God never told us to invite non-believers to our worship, they should not be there. We are to "go into the world" preaching and teaching and when the unsaved become saved then they will come in as believer and followers of Christ. If a non-believer happens to come, then probably he is open to the truth, but we should not be inviting unsaved friends who ultimately learn the Christian lingo, begin acting like Christians but are not born again, they have not been changed from the inside, so their acting on the outside does not remain. Therefore they corrupt the gathering with their worldly ideas and false persona. This is where the apostate church is today, it got that way because many people compromised the truth to placate the unbeliever.
The apostate church violated more scripture than it obeyed, in the process is it no longer a gathering of Christlike people indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but rather a social gathering that capitulates to the ungodly thinking of the unbelievers who are present. Now, it is likely we have more unsaved people in the "Christian" churches than we have saved ones. Therefore most gatherings, especially if they are large ones, will be accepting many wicked sins within their group.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 God warned us about these people and tells us to stay away from them.
"1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
Beware of false doctrine based on psychology that fosters guilt in us for not obeying their ideas, the ideas that negate the purposes of the Word of God.
Just recently I was chastised by a believer for asserting that we need to be bold and completely honest with the non-believer. The only phrase I heard, in a mild form of rage, was that "its all about love." When I asked the question, "what is love"?, the rage escalated and there was a refusal to answer. My guess is that most people who use cliches don't know the meaning of those cliches. These cliches sound good so they are embraced, that's all they have, meaning is not very important, only the right words to make us sound compassionate. Interesting too that the one raging at me didn't have that love he so adamantly declared, for me.
It is not very compassionate to make an unbeliever feel good about themselves, only to have them go into the fires of hell at the end of this life. Wouldn't it be more compassionate to tell the truth with urgency and watch them go to heaven later?
Every cliche in the book will be thrown at us from pretenders. When appearances are the goal, then anything that goes any deeper than superficiality will be summarily rejected. Anything that makes someone accountable or shows a need for brokenness over sin, will be rejected and attacked.
2 Timothy 4:4-5
"4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."
There have been two others I have heard today referring to the apostasy of the church, its as though the prophets and prophetesses are warning the people but the people are not listening.
We have many prophetesses and prophets still here in our land, they are the born again believers who have been commissioned by God to speak the truth and live righteous lives.
By prophets and prophetesses I do not mean future telling, but those born again believers who are rightly dividing the word and warning of what is coming and urging people to get back to the Word of God as their standard. These people are also speaking and writing frequently about the rapture as well as the gospel of Jesus Christ for those who do not yet know Him.
We no longer need future revelations, we have all we need in the Bible. Its all right there, nothing more is needed. We can watch today as those prophesies from the patriarchs are being fulfilled before our very eyes.
I don't know about you but it is exciting to me while at the same time grievous that so many people who attend churches and family members are clueless as to truth of the Word or the order of the Church gathering.
There are many too, who would consider themselves conservative, who are fixated on having an earthly king. We saw what happened to Israel when they chose a King over God to rule them. When we have Christ is doesn't matter what the government is doing we will follow only Christ., our leader is Jesus Christ. Nothing the government does changes how we operate as believers, we still follow Christ first and our governmental laws when they do not violate the Word of God.
If the people of a nation are not focused on Christ they will want their safety to come through a king. We are living in wicked times, the people are evil so the leaders we will have are also evil. Even the one we think will get us some of what we want, that is "peace and safety."
Just because we think some good things are happening, that does not mean that righteousness is prevailing, just the opposite. All this conservatism is an illusion concocted by those who needed the "Christian" voting block to participate. All those in the planning stages of the plot knew that if they could fool those Christians into believing they would get them what they wanted, they would be able to sway the vote in their direction.
I was involved in politics for a few years, I know how the politicians think, I know the way they manipulate the people, it is positively clever. By the way, there are many clues that are ignored when the tricksters work their wiles, but the people like what is said so they ignore the clues. Seeing the clues takes discernment and critical thinking, nothing said can be taken at face value. Remember words are nothing, they are easily expressed, it is in the actions that one is proven to be righteous.
Our nation will only be a righteous nation through changed hearts of the people. When a nation gets to the point in which they accept the decrees of their leaders to defend sin in every form, then we have lost the nation.
The very people we think are righteous leaders are not at all, they have allowed pornography to be so entrenched that the United States is the leader of the distribution of it for the entire world. We have the blood of 65 million babies on the land and counting, as our courts have defended and allowed abortion. Notice something, only less than half the people are against abortion in our country and many of the other half have comforted those who do have abortions.
If we have some godly leaders but most are not in our government system, then we can surmise that most of the people of the United States are wicked. Those who are godly cannot get anything done because they are outnumbered. We have seen this in church gatherings too, in which the leaders are apostate, the one who calls it out is the one who is driven out.
With the United States becoming worse morally we cannot expect the leaders to do better. The voters drive the leaders, they create the climate for the government. Even those that do not vote drive the government by letting the few make the voting decisions. In short, most people in this country are not interested in righteousness, only in getting what they want, that is "peace, security and prosperity."
Jeremiah 7:26-28 "…26 "Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers. 27 "You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 "You shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.…"
Let's recap a little to get perspective, abortion, pornography, prostitution, teaching of sex in schools rather than parents privately instructing their own children, filthy movies on television and at the theaters have poisoned the mind of two generations as they indoctrinate the watchers into a particular mindset of self worship and pleasure. Then there is the foolishness of coddling the young people to think they should have everything they want without having to earn it or wait for it.
We are living in wicked times fraught with self will, harshness toward those who speak truth, lack of love while filled with a desire for personal aggrandizement.
Isaiah 30:9-11 "…9 For this is a rebellious people, false sons, Sons who refuse to listen To the instruction of the LORD; 10 Who say to the seers, "You must not see visions"; And to the prophets, "You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. 11 "Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel."
Do not become agitated when the world hates you. When they mock you, lie against you and leave you without help, it is not about you at all. Those who do these things to God's people are operating against God.
Those who come against God's people are looking at us and hating the One Who dwells in us. They are not seeing us at all, we are an object to them, it is Christ in us that they fight against. Perhaps we see an angry person before us, but that person has been deeply influenced by the whispers of the devil. The person has no rational of his own to hate us, he is simply operating on the emotions and distorted thinking of the devil who has his grip on the helpless person, but not entirely helpless, the devil uses those who love their hatred.
2 Corinthians 4:4 "4 In their case the god of this world (the devil) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Do not take it personally when others mock, demean and attempt to manipulate you, they are doing this to God.
Remember this always, they may mock you, lie against you and leave you without help, but God loves you, knows the truth and will be our help when we need it.
Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
God does not say we can do all things with the help of others, He says we can do all things because of His strength in us.
Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
It is wonderful when we have love and the companionship of others who are walking the same path that we are walking, but when it is not possible, Christ can be everything for us.
It is interesting that the words in 2 Timothy 3, "lack of natural affection", is a condition of the end times mentality, really means a "hard heartedness toward kindred", meaning lack of the natural love between family members. The word is "astorgos", love of family. These people will pretend to be spiritual, but in fact are not at all what they portray. God tells us in verse 5 to avoid them, they can only harm us.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 WITHOUT NATURAL AFFECTION, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a FORM OF GODLINESS, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
We see this lack of love in families taking many different forms. One of those forms is the women leaving the care of the children in favor of a career, the proliferation of abortion in our day, the lack of kindness and love shown to mothers-in-law or fathers-in-laws, the snarky rebelliousness adult children show aging parents, the waiting for parents to die so the children can have the inheritance and much more.
Many adult children today are angry when their aging parents won't give them the things the parents worked all their lives to earn. The children want those things for free, as though the parents owe it to them.
Demanding that parents do the bidding of their adult children seems to be nearly normal these days. Those parents that do the bidding of their adult children are in bondage to their own children. Perhaps the children were in charge when they were toddlers, the reason they think they should be in charge as they become adults.
The parents who do not do the bidding of their adult children are punished for creating reasonable boundaries that any normal person would erect. If the parents acted toward their children the way the children act toward their parents, the children would become enraged that anything was expected of them, and yet they feel entitled to the parents things.
Notice I said "the parents things", many adult children today do not want their parents, do not love their parents nor have any modicum of concern for them, they just want their money, their help and their protection, without reciprocating. It's not about a relationship with the parents at all. This is how many pretenders treat God, they want all His stuff but want nothing of Him.
Many parents give into their monstrously entitled children out of fear of being alone, especially in their aging years. When we are born again, Christ is our help and our joy, we trust Him more than we depend on our children.
May every aging believer place their trust in Christ in these difficult and loveless times rather than in entitled family members who ought to be given their walking papers.
We should not allow our disrespectful and entitled children to dictate our lives. We did our job as a parent, when they leave the home to be on their own as they should, they are no longer under our care, they need to make their own way the same way we had to. They want their independence, give it to them. Independence means they do not come to you for needs, they work out their own problems and earn their own money. The requirement to make their own way in the world is helpful to them bringing them accomplishment in their own lives. If they are wise they will seek the counsel of the aging parents who have had a proven record of working out problems sensibly.
Helping occasionally when a child is acting responsibly and not demanding it is acceptable. However constantly bailing them out of difficulties they made for themselves by not operating in maturity, is not acceptable. We have no obligation to help them. Any gifts we give to them ought to be our own idea, not capitulating to the demands of a brat who would rather not have to work for what they need.
Note too that most requests by entitled people are not needs but wants. Often they waste their money on foolish unnecessary things while expecting other people to pay their rent, their groceries and other bills.
We are seeing a lot of thirty somethings coming back home to live with Mommy and Daddy because they didn't take care of business. They played, wasted their funds and then come crawling back when the money runs out. If you love your children you will push them out of the nest when they are of age and not bail them out of their troubles. Troubles grow character but only if we work through them wisely.
When a child must make their own way without help they often become more hard working and creative with the money they have. If you love your child you will teach them to make their own way in the world. To operate as though they can't make their own way in the world is a "show of no confidence" in their ability. These aging parents are demonstrating to the child that they are not capable or smart enough to figure things out and be successful.
When the mother bird pushes the fledgling out of the nest, it must fly or fall to the ground, it nearly always flies. The bird that has been extricated from the nest will not return to the mother bird ever again.
In the human experience though, according to God's standard, the children do not come back to live with parents, but the parents go to their children when they are in need of help or cannot operate entirely on their own. The roles are somewhat reversed, the parents are then taken care of by their responsible and loving children as they live out their lives in frailty. This does not remove the command to honor parents, just the opposite. When our parents are aging we ought to show even greater respect, they have enough pain in their lives, they don't need a disrespectful and careless adult child treating them like a child.
Sadly those children who have been indulged by their parents will be living off of their aging parents without being helpful to them. I have heard of many cases like this, in which the aging parent still does all the work and care of their adult children while the children do not help with anything. The aging parent is burdened to the very end of their lives with the care of selfish, mean spirited and entitled adult children who make their lives miserable. Believe me, it is better to be alone in your old age than to be saddled with the whims and tantrums of adult children who care nothing about you.
This sounds very frightening to those who have not seen it, they think its not possible for adult children to act this way, but I have seen it and the misery only ends when the aging parent dies.
What is the moral of this story? Its simple, as aging parents set boundaries for your own home, do not allow adult children to come back and take over the household unless it is to care for you. When elderly parents must live with their children in their children's houses, it would be good to be grateful and unassuming about how things will operate. Making our stay with your adult children an asset to them as much as possible. Even aging parents can do some things that help out around the house, even if the only thing you are capable of is snapping green beans on the porch so that others can be free for the other duties.
When families operate God's way, the presence of adult children with aging parents can be pleasant and endearing, memories that last the rest of the adult children's lives.
Advice I give to children who have troublesome aging parents, is that we never want to be left with guilt over the ill treatment of our parents when they were alive, after they have died. If we have to put up with things from them before they die, it is far better to "suck it up" and remain respectful, than to have to deal with the guilt after they are dead.
Just a thought!
After Enoch was taken into heaven with God without dying, the people looked for him but could not find him.
This is a picture of the rapture, we will disappear, it will frighten those who are left behind, they will worry about how it happened and wonder if it could happen to them.
Yep, there you have it folks, our president, the most powerful leader of the free world proclaiming that he would like to go to fisticuffs with the ex-vice president behind the high school if they were still youngsters.
I told my husband that I was going to vote for Trump because I believed it would prove to be the most entertaining administration of any we have seen and because he wanted me to vote. I was right, this administration is proving to be a laugh a minute.
While I do agree with many of the verbal expressions of the presidents policies, some of which have been accomplished, I have to wonder about the thinking process of someone who acts like the thug in high school or the streets of the Bronx, never having matured in all his years.
Please don't anyone chastise me for telling the truth about our president. I have never had any illusions that he would save our country or even do all the things he said he would do. I voted for him because I have voted all my life, and because he was not Hillary. Having pretty much given up on the hope that America would be anything better than what it is right now, in fact I am convinced it will continue down the slippery slide to destruction, my vote was not more important to me than obeying God. My hope is not on this earth but in Christ and my home with Him.
Trump is being used by God for His purposes, but not to save America, to bring us more intensely into the end times mess as we move toward the tribulation. The world thinks that Trump represents conservatism, yes to a degree he does, but he does not represent God's righteousness, far from it.
In order for the tribulation to become its fullest, America must no longer be a world power. America remaining a world power is no more important to me than my local high school foot ball team winning the state championship. Neither carry much weight with me, my home is not here, it is somewhere else much better than this country or this earth.
As believers we are not citizens of this world and only citizens of this country on paper. Soon the believers will be going home and what we thought was so important down here will look positively foolish to us when we reach our heavenly home.
Philippians 3:18-21
"18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.
19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself."
There you have it....my opinion.
I still love those of you who may disagree with me.
Isaiah 3:11-13 "…11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him, For what he deserves will be done to him. 12 O My people! Their oppressors are children, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray And confuse the direction of your paths. 13 The LORD arises to contend, And stands to judge the people.…"
Think about it, do we not see the children bossing their parents, ruling the household in families these days? I see it a lot where I live.
Sometimes I can hardly stand watching the parents who allow their children to rule the household, dictating terms and executing revenge through tantrums when the parents won't submit to the child immediately.
Just the other day while shopping in a public place, I heard a rebellious toddler screaming as loud as he possibly could to bring the parent to their knees. The response of the parent was to ignore it hoping it would go away on its own. Finally the parent got tired of the tirade and gave the little monster what he wanted, re-enforcing that his tantrum worked and would continue.
This same child will be punching out his parent when he is taller than she. He will use intimidation and manipulation to keep the parent under his control. This woman is looking at a very hellish teen years, but even worse than that a hellish elderly stint when she can no longer give the child everything he wants, he will be discarding and even abusing his mother because she is inconvenient to him. Just saying!!!
Proverbs 19:26-27 "26 He who assaults his father and drives his mother away Is a shameful and disgraceful son. 27 Cease listening, my son, to discipline, And you will stray from the words of knowledge.…"
The problem I see in this culture is the resistance of the parents to do the necessary discipline God's way. What is God's way?
Proverbs 13:24
"Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him."
A parent who does not discipline properly only loves themselves. It is unpleasant to many parents to have to discipline a child. I didn't think of it that way, because I saw it as nothing more than any other task in the household. You have to clean the bathroom, cook the food and spank the child, that's just life, why have any bad feelings about it, unless one has been brainwashed that it is mean to spank.
Hebrews 12:11
"For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
If we let the bathroom commode become filthy over the course of several years, it may not be able to be clean ever again no matter how much scrubbing one does. That commode would not only be filthy but smelly too. It is an unpleasant job, but necessary, we don't "feel" anything about it, we just do it to maintain the standard of the household.
The same is true with the child, if a parent neglects the disciplining of the child long enough, soon that child will be so arrogant and rebellious that nothing will work with him anymore.
After this neglect has occurred over many years, then the child will have to be trained by God, the harsher way, through many life failures. In my estimation it is better to do it God's way and actually be able to enjoy the teen years with your children.
There is no guarantee that a child will become godly because we obeyed God, but there is a better chance and our conscience is free from regret when we know we did it God's way.
The narcissist does not show respect to anyone who will not elevate them as special.
Narcissists have a need for others to be bad so they can feel good.
When it is important to someone to be special or above others, we are watching an excessive pride that can never admit anything needs work in themselves, this is why they never grow emotionally or spiritually.
Secure and mature human beings are able to easily say, "wow that was a dumb thing I did", in reference to their own missteps.
It is only when we can laugh at ourselves while freely admitting mistakes that we can grow in all areas of our life.
This is why flattery is so dangerous, not to mention inauthentic. It praises the ego in a person removing the desire for the person being flattered, to improve themselves. This is why we have so many people today who cannot tolerate correction, they are not used to admitting their own failures. Their life experience has been one of continual praise and personal glory, as the kids say, "just to encourage them."
The culture has lost the meaning of encouragement. They use that word in place of praise. They are not encouraging people to work harder or improve, they are simply praising them for doing something at all, no matter how inferior the work may be, just doing it brings adulation (excessive praise).
Encouragement is the act of showing the right direction and helping to walk in it. I might be encouraging my children in their homework by instructing them to do it right and turn it in on time. This encouragement produces productivity and excellence.
Praise has little value, even causing laziness in the one who is praised. If a child is praised for tying his shoe, even if it is messy, then he will feel no need to become excellent in the execution of the task. Praise is nothing more than flattery.
Proverbs 29:5
"A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet."
Flattery keeps the person it is directed at, satisfied with shoddy workmanship. It is a stumbling block to productivity. Even worse is flattery about our appearance diverts the attention of our friends from important things to the superficial.
Encouragement to the child in the shoe tying might be when we see that it is messy, we would tell him he needs to try again for it to be tidier. This is conveying to the child that we know they can do the job well, it just takes practice. When we praise when something is not done well, then we are sending the message that we don't think they are capable of anything better so we just give up on them and let them be sloppy. And, I do believe children can see lazy flattery to gain the love of the child, it creates anger in them.
One of the ways we were taught in school when I was a child, in this matter of excellence, was in penmanship. We had to practice and receive a grade in penmanship class, but not only in that class, every paper was evaluated in terms of our penmanship, even in math. If the teacher could not read our writing then we had points removed for poor penmanship. That's why we not only worked hard to develop every subject, we also took note of our penmanship in order to receive a good grade.
For those who are young enough that they don't know the meaning of the word "penmanship", here is the definition; "the art or skill of writing by hand." Everything in elementary school, after second grace and into high school was done in long hand, that is cursive. When someone has learned cursive proficiently they can write much faster than those who print their letters individually, not to mention the beauty of the art of cursive writing.
For those of you who were not trained in cursive writing, here is that definition; "rapid handwriting in which letters are set down in full and are cursively connected within words without lifting the writing implement from the paper."
Teaching cursive and penmanship in school develops a sense of discipline and excellence that is missing from the lives of many young people today. Having to practice at something until it is beautiful will develop a mentality of working that hard at everything we do. It is more than a beautiful way of writing, it is a mindset of excellence that becomes a habit in every area of our lives.
When we expect excellence in the work of our children, we train them to focus on the task and not on themselves. When we are excessively focused on self we will do things for the easy praise rather than the creation that is excellent.
Everything becomes about a product well made or a job well done when our mind is on the work. When this is the goal, then the very good feeling of a job well done is enough, we don't even need the notice of others, we are satisfied in the work itself.
Colossians 3:23
"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,"
The more we obey and please God, the less we need the praise of men to carry on in our walk with the Lord. Our lives are about the Lord and the job we have to do, not whether men will like us.
