Do You Fear the Devil?

I don't fear the devil at all, he runs from the Holy Spirit that lives in me. If he attacks me it is only with God's permission to test me. 

When God tests me He doesn't need to see how I will respond, He already knows that. He tests me so that I will see what is in my heart. 

When we respond badly its no one else's fault but us. We can train ourselves through prayer and self restraint to act according to God's will, we do not have to be manipulated by the expectations or manipulations of others.

Matthew 4:1
"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil."

When God reveals us through our responses to His tests then is when we confess our failings and ask for strength to do better next time. Those who cannot confess will not grow.

Those who do not think they have any failings remain spiritual and emotional babies without growth and possessing intense pride. The very pride that got the devil thrown out of heaven.

Is our goal to become more like Christ or just loved by the world? Its an important question in order to move on in holiness and obedience to Christ.

Does the Truth Hurt?

"DID YOU KNOW THAT:
The truth only hurts when you're not abiding in it."Karen Puff Rosenkrantz

Love is Action not Merely a Word

A lot of people express words in place of a life of obedience.

They think the words are enough, there doesn't have to be any lifestyle or actions that reflect the words. When we are living for Christ people will notice it even without words.

Don't say "luv ya" to God unless you are seeking to obey His word.

So many people throw around the words; "luv ya" as though that proves their love.

If you do not treat God with respect loving His Word don't bother saying "luv ya."

This is a good principle for anyone, if we love God we will treat others with respect and dignity.

Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the great and foremost commandment.
39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Love is an action word, not merely something to say.

The Warrior Mother

"She displays the wisdom of a battled seasoned warrior, she is a mother."

The battle is the Lord's, the woman's weapon is prayer. The resolve of the dedicated mother remains strong no matter what she must endure.

2 Corinthians 10:4
"4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses."

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They Were Radical and They Were Rejected Too

There are those who call us radical for speaking about Christ, constantly warning about the tribulation to come. They think we have just lost our minds and gone too far. Well, we are in very good company.

In order to convince anyone of the cure for sin we must first prove that they are sinful. We warn first of the penalty and then we give the solution that brings eternal life. All have sinned, all are on their way to hell. But the good news is that we have a choice to confess our sinfulness and trust Christ to be cleansed and covered in His blood, then we will go to heaven to dwell with Him forever.

Isaiah 20:2-4 "…2 the LORD had already spoken through Isaiah son of Amoz, saying, “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and the sandals from your feet.” And Isaiah did so, walking around naked and barefoot. 3 Then the LORD said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has gone naked and barefoot for three years, as a sign and omen against Egypt and Cush, 4 so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame.…"

Our culture becomes agitated when we speak of Christ constantly. God told Isaiah to walk around naked as a demonstration of what was coming for Egypt and Cush.

Sometimes the Lord asks His prophets to do things that will not make sense to the unsaved world. Just as Noah obeyed God in building the ark, he was probably mocked, dismissed as crazy and rejected by everyone in the world.

Those people who rejected Noah were likely many of his relatives. They probably mocked and demeaned him until the rain came and the floods overpowered the world. the Bible does not tell us for sure if they mocked him but knowing human nature as we do it is likely that he endured contempt and mocking when no one would listen to him as he preached that 120 years.

Jeremiah 20:7-8 "7 You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me. 8 For whenever I speak, I cry out; I proclaim violence and destruction. For the word of the LORD has become to me a reproach and derision all day long." JEREMIAH

Job 12:4
"I am a laughingstock to my friends, though I called on God, and He answered. The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock." JOB

"Psalm 22:7
All who see me mock me; they sneer and shake their heads:" DAVID

Ezekiel 3:14
So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me." EZEKIEL

2 Chronicles 36:16 "16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy." EZRA

Hosea, Job, Jeremiah, David, Isaiah and others, as well as Jesus Christ Himself were mocked by the world as they brought a very important message of salvation to those hearing. There is every reason to believe that Noah was also mocked even though the Bible does not say so.

AND, we can expect to be mocked also the more we obey Christ and declare His message to those around us.

Some may say this message is not encouraging, but it is because it brings comfort and purpose to those who are being maligned for their dedication to Christ.

This message might help those who are lost to become saved, it may cause believers to sense a strength pulsing through them when they realize that the prophets and Christ Himself endured the very same things we have endured in our walk with Christ.

Somehow it seems comforting to know that we are not alone, that we are not any stranger than anyone else who had dedicated their life to Christ. AND, we know the immense blessing and joy that is coming when all this mess is over and we are going to our eternal home.

We are the very temple of God if we are born again!

Ephesians 2
"1 And you ]were dead ]in your trespasses and sins,
2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.
3 Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
17 And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;
18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."