Its the Holy Spirit They Fear

Since the Holy Spirit is restraining evil in the world we must conclude that it is the Holy Spirit in us that is doing it. When we are removed in the rapture all hell will literally be loosed to do unspeakable things upon the earth.

Since the Holy Spirit in us is the restrainer we can surmise that unbelievers around us can sense that Holy Spirit whether or not we speak.

I am convinced this is the reason so many people are angry at us before they even know us. Unbelievers are often uncomfortable in our presence but don't know why, they think there must be something wrong with us. It is also the reason gossip and lies are told about us that are not accurate description of our lives.

The devil is busy whispering half truths into the minds of people. He is also busy causing "feelings" that are unsettling within people to make them believe there is something wrong with us.

The Pharisees accused Jesus of doing His miracles by the power of the devil, when all He did all the time was good for everyone who encountered Him.

Do we really think that the devil will do any less against us that he did against Christ? NO, Christ assured us that we will be hated because of Christ Who lives in us.

Matthew 10:21-22 "…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. "

Satan loves to use family to persecute believers. He knows that our desire to have a deeper relationship with family, looms large above every other relationship in our small world.

This is why God said that we must move on from family who do not love Him and would attempt to destroy our relationship with him in order to feel better about themselves.

Luke 14:26-27 "26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters— yes, even his own life— he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.…"

Our relationship with Christ ought to be so intense that we are willing to lose family to follow Him.

Many believers are enduring meanness from family members because of their love for Christ. Some of these family members pretend to be Christians but lack any fervor that demonstrates a love for Christ. These people are even embarrassed and irritated when we speak about Christ and His principles.

Some of the meanest people I have encountered have been Christians who love to pretend they are superior to others. I do not know if they are born again or not, but I do know that when we love the Lord we love the brethren.

1 John 3:14 "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."

John 13:34-35 "…34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so also you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”"

When there is someone who continually demeans and mocks a brother or sister in Christ merely to elevate self, we can suspect that they do not love Christ as they claim. If we love Christ we are excited to meet another brother or sister who also loves Him.

We must be willing to speak about Christ even if we will lose others over it. Christ must always come first above family and anyone else.

Matthew 22:36-38 "…36 “Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” 37 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.…"

If we love Christ the way He commanded, then we will love the brethren properly as well as the principles of God.

8 Relationship Basics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t2E_zGV5Oo&feature=em-uploademail

If They are Mean to Get you They Will be Mean to Keep You

God is in Charge of Results not You

Do not be discouraged when you don't see things happening. Do not measure success by results. God is in charge of the results, we are merely the messengers and the response of others is not our responsibility, it is all on those hearing the truth.

Man Cannot Do It!

When God makes two people one they CAN NOT be separated by man.

Our translations lead us to believe that they shouldn't but they could. That's not truth.

When God makes us one spiritually we cannot undo that spiritual glue that He binds us with. We can go to secular courts and dissolve a document according to the state but it doesn't dissolve the glue of oneness God did in us. That's why Christ calls it adultery when divorced people remarry.

Matthew 5:32 . . . but I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for the reason of unchastity, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

The unchastity in Matthew has to do with the engagement, not the marriage itself.

Matthew 19:18 "18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery."

Thinking With the Mind of Christ

Those who don't like a particular truth will always focus on us rather than God Who is the one who said these things.

I was once told that I write scripture too much and needed to think for myself.

My response was that I had no desire to think with my own mind, I prefer to think with the mind of Christ, since He commanded it.

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."

Those who do not think about God very often, usually when they are in trouble and in need of help, cannot obey God's principles, they have no desire for them.

Don't Worry What Others Think, It Only Matters What God Commanded

If you are being pressured to be friends with family or others whom God has told you to avoid, don't worry what others think.

God clearly told us to avoid those who will not walk the path we have chosen, that is the narrow one with Christ.

Matthew 10:14-15 " 14 And if anyone will not welcome you or heed your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town."

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."

Did you know that continuing with friends who hate God is a sin. God COMMANDED us to remove ourselves, its not suggestion but a command.

I prefer to think of "no contact" with someone as "loving them from afar." Since I still love them and pray for them, I cannot have a close relationship with those who hate our God.

We will bear the consequences of continual contact with ungodly people when they refuse to walk the path God has for believers. That does not mean we might not have occasional contact to bring the gospel, but they cannot be our continual companions.