When we walk with Christ we have no need to be jealous of anyone nor do we need to be superior to anyone. The World knows how good Christ is and hate Him for His Holiness and Goodness. Never take seriously the acts and words of jealousy from those who do not have Christ.
Friday, October 9, 2020
A Fool Turned Over Without a Chance
A fool will not change no matter how many beatings he received from life for his foolishness. We are seeing more of these people than ever before.
The culture as a whole hates to be corrected or instructed. They love preaching and teaching that flatters and tickles the ears.
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.…"
God never told us to stop speaking just because people will not listen, He tells us to speak the truth but the fool will fight against God's wisdom. The anger is not accounted to the one who tells the truth, it is accounted to the fool who becomes angry. The rage that emerges from a fool is on him alone.
Someone once said that a person is not a liar because they told one lie. The Bible teaches the opposite, the liar is one before he actually tells the lie. He has lying in his heart before it comes out of his mouth.
To demonstrate the wisdom of this we can ask ourselves the question, "is a person an arsonist merely because they set one building on fire." Yes, anyone who sets even on thing on fire one time will be arrested and sent to jail as an arsonist.
Sin begins in the heart. We cannot do that which is not in our hearts.
We cannot allow fools to be a part of our lives they will destroy our peace without regret for it. They love to destroy, they love to dominate and ruin those they perceive as better than them.
Yes, I said that; the fool feels no need to destroy those they perceive as less than they are, only those who live kindly godly lives are the targets of fools who know their own wickedness.
We do not think we are better than anyone else as born again believers because we understand that we were once sinners and have been changed by Christ. The fool knows that Christ in us is better than them and want to destroy Him, so they assign falsehoods to us to ruin Christ's witness in us.
Those who rage in anger at the born again believer are really raging at Christ in us. We do not have to take this personally.
I must say though that it was astonishing and very enlightening the day Christ opened my eyes and I saw that we had been raised in an entire culture of rebellious fools who will claim they are Christians while hating authentically born again believers. I am 68 years old now and for many years of my life, I thought we were a Christian culture, only to realize we are not and have not been for many years. The paganistic Christianity of today dominates everything and everyone's thinking. When challenged with the Scriptures most "Christians" fight against it, defending sin and arrogance rather than being ashamed and repentant.
This is the reason we see so many apostate churches today that no only negate the word of God but flaunt their worldliness as a badge of honor. They glory in their perceived superiority while wallowing in pride and deception.
God is not going to save America, He is not going to bless her anymore because He will not bless those who hate Him, and yes they do hate Him as demonstrated in their angst toward His Holy Word. Those who do not love His Word do not love Him.
God commanded us to think with the mind of Christ, but not only that, it is not just a command it is a fact that those who are possessed with Christ will think with His mind. The command is a statement that we will think with the mind of Christ when we are born again. Those who not only don't think with His mind will resist knowing His Word, thus resistance to His Word is resistance to Him. You see, Christ is the very essence of His Word. The Words of God in the Bible are the very nature of God, they not only instruct us they show what we become when we have trusted in Him. He changed us into His image when He made us a new creation.
Resistance to the wisdom of the Bible is resistance to Christ Himself. One cannot be born again and hate hearing the Word of God.
When we are born again we feel what God feels, we love what God loves and we want what He wants.
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."
Do you want to be cleansed from your sin, do you want to think with the mind of Christ? The answer is simple, believe in Christ and He will change you into a new creation. Do not think you can change yourself, you cannot. Ask the Lord to change you into a new creation, but He will only do it if you are sorry you are a sinner and want Him to make you new.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
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:…"
Remember the fool who will not listen to truth as described above? These fools will not be saved from hell. The more they hear truth the more hardened their heart becomes. Do not be one of these fools who harden their heart.
John 12:39-40, For this reason, they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
When someone continues to harden their heart when they hear the gospel eventually God will turn them over to it and they will not be able to see or understand. This is a frightening place to be for any person.
Hebrews 3:15 "15 As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.”
Those who have heard are responsible to obey, resisting only further hardens the heart until there is no longer any opportunity. No man knows exactly when their heart has been turned over to hardening but the possibility remains and God does know. Do not be one who is turned over to his/her rebellion without the possibility of ever being saved.
Ephesians 4:18
"18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;"
You might ask: "Does God really harden someone's heart?" The answer is yes He does. Let's take a look at the Pharaoh who pursued the Jews when God allowed them to be released.
Exodus 8:32 "32 But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time as well, and he would not let the people go."
Exodus 9:12 "12But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said to Moses."
You might ask which is true, did Pharaoh harden his own heart or did God do it? The answer is that Pharaoh hardened his heart each time he was chastised by God so God simply turned him over to what he wanted, that was a hard heart.
Sometimes God does turn us over to our sinfulness even when it will destroy us.
Psalm 94:22-23 …22 But the LORD has been my stronghold, and my God is my rock of refuge. 23 He will bring upon them their own iniquity and destroy them for their wickedness. The LORD our God will destroy them."
God often allows the sins of rebellious people to be their own punishment. There are times when God says "fine, you want your sin I will turn you over completely to it and it will destroy you."
Jeremiah 2:19-20 "19 Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts."
Wicked men who refuse to repent will not get away with anything, God is watching. He desires to cleanse the sinner but if they continually resist the discipline He sends He will turn them over to their own evil and they would not be able to repent He removes any conscience from them that might cause repentance.
There are also times when God tells Christians to stop praying for someone who has been rebellious for long periods of time. He knows the heart of these people, He knows they will not turn.
Isaiah 1:14-16 "…14 I hate your New Moons and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.16 Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!…"
Often in our country today rebellious people go to church gatherings doing church their own way that does not have the blessing of God. The people are prideful because they attend but their heart remains wicked and self-exalting.
Matthew 15:7-8 "…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8 ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ ”…"
Isaiah 29:13-14 "13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.14Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”…"
The apostate churches today are full of pretenders, scoffers, mockers, and sin-loving people who have never been born again. May the Lord prick their hearts with a conviction that they might be saved before He comes for His church.
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Tactics of the Devil and the Narcissists He Controls
I was in a discussion in recent months, that is what it was for me but the narcissist attempted to turn it into a fight.
She says she is a Christian but when I brought up scripture she accused me of not having any. When I repeated the scripture she began to accuse me of character flaws, she was describing herself.
The discussion was no longer about the issue at hand it became about her accusations toward me. I didn't defend myself and stayed on topic. When I blocked her from Facebook she went to my e-mail to attack me and then she said, just what we can expect, "I'll pray for you." In order to appear superior, these narcissists will say they pray for you while they unjustly attack you. Every word and every deed for the narcissist is for the purpose of devaluing anyone who would challenge them to seek the Scriptures.
It was as transparent to me as anything could be but I did not respond and blocked her from my e-mail too. When I told her on Facebook to stop fighting with me about my teaching she said o.k. and then did it again anyway.
I blocked her and then the e-mail began to come to deride me. Narcissists cannot stand to be cut off, it makes them feel as though someone else is in control. The tactic of name-calling and character assassination is common when the narcissist cannot win over us. They never stay on topic, because what they say is indefensible.
They count it a win when you fight back, this allows them to accuse us of being a mean and out of control person. When they accuse us they are describing themselves. It is a dead giveaway as to their mentality and character.
Proverbs 26:4-5 "4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him. 5Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he becomes wise in his own eyes.…"
Answering a fool, chasing every accusation to justify ourselves is exactly what the narcissist wants. If they can keep us in an upset state they can eventually cause rage in us, or so they think. They want us to rage so they can feel justified in their evil behavior toward us.
Its a sort of poke, poke, poke until someone blows up and the one who pokes says; "see how you are." I cannot tell you how many times I have witnessed this in my life dealing with narcissists.
When we stay close to Christ, putting into practice His Word we will encounter many narcissists who act irrational and claim we are. This is the devil's favorite tactic.
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.…"
Do not be dismayed when you encounter these devilish types who have only one thing in mind, that is to bring you down and rage against the ways of God.
The world is full of evil now in these last days, it does not have to change us to be what we should not be, we have the Holy Spirit Who protects us from becoming like the world.
1 John 5:18-19 " 18 We know that no one who is born of God continues in sin; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols."
What is an idol? It is anything or anyone who is more important to us than God.
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
In the Power of His Might
Because the devil is in charge of all that is going on we are watching decisions being made that are exactly the opposite of what God would want or lessons He would teach.
The mandate from God for the born again believer is to speak the gospel, encourage the believers, and keep ourselves from becoming unstained by all that is happening on the earth. We need Christ to be guiding our every step and to keep us focused on Him.
Most people trust in themselves, in political pundits, candidates, and in military might, but they do not trust in Christ. They trust in the very things and people that God said not to place our trust in, but they do not care what God says, they love their own ideas above the truth of God's Word.
Psalm 146:3-7
3 Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever;
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free."
Psalm 20:6-8 "…6 Now I know that the LORD saves His anointed; He answers him from His holy heaven with the saving power of His right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 8 They collapse and fall, but we rise up and stand firm."
The born again believer who trusts only in Christ will have constant peace, guidance, and Spiritual prowess no matter what is going on in the world. Those who understand that we are living in the days of fulfilled prophesy will not be emotionally shaken as the world degenerates all around them.
We cannot trust either politicians, war machines, strategies devised by man, anything, or anyone other than Christ.
It is alright to acknowledge all that is going on in the world, however, to become angry about it is to show a lack of faith and hope in God's promises.
The Jews were saved by God from the Egyptians when He parted the Sea for them to walk across in safety. This is how God works on our behalf today too. We can believe Him and walk in joy and peace every day while the world implodes all around us.
Yes, there are hardships many of us are enduring, but our peace and our joy remain in spite of it. The peace and the joy is seen even through our tears, our hope never fades as we cry out to God for strength.
Monday, October 5, 2020
Pride at the Root of All Evil in the World
All the problems of the world are created and stem from pride. The devil was thrown out of heaven because he pretended he was superior to his creator. He chose to believe something about himself and even about God that was not true. Then over time, he began to believe his own lies.
Often people who are friends and those who are family would rather believe the gossip they hear than go to the object of the gossip to find out the truth. Perhaps they fear finding out the truth that would convict them of their sin of judging that which they have not known. Loyalty to their lying friends means more to them than preserving the reputation of a righteous person.
Often people assume things about those they dislike in order to believe what they want to about that person.
I have seen often in my life fowl treatment of a person based on nothing more than something made up in someone's mind to justify their own hatred and jealousy toward that person.
I recall the account of a woman who experienced ill-treatment from relatives because of something a brother told them in gossip. The brother made an assumption that his sister treated her children a certain detrimental way and passed this desired assumption on to other family members.
The brother could not have known how the sister and her husband treated their children because he lived 1500 miles away. He was making judgments based on his prejudiced feelings alone, without any evidence at all.
Narcissists court their own ideas so long they begin to believe what they say to those who have no business judging, people who have not seen anything for themselves and could not know details except the lies the narcissist feeds them.
I also knew of a person who was called a "rebellious person" because they didn't like the personality of the one that would not bow to the narcissist's ways.
The devil did this with Eve in the garden. He told her that God was not to be trusted by questioning whether or not God actually said not to eat the fruit. When Eve explained to the devil that God did say not to eat the fruit the devil was able to make her believe that God meant her harm and wasn't being honest with her.
You see the devil has not changed his tactics one bit since the beginning of creation. He still accuses the good people of bad things while claiming the bad people have a good reason for their hatred.
We can expect to see more of this as we march toward the end times prophesy. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 clearly tells us the mind-set of the end times earthly population. This is not just a few people here and a few people there, it is the mindset of the entire world, everyone except the remnant Christians who are a small number compared to the population of the world.
2 Timothy 3:1-5
"1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of [b]godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
Remember the word "difficult" or "perilous" in the KJV means "ragingly insane." When we know this we do not have to take anything evil people do to us or say about us seriously. God will deal with them in due time, all we must do is focus on our walk, remaining faithful to Him, seeking Him in all we do and leave the rebellious ones to God to deal with.
Romans 12:18-19 "…18If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 On the contrary, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head.”…"
This does not mean we seek out to do good to evil people so they will feel guilty, that is fleshly and a form of revenge. We are to remove ourselves and allow God to work in their lives as He sees fit.
The "holier than thou" mentality deliberately using good deeds to manipulate others to feel guilty is not only a form of revenge but also a snobbish superior attitude that is itself sinful, full of pride. The mentality is a sort of "I will be so good to you that you will see how superior I am to you", is the filthy disgusting pride that got the devil expelled from heaven.
When we have to be in the presence of a wicked person we treat everyone with respect knowing that we were once lost as they are. Our purpose in all that we do is to glorify God and let our light shine before men. Those who "heap hot coals of kindness" for the purpose of acting superior are not in obedience to God, they are not humble and they only glorify themselves.
Humility Definition: "unselfed", "absence of self-awareness", "knowing that no one is any better than someone else.
Ephesians 4:31-32" Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. "
Those who will not confess their offenses against others will also be those who do not forgive others. They do not please the Lord in any case, they do not grow and they lack all the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
It is not necessary to have a law to be these things, those who have them have them by the power of the Holy Spirit. They do not have to try to be these things, they are a part of their character as much as breathing. There is no need to think about being kind, it naturally emerges without any thought to those who possess the qualities of the character of Christ.
So I guess the lesson here is not to go forth and try to do better, the lesson is to ask God to change us into these qualities that are His very nature.
The world we live in every day does not understand this fruit, they do not know how to be what is not a part of their being. Their being is that of a fallen person who cannot understand what these qualities look like unless they have been changed by Christ or have seen the life of a born again believer.
The problem is that we have so few born again believers in the world today, many who claim they are Christian do not know what love looks like. They think it is permissiveness for momentary happiness.
The world defines love very differently from how God's Word the Bible, explains that it is and they do not understand the nature of Christ.
May this comfort and encourage the believers as they seek to be more like Christ while walking in a world that hates Him and them.
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