Monday, December 23, 2024

We are all a part of the body with gifts!!!

The whole church system of today is not biblical. Some people are beginning to realize this and coming out from among the organized church's buildings and hierarchies.
Christ is only magnified when His Word is followed and believers seek to do things the way He instructed in His Word.
1 Corinthians 14:26 "What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification."
No hierarchical leadership except the Holy Spirit and no special building treated as a temple. Our bodies are the temple now, we meet together anywhere at anytime without manmade rituals. Those who do lead are servants of all without authority over the others. The only Authority is the Holy Spirit.
It has only been in recent years that God is opening the understanding to what His gathering should be and how far from it the modern church has become. This is another indication of how close we are to the end of this church age.
God is not growing the church as much as He is purifying it by removing authentic believers from the false system to return to the first century model.
That is not to say that everyone in the modern church system is not saved, it just means that those who don't leave remain stagnated and unable to exercise their gifts in a system that discourages individual participation in the edification of the whole group by one another.
When the one-man-paid-pastor runs everything and acts as an authority over the gathering they are silencing others refusing to allow open discussion and leadings of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:19
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,
Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Romans 12:6-8
"We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; / if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; / if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."
1 Corinthians 12:14-26
"14 For the body is not one part, but many.
15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.
16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any less a part of the body.
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired.
19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?
20 But now there are many parts, but one body.
21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; or again, the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”
22 On the contrary, it is much truer that the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary;
23 and those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor, and our less presentable parts become much more presentable,
24 whereas our more presentable parts have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that part which lacked,
25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another.
26 And if one part of the body suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if a part is honored, all the parts rejoice with it."
Hallelujah!

They Don't Ask the Right Questions

Most "Christians" will not ask us if we love Jesus Christ, they will ask which church we attend and who is our pastor? A Clue!

Forgiveness and Love Requires Repentance for there to be a Changed Heart

Ephesians 4:31-32 "…31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and tenderhearted to one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ God forgave you."
It is not possible to confess offenses when we are bitter and full of rage. It is not possible to forgive someone who does not confess their bitterness and rage. Forgiveness has a purpose and that is to reconcile. Reconciliation cannot happen when only one of these things happens, both are necessary.
I find it interesting that our modern culture expects forgiveness when there is no sorrow over offenses. The culture expects to be forgiven even when there is no desire to change what is wrong. This culture places pressure on one to forgive but no pressure on one to confess offenses. It is not merely unbalanced but it does nothing to reconcile the relationship.
When confession occurs and forgiveness is extended the relationship grows stronger than it was before.
How did Christ forgive? He forgave when there was repentance for the purpose of reconciling a relationship.
Proverbs 28:13
"Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy"
James 5:16
"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed"
1 John 1:5-10, 2:1-2
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all injustice"
Luke 17:3-4 "…3 Watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4Even if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times returns to say, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”
A relationship can only be reconciled when there is confession of offense and forgiveness extended. These are two sides of the same coin and both must be present for there to be reconciliation.
When the Bible is ignored the good is not allowed to progress and change in hearts does not occur.
Humility is required to confess sin and it is also required to obey God in waiting for the confession before extending forgiveness that is not received because a heart has not been changed.
The lie that we will become bitter if we do not forgive the unrepentant has diminished the purpose of confession and forgiveness, it has cause the words "I forgive you" to become lame and meaningless.
When God said love your enemies, we do no harm to them but the love requires responsibility that changes the heart. It is not harmful to withhold forgiveness to one who is not sorry, and it may save their eternal life.
When a culture gives into the ways of the world and is steeped in psychology it will cause people to become offended over accountability and it will be helpless and meaningless.

Sunday, December 22, 2024

Relating Biblically SESSION 4: When Your Spouse's Heart Is Not Changing

Knowing Truth does not save anyone from hell.

"Knowing" the truth does not save anyone from hell. Satan knows the truth and that is where he is going.
 
Matthew 7:21-23 "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.’"

The people described in Matthew 7 knew the truth but tried to get to heaven in their own strength their own way, without ever trusting in Christ. They thought their "goodness" would get them there, but instead, it condemned them to hell because it could not change their character and all they did was for themselves. Their character remained self-willed defined as self pleasing.

May many who think they are good and working their way to heaven on their own merit repent and trust in Christ to be changed by Him.

Trusting in Christ not an Institution Devised by Man

Many believers are realizing the truth about the institutional church. God is placing in the hearts of many believers who were raised to believe they must attend a large gathering and sit like a lump under a one-man-paid-pastor system that God never commanded, the truth of what the gatherings were intended to be and it is nothing like what happens in our day.
God intended that every believer participate in the gathering, edifying one another while making Christ the center. However, church gatherings today are man-centered.
We were called to edify one another with God's Word. We were never called to sacrifice for Christ, He is the only one whose Sacrifice was worthy to cover the sin of those who trust in Him. He offered this to every man but only those who trust in Him will be saved.
We must believe in Christ desiring to be changed by HIm into a new creation. God will not live in or change anyone who believes in Him but wants to change themselves.
Ephesians 2:10
"10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
Anyone depending on themselves has not submitted to Christ. They have merely added His name to their own works and are not born-again.
2 Corinthians 5:17: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new"
Christ changes us into a new creation, He continues the process of cleansing us throughout our lives until He takes us to our eternal home. It is all His work after we have trusted in Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6
"5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."

All I Want is Jesus!!!!

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