Fear God or Fear Man

You will fear someone, it can either be man or it can be God.
Psalm 39:7-8
"7"And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You. 8"Deliver me from all my transgressions; Make me not the reproach of the foolish."

It is not in any person that we place our trust or faith, but in Christ Jesus alone.

When we find ourselves walking on egg shells around someone, worried that they may not approve of us, then we have made them our god.

If we are going to fear anyone, it ought to be God not man.

WHAT THE FEAR OF GOD BRINGS:

Psalm 112:1
"Praise the LORD! How blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who greatly delights in His commandments."

Psalm 115:13
"He will bless those who fear the LORD, The small together with the great."

Psalm 128:1-4
"How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine Within your house, Your children like olive plants Around your table.
Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD."

WHAT THE FEAR OF MAN BRINGS:

Proverbs 29:25-26
" 25 The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted. 26 Many seek the ruler's favor, But justice for man comes from the LORD.…"

We can choose to fear man and walk around terrified we might be rejected at the slightest miss-step or we can fear God and be confident that He will guide and cleanse us as needed.

Truth Tellers Maligned

I know many Christians who never say anything controversial except when they know someone will agree. They never rebuke, they never correct, they remain "likeable" to everyone. They basically say nothing, do nothing and be nothing, to be accepted by their families and the community.

They have lots of friends, but never move forward in spiritual growth and never influence anyone's life for Christ.

A truth teller comes along to make good sense of things and they are demeaned, rejected and avoided. 

We are living in difficult times, most people are dedicated to being appreciated, elevated and loved far more than they are to Christ and His principles as commanded in His Word.

Those who endure to the end are those who were authentic born again believers. They endured because they were changed into a new creation by Christ and indwelt with the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of their inheritance.

Ephesians 1:13-14
"13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory."

Matthew 10:22 "…21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 22 You will be hated by everyone on account of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. 23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.…"

Proverbs 29:27
"An unjust man is abominable to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked."

Isaiah 66:5
"Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at His word: "Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My name's sake, Have said, 'Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy.' But they will be put to shame."

Mark 13:13 "13You will be hated by everyone on account of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved."

Honoring God His Way

"The plain truth is that birth day celebrations are only mentioned twice in the Scriptures -- once in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament – and both times in reference to customs being observed by unconverted, pagan people -- an Egyptian Pharaoh, and wicked king Herod! Notice what happened on these two instances of “birth day celebrations” recorded in the Word of God."
William F. Dankenbring

I do not believe that when Christians celebrate birthdays they are sinning, however it is interesting that something we have all been raised with actually has its' roots in paganism.

While I am not surprised by this, I realize the trouble these celebrations can cause. People expect a gift or card or both, some disappointed when someone doesn't remember a birthday, even angry because the tradition in America is so deeply rooted in the minds of everyone, that the culture as a whole thinks someone is bad or evil if they ignore birthdays.

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with all the mandated holidays that we were raised with, I say mandated because the culture as a whole thinks something is wrong with us when we give them all up to relieve ourselves of the burden of gift buying, parties and trying to remember something that is not very important to God.

When we feel "obligated" to give a gift or send a card, it is a burden. I think gifts can be wonderful, why do they have to be on a date the culture has ordained, why can we not give when we feel led by the Holy Spirit and leave all the mandatory human giving alone.

The only celebration that I get excited about is the one Christ gave us to remember, and that is His death, burial and resurrection at the Lord's Supper. Nearly everyone I know celebrates birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, Easter and Thanksgiving, the holidays God never told us to observe, while nearly entirely ignoring the Lord's supper that Christ Himself commanded us to observe in remembrance of Him.

I am not saying we should all give up these things, but I am saying that we should stop judging anyone who has unburdened themselves by leaving them alone.

Perhaps if we spent more time observing the Lord's supper as commanded in the Word, to observe every week as God told us to do, we would be so enveloped with Him that we would feel no need for all the other man made celebrations.

John 5:44
"44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?"

1 Corinthians 11:24-25
"24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."

Mark 7:7-9 "…7' BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.' 8" Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." 9 He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.…"

When we celebrate all the man made holidays but neglect the celebration Christ commanded us to do, who are we honoring? Just a thought!

Anxiety is a Form of Pride

https://biblicalperspectivesonnarcissism.com/2016/04/05/anxiety-is-a-form-of-pride/

It Sounds Good But is so Wrong

So many of the things that sound good to us and even make us laugh, things we have been raised with in our lifetime, were not Biblical, but planted a particular expectation or mentality in us that is actually against the truths of God.

"May you be in heaven a half hour before the devil knows your dead."
An Irish Catholic saying I heard many years ago, even saying it to friends jokingly. The implication is that we should escape in some way the power of the devil over us, allowing us to sneak into heaven before he had a chance to grab us for his realm.

The white witch goes into the tent with Aslan, the lion who was representing Christ, to negotiate the penalty for sin in the "Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe", a novel and later movie by that same name written by C.S. Lewis.

Those who know the Bible would know this was ridiculous since the devil had no say whatever concerning the penalty for sin over mankind. It was the Father who set the price for sin, that being the shedding of blood.

So many things we think are innocent fun, teach us things, they teach us bad theology and a wrong view about God.

It has actually been stated by Christians who have allowed the movies to be their guide about Christianity, who did not know the Bible that; "I know the story of Noah because I saw the movie." This is frightening, so many Christians who will not crack their Bibles will believe the Hollywood versions of Bible stories, that are without a doubt, silly if not down right blasphemous.

We see the patently unBiblical nature of the movie, "The Passion of the Christ", while other believers who are not Catholic think it is wonderful. Because they don't know their Bibles and because they have never been in the Catholic church, they miss all the Roman Catholic symbolism and cultic overtones of that movie, even defending it as though it had value, when it taught principles against the Word of God. Even well known protestant ministers encouraged many to go and see the movie written by a drunken Roman Catholic movie star, Mel Gibson.

Then there was the book "The Shack" praised by many pastors in pulpits, even encouraging their congregations to read it and enjoy it's tenets. Sadly this book was blasphemous, unBiblical and ruinous to the faith of those who were sucked in by it.

The trend that is rampant throughout our culture is to place one's trust in literary works written by men, whose ideas were nothing more than imaginations in their own minds. Believing they were clever, they created a picture in the minds of people that worked against the principles of God while confusing many.

The devil has been using this tactic for as long as he has been around. He never attempts to convince believers to no longer believe in God, rather, he chooses to tempt them with a distorted view of God leaving mankind thinking of God in a way that demeans, mocks and negates His principles.

By the time we get to the people with the truth of the gospel, they have already been indoctrinated with so many versions of God, they are not able to see "up from down." Because of the confusion and dilemma in their own minds, they fight bitterly to retain the version they like. More often than not they choose the version that best fits their own desires, even showing hostility toward anyone who comes along with the Bible to show them their error.

In this "age of enlightenment", the devil is working harder by the day to deceive believers who do not know their Bibles. If he can get them to buy into a distorted and blasphemous false gospel, they can take their false message to unbelievers, perverting their view of God, leading them right into hell.

Thankfully anyone whose heart is inclined toward God will trust Him. God will see to it that those who want to be saved will be saved. No one will cause another person to go to hell, however anyone who brings a wrong gospel will be accountable before God for what they have done.

2 Corinthians 11:12-14 "…12 But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.…"

Please, please do not come here to argue that "God can use anything", it is a monstrous argument that we should be allowed to say and do anything we please just because God can use it. Just because God can use anything does not mean God is alright with the evil that men do. It matters how we do things, according to God's principles and the accuracy of the Bible.

The same God that can use anything is the One that will punish anyone who uses humanistic and blasphemous deceptive ways to convert others to a false gospel.

Psalm 86:11
"Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name."

Proverbs 3:6
"in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

Jeremiah 6:16
"This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, 'We will not walk in it.'"

Micah 4:2
"Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem."

GOD CARES THAT WE LEARN TRUTH HIS WAY AND THAT WE SPEAK HIS TRUTH HIS WAY!!!!!

Worship Like a Dog

I notice that the word for worship in the bible denotes how a dog looks at his master, in deep devotion no matter what. It reminds me that the dog so fully trusts the master, he doesn't know where the master is going or what he is doing, the dog just wants to be with him, completely unconcerned about the purpose or the destination. It as no accident that God expressed worship in this way, we can see in our own pets what our devotion to God should look like.

When I put my shoes and sweater or coat on, my dog immediately knows I am going somewhere. Getting all excited about going with me, he runs to the car and waits for me to let him in it. He doesn't care where we are going or what we will be doing, only that he gets to be with me.

The dog doesn't care if he is better than anyone else, when he obeys and gets praised for it, all he cares about is that he pleased his master. Pleasing his master and being with him is foremost on the dogs mind.

The dog puts his head down even rolling over on his back in submission to his master. The dog wants to submit, loving the master with such fervor that the dog will protect the master even if it means losing his own life.

["PROSKUNEO From: Kevin Cook;
"The most common word in the New Testament for “worship” is Proskuneo (προσκυνέω – pros-kü-ne’-ō). This word occurs 60 times in the New Testament, 57 of which are in the four gospels, Acts, and Revelation (the other three instances occur in 1 Corinthians 14, Hebrews 1, and Hebrews 11). It originally carried with it the idea of subjects falling down to kiss the ground before a king or kiss their feet. The literal definition means “to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand, to fawn or crouch to, homage (do reverence to, adore): worship.”]

If only we would learn from the dog, then we might understand how we should be with God, Who died for us, He gave His all, that we might enjoy Him for eternity.

Nick Bevilacqua
"Works of obediences; If you produced them, you will not be justified by them in the sight of God,(Romans 3: 20. and Galatians 2: 16), lest you boast of your accomplishments.and rob Christ of the glory that is due Him and Him alone. (Romans 3: 27 & 28). (Ephesians 2: 8 & 9). (Romans 5: 9). It is by the obedience of Christ unto the death of the cross that believers are justified freely by the Grace of God apart from self produced works. (Romans 5: 18 & 19).(Romans 3: 24).(Romans 4: 4 - 6)."

Appearances Take the Prize in this Day of Apostasy!

America will never be great again because it has crossed the threshold into the most wicked of sins. We are living in the apostate age, the time for saving our country is over, our aim now has to be instructing believers and witnessing to the unsaved.

If our focus is saving America through leaders and legislation, we may spend too much time on that while neglecting the weightier matter of witnessing the gospel while the days are short.

As an American, there is the temptation to attempt to preserve the lifestyle we have enjoyed, the freedom, the prosperity, the opportunities of many things. However, as believers we were not placed here to preserve a culture or a nation, we were place here to bring the gospel to unbelievers and to encourage believers to walk in holiness.

Never again will anyone hear coming from my lips; "God bless America", to say this would be to ignore all the evil that we have brought to the world through the promotion of liberal and ungodly ideas and action. We are infinitely more wicked than we were 80 years ago, without sign of any slowing. In fact evil is increasing at break neck speed as we fly down the slippery slope.

2 Timothy 3:1-7
"3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
6 For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
7 always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth."

I notice in these passages that one of the traits of the culture is the constant learning new things, continual studying, but little wisdom in all their efforts to be seen as intelligent. Appearing wise is all that matters in our day, actually being wise is not important to most. Appearance is everything now, trumping all sense of holiness or righteousness in the depth of one's soul.

The words of a culture are not a measure of it's condition, but the practices are what we can see lived out every day. Far too many people judge that something is good and are offended when someone judges something to be bad. God said we are to judge righteous judgment, that means we tell the truth when something is bad or good. It makes no sense to allow judging when we will be positive, but disallow judging when it is negative.

We are too judge all things, according to God's standard.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 "…14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ."

John 7:24 "24"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Our culture tends to value those who "appear" to be good while devaluing those who walk in righteousness. Appearances can be a lie and often is, people tend to hide themselves when they are sinful. The way in which someone operates in life is what we should be watching not what they say. If they say something, then their words must match their actions and attitudes.