A New Creation in Christ

Born-again believers have lost all desire to sin. Even if they do it in weakness they hate it and confess to be cleansed.

Those who defend the sin they love cannot be born again, these are the pretenders who think all they have to do is say they are a Christian and they are in.

When Christ changes us into a new creation we no longer think the same way we did before. The more time we spend with Him in prayer and reading of His Word the more we hate sin and the bolder we become.

When Christ changes us it is forever and the opposite of what we were before.

2 Corinthians 5:17

"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Fitting in is not a Badge of Honor

Have you ever wondered why you don't seem to fit into any group?

There is always an initiation fee in joining groups and that fee is the total loss of your own values and beliefs to be accepted into that group.

Most gatherings have defined themselves by the thinking of the leader of that group rather than by the principles of Christ.

Born-again believers who are strong and honest are rarely accepted by groups. They speak of the Word of God more than they speak of human teachers and they challenge everything according to the Word of God.

The first thing that comes to mind in every situation for the born-again believer is a principle of God. Their mind has been shaped by their continual reading of the Bible and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, in short, they do not think like the world.

1 Corinthians 2:14 "But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Many things "Christians" say and do today have no basis in Scripture, they are the traditions of men. Once a person has been convinced of the wrong thinking it is very difficult to convince them of the truth. They tend to hang onto whatever is familiar or what justifies their wrong thinking.

May we obey God in "questioning all things" so that we may cleanse our minds of those things we were taught that were not of God and replace them with the mind of Christ.

James 4:7-9 "7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.…"

When the focus of a culture is to be happy as much as possible the culture will never see things in truth. They will ignore the things that need fixing and embrace what they like.

Someone once asked me why people accuse them of being negative when they are just exposing something to help.

My answer was that we are seen as negative but we talk more about the broken things because the good does not need fixing. Talking about happy things all the time doesn't fix anything, it merely sweeps the dirt under the rug so they don't have to look at it. This "positive mindset" is selfish and very often enabling without a solution.

A culture that thrives on God's Word and is filled with gratitude toward Him would be more interested in solutions and exposing evil to remove it, would be more joyful than the one that pretends everything is alright.

Isaiah 58:2

"For day after day they seek Me and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not forsake the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God."

Turn a Deaf Ear to People and Listen to the Holy Spirit

Matthew 7:6 "“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

We are dismissing God's Word when we keep trying to convince a rebellious heart of something they are clearly refusing.

There are many people in the world today who say they are Christians and continually use God's word shamefully without regard to His meanings, while assigning their own desired interpretations to it. they add to and take away from His Word whenever it suites them. There are far more Christians doing this than those who just believe what God said and follow it.

Psalm 119

"1How blessed are those whose way is blameless,

Who walk in the law of the LORD.

2 How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,

Who seek Him with all their heart.

3 They also do no unrighteousness;

They walk in His ways.

4 You have ordained Your precepts,

That we should keep them diligently.

5 Oh that my ways may be established

To keep Your statutes!

6 Then I shall not be ashamed

When I look upon all Your commandments.

7 I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,

When I learn Your righteous judgments.

8 I shall keep Your statutes;

Do not forsake me utterly!

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping it according to Your word.

10 With all my heart I have sought You;

Do not let me wander from Your commandments.

11 Your word I have treasured in my heart,

That I may not sin against You.

12 Blessed are You, O LORD;

Teach me Your statutes.

13 With my lips I have told of

All the ordinances of Your mouth.

14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,

As much as in all riches.

15 I will meditate on Your precepts

And regard Your ways.

16 I shall delight in Your statutes;

I shall not forget Your word."

May believers stop listening to people and begin hearing from the Holy Spirit. He is the only One Who has the correct answer to all things. May we set aside all that people have taught us and seek the Holy Spirit.

The Blessing of Psalm 1

Believers are experiencing much covert persecution right now, at least in this country when family and community come against us at every turn, or at the very least, dismiss and ignore us. We can thank the Lord that He sees all that is going on and gives us all the strength we need to keep going without compromising His principles. What a blessing it is to walk with Him.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stand in the path of sinners,

Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!

2 But his delight is in the Law of the Lord,

And on His Law he meditates day and night.

3 He will be like a tree planted by streams of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season,

And its leaf does not wither;

And in whatever he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so,

But they are like chaff which the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the wicked will perish."

When we are walking in His counsel we will interpret everything far differently from the world, so much so that the world will view us as strange, someone to be avoided, except the rare few who might be wondering why we are so completely content.

We will even be accused of ruining the fun of others by our presence. The world is not content or joyful unless they are indulging in the pleasures of the world. They see those who don't need those pleasures as "wet blankets", when the truth is those who are content to walk with God are so full of purpose and fulfillment they do not need the things of the world to distract them from their calling.

Psalm 92:12

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon."

Psalm 128:2

"For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours."

Proverbs 3:33

"The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous."

May all brothers and sisters in Christ be encouraged by God's Word, so much so that nothing going on around them influences them.

Do not let the world alarm you, and do not let it determine your Christianity

I know a lot of people who know their Bibles but violate more of it than they obey, they think just reading it and gaining knowledge about it makes them a Bible believers.

Too many people do not follow what they say they believe, if they did obey the Bible they would be rejected by most people even in their own gatherings.

Family hates those who follow the Bible even those family members who attend church gatherings every week, sit in the pews and don't question anything that is said and done there.

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."

We are living in the apostate age in which most who say they are Christians adhere more to the traditions of men and scripture used out of context than they do to the commands of God. Get used to it but do not be caught up in it.

They Were All Mocked in One Form or Another

Here is why I believe Noah was mocked even though the Bible does not specifically mention it in Genesis.

Mocking comes in many forms, such as contemptuous words, actions to physically abuse or kill, destroying one's reputation, insulting, and making light of another person for their beliefs and actions. Dismissiveness is another form of mocking, it sends the message that someone is too insignificant to pay attention to.

Mocking is to treat with contempt, ridicule or dismissiveness against someone the mocker wishes to diminish.

In our culture, we think of mocking as open joking in mean ways, but there is far more to mocking than the limited idea we have as a culture. Mocking can come in the form of sideways looks or grunting sounds to leave a feeling of being seen as foolish or stupid.

2 Chronicles 36:16

"16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the LORD was aroused against his people and there was no remedy."

Job was mocked

David was Mocked

Jeremiah was mocked

Isaiah was mocked: Isaiah 28

Michah was mocked:

John the Baptizer was mocked

All the apostles were mocked

All the prophets in the Bible were mocked in one form or another.

Why would we assume Noah who was warning the world of their destruction if they didn't repent, would escape what all the other prophets encountered and what we encounter today?

It is safe to assume that people have not changed from the beginning of the world to now. It is safe to assume that anyone who is bold about the truth, warning and preaching to help save people from the fate of hell, would be mocked.

There is nowhere in the bible where God says I personally would be mocked by name. But I have been mocked and I read in God's Word that all those who follow Christ openly with boldness will be mocked.

The word "hathal" in the Hebrew means to "play upon", "mock" and "deride."

1 Kings 18:27 for "mocked" is a variation of the Hebrew word hathal, which doesn't just mean mocked. It also means "deceived."

Elijah did this with the prophets of Baal, it was a good thing, it was mocking something God hated. But often we are mocked because of our love for Christ.

When believers are mocked because of their love for Christ we know they are directing their hatred toward God not necessarily us.

Insults come in many forms, they come through deliberately ignoring someone, making grunting disapproving noises without saying a word, pretending not to hear someone, disagreement merely to win without being honest about the discussion, twisting words, refusing to understand, and many more repugnant forms of communication.

We will see all of these tactics used against us because of our love for the truth. In most Christian circles we are just ignored until we see that no one is listening so we move on to someone else who loves and enjoys the truth of God's Word.

Let us not allow those who hate God to take us to an emotional state that debilitates us. This is where the devil wants us to be, completely insecure and intimidated into silence.

The question is; "do we love God more than we want to be loved by people?" This is an important question to ask because as we navigate through this life we will be continually battered and disregarded by those who say they are Christians but hate the truth that exposes them.

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

Pray for the pretenders, pray for others who are unsaved and do not allow any of them to deter you from what God has given you to do in these last days of apostasy.

Knowledge and Traditions Have Deceived the Church

In our culture the unsaved community thinks knowledge is power so they set out to learn as much as they can but little to nothing about the matters of God. Gnosticism is the elevation of knowledge above all else even wisdom. Some people think knowledge is wisdom but it is clearly not, we can have much knowledge but not know how to use it according to the principles of God.

Many church leaders think more education makes them wiser. the truth is too much education diminishes wisdom because it is all based on knowledge for its own sake without reflection on the Spiritual matters of God.

Too much human-knowledge will create arrogance and resistance to correction in God's Word.

When God told us to hide His Word away in our hearts he was not telling us to memorize the English version of the Bible. He was telling us to know His heart so intimately that we will never forget His principles. When we do this we may forget the passage in the English language where the principle is found, but we will never forget the principle. The principles of God hidden in our hearts will come up exactly when it is needed in life.

When we think with the mind of Christ every situation that arises will be interpreted in terms of God's heart, not our own ideas or the thinking of the culture.

We live in a largely manipulated Christian culture based on superficial feelings more than the truth of God's Word.

Mark 7:13 "13 Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”

Mark 7:9

"And he said unto them, Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition."

Isaiah 8:20

"To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."

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 are led by the Holy Spirit have a job to do and all other believers should be working in tandem according to their gifts to bring about the will of God. No one is greater than another, nor is anyone special. Everyone who is led by the Holy Spirit must give all the credit to Him for their calling and His work in them.

1 Corinthians 12:8

"To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,"

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

One Body with Many Members

"12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many.

15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.

17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?

18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.

19 If all were a single member, where would the body be?

20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,

24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,

25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

The one-man-paid-pastor system elevates one man above others. This fosters a sort of adulation toward this educated one who appears above others. The people "worship" this person through feeling intimidated to correct or instruct them, making them the mediator between God and man.

1 Timothy 2:5

"5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;"

My challenge to everyone is to take a look at everything that is done in the church gatherings and pray as well as read the Bible to see if what is being done agrees with the Bible. You will be amazed at how much the modern church does that is not Biblical and even antithetical to Christ.

When we pray and receive wisdom about God we will find ourselves rejected, mocked and demeaned by most Christians around us. The human traditions that drive the church gatherings today are so entrenched and loved most will not see it, they will defend what God never intended.

Mark 7:7-9 "…7 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’ 8 You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.” 9 He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.…"

Colossians 2:8

"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."

Matthew 15:9

"In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

The joy of the Lord never leaves me but many times I grieve at all the lies Christians have accepted and defended while unwilling to listen to the Biblical truth.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For 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. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

If you will pray and ask the Holy Spirit it will astound you His answer to this problem of the apostate church in our age.