The Holy Spirit of Christ Lives in Every Born Again Believer

Remember that accusations from a narcissist are confessions about themselves.

The devil accused God to Eve, he claimed God was withholding something that Eve would benefit from but in reality, it was the devil who was lying to Eve convincing her to be against God.

that nothing bad was going to happen to him, but it was the influence of the devil that worked in

The biggest challenge of the follower of Christ is dealing with people who are influenced and controlled by the devil. The same tactics, accusations and sinful behavior the devil uses will be seen in the person the devil is using.

1 Peter 5:8 "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

When Peter attempted to convince Christ that He was not going to be killed for the sins of the world, Christ rebuked satan while looking at Peter. The devil was influencing Peter to say things that would prevent Christ from doing what He came to do, that is die for the sins of the world.

Matthew 16:21-23 "21 From that time Jesus began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day.

22 And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!”

23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but men’s.”"

Peter thought he was doing good by telling Christ nothing bad was going to happen to him, but it was the influence of the devil that worked on Peter's mind. Christ did not address Peter directly, He addressed the devil who was influencing Peter's mind.

We see this all the time in this life but do not recognize it because we cannot see the devil he must be Spiritually discerned. We are surrounded by people who do not know they are being used of the devil to influence those who do not have the Holy Spirit and who have no defenses against the devil.

The devil convinces people they are right or doing a good thing to come against born-again believers. When it doesn't work for them to come against us they will gossip attempting to convince others to be against us too.

The lies are so subtle and convincing that narcissists are able to convince those who lack Biblical discernment that it is all true. Those who are fooled by the devil will band together against those who love Jesus Christ, just as they did with Christ and the apostles and every other martyr who loves Jesus Christ.

None of this should surprise us, but sometimes we are so full of joy that the subtle tactics of those led by the devil catch us off guard and once again we are astonished by what happens to us.

People who have the love of Christ, who are full of empathy and kindness are targets for the narcissist, they see love and kindness as weakness to be exploited or demeaned.

We cannot allow the minions of the devil to intimidate us into silence or provoke us into sinful responses. When we know what the narcissist is doing it is best to remain silent, allowing the Holy Spirit to take control. Saying nothing and walking away is the best strategy for those who are attempting to provoke us.

Staying away from people who hate the truth and love their gossip is the best strategy of all for dealing with evil people.

Notice Christ said; "get away from me Satan." He didn't try to reason with him, or give him another chance to explain himself, he simply rebuked him to get away.

Empathetic people hate hurting others, the very reason they are taken off guard at rudeness or disrespect. We must never return evil for evil when mean people exact their hatred on us, but we are wise to walk away and stay away.

Wicked people will act sorry when they see we have walked away, but the Holy Spirit will show us when it is a ploy to get us back to enable them to continue their attacks, or if it is genuine remorse for their sinful actions. God can tell us, it is wise to wait to hear from God before jumping back into a consistently problematic relationship.

Proverbs 4:13-15, …"13 Hold on to instruction; do not let go. Guard it, for it is your life. 14 Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. 15 Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by."

Psalm 1:1

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers."

1 Corinthians 15:33

"Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

Psalm 26:4-5

"I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites. / I hate the mob of evildoers, and refuse to sit with the wicked."

Ephesians 5:11

"Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them."

Contrary to cultural beliefs we are not required to keep company with family merely because they are family. When we become born again our new family are those who love Jesus Christ. Many will say they are Christians, but do not follow Christ. These are those who have joined the club but have no interest in following what Christ taught. They do not have the Holy Spirit, over time it will be obvious.

God said we will know them by their fruit. Our Spirit of Christ will not connect with those who are pretenders, but the Spirit of Christ in us will connect instantly with those who also have the Spirit of Christ living in them.

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."

Does it or Do They, Glorify Christ

Sadly so many people would say they are "Bible believers" but negate the commands of Jesus when He said;

1 Corinthians 7:10-11

"10 But to the married I give instructions, not I, but the Lord, that the wife is not to leave her husband 11 (but if she does leave, she must remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband is not to [a]divorce his wife."

Luke 16:17-18 "But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. 18 Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

There are many in the modern church who form cliques, choosing to be kind only to people they prefer but have little empathy and love for those they do not prefer.

Galatians 2:6

"But as for the highly esteemed—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—those leaders added nothing to me."

Ephesians 6:9

"And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him."

Colossians 3:25

"Whoever does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism."

James 2:9

"But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors."

Here is what God's love looks like when lived by the born-again believer.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8A "4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails."

We know God's love when we see it. Even when discipline is necessary it is done with tears and empathy, never with hate and anger.

Compassion and empathy is the hallmark of those who have been changed by Christ into a new creation.

1 John 4:20 says, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar"

1 John 4:7-8 "7 Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

It is not hard to discern the love of Christ in someone, it is a Spiritual discernment given to us by the Holy Spirit. Often I hear people say things like; "something was off about that person" but they couldn't see clearly what it was about them. Then later it is revealed to them this person did not have the love of the Holy Spirit because they were not born again. The evidence that they were not born again was their anger toward believers when the discussion of Christ came up in conversation.

We have many such people in church gatherings today. They have a desire to be seen as a good person but have no desire to be changed by Christ. These people are deeply dedicated to how they appear to others but are exposed when in the presence of someone they don't particularly like and usually it is those who challenge their walk with Christ.

Challenges to someone walking in anger reveal their character when they rage or exact revenge on the one who uses the Bible as proof of God's commands and principles.

Those who walk disobediently do not admit their misbehavior but rather defend their actions and attitudes while accusing others of things that are not true, to take the focus off of themselves.

We have seen it everywhere now, onlookers are confused because of baseless accusations. Many people tend to believe the accuser who is angry merely because they were angry, after all, if they got angry someone must have done something wrong, in their minds.

In other words, anger carries the day for onlookers who really don't know exactly what is going on. It is dangerous to have friends who believe the angry person over rational evaluation through knowledge of the situation.

Satan used the very same technique in the garden with Eve. He attempted to anger her through accusations about God that were not true, and sadly it worked. We see that mankind is often more likely to believe the accusations without evidence merely because of the anger than they are the explanation that comes after the rage.

We know this by all the false news people are willing to believe with no more evidence than "someone said it, it must be true" mentality.

Believers have to be diligent in seeking the Holy Spirit about everything in these last days of intense deception. Nothing is as it seems these days.

My practice now is to only look at the things I need to know and ignore all the rest. If something is important the Holy Spirit will tell me.

John 16:13-14 "13However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"

The evidence if something or someone is from God is; "does it, or do they, glorify Christ."

Just saying!!!!

Those who have been humbled by Christ never act superior to others. They are bold, but not mean.

Amen, I meet a lot of people who feel superior to others treating those they look down upon with disrespect and disdain as though they are unworthy of love and kindness. 

"Some Christians have windows but no mirrors. They see everyone else's sin but never see their own."

The Biblical Reason Narcissists Can't Stop Lying (Exposed)

Confession of Sin and Forgiveness God's Way Brings Healing to Relationships

Not forgiving an unrepentant offender is not bitterness it is commanded by God. We bless those who curse us and remove ourselves from those who do not repent. We make sure we do no harm to anyone even if they harm us, but this is not forgiveness.

Confession and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin and for the purpose of reconciling a relationship. If one person is not sorry for offending then we are not required to reconcile the relationship.

Luke 17:3-4 "3 Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

Notice the offender is the one coming each time to confess their sin to be reconciled.

Confession of sin and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin. Lack of accountability does not help someone to repent, it solidifies a hardened heart further, the hard heart of the one who will not repent.

Notice we hear a lot about forgiving unrepentant sinners but we hear nothing about chastising unrepentant sinners to confess to be cleansed. It is backward from what God taught.

We are not bitter because someone else will not repent, we remain concerned and pray for them. If we love someone we will be more concerned about their spiritual well being than we are for their feelings.

God's character is not only love, because it is love it is also justice and reconciliation.

Reconciliation cannot happen without repentance, not toward God or anyone else. God will not reconcile Himself to anyone who is not repentant, He is our life model.

Our modern world has been taught to "just let it all go", and if we don't we are bitter, this mentality produces more sin and less conviction of it. It is also lazy, just "letting it go" lets us off the hook of doing the hard work to help one another grow emotionally and spiritually.

If you went to the doctor with a severe illness for which there was a cure would you like to hear; "just let it go no need to do anything maybe being nice to you will fix it."

If the fence in your yard were broken and the neighbor's cattle were coming in and trampling your garden would you like to hear from the neighbor; "no problem just ignore it and I will be nice to you."

Personal relationships are far more important than these other things and yet they are the things most neglected. Temporary personal feelings are more of a priority these days than development of good and loving connections with people.

Nothing is mended by ignoring it, no relationships can be trusted when there is continual disrespect. We live in a "pretend" culture that thinks all we have to do is pretend something wasn't a problem and it will all go away. This is the devil's lie, his hope is that nothing will be mended and everyone walks around on pins and needles hoping that one day someone will stop hating just because they get tired of it.

Relationships are not like this, people are not like animals. If you treat an animal with kindness they will love you, but people are not like this. Often people see kindness as weakness and exploit it, seeing it as an opportunity to demean and degrade the one who walks in love.

Love embarrasses narcissists, they see it as feebleness and they despise anyone they think is feeble. With a narcissistic person "just letting it go" affords them the sense of pleasure to repeat their offenses.

Christ did nothing but good to the entire world and yet the world hated Him. He shone His light of goodness on the world exposed their darkness, this made them angry so they killed Him and His apostles.

Doing good to a rebellious person is like lighting a match to gasoline. We should never stop doing good all the time but when we see the fire was lit and there is no reconciliation then God tells us to walk away leaving them to God.

The more we remain with ungodly people who reject truth the more likely we are to emulate their sinful reactions. We must guard our hearts from those who wish to corrupt us through their continual antics of ill will.

"From such turn away" God says in 2 Timothy 3:5

Do We Believe God?

To ruminate and agonize over past forgiven sin is the same as not believing God when He said:

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."

If there are friends and family who hold past forgiven sin against us even when the sin wasn't against them, we know they enjoy placing guilt, which is a tactic of the devil.

It is wise to remove from our lives all those people who persist in acting superior as though they have never sinned. These are those who do not have the fruit of the Spirit of Christ.

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."

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.

5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,

6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Those who lack the fruit and do not possess the qualities of love are not from God and will only complicate our lives with the purpose of undermining our spiritual and emotional growth. They are sent of the devil and must be dismissed and ignored.

1 Corinthians 14:38

"38 But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized."

Another translation says "let the ignorant be ignored."

God told us to surround ourselves with those who love us, who edify us with His Word and who have our best in mind. This best would include coming alongside in hardships, correcting us when we are in error, enjoying our wins and weeping with us in our losses. In other words, they care so deeply for us that they partake in everything about our lives in genuine love without trying, it comes naturally without thinking because their heart is one of God's love and compassion.

John 13:35

"35 By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

1 John 4:7-8

"Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

1 John 3:14

"We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death."

1 John 4:20-21

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And we have this commandment from Him: Whoever loves God must love his brother as well."

This Age of Deep Deception

I see many photos on Facebook that look as though they have been altered, or photo-shopped. I fear that many people will believe anything if they see it with their eyes.

I watch how people are buying into all kinds of irrational conspiracy theories as though they saw them for themselves. They are believing things that make no sense at all according to the Bible, but are convinced because of charts and drawings and worse words from people they have never met and have no way of vetting.

The age of the great deception is here, in fact I am convinced there is more lying going on than truth telling in our culture today as we march toward the deception of the antichrist.

The antichrist will do many lying wonders that are deceptive and not miracles at all, but illusions.

If we are wise we will ask ourselves if something makes good sense rather than enjoying it because we have some fuzzy feelings.

Seeking sensationalism for its own sake is what is driving many Christians to believe things that, even if they were true make no difference in our walk with Christ.

When I ask them why even bother thinking about that particular conspiracy they tell me we should know. When I ask why we should know it, they attack me as though I am the foolish one for not continually ruminating on things that have nothing to do with the gospel and make no difference in our lives.

Knowledge for its own sake is not godly, it is Gnosticism, making important things that are not important and distracting many people from Christ while creating unnecessary arguments over things that do not matter. Pride is at the root of all this Gnosticism.

A sort of showing off to appear special and superior.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 "

"that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders,"

1 Corinthians 8:1 "Now concerning food sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes one conceited, but love edifies people."

Perhaps if every believer would pray for wisdom, disregard what the world is doing and know the principles of Christ much of what they enjoy would fall away and their purpose as a follower of Christ would deepen.