It is alright to remove ourselves from our enemies if possible, but we are never to exact revenge against them, nor are we to withhold blessing when in their presence.
Those who choose to treat with disrespect those they perceive to be their enemies are in disobedience to the Word of God.
Psalm 109:2-5
"For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love."
Romans 12:14
"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them."
Proverbs 24:17
"Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,"
There are bullies in the church. Those who expect us to do what they say but what they say is not Biblical.
Measure everything with the Word of God and refuse to adhere to the false doctrines just because of the human pressure.
Do not place "leaders" above God. When the leader disobey's God's Word, respectfully tell them. Often a leader will call it disrespect to question him at all, ignore that and continue to warn them.
No leader is above Christ, every leader is the servant of Christ and of the church. If they are not willing to hear truth or a disagreement, then they should not be leading. If they continue in the rebellion against hearing from those they lead, then they must be removed, they are too arrogant to be a servant of Christ.
Matthew 20:25-27 "…25 But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave—…"
1 Peter 5:2-4 "…2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.…"
We are subject to Christ alone, a leader is a teacher and helper, he is not a god to be followed unconditionally. He accountable to the people he helps, but above all he is accountable to Christ.
Allow no one to bully you into thinking the way they think. We have the freedom to consider what others say, even go to prayer about it, but we must measure everything by the standards of the Bible.
There are many things that others will tell us that sound very good and reasonable, but are not Biblical. If we believe what others tell us without examination, we will end up allowing others to do our thinking for us, rather than thinking with the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 "…15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
We will run across those who think their way is right, when we do not accept their way, they will bully us in an attempt to make us look bad or mean by not adhering to the standards of others that are not in the Bible.
Proverbs 21:2 "2 Every man's way is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts."
God is the authority over us, He has the final say as to what we should believe and how we should act.
1 John 2:26-28 "…26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught. 28 And now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.…"
The world is working to convince us that their way is best and kinder, when often it is not only not kinder but damaging and disobedient to Christ.
Romans 15:7 "7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."
We do not do what we do to be accepted by men, but rather to be acceptable to God. We build an amazing relationship with Christ in us when He always comes first.
Those who want to control you but cannot, will isolate you from them and others, even gossiping to gain the support of others against you. Be glad when these people are gone, they bring nothing of value to the table, only continual contempt and conflict.
We do not have to live under the expectations of others continually. We desire to please those we love when we can, but we are not obligated to follow their unBiblical standards. And, we are never expected to facilitate or accept their disobedience against God.
We are living in a rebellious world right now, not only in the world but in the church. We can expect to be alone often, but we are never completely alone because we have Christ living in us, the One Who created us, the One Who is Truth. What could be more wonderful than that? Nothing, nothing is better than Christ as our Guide.
Amen, Amen!!!! Can You be a Born Again Believer and not be Abiding?
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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 fruit, not the works, will say more to us than anything else about someone, we discern them by the Holy Spirit in us. I have known many people who say they are Christians, even proclaiming they have the gift of the Spirit, but their character had no evidence of this fruit.
We do not get the fruit of the Spirit by saying we have them, by pretending we have them or even trying to fake them. This fruit comes by the power of the Holy Spirit. Many who think they have them do not, we know because of the anger and rebellion against God's Word that they display on a regular basis. We know them too for their disrespect for particular brothers and sisters who are more open and prone to telling the truth.
No one who has the fruit of God's Spirit will be angry to hear the Word of God, nor will they target an individual for mocking, demeaning or ruining their lives because they don't like what they hear.
There is no fruit in those who are covertly or overtly harming a brother or sister in Christ. Targeting others for attack is evidence there has not been a born again experience.
1 John 3:13-15 "…13 So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that eternal life does not reside in a murderer.…"
Christ changed everything when He came and died for us. We no longer look to the Law which could not save us, but to Christ Who has the power to save to the uttermost.
We can obey because of Christ in us, but we will fail at times, we forget to keep trusting Christ even though we trusted Him for salvation, we can be willful and choose to trust ourselves for everything else. When that happens, then God has provided an advocate for us that is Christ Jesus. Unbelievers do not have an advocate with the Father, only believers do.
1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father — Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours alone, but also for the sins of the whole world.…"
When God's children sin, He does not throw them away, He disciplines them.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
God wrote this to believers,
1 John 1:7-9 "…7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.…"
Believers do sin, the size of the sin is irrelevant, since God cannot be in the presence of any sin at all, not even the smallest sin. That's why Christ had to cover our sin with His own blood.
We should be growing in holiness, but not all do, this following Scripture shows us that there are those who will barely make it into heaven because they had no works. The thief on the cross had no works at all when he confessed Christ, but he was saved.
1 Corinthians 3:14-16 "…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one being snatched from the fire. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…"
If our past, present and future sins were not taken care of at the cross then Christ would have to die over and over again. When we come to Christ His blood covers ALL our sins, He does all the changing and keeping for us.
Only His death could cover any sin.
Hebrews 9:24 "24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, NOW to appear in the presence of God for us; PRESENT
Hebrews 9:26 "26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He HAS BEEN manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. PAST
Hebrews 9:28 "28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. FUTURE
Christ died once for sins, that sin for the believer is covered in His blood. They have been changed into a new creation, they will no longer need another covering for later. The first covering is permanent until we go home to Him.
