One way the devil has of wearing us down is causing doubt about what Christ is telling us to do, through pressure from others to follow the traditions of men.
Does anyone else notice that our cultural Christianity has more to do with traditions of men than obedience to the Word of God?
There are more human rules in the church today than there are Christ commanded principles from His Word.
Mark 7:13 "13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so” in many such matters."
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Punishing the Righteous While Protecting the Wicked
Isaiah 26:10 " 10 Though the wicked is shown favor, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the LORD."
When we punish the righteous to protect the wicked we are causing evil to grow.
When we punish the righteous to protect the wicked we are causing evil to grow.
Prosperity Lies
From Gwendolyn Wehage's writings 2014
I don't know about any of you but I become weary at the health wealth and prosperity gospel that some are spreading. There is no scriptural basis for it. Many have become discouraged thinking they have done something wrong because they don't live in wealth, they are sick often and all their relatives hate them.
There are those who say they don't believe the false gospel of prosperity, but live as though they must prove God is blessing them through feverish efforts to acquire wealth. They even deny their illnesses to pretend they are healthy when they need a doctor.
Next time someone attempts to convince you that God does not want you to be poor, sick, or persecuted, repeat these words to them.
Hebrews 11:35 "Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Hbr 11:36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
Hbr 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, [fn] were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--
Hbr 11:38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, [in] dens and caves of the earth.
Hbr 11:39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,
Hbr 11:40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from "
Many people are being persecuted, beheaded and hung on crosses today in Egypt, what would you have to say to those people. The health, wealth and prosperity gospel is not the gospel at all, but a false one.
Matthew 6:19 ""Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;"
Mat 6:20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."
Mat 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
2 Corinthians 11:23 "Are they ministers of Christ?--I speak as a fool--I [am] more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
2Cr 11:24 From the Jews five times I received forty [stripe] minus one.
2Cr 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
2Cr 11:26 [in] journeys often, [in] perils of waters, [in] perils of robbers, [in] perils of [my own] countrymen, [in] perils of the Gentiles, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren;
2Cr 11:27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness--
2Cr 11:28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
2Cr 11:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn [with indignation]?
2Cr 11:30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.
2Cr 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
2Cr 11:32 In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;
2Cr 11:33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands"
Luke 21:14 ""Therefore settle [it] in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;
Luk 21:15 "for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.
Luk 21:16 "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put [some] of you to death.
Luk 21:17 "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake"
Hmmm!!! Christ was our example and He did not escape poverty and persecution, what would make us think we would. Joel Osteen spits in the face of God when he writes a book entitled, "Your Best Life Now." This may be the best life now for those who are refusing Christ and ultimately will end up in a firey hell. But for the believer, nothing on this earth should take us captive, not wealth, not health nor the love of all the people that surround us. Our best life is to come when we go before the Savior and hear His Words, "Well done good and faithful servant."
We as believers yearn for our heavenly home and our husband that dwells in us now and will one day take us home.
I don't know about any of you but I become weary at the health wealth and prosperity gospel that some are spreading. There is no scriptural basis for it. Many have become discouraged thinking they have done something wrong because they don't live in wealth, they are sick often and all their relatives hate them.
There are those who say they don't believe the false gospel of prosperity, but live as though they must prove God is blessing them through feverish efforts to acquire wealth. They even deny their illnesses to pretend they are healthy when they need a doctor.
Next time someone attempts to convince you that God does not want you to be poor, sick, or persecuted, repeat these words to them.
Hebrews 11:35 "Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
Hbr 11:36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
Hbr 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, [fn] were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented--
Hbr 11:38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, [in] dens and caves of the earth.
Hbr 11:39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,
Hbr 11:40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from "
Many people are being persecuted, beheaded and hung on crosses today in Egypt, what would you have to say to those people. The health, wealth and prosperity gospel is not the gospel at all, but a false one.
Matthew 6:19 ""Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;"
Mat 6:20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal."
Mat 6:21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
2 Corinthians 11:23 "Are they ministers of Christ?--I speak as a fool--I [am] more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.
2Cr 11:24 From the Jews five times I received forty [stripe] minus one.
2Cr 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;
2Cr 11:26 [in] journeys often, [in] perils of waters, [in] perils of robbers, [in] perils of [my own] countrymen, [in] perils of the Gentiles, [in] perils in the city, [in] perils in the wilderness, [in] perils in the sea, [in] perils among false brethren;
2Cr 11:27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness--
2Cr 11:28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.
2Cr 11:29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn [with indignation]?
2Cr 11:30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.
2Cr 11:31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.
2Cr 11:32 In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me;
2Cr 11:33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands"
Luke 21:14 ""Therefore settle [it] in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer;
Luk 21:15 "for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.
Luk 21:16 "You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put [some] of you to death.
Luk 21:17 "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake"
Hmmm!!! Christ was our example and He did not escape poverty and persecution, what would make us think we would. Joel Osteen spits in the face of God when he writes a book entitled, "Your Best Life Now." This may be the best life now for those who are refusing Christ and ultimately will end up in a firey hell. But for the believer, nothing on this earth should take us captive, not wealth, not health nor the love of all the people that surround us. Our best life is to come when we go before the Savior and hear His Words, "Well done good and faithful servant."
We as believers yearn for our heavenly home and our husband that dwells in us now and will one day take us home.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Good Deeds Without Fanfare!
The most used tactic of the narcissist, who is controlled by the devil, is to accuse others of doing what the narcissist is doing and the others are not. This is classic and becoming very common.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, 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 men as these."
The politicians are using it, rebellious family members and every government entity are deeply committed to this tactic of assigning to others their own evils.
Narcissists love to see things as they have concocted in their hearts. They never seek to find the whole truth, but rather use a little truth and fill in the blanks with their own version based on their personal prejudices against those for which they have contempt.
Have you ever tired to reason with a contemptuous and rebellious person? It is impossible when someone will not discuss anything, holding fast to their desired conceptions, leaves it an exercise in futility to communicate with them.
Titus 3:10 "9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the Law, because these things are pointless and worthless. 10 Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.…"
Why do I spend so much time on this subject? It's simple, we are experiencing regularly now the mentality described in 2 Timothy 3, a complete and total breakdown of morals, courtesies and kindnesses that used to be a part of our lives not that many years ago.
I have noticed posts on facebook recently celebrating kind acts that are occurring, as though it is so unusual it is worthy of excessive praise. Acts that used to be normal and natural without fan fair happen far less these days, causing us to take notice. We become excited when we see them in the news feed.
May we be those who don't even have to think or evaluate when it comes to kindness, may the Lord be so full within us that we do right without having to think about it.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, 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 men as these."
The politicians are using it, rebellious family members and every government entity are deeply committed to this tactic of assigning to others their own evils.
Narcissists love to see things as they have concocted in their hearts. They never seek to find the whole truth, but rather use a little truth and fill in the blanks with their own version based on their personal prejudices against those for which they have contempt.
Have you ever tired to reason with a contemptuous and rebellious person? It is impossible when someone will not discuss anything, holding fast to their desired conceptions, leaves it an exercise in futility to communicate with them.
Titus 3:10 "9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the Law, because these things are pointless and worthless. 10 Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition, 11 knowing that such a man is corrupt and sinful; he is self-condemned.…"
Why do I spend so much time on this subject? It's simple, we are experiencing regularly now the mentality described in 2 Timothy 3, a complete and total breakdown of morals, courtesies and kindnesses that used to be a part of our lives not that many years ago.
I have noticed posts on facebook recently celebrating kind acts that are occurring, as though it is so unusual it is worthy of excessive praise. Acts that used to be normal and natural without fan fair happen far less these days, causing us to take notice. We become excited when we see them in the news feed.
May we be those who don't even have to think or evaluate when it comes to kindness, may the Lord be so full within us that we do right without having to think about it.
Trust the Bible Alone
Eve was deceived in the garden because the fruit "looked good" to her.
When we focus on external feelings and our own senses, we can be easily deceived.
It is when we focus on truth that we can remain strong against the lies of the devil. That truth comes from God's Word, the Bible. If something does not match up with the Scriptures, no matter how it makes us feel, then we need to reject it.
Feelings and experiences can confuse us, leaving us vulnerable to every evil doctrine that comes to us.
Many people have believed "Mother Theresa" to be a wonderful human being because of her "good works" and "fame", they neglected to investigate her doctrine or personal claims. She never knew the Gospel of Christ, and died empty and confused in her last hours.
Never believe something because it is popular or based on news stories, check it out according to the Scriptures.
Acts 17:11 "11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true."
When we focus on external feelings and our own senses, we can be easily deceived.
It is when we focus on truth that we can remain strong against the lies of the devil. That truth comes from God's Word, the Bible. If something does not match up with the Scriptures, no matter how it makes us feel, then we need to reject it.
Feelings and experiences can confuse us, leaving us vulnerable to every evil doctrine that comes to us.
Many people have believed "Mother Theresa" to be a wonderful human being because of her "good works" and "fame", they neglected to investigate her doctrine or personal claims. She never knew the Gospel of Christ, and died empty and confused in her last hours.
Never believe something because it is popular or based on news stories, check it out according to the Scriptures.
Acts 17:11 "11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true."
Friday, September 2, 2016
Godliness with Humility Makes a Friendship
It is common for people to attack the "method" rather than content when they don't like the message if the message exposes their sin.
If we send an enemy a letter, they will attack us for not calling, if we call, they will attack us for not coming and if we come they will say we should have written or called first.
Do you see how it works? If someone has contempt for us and for God, they will think up an excuse to be against us or Him. The excuse will not have to be rational but nonetheless they will hold to it anyway.
Have you been told the details of a friends comings and goings and then told to "stay out of their business" when sharing your opinions, views or Biblical perspective on what you heard?
LOL, notice that our culture has an unspoken rule, that is, we are suppose to listen intently to everything but we are not to voice our perspectives on what we heard unless they validate the person sharing, by validation they expect for us to respond in words they like to hear.
God clearly tells us to share our views, encourage when someone is right and challenge when things are amiss. It's called "sharing for the purpose of growing in holiness."
2 Peter 3:17-18 "…17 Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard not to be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."
Colossians 3:15-17 "…15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.…"
If we send an enemy a letter, they will attack us for not calling, if we call, they will attack us for not coming and if we come they will say we should have written or called first.
Do you see how it works? If someone has contempt for us and for God, they will think up an excuse to be against us or Him. The excuse will not have to be rational but nonetheless they will hold to it anyway.
Have you been told the details of a friends comings and goings and then told to "stay out of their business" when sharing your opinions, views or Biblical perspective on what you heard?
LOL, notice that our culture has an unspoken rule, that is, we are suppose to listen intently to everything but we are not to voice our perspectives on what we heard unless they validate the person sharing, by validation they expect for us to respond in words they like to hear.
God clearly tells us to share our views, encourage when someone is right and challenge when things are amiss. It's called "sharing for the purpose of growing in holiness."
2 Peter 3:17-18 "…17 Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard not to be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen."
Colossians 3:15-17 "…15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.…"
Walking By Sight Diminishes Faith
Those who lack faith need artifacts, amulets, rituals and incantations, in an attempt to have a little faith, but the true faith never comes because these things don't satisfy, they must be done over and over again to "feel" a sense of faith, it is not true faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7 "7 For we walk by faith, not by sight."
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