Follow Christ Not The Group

I cannot tell you the number of times I spoke truth in a group of family members who reviled me for it, then later a person would approach me to agree, but never agreeing in the gathering as a means of support.

Perhaps there were others, but the bombastic rebellious ones intimidated the group, so much so, that even those who knew I spoke truth would not engage to come alongside.

There are surely others like this who are reading this post. Don't become discouraged by it when it happens. Every encounter where I had to stand alone was another growth spurt.

The joy from having defended God's principles is far greater than the acceptance of the ungodly.

Psalm 1:1-2 "1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.…"

John 12:43 "43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God. "

Proverbs 24:1 "1 Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them; 2 For their minds devise violence, And their lips talk of trouble.…"

1 John 2:15-17
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

Hows That Self Esteem Working Out For Us?

Even the seculars had more sense many years ago than many Christians today. Believers have fallen into the trap of "self esteem", not only accepting it as truth but defending it adamantly as though it were from the Bible. Sadly it is antithetical to the Bible, no Scripture commands or even condones the teaching of self esteem, in actuality God's Word condemns it.

We are now seeing all the consequences of indulging children in self esteem.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 describes the mentality that occurs from teaching people to be selfish.

"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, [a]haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [b]godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."

Judy Rominger said:
"In 1947, forward-looking Harvard sociologist & historian, Dr. Carle C. Zimmerman wrote a book called "Family & Civilization." He identified 11 "symptoms of final decay" that he observed in the fall of both the Roman and Greek civilizations. It's important to note that Dr. Zimmerman was not a religious man, but he contended that the heart of the problem was the loss of the pro-family, biblical religious faith which enabled a society to flourish."

1. No fault divorce.

2. "Birth Dearth" - increased disrespect for parenthood & parents.

3. Meaningless marriage rites/ceremonies.

4. Defamation of past national heroes.

5. Acceptance of alternative marriage forms.

6. Widespread attitudes of feminism, narcissism, & hedonism.

7. Propagation of anti-family sentiment.

8. Acceptance of most forms of adultery.

9. Rebellious children.

10. Increased juvenile delinquency.

11. Common acceptance of all forms of sexual perversion.

And people wonder why there is so much unrest, pain, and heart ache today?

Idolizing Ourselves

Serial Appeasers always harm the righteous while facilitating evil.

Serial Appeasers are more about being accepted and successful than they are about truth and righteousness.

Truth divides but not purposefully, the intent of truth is to help those who don't know it yet and to correct those who think they know but are in error.

Stubborn people hate to be corrected, they hate to admit they might be wrong and they are all about being elevated by others. Sadly because of this mentality the stubborn people can not grow past infancy in their actions or reactions.

In order to grow we must be able to admit our error, confess our sins and seek truth. Truth must always trump our feelings and desires. When we seek truth our feelings and desires change, no longer focused on being special, but rather moving forward in knowledge and wisdom.

James 1:5
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."

Proverbs 8:11-12
"For wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her. “I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion."

Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."

When we are stubborn we do not love Christ, we love ourselves more than Christ, thus becoming an idol to ourselves.

The Trumps are Sounding

Believers are soon to be going home!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkTjtT-u0Ew&feature=youtu.be

Are You A Square Peg?

How many, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, feel like we are a square peg living in a round hole, without a good fit, without validation and with few friends if any?

If you feel this way, then you are blessed to have been born again, chasing hard after Christ while the world all around you races to destruction.

Psalm 34:17-20
"When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken."

Even though we are alone often, we are deeply comforted and confident because of Jesus Christ Who lives in us.

Luke 6:26 "26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way."

Trust in Christ not Food and Exercise

There is no where in the Scriptures that say eating right and exercising will gain us long life, however God says this;

1 Peter 3:10
"For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;"

Jeremiah 17:7-8 "7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. 8 "For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.…"

Psalm 146:3-5
"Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,"

Deuteronomy 5:33
"You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess."

A President Can't Fix Us

Our culture will not be changed by a better president, the hearts of the people must change toward Christ.

No political figure will change the hearts of a nation.

Until there is repentance and the hearts of people are cleansed by Christ, no one will be able to bring us out of the mire we are in, we will continue to sink deeper and deeper into sin.

You see.....If every individual would resolve to follow Christ, there would be no abortions, no matter what the law allows.

If every individual would resolve to follow Christ, pornographic companies would fold because no one would buy their product.

If every individual would resolve to follow Christ, the movie industry would have to clean up their act because no one would pay money to see their movies.

If every individual would resolve to follow Christ, divorce lawyers would go out of business because no one would avail themselves to their services.

If every individual would resolve to follow Christ, there would be no hirelings in the churches, because all the men would participate in serving the Lord through teaching and preaching.

If every individual would resolve to follow Christ, we wouldn't need a state welfare system, the body of Christ would see to individual needs of those in their neighborhoods and communities.

If every individual would resolve to follow Christ there would be no robberies, no murder, no greed and no rebellion.

The law is for the law breaker, not for the righteous. The more the lawless control the country the more chaos and evil reigns.

1 Timothy 1:9-10 "9 We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching…"

Proverbs 29:2 "“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”

God gives us the leaders we deserve, right now that should frighten many.

Believer have nothing to fear, but unbelievers, those who have not trusted Christ, do not have the hope that we have.