I know of a wicked man who mocks women who are heavy. He has a monstrous disrespect for women and demonstrates it in this mocking and demeaning.
This man claims to be a Christian and yet he has no fruit of the Spirit and lacks any form of empathy and concern for anyone but himself.
Every time this man mocks a woman who is over weight he shows the evil in his own heart.
What are the things that must happen for this man to feel justified in mocking those who are heavy?
First this very foolish man has to think that a person's size is more important than someone's spiritual condition. When we see outer appearances but do not discern the spirit, then superficial appearances are the most important. He must also perceive himself to be superior to those who do not look just like him.
Secondly this foolish man has to assume that a heavier woman is overeating, gluttonous without knowing her medical condition. He has not spoken to her doctor, he has not been around to see how she eats nor has he known her personally. This wicked man judges on appearances alone without any evidence, merely based on his own preference for women to be thin.
Thirdly this foolish man is demonstrating that demeaning and mocking women because of their size elevates himself in some way. He must demean, mock and destroy anyone who does not fit his narrow view of humanity.
Proverbs 18:2
"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."
Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Proverbs 29:9
"If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet."
Proverbs 26:19
"A fool is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”
Those that judge others based on appearances alone are wicked, used of the devil to ruin those who love the Lord.
Proverbs 10:23
"Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding."
We know that the fool takes pleasure in demeaning others, its like candy to them.
Proverbs 14:16
"One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil, but a fool is reckless and careless."
Proverbs 13:20
"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."
The only solution for the fool is repentance. This person must confess their wicked heart to be cleansed by God. IF he will not repent, then the Lord will bring upon him discipline that could destroy him. God does not tolerate the evil perpetrated on others by the narcissist, at some point God will punish those who refuse to admit their sin.
The solution for those who are mocked by these wicked ones is to remove ourselves, stay completely away from them, they are nothing but trouble all the time and will never bring anything of godly value to our lives.
Ecclesiastes 7:9
"Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools."
Do not be angry with the fool, feel sorry for them and pray for them. However the only way to keep ourselves from frustration and anger in our own soul, is to avoid these mean types who have refused to repent.
Proverbs 13:20
"Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."
2 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 4
When Christ changes us into a new creation we are completely changed, never to go back to what we used to be. It was His work in us, not us deciding what we wanted to be and doing it. There are far more pretenders in the churches today than authentic believers. We know this by their life that seems to have not changed and their resistance to hearing the Word of God.
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
2 Corinthians 5:16-18 "…16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…"
Ephesians 2:8-10 "…8 For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.…"
Have you ever been in a family function in which there are Christians who attend church every week but seem embarrassed to hear about the things of the Lord?
This is a common experience in our day. When we speak the truths of God's word, loving His principles we are treated as if we had done something strange and off base.
Sadly I hear about this all the time. Those who are on fire for the Lord are avoided, mocked and lied against for simply living what they profess.
Pretenders are those who have a form of religion based mostly on rules and appearances. They are dedicated to being seen as a good person but are not interested in Christ or His principles.
To the pretender the Bible is used as a book of suggestions in which they choose what they like and follow that while ignoring everything they do not like.
Adding to this mentality of cherry picking is the "reading between the lines" thinking, in which one is allowed to interpret the principles the way they choose to believe them rather than what God said or meant.
When we correct a pretender they do not think the way an authentic born again believer thinks. Rather than saying, "wow that person is really dedicated to Christ", they interpret our correction as a personal attack on them.
A truly born again believer understands correction from another believer as a help, a stance of love to bring them into a closer relationship with Christ.
Matthew 10:21-23 "…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.…"
Revelation 22:18-19
"I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book."
Those who are pretenders, those who live according to their own idea of "Christianity" are not looking to Christ, they are not dedicated to His principles nor are the open to be able to receive the things of the Lord as God has presented them in the Word.
I have had far less opposition to sharing the word of God with unbelievers than I have had with those who are in the church gatherings. The apostate church is everywhere, most people in those gatherings care only about living semi-clean lives without honor and respect for others. The self focus on living a good live and appearing to do well far outweighs any dedication to Christ.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
2 Timothy 3:4-6 "…4 traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! 6 They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,"
The passions of the pretender are dedicated to looking, feeling and feigning goodness in the presence of others. What they do not understand is that God sees their pretense, their denial of Him and the denial of His principles.
The angst that we encounter in the world is the same angst that we encounter in the apostate church. In short then, we see that many churches are full of "Christians" but the born again believers in them are few.
2 Thessalonians 3:6
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.
2 Thessalonians 3:6
"Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us."
If we remain companions with those who are pretenders, superficial and full of anger, we will become infected by their rebellion. We may not become rebellious as they are, but we will learn to stop speaking about the Lord to keep the peace.
Never stop speaking of the Lord because someone might become angry. When we learn that someone is hostile to the truth then we are to walk away and leave them to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:33-34 " 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 34 Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.…
Satan's biggest tool on his tool belt is to silence believers through intimidation, manipulation and mocking. When we become strong, more concerned about truth we will be less interested in or affected by responses of rage toward us. This is because nothing is about us, its all about Christ. When they rage against us for speaking truth they are seeing us but raging against Christ Who lives in us.
One of the tactics we will see is the one who is full of anger toward us will attempt to turn our own spouses and friends against us by accusing us of things they are doing but we are not. Its common in our day to experience false accusations when we are dedicated to Christ.
Has anyone noticed the lies of the liberal left against the conservative right? Its the same principle, if they lie against their opponent often enough they can influence others to look at their opponent side ways, avoiding them, even gossiping things about them that are not true but believed by everyone who hears it.
When the devil has managed to convince people he is a good guy, through continual acting out a false persona, he can get people to elevate him and believe everything he says.
Word of caution, when someone comes to you with generalities about someone, "she is rebellious", "he is mean", without specific actions, then we know they are attempting to influence someone's attitude toward their target but probably have no substance, no authentic accusation.
Those who hate God will choose to believe things about others that are not true. They build an idea in their head they choose to believe and pass it around as fact. Don't be too alarmed when they do this to you, they did it to Christ and they do it to His Word the Bible.
Christ and the apostles were accused falsely regularly, and we also will be treated the same way.
We have Christ as our strength, we never have to take these accusations personally, they are not against us, they are against Christ. When the pretender accuses us falsely we know they are looking at us thinking they are seeing us, but in reality they are sensing Christ in us, an irritation that is unbearable for the unbeliever who wants to pretend they have Him but are actually against Him.
Pretenders have no defenses against the devil, they are tools in his hands. But we are tools in God's hands, we know that the devil has no power over Christ in us.
1 John 4:4
"You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."
We are to obey the governing authorities as long as they do not command us to disobey God. This is true in the headship in marriage or the gathering of the church.
This principle is always dependent on whether or not the authority is not disobeying God.
Acts 5:29
"29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."
When we obey mans authority over God's then the man is the god in our lives.
David B Severy Said this:
"Christian, what part of these verses do you not understand?"
Romans 13:1-4
Jeremiah 17:5-6
"5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD. 6 He will be like a shrub in the desert; he will not see when prosperity comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.…"
Those who demand to control every aspect of their own lives, disallowing others to speak into their lives, remain spiritual and emotional toddlers all their lives.
When we can think clearly with the mind of Christ we will be evaluating our own character, our actions and mindsets to determine if they are of God.
The narcissist never evaluates themselves in truth. Mostly they come to erroneous conclusions about themselves based on what they want to be true but in fact is fantasy.
When we evaluate ourselves in truth we can change and grow as Christ makes changes in us because of our desire to be changed by Him.
Christ will not work in those who believe there is nothing to be changed in their character. The pride of the arrogant one prevents them from moving forward in holiness or humility.
Sadly I have met many who are 70 plus years of age who seem no different from when they were in their teens. In fact their flaws are magnified and intensified as they move into their elder years.
When the one who has not grown spiritually and emotionally moves into old age they no longer care if they have flaws, they expect everyone to accept their nonsense. Because of this mentality they become problem children for anyone who cares for them.
Of course we must treat the elderly with kindness and patience no matter how they act, its called respect. However the challenge is to evaluate ourselves to be sure we will not turn out like so many who have become worse instead of better as they move through this life into a new phase.
Those who do not have Christ will not stop lying because they are older, their lies will become bigger as their faulty memory grows.
We have all heard those "big fish" stories in which an elderly person caught the biggest trout ever caught, about 2 feet long. In reality that fish was only 8 inches. With selective memory of the elder, the grandiosity of the story unfolds that fish story as far more than what was real.
The object of this lesson is not to diminish the elder who is this way, but to evaluate ourselves to make sure it doesn't happen to us.
We must always treat the elders with respect and honor even when they indulge in their fantasies about the past. Since we cannot prove their story wrong then we must choose to believe it and love them anyway.
Those who are mature elders tend to remember things the way they really are and have grown wiser over the years. No one can grow wise while at the same time indulging in fantasy thinking. Choosing to believe what we want while rejecting truth will keep the one who does this in an infantile state that grows stronger with each denial of truth.
How do we avoid becoming one of those elders who are living in a fantasy world of make believe? Its quite simple. continually asking the Lord for wisdom, call things what they really are with the answers coming from the Word of God, will prevent fantasy thinking. God will honor those who honor Him. He will give wisdom to the one who loves truth. However, He will withhold wisdom from those who love pretense and lies.
James 1:4-6 "…4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.…"
1 John 3:18 "18 Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth."
Ephesians 4:15
"15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,"
There will be those who say to us that we were not loving in the way we told the truth. Most of the time this is nothing more than manipulation to be justified in rejecting the truth that was shared.
Notice in these encounters with people who say we were not loving in the delivery never address the subject of the discussion. When the attempt is made to bring the hearer back to the issue at hand, the prideful ones will stomp off angry while accusing us of anger.
The reason this happens is because the hearer didn't like what we said so they attempted to shut us down by declaring in us a character flaw or evil action. We must not allow their manipulations to deter us from the original subject.
We are encountering more of this angst from rebellious hearts than ever before. Just as this mentality grows so too will the intolerance of the rebellious elderly will grow.
These are the reasons I am convinced most elderly cannot become born again. Yes some do and it is glorious when this happens. But as with the rest of society the elderly are no different except that they have had more years to solidify their hatred of truth and tend to be staunch in their ways.
Yes we need to bring Christ to everyone no matter what age. The challenge is to view ourselves as potential elderly, asking ourselves what kind of a person will I be when I am old.
Do I want to be wise and Christlike, or will I be as so many who seem to have regressed because their walk with Christ was superficial based on fantasy thinking?
Just some thoughts!
