Monday, February 19, 2024
Matthew 7:21-23 I" Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’" Matt. 7:21-23
Many "Christians" decided to join the Christian club because it appealed to them and made them look like good people and was an even better lifestyle for them, but they had no desire to be changed by Him and didn't care about what He commanded in His Word. We might say they are Christian in name only without any fruit of the Spirit.
Born-again believers love the principles and commands in God's Word. They hate the wicked ways of the unsaved and love what God loves. They want to be cleansed by Christ.
Matthew 7:15-20
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
What is that fruit?
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."
If someone acts continuously without this fruit, as a lifestyle, then they have never been born again.
Pretenders will be able to play the role, acting the part for a time but eventually, the burden of their pretense will be too much to bear and the real them will leak out over time. This is why we see people who have been Christians all their lives seem to change back into their old rude selves when they grow older. They no longer have the need or desire to impress anyone so they revert to their old ways which is the real them on the inside that they have been hiding.
Romans 8:6
"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."
1 John 4:8
"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Ephesians 4:1-3
"I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Romans 13:10
"Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
Colossians 3:12
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,"
Those who walk with Christ may fall at times, confess to be cleansed, and then quickly return to obedience because they hate and are convicted by the sin, they do not remain in it and are authentically ashamed of their sin.
The narcissist justifies and excuses their sin as though they had a good reason, and even worse they continue this way as a lifestyle.
They never apologize and never admit their flaws. These people live a life, tell lies and defend lies on a regular basis without guilt.
Born-again believers can freely admit their flaws because they are authentic people who do not like to lie even about themselves.
Born-again believers openly and freely confess their sins and flaws because they desire to change what is wrong in themselves.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Sunday, February 18, 2024
Only God can Love Us!
If you need a human being to love you, you will be expecting something that fallen man cannot give. Only Christ can give you the kind of love you were meant to experience, and it comes from Him.
God loves the way no one else can and He can change us into someone who can love the way He does.
John 3:16
Jesus Christ died for us, no other human would do that. He also took upon Himself our sin so that we could trust and depend on Him.
Romans 5:8
"But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Isaiah 41:10
"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
1 John 4:16
"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him."
Saturday, February 17, 2024
The Marriage Relationshiop Has Been wrongly Taught in these Last Days of Apostacy
So many people years ago were taught in Bill Gothard seminars the umbrella concept that God was the top umbrella, man's umbrellas were under that and the woman's was under man. This could not be farther from the truth.
When God made two people one in marriage He melded two souls together who walked side by side, each having their rolls given to them by God, not man.
The woman's role was not given to her by the man or monitored by the man. Her role was given by God and she was to obey God in the role given to her.
The man was not over the woman but side by side with her as they worked together to carry out God's plan. They were opposite in their genders and souls coming together to complete one another. What the man lacked the woman supplied and what the woman lacked the man supplied, together they were complete.
The man is the leader by example and teaching, not by authority over. A man who claims authority over the woman is usurping the Holy Spirit in the woman.
The reason this union has been perverted is because the world has ignored the teachings of the Bible in favor of their own ideas that are not Biblical.
No husband will be the "mediator" between God and his wife as so many have tried to dictate in churches without saying it but acting as though it were so.
Women are to choose to obey God and submit to their husband's leadership unless he defied God, then she must obey God first.
According to Proverbs 31 the woman is the manager of the household much like the CEO of a company. She confers with the leader as to how they will run their lives together but she has the final word in how the household will be run.
The man is not independent of the woman, he discusses with his wife as they work things out together. One is not independent of the other.
1 Corinthians 11:10-12 "…10 For this reason a woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. 11 In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For just as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God.…"
Men who treat their wives disrespectfully because they think she is under them are in disobedience against God.
1 Corinthians 12:12-22
"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ."
No one is superior to anyone else because everyone born again has the Holy Spirit and consults and defers to Him first.
Ephesians 5:24-26 "…24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her 26 to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,…"
The woman wears the covering as a sign that she is an example of the church and the man does not wear a covering as a sign that He is an example of Christ and they are both together side by side under God.
Galatians 3:28
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
The roles of men and women are different but equal in status. No one is over the other but they both cooperate together to carry out God's purpose for them as a family.
The woman cares for and helps the man in all matters including Spiritual and the man protects the wife and shares with her the things of God so that she might grow in holiness.
Sadly I see so many men who are pretending to love their wives but treat them as "less than" in disobedience to the Word of God to protect and nurture them.
Ephesians 5:2
"and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God."
Everyone is to walk in love and difference to one another that our purpose under God not be maligned.
Ephesians 5:24
"Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands."
Ephesians 5:28
"In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."
It is only as Spiritual leader of the home that the wife submits, not in all things. We know that a woman is not to disobey God in order to obey her husband when he is telling her to disobey Christ.
Colossians 3:19
"Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them."
It is human nature for pagan men to treat their "weaker vessels" like chattel. Ungodly men are predisposed to dominating and demeaning their wives as though they are possessions to be used. this is antithetical to God's plan for marriage.
When Eve disobeyed God in the garden and then influenced her husband to do the same we see the dynamic of the marriage relationship at play.
The woman was to influence her husband but only for good. When God cursed the earth the influence of the woman became perverted. However, in a marriage when two people are born-again the marriage relationship under Christ returns to the way God intended it to be, that is a man as the leader and the woman as the influencer for righteousness.
Ungodly men often rebel against the counsel of their wives thinking she is less than he. The truth is the world's system under Satan, not God's way.
1 Peter 3:7
"Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."
The husband has the power to destroy the emotional well being of his "weaker vessel" and many ungodly men use this to control their wives. This is wicked and against God's plan for a loving marriage under God's direction.
Ephesians 5:28
"So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself."
Genesis 2:24
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."
1 Peter 3:7
"Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as a delicate vessel, and with honor as fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered."
It is vitally important that married couples leave their parents to begin their own separate lives together, making their own traditions, bringing up their own children.
When the parents interfere in the lives of their married children they have the potential of preventing Spiritual and emotional growth that needs to happen for the newly married couple to become truly one without the mandates and pressure of their parents.
Often parents expect their in-law children to be like them, act like them and do the things they think they should do. This placed frustration on the newly weds to remain faithful to the family instead of each other.
The father and mother of the newly married couple must allow their children to be the heads of their own households. The father and mother of the newly married couple ought not to insert themselves into the marriage becoming the leader instead of the new husband.
I can tell you that I did not begin to develop my real personality and realize my own calling until I was removed from extended family. We have personalities inside of us that are dormant while at home in our family as children, that will not develop fully until we have left the extended family environment.
Often children do not leave their family structure and remain stunted in their growth as well as chained to family traditions that their new spouse may not enjoy.
The new couple must make their own traditions, walk their own walk together as a couple in order to mature emotionally and Spiritually. After a few years of emotional development and guidance from God, the couple may choose to return to the family in limited ways once they have become secure and confident in who God called them to be.
From my perspective and personal experience, it was not possible to become the person God intended for me while enduring the pressure of extended family to remain faithful to the family structure rather than to God.
Often families expect the new couples to remain just like them, without Spiritual and emotional growth and with the constant pressure of the culture of the family.
Ephesians 5:25-33
"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.
So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."
No newly married couple should allow extended family to dictate or pressure them into making decisions that the two of them did not make alone together.
There are those who teach that a man makes all the decisions without consulting with his wife. This is wicked and against everything God taught in His Word for a marriage. Catholicism teaches this nonsense, Islam teaches it , Mormons teach it and many protestant churches teach it too, it is against God's Word.
Women and men are to submit one to another as each carries out their calling and role given to them by God. Both submit to God first and then to one another as each one seeks Christ.
No one is treated as "less than" or "as children", they are both adults with important callings and each should respect one another.
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