Friday, May 2, 2025
God Knew What He Was Doing
God knew what He was doing when He led believers to meet in homes at the beginning of the church.
The larger the group of people gathering, the more likely it is that people do not know one another, except the false persona everyone displays at the meeting.
There is no accountability or authenticity in a group so large that no one is involved during the week in one another's lives. There cannot be intimacy with those who travel across town instead of in a neighborhood setting in which the people would see and interact with one another weekly and even daily outside of the gathering.
Since a smaller group can decide together which days they want to meet without the rigid schedule of an organization and building with a mortgage, they can be more flexible about when and where to meet.
Acts 2:45-47 "…45 Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. 4 6 With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
There were no rules about giving to others, but they chose to do it because they were a family. They were not compelled by a hierarchy but rather as led by the Holy Spirit. They met daily then, and later changed it to once a week.
Those who met in the temple did it because the building was available, but there was no mandate to do it.
Romans 14:5
"5 One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind."
People added to the church when someone was saved. The gathering was not for unbelievers and it was not an evangelistic gathering. The people came together to edify one another in the word and to become equipped to go out and share the gospel with the unsaved, bringing them in after they were saved. The gatherings of believers were for the church family not for those who were not yet saved.
Acts 2:46-47
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."
Modern Christianity has made the whole gathering experience so complicated and mandatory that it silences most of the people in the church. And, worse it causes weak believers to depend on that one-man-paid pastor to become their mediator between those in the pews and God. The people become lazy, not reading and studying the Word at home, allowing the man up front to do it all for them.
The gatherings, according to the Bible, are for believers to share with others what they learned at home, edifying one another in the word, to bring about enthusiasm in the hearts of one another for evangelism.
The "Evangelical" church is not at all what they claim, it is only a word used to describe an idea, but in reality, most people in that system do not read their Bible or share the gospel with anyone outside of that building. And worse, they are teaching false beliefs taken from secular sources, twisting the Bible to make them sound Scriptural.
The man-made system of paid pastors who act and are treated as though they have authority over the people is elevated to the status of dominance over the other believers.
Matthew 20:25-28
25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The leaders of the gathering of believers lead by example and teach not by authority over others. Everyone who attends shares and edifies one another.
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."
Each one includes men and women. Men lead the gathering, but all share; this could even include children.
When the Holy Spirit is present in all believers and works in all believers, we can be confident that everyone who has the Holy Spirit will have something to share as He moves in every believer.
Imagine if everyone did what Christ ordered in His gathering!!!! There would be impactful and active small gatherings all over the community, influencing that community for Christ as they interact with the unbelievers around them, as well as being an example in those communities of what Christ-like lives look like.
Man is always attempting to "help God out" with their own ideas, and it eventually goes to ruin and enhances pride and self-will.
Galatians 6:2-4 "Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own work. Then he will have reason to boast in himself alone, and not in someone else.
Romans 12:3
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you."
The larger the group of people gathering, the more likely it is that people do not know one another, except the false persona everyone displays at the meeting.
There is no accountability or authenticity in a group so large that no one is involved during the week in one another's lives. There cannot be intimacy with those who travel across town instead of in a neighborhood setting in which the people would see and interact with one another weekly and even daily outside of the gathering.
Since a smaller group can decide together which days they want to meet without the rigid schedule of an organization and building with a mortgage, they can be more flexible about when and where to meet.
Acts 2:45-47 "…45 Selling their possessions and goods, they shared with anyone who was in need. 4 6 With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
There were no rules about giving to others, but they chose to do it because they were a family. They were not compelled by a hierarchy but rather as led by the Holy Spirit. They met daily then, and later changed it to once a week.
Those who met in the temple did it because the building was available, but there was no mandate to do it.
Romans 14:5
"5 One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind."
People added to the church when someone was saved. The gathering was not for unbelievers and it was not an evangelistic gathering. The people came together to edify one another in the word and to become equipped to go out and share the gospel with the unsaved, bringing them in after they were saved. The gatherings of believers were for the church family not for those who were not yet saved.
Acts 2:46-47
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved."
Modern Christianity has made the whole gathering experience so complicated and mandatory that it silences most of the people in the church. And, worse it causes weak believers to depend on that one-man-paid pastor to become their mediator between those in the pews and God. The people become lazy, not reading and studying the Word at home, allowing the man up front to do it all for them.
The gatherings, according to the Bible, are for believers to share with others what they learned at home, edifying one another in the word, to bring about enthusiasm in the hearts of one another for evangelism.
The "Evangelical" church is not at all what they claim, it is only a word used to describe an idea, but in reality, most people in that system do not read their Bible or share the gospel with anyone outside of that building. And worse, they are teaching false beliefs taken from secular sources, twisting the Bible to make them sound Scriptural.
The man-made system of paid pastors who act and are treated as though they have authority over the people is elevated to the status of dominance over the other believers.
Matthew 20:25-28
25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The leaders of the gathering of believers lead by example and teach not by authority over others. Everyone who attends shares and edifies one another.
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."
Each one includes men and women. Men lead the gathering, but all share; this could even include children.
When the Holy Spirit is present in all believers and works in all believers, we can be confident that everyone who has the Holy Spirit will have something to share as He moves in every believer.
Imagine if everyone did what Christ ordered in His gathering!!!! There would be impactful and active small gatherings all over the community, influencing that community for Christ as they interact with the unbelievers around them, as well as being an example in those communities of what Christ-like lives look like.
Man is always attempting to "help God out" with their own ideas, and it eventually goes to ruin and enhances pride and self-will.
Galatians 6:2-4 "Carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own work. Then he will have reason to boast in himself alone, and not in someone else.
Romans 12:3
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you."
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Born Again Believers Love Being Kind
Next time someone is rude and you call it out, and they say, "you are too sensitive", ask them why they like doing things that offend others.
Those who are rude and demeaning to devalue others want to believe it's just clean fun, always justifying themselves by making it seem as though something is wrong with us for not liking their rudeness. Another thing to say might be, "If it is only fun for you, then it is disrespectful."
We know when something is playful and fun, and when something is rude and hurtful; we can tell the difference.
Notice something interesting, those who demean others never seem to play their joke on themselves! Why does the mocker never mock himself if it is all just clean fun?
The purpose of the mocking and demeaning is to elevate themselves. If they can make others feel bad or stupid, it makes them feel superior.
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."
Sadly, those who use mocking, demeaning, and dismissiveness to weaken others don't realize they are the ones who lack maturity and kindness.
Diminishing others to elevate oneself is exactly the tactic of the devil. He will entice someone to do something he knows will ruin them and then point the finger at them for doing it.
Revelation 12:10-11 "10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down— he who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death."
Notice this, "they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony." It doesn't matter what others try to do to us; they cannot defeat us because of Christ Who lives in us.
We have seen an increase in rudeness in American culture because of the influence of the media and the lack of discernment in those who do not have Christ. They are easily manipulated into acting out what they see every day because they have no godly wisdom and discernment. What they see is right in line with their fallen and debased nature, so it comes easily to them.
1 Corinthians 2:13-14 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
When rudeness becomes justified and popular in a culture, there is no cure for it except Christ. He is the only One Who can place love and kindness in the heart of those who have been changed into a new creation by Him.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 "…17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
What Christ does in a transformed heart is a miracle and beautiful.
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."
Love is the opposite of the tactics of the devil! It is the opposite of the ways of the world. The world does good things but for selfish motives, but those who are born again do their good deeds to glorify God; this is why they need no praise for performance.
It is a blessing when God changes us and when we begin to understand His ways, even if no one else around us is obeying God, we can be blessed that He is working in us.
Let us not shrink back from admitting our failures so that God will cleanse us and keep us moving forward in holiness.
1 Peter 1:15-16 "But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'"
Those who are rude and demeaning to devalue others want to believe it's just clean fun, always justifying themselves by making it seem as though something is wrong with us for not liking their rudeness. Another thing to say might be, "If it is only fun for you, then it is disrespectful."
We know when something is playful and fun, and when something is rude and hurtful; we can tell the difference.
Notice something interesting, those who demean others never seem to play their joke on themselves! Why does the mocker never mock himself if it is all just clean fun?
The purpose of the mocking and demeaning is to elevate themselves. If they can make others feel bad or stupid, it makes them feel superior.
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."
Sadly, those who use mocking, demeaning, and dismissiveness to weaken others don't realize they are the ones who lack maturity and kindness.
Diminishing others to elevate oneself is exactly the tactic of the devil. He will entice someone to do something he knows will ruin them and then point the finger at them for doing it.
Revelation 12:10-11 "10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down— he who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death."
Notice this, "they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony." It doesn't matter what others try to do to us; they cannot defeat us because of Christ Who lives in us.
We have seen an increase in rudeness in American culture because of the influence of the media and the lack of discernment in those who do not have Christ. They are easily manipulated into acting out what they see every day because they have no godly wisdom and discernment. What they see is right in line with their fallen and debased nature, so it comes easily to them.
1 Corinthians 2:13-14 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
When rudeness becomes justified and popular in a culture, there is no cure for it except Christ. He is the only One Who can place love and kindness in the heart of those who have been changed into a new creation by Him.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 "…17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."
What Christ does in a transformed heart is a miracle and beautiful.
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."
Love is the opposite of the tactics of the devil! It is the opposite of the ways of the world. The world does good things but for selfish motives, but those who are born again do their good deeds to glorify God; this is why they need no praise for performance.
It is a blessing when God changes us and when we begin to understand His ways, even if no one else around us is obeying God, we can be blessed that He is working in us.
Let us not shrink back from admitting our failures so that God will cleanse us and keep us moving forward in holiness.
1 Peter 1:15-16 "But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'"
Those who Love Christ are our Family
The narcissist is bent on creating drama that upsets their target, causing the born-again believer to act in ways that would displease God. This is the favored tactic of the devil.
Romans 12:19-21 "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.”
James 4:4
"You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God."
1 John 2:15
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
John 15:18-19
"If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. / If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world."
When we must encounter mean and rude people we show them the respect they do not show us, but we do not remain friends with them. Our closest companions must be those who love Christ and foster good will in us as we do in them.
Those who love Christ are our family!
Romans 12:19-21 "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.”
James 4:4
"You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God."
1 John 2:15
"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
John 15:18-19
"If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me first. / If you were of the world, it would love you as its own. Instead, the world hates you, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world."
When we must encounter mean and rude people we show them the respect they do not show us, but we do not remain friends with them. Our closest companions must be those who love Christ and foster good will in us as we do in them.
Those who love Christ are our family!
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