Trials are for Everyone!

People often use verse in the Bible to prove that God makes Christians wealthy. He takes care of His children but that does not mean a promise of wealth or even health.

3 John 2 "2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."

The soul is what is spoken of here not physical wealth or health.

God speaks about "prospering" in the context of Spiritual growth not financial. Jesus was poor and so were many of His followers. Financial wealth is not a sign God is blessing someone. Some of the most wicked people I have met and even famous ones are very wealthy but on their way to hell. Some of the godliest people I know are poor but have everything they need, God provides for them but they are not wealthy.

1 Corinthians 5:16-17 "16So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!…"

Matthew 5:44-45 "…44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. "

Good and bad happens to everyone, it is not a measure of spirituality. Its a condition of living in the world, we have no special exemption from trials, in fact often we have more trials than those who are not saved.

John 16:33 "33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”"

Do not allow anyone to judge you based on your health or your finances, that is foolish and must be ignored and disregarded.

No matter what trial we are encountering, if we are born again it all has a purpose and it is all from God.

Narcissists and their Rude Joking

The narcissist often uses rude joking to insult people, when their target does not laugh they say they are too sensitive or have no sense of humor.

This is a favored tactic of the narcissist to demean once with the joke and then again when accusing them of being too sensitive or lacking a sense of humor. So the narcissist's rudeness is now the victim's fault.

If you have grown up in a family that loves to pick on one person because they are, as the narcissist sees it, the weaker person, they will continually mock the one they think they can dominate or manipulate to react in some way. The reaction of the target is food for the narcissist no matter what the reaction is, it will be twisted to look bad or stupid.

We know the narcissist means to do evil because when they see they have harmed someone their response is to harm further instead of apologizing for their own rudeness.

Something a target of the narcissist could say is,
"Cloaking your insults as a joke does not absolve you of your rudeness." This might be a good thing to say, then calmly walk away. The problem is that even saying this much is food for more fighting with the narcissist, that's why it is important to only say that not for the sake of the narcissist, but for the sake of others in the room to understand what is going on. It will have no effect on the narcissist, they will not listen and cannot learn to stop their behavior, it is a devilish soul sickness that they have no control over, it is the influence of the devil that controls them.

The narcissist is always looking for a fight, they start them and hope their target will engage so they can accuse them of something.

We are seeing this in families, politics, and every other venue in our culture where there are lurking narcissists.

Remember how the devil in the garden deceived Eve into disobeying God by making her question God's command not to eat of the fruit of the tree? The narcissist in the fashion of the devil's tactics attempts to lure their target into sin by making them question their own resolve to obey God.

The devil uses lies today through people who mean you harm but claim they are innocent. The claim that the target has done something wrong leaves the target wondering if they really did something foolish, thus causing insecurity in the devil's target.

1 Peter 5:7-9 "…7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.…"

The devil's purpose in using narcissists is to cause problems in believers. He wants us to respond badly to ruin our witness. When we know his tactics we can calmly speak and walk away. If the narcissist pursues, keep walking in silence until he gives up. Pray that God will deal with Him for you, this is the best response of all.

Proverbs 29:8-10 "…8 Mockers inflame a city, but the wise turn away anger. 9 If a wise man goes to court with a fool, there will be raving and laughing with no resolution. 10 Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.…"

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

IF YOU BELIEVE WE ARE IN THE END TIMES, THIS WARNING IS FOR YOU: WATCH T...

Marriage is a Picture of Salvation

God joins all marriages, even for the unsaved. Unsaved people are dead in their trespasses and sins, that is anything against God's Law, His principles in His Word. The unsaved are held accountable for all their sins because they have not trusted Christ. Divorce and remarriage is as much a sin against God for the unsaved as it is for the saved.

Mark 10:8-9…"8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Meaning of "let man not separate" is "no man can separate" what God has joined.

This is true of salvation too, when someone believes on the Lord Jesus Christ they will be saved and cannot become unsaved. They have become an entirely new person with a new character by the hand of Christ. He then comes to live in those He saves.

God will not save anyone who does not want to be saved, those who will not believe in Him as the only way to heaven, will not go there.

Christ comes to live in believers changing their character to the opposite of what it was before.

Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

Only those who have been changed into a new creation by Christ will be saved. God never forces anyone, it is their choice.

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:…"

Do you want to be changed into the likeness of Christ by Him? There is only one way and that is to believe that He died to pay the price for your sin and desire for Him to change you. Its not words you say or things you do, it is a genuine sorrow over your sin and belief that Christ will change you if you ask Him.

We were dead in our sins without any ability to change ourselves. It is only Christ changing us that we can be a completely different person, our character is changed from a worldly perspective to a heavenly one.

Don't wait to ask Christ to cleanse you, we may not have tomorrow. Things are ramping up for the end times, Christ may take His church home any day, don't be left behind.

How to be Born Again

Many people who say they are Christians believe its just a matter of joining the group. They have no desire for Christ, even though they may wish to think of themselves as a good person for attending this "church club."

I heard a woman once said, "I go to church because that's what they do here in the South." She said nothing about God or Christ, only that its the thing to do here. That's where the social connections are, in the church.

If this is someone's understanding of church gatherings then they are not born again.

If attending a church gathering makes you feel safe in case life will bring some trials, then you are not born again.

Someone who becomes born again does so because they have realized they are sinful creatures on their way to hell. They want Christ because they desire to be cleansed of that sin and changed into an entirely different person by Christ when He comes to live in them.

No one will be born again until and unless they believe in Christ as the sacrifice for their sin. They must know first that they are sinners in need of saving.

Far too many people have attended churches to hear music and motivational speakers with big happy smiles and all kinds of lies about how good they are as human beings and how they deserve whatever they want in life. No one will be saved hearing messages like this that just build up pride in the hearer.

John 3:1-21
"3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews;
2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?
11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony.
12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
13 No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man.
14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;
15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

1Cheryl Elaine Branch

He Orders Our Day!

May every born again believer seek the Lord today for everything! When I do this He even orders my day.

Psalm 90:12

12 

"So teach us to number our days,
That we may [a]present to You a heart of wisdom."

"12 So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.