaps it would be good to remind them of the Scriptures that tells us we can. We do not know where anyone is going to end up in eternity, because we don't know their future, they may repent and become born again, however we can see their fruit or lack of fruit.
When a believer violates the principles of God, they are grieved about themselves and will confess it. When a non-believer violates the principles of God they will refuse to confess even defending their sin, making excuses or pretending it never happened by lying about it.
What is the fruit of the Christian?
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."
The character qualities of a believer will compel them to act in ways that honor God, even if they fall temporarily they will be tormented by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and want to be cleansed of it through confession with the desire to not repeat that sin.
Luke 6:43-44 "43"For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44"For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.…"
God does give us discernment, often we sense something is wrong, no matter how "nice" someones seems to be, there is an absence of genuine Christlike love. We know something is wrong but we cannot put our finger on it. As we continue in the relationship we begin to see the haughtiness and attitude of self righteousness that is a hindrance to a close relationship.
The bad fruit will poison the good fruit making it ill and preoccupied with meaningless drama concocted by the one who does not walk with Christ. A lifestyle of selfishness, drama and intrigue is usually evidence of one who is not submitted to Christ. One of the most evident traits is the refusal to talk a matter through to come to an understanding, they love their secrecy. They do not want to understand, because it would mean they might have to re-evaluate themselves, did they judge wrongly.
There will be many people who lacked the fruit of the Spirit, those character qualities that come from being indwelt by Christ, who will be met with frightening words as they come before the judgement seat. The most ominous words that anyone could ever hear....."I NEVER KNEW YOU." Matthew 7:21-23
These people did all kinds of good works to elevate themselves, they were careful to only allow people to see them in the most positive ways, only to be acting rather than being. Those who walk with Christ, possessing discernment and wisdom can see these people for what they are, but most people will not see it, they will look at the "works" alone without realizing the "fruits" are not present.
One way to tell if someone is desiring holiness and obedience to Christ, is to disagree with them and watch what comes out. There is such a thing as "narcissistic rage" that emerges when someone full of themselves is shown to be wrong about something. They cannot tolerate correction or rebuke to any degree, it must be punished. They never feel remorse and they never confess their sinfulness to the one they harmed.
These same people will accuse of things they are doing but we are not. The purpose is to maintain the elevated position they work to display to the world and want to believe in their own hearts.
We are seeing much of this in our world today, notice the anarchy that is happening all around us, rebellion against authorities. Children are becoming more disrespectful and the parents are indulging them.
I write about this a lot to show those who are victims that they did nothing to deserve this treatment, and to inform those who may think they are saved and are not, to pray and seek God to see if they are in the faith.
2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?"
God said that most people are on the wide road to hell and few there are that will be saved, this ought to send chills down our spines, when we realize many will hear those terrible words, "I NEVER KNEW YOU."
I want to warn those who are self righteous, who claim to be Christians but have never trusted Him, attempting to work their way to heaven or even only appear as though they are good people for the sake of men, please pray and ask God if you were ever born again, ask Him to convict you of the things that need to be cleansed. Ask Him to save you and make you holy.
Everyone who has confess their sinfulness and became born again never ever regret that decision to trust Christ and ask to be changed by Him, their entire perspective on life is completely changed, what a wonderful place to be. Hallelujah!!
When a believer violates the principles of God, they are grieved about themselves and will confess it. When a non-believer violates the principles of God they will refuse to confess even defending their sin, making excuses or pretending it never happened by lying about it.
What is the fruit of the Christian?
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."
The character qualities of a believer will compel them to act in ways that honor God, even if they fall temporarily they will be tormented by the conviction of the Holy Spirit and want to be cleansed of it through confession with the desire to not repeat that sin.
Luke 6:43-44 "43"For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44"For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.…"
God does give us discernment, often we sense something is wrong, no matter how "nice" someones seems to be, there is an absence of genuine Christlike love. We know something is wrong but we cannot put our finger on it. As we continue in the relationship we begin to see the haughtiness and attitude of self righteousness that is a hindrance to a close relationship.
The bad fruit will poison the good fruit making it ill and preoccupied with meaningless drama concocted by the one who does not walk with Christ. A lifestyle of selfishness, drama and intrigue is usually evidence of one who is not submitted to Christ. One of the most evident traits is the refusal to talk a matter through to come to an understanding, they love their secrecy. They do not want to understand, because it would mean they might have to re-evaluate themselves, did they judge wrongly.
There will be many people who lacked the fruit of the Spirit, those character qualities that come from being indwelt by Christ, who will be met with frightening words as they come before the judgement seat. The most ominous words that anyone could ever hear....."I NEVER KNEW YOU." Matthew 7:21-23
These people did all kinds of good works to elevate themselves, they were careful to only allow people to see them in the most positive ways, only to be acting rather than being. Those who walk with Christ, possessing discernment and wisdom can see these people for what they are, but most people will not see it, they will look at the "works" alone without realizing the "fruits" are not present.
One way to tell if someone is desiring holiness and obedience to Christ, is to disagree with them and watch what comes out. There is such a thing as "narcissistic rage" that emerges when someone full of themselves is shown to be wrong about something. They cannot tolerate correction or rebuke to any degree, it must be punished. They never feel remorse and they never confess their sinfulness to the one they harmed.
These same people will accuse of things they are doing but we are not. The purpose is to maintain the elevated position they work to display to the world and want to believe in their own hearts.
We are seeing much of this in our world today, notice the anarchy that is happening all around us, rebellion against authorities. Children are becoming more disrespectful and the parents are indulging them.
I write about this a lot to show those who are victims that they did nothing to deserve this treatment, and to inform those who may think they are saved and are not, to pray and seek God to see if they are in the faith.
2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?"
God said that most people are on the wide road to hell and few there are that will be saved, this ought to send chills down our spines, when we realize many will hear those terrible words, "I NEVER KNEW YOU."
I want to warn those who are self righteous, who claim to be Christians but have never trusted Him, attempting to work their way to heaven or even only appear as though they are good people for the sake of men, please pray and ask God if you were ever born again, ask Him to convict you of the things that need to be cleansed. Ask Him to save you and make you holy.
Everyone who has confess their sinfulness and became born again never ever regret that decision to trust Christ and ask to be changed by Him, their entire perspective on life is completely changed, what a wonderful place to be. Hallelujah!!
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
It Won't Be Long Now
Unfortunately every time someone does that date setting about the rapture, a part of me says in my heart, "I hope they are right." LOL I want to be useful until Christ comes, knowing that no one should think they will know the exact day, but I yearn to be out of this ever increasingly wicked world. 2 Timothy 3:1-7 is here right now, it is so hard to watch.
It seemed as though most people thought in rational and sensible ways when we were children, that the irrational and self absorbed were the fringe elements that mainstream society looked down upon.
Now the rational, sensible and empathetic person is the rare fringe that the general populous looks down on, or perhaps it is just my limited view in this part of the country.
Every day I see more foolishness in the news pertaining to government legislation, more foolishness in the apostate church and few people who act as though they care about anything except their own pleasure and prosperity.
The professing Christians seem to have little concern about the plight of anyone else and have targeted believers for rejection, who speak boldly and openly against sin. Sin is rampant in the organized church, so much so that if it were dealt with, more than half the congregation would retreat while the other half would usher the prophet out of the gathering to be shunned for administering correction or rebuke.
When silly phrases like "don't judge" are used by leaders in the church and correction is seen as rude, we know there is little time left before the return of Christ.
Judges 17:6 "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
Proverbs 16:5 "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished."
Proverbs 26:12 "Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
Why do believers write so often about the last days? I believe it is because they are watching the end times scenario as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-7, almost in disbelief knowing what they are seeing, is from the Word but feeling dismayed at the meanness of this stretch in history. I am sure those in Hitler's Germany who were believers had the same sense that we do today. That was one region of the world, now we are dealing with the entire world engaging in evil.
We were all taught to be kind as we were growing up, and most people had some semblance of decency in our communities, but now indecency has been cannonized as a right and anyone who shows irritation at it is treated as though they are legalistically insane.
2 Timothy 3:1-7 is a passage that I write about frequently, perhaps to show the discouraged believer that they are not alone in their assessment of the condition of the world, but also that what they see in their families is the condition of the last days. They are not insane, they are not paranoid or strange, but they are the sane ones seeing things the way they really are and feeling grieved about it.
Matthew 10:35-36 "35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household."
May I encourage those who see with their eyes wide open, that others are seeing it too, we did not cause it as believers walking with Christ and it is going to get worse. Keep hanging on to Christ, meditate on His Word, know His will in your hearts and you will be encouraged, even excited that we are almost home, the journey is almost over and Christ is waiting to be sent to take us with Him.
A believer who loves the Lord so much that he/she desires to talk about little else, that Christ and His ways consume their thoughts continually, will be discarded by those who want to have one foot in the world, enjoying this life more than they enjoy Christ. A dedicated believer can think of nothing else except Christ and His Word.
When we know what is in store for us as born again believers we can rejoice!
It seemed as though most people thought in rational and sensible ways when we were children, that the irrational and self absorbed were the fringe elements that mainstream society looked down upon.
Now the rational, sensible and empathetic person is the rare fringe that the general populous looks down on, or perhaps it is just my limited view in this part of the country.
Every day I see more foolishness in the news pertaining to government legislation, more foolishness in the apostate church and few people who act as though they care about anything except their own pleasure and prosperity.
The professing Christians seem to have little concern about the plight of anyone else and have targeted believers for rejection, who speak boldly and openly against sin. Sin is rampant in the organized church, so much so that if it were dealt with, more than half the congregation would retreat while the other half would usher the prophet out of the gathering to be shunned for administering correction or rebuke.
When silly phrases like "don't judge" are used by leaders in the church and correction is seen as rude, we know there is little time left before the return of Christ.
Judges 17:6 "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes."
Proverbs 16:5 "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished."
Proverbs 26:12 "Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
Why do believers write so often about the last days? I believe it is because they are watching the end times scenario as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-7, almost in disbelief knowing what they are seeing, is from the Word but feeling dismayed at the meanness of this stretch in history. I am sure those in Hitler's Germany who were believers had the same sense that we do today. That was one region of the world, now we are dealing with the entire world engaging in evil.
We were all taught to be kind as we were growing up, and most people had some semblance of decency in our communities, but now indecency has been cannonized as a right and anyone who shows irritation at it is treated as though they are legalistically insane.
2 Timothy 3:1-7 is a passage that I write about frequently, perhaps to show the discouraged believer that they are not alone in their assessment of the condition of the world, but also that what they see in their families is the condition of the last days. They are not insane, they are not paranoid or strange, but they are the sane ones seeing things the way they really are and feeling grieved about it.
Matthew 10:35-36 "35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household."
May I encourage those who see with their eyes wide open, that others are seeing it too, we did not cause it as believers walking with Christ and it is going to get worse. Keep hanging on to Christ, meditate on His Word, know His will in your hearts and you will be encouraged, even excited that we are almost home, the journey is almost over and Christ is waiting to be sent to take us with Him.
A believer who loves the Lord so much that he/she desires to talk about little else, that Christ and His ways consume their thoughts continually, will be discarded by those who want to have one foot in the world, enjoying this life more than they enjoy Christ. A dedicated believer can think of nothing else except Christ and His Word.
When we know what is in store for us as born again believers we can rejoice!
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