True Christians also confess to be cleansed!

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."

Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"

1 John 2:1 "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

Unbelievers are not called God's "little children"; only believers and unsaved people do not have an advocate with the Father, only those who have been changed into a new creation by Christ.

 
Those who think born-again believers never sin after being saved are denying our struggle with the flesh. Our bodies do not go to heaven when we die because they are sinful flesh; only our Spirit, possessing the Holy Spirit, goes to God upon our death when we are born-again.

 
2 Corinthians 5:8 "but we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord."

The flesh is sinful, and no sin can go in front of God, so it remains here when we die. Our Spirit has been born of Christ and it goes to the Father when we die.

The Silent Aggression Between Women No One Talks About

How strong is your faith?

Those who trust Christ even if the nation falls, or the culture rejects them have the strongest faith.

It is possible that the virus we encountered in recent years was allowed by God to show us how weak and fearful America really was, each one depending on their own wisdom and ideas rather than trusting in Christ.

Many people either defied the government and attended church anyway while others stayed at home to obey the government mandates. Neither was more superior than the other, just different.

 
Most "Christians" today do not trust in the Holy Spirit without regard to what the purpose in all things might be. It is possible God wanted us to see that our buildings are not the church, that our rituals were not pleasing and gathering to please ourselves with music while being led by men rather than the Holy Spirit are in many cases actually disobedience to His Word.

Those who understand the Holy Spirit leading and our bodies as the temple of God were not intimidated by government mandates to remain at home. They knew we worship with our lives and gather to edify one another, so small gatherings at home were pleasing to God. Perhaps God wanted us to understand those buildings with many people who did nothing to edify one another while remaining silent in the pews, facing their man-centered leader, did not please God because they depended on ritual and the silence of those who sat in the pews being indoctrinated without the chance to correct or add to what was being said.

1 Corinthians 14:26 " 26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church."

In other words, those men in the pulpit were seen as authorities over the people rather than the Holy Spirit as the Authority. The man in the pulpit was treated as the mediator between God and man even if the people would not admit it.

 
When we meet in a gathering, the example from the Bible is a small group with everyone participating. Leaders are leading by example and teaching, not by Authority or exclusion. It is the Holy Spirit leading each believer to participate; no one is superior or considered more important than anyone else in the group.

 
There is no mandate about how often to meet, which day or who should be there. We will be so connected to one another that when someone is missing, we are interested in where they are and what has happened to them. This is impossible in a large gathering. However, there is no judgment about whether or not someone is attending.

 
Ephesians 5:19 "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,"

"in our 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 to 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 Peter 4:10-11 "As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 4:11-13 "And it was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of ministry and to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, as we mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ."

Romans 12:4-5 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function, / so in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another."

Sadly, the hierarchy system in the church gatherings has made many people lazy in their gifts, if they even know they have any. They have been trained to look to that paid-pastor for everything as though he is the mediator between them and God. They want their spirituality to be done for them rather than be excited about hearing from God for their own calling.

 
The hierarchy encourages this mentality of "mediator for the people" by forbidding interaction from those in the pews, except what the "preacher" tells them to say.
When God showed me that it was not only right but excellent to walk away from the hierarchy system to obey Christ, my joy doubled, and the freedom from man-made rules enhanced my walk.

 
Once our eyes have been opened by the Holy Spirit, they can never unsee what God showed them. We are changed forever.

Practicing an Error from Childhood, Only Christ can Undo it!

When someone has been practicing something their entire lives, from childhood, it is nearly impossible to convince them of the truth. The holidays, the false hierarchy system of the modern church, the acceptance of divorce and remarriage, the adherence to man's rules that God never commanded, and much more permeate the church system of the last days, and yet most people in these systems believe they are the only way.

 
There have been times Christians have exposed the rituals of the modern church system, only to be mocked and demeaned for exposing the truth about these practices.

Galatians 4:16-17 "16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them.…"

How many times have we quoted God's Word to someone to show them their error and were met with anger, isolation and ultimately complete rejection? I suggest many if you have been loyal to God's Word.

 
Amos 5:10
"There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity."

1 Thessalonians 2:4
"Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts."

2 Timothy 4:3-4
"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. So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."

The time has come that we live in an age of nearly total apostasy, dependent on the doctrines and practices of men rather than on the leading of Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit.

 
Most "Christians" today give us a look of perplexity and even disapproval when we suggest they seek the Holy Spirit for their answers. They are not familiar with what it feels like to hear from the Holy Spirit. After all, most do not know their Bible,s why would they seek the Holy Spirit?

 
The very people who claim to be Bible believers negate and disobey more of it than they obey because they are dependent on the writings of men and a false church system instead of the Bible.

 
The life of the true follower of Christ and His Word will be a life of isolation and exclusion.

 
Matthew 5:11
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me."

1 John 3:13
"So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you."

Psalm 38:20
"Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good."

It is better to be acceptable to Christ and rejected by men than to be loved by men.
John 14:42-44 "42 Nevertheless, many of the leaders believed in Him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. 43 For they loved praise from men more than praise from God. 44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in Me does not believe in Me alone, but in the One who sent Me.…"

Those who are modern-day Pharisees are no different in our day than they were in the days when Christ walked the earth.

 
Matthew 23 describes the mentality of the Pharisees!

When We Gather Together

When we gather in a group, God calls us to "edify one another", the word worship in the original language is not used because we come together to remember the Lord Jesus Christ and edify one another with His Word.

 
1 Thessalonians 5:11 "…10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. 11 Therefore, encourage and build one another up (edify), just as you are already doing."

Hebrews 3:13
"But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness."

 
This is why God said; Romans 14:4-6 "…4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.…"

Our life is the worship because Christ lives in us.

 
Colossians 2:16-17
"Therefore, let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath. / These are a shadow of the things to come, but the body that casts it belongs to Christ."

2 Corinthians 3:2-3
"2 You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart."

The modern church system of the pews facing forward, the paid pastor on a pedestal above the people, one person choosing the songs and no one else who is not on the podium is allowed to speak without permission, is a model of the Catholic system that God never commanded. These places are not led by the Holy Spirit but by men.

 
There is no hierarchy in God's commands to meet together. There are leaders who lead by example and teaching but are not an authority over the congregation. Only the Holy Spirit is the Authority over the people. All those who attend are allowed to participate and everything should be done to edify one another.

 
These apostate churches choose "worship leaders" rather than being led by the Holy Spirit. Man is the center of these gatherings not Jesus Christ.

 
1 Corinthians 14:26
"What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church."

Many pagan practices have been added to the modern churches; the Catholic and Protestant churches have added them. Protestants think they are different; they are not, they are less obvious, as they retain the pagan practices that were added centuries ago that they love and cannot let go of to this day.

Philippians 2:1-4
"Therefore if you have any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, / then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose. / Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves."

1 Peter 4:10
"As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another."

2 Corinthians 13:11
"Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."

Ephesians 5:19-20
"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

No One Can Undo What God Does

Nothing that God does can be undone. When God makes someone into a new creation because they have trusted in Him and desire to be changed by Him, they can never undo that.

Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 "Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come."

There are many examples of this in nature. The butterfly begins as a worm. When it emerges from the cocoon, it can never return to being a worm again.

When the seed from a redwood tree falls into the ground, mixed with the soil, becomes a 200-foot-tall tree, it can never return to the seed again.

 
When God makes two people one in marriage, they are no longer one but two; no one can undo this because it is a work of God. Only death ends the oneness of marriage.

God gave us these examples in nature to show us that no one can alter what God does; we can never undo what God performs.

 
Isaiah 43:13 "13 Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Job 9:12
"If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’"

Revelation 3:7
"To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open."

Proverbs Explained: 40 Powerful Lessons to Live By Every Day