Does any of this sound familiar?
Jeremiah 18:18
"Then they said, "Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words."
The more we speak the truth, the more we will encounter the same things as the prophets did. The people plotted against Jeremiah to malign his reputation discrediting the things he said. If they can attack the credibility of the person, then they manage to turn people away from listening to them.
We can expect this problem to increase as the time draws near for the end of the age.
Luke 18:8
""I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"
Jeremiah 7:27
""You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you."
Knowing that the prophets who followed hard after God, experienced this sort of rejection, helps us to continue in confidence, realizing that we are not guilty of anything just because others become angry when they hear the truth.
Unfortunately too many believers become silent because of the intimidation and manipulation that they have to endure, even from those who are suppose to love them.
Thankfully the Lord has comforted us with these words, they were recorded to encourage us to keep going and know that Christ in us will decide the results.
Friday, August 8, 2014
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Tears of Conviction Lead to Cleansing
Back in the '70's when we were much younger, we thought we were going to make things right in this country by changing laws.
We marched, stood in front of stores for hours getting signatures on petitions, wrote letters, protested, worked on political campaigns and everything else we could to stem the tide of evil.
But to no avail, things never got better they got worse. We were baby Christians in those days, having been raised on "fighting for our rights" we actually believed if we made laws to stop sin, life would get better. How wrong we were.
Once in a while we would pass out tracts containing the "four spiritual laws", as though we were sharing the gospel. We didn't speak openly to people, we merely handed the people the tract, as friendly as possible and hoped that they would like Jesus because they like us. This was the instruction we received from Sunday school classes and sermons at church. The whole modern church mentality of never upsetting anyone was obviously not effective. Every sin has been multiplied and defended by the masses.
When we do things our own way to be humanly "effective", we are not empowered by the Holy Spirit, He will let us muddle through in our ineptitude.
The solution was not to make laws to force people, it was not to get people to like us. The solutions was to preach a strong and bold gospel message of sin, repentance and submission to Christ. Showing people that their sin was paid for, all they have to do is trust what Christ did for us and He would change them into a new creation.
When it comes to things like abortion and the Jewish holocaust, we must stand up for the helpless, that is another matter of course, we must speak out against murder of the Innocents. This would apply to abortion as much as it applied to the holocaust during world war 2.
The problem is when we speak out about the sin without mentioning why it is sin. The gospel message must accompany any dialogue with the unbeliever. Stopping the sin without informing the people of their lost condition, is of little value.
Proverbs 24:11 "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter."
None of our human methods had lasting value, they merely enticed non-believers to enter the church buildings equipped with a gospel of good works and a gravy train mentality. We now have more pretenders than true believers, in the church than ever before.
In days past, those who did not want to submit to Christ didn't stay with the believers, they ran from them. Now they seek out the churches to take care of their physical needs, without any fear that they will be convicted of sin.
Proverbs 28:1 "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."
1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."
The non-believers who have learned the lingo of the church, are now in leadership positions, quenching the voice of those who proclaim the truth of the Bible, even running them out of the church to protect the flock from truth.
I once attended a church many years ago that had preached against homosexuality, even having a recovery program for homosexuals, same sex marriage wasn't in anyone's mind at that time. Because of their preaching within the walls of their building, the homosexuals organized a march against the church on a Sunday morning.
The pastor of that church instructed the congregation to remain silent while the march was going on. The pastor put out cookies and coffee served by volunteers, to serve to the homosexuals and placed guards around the march so that no church member would speak to the marchers, to avoid a riot.
I was incensed by this mandate to remain silent and just give them goodies, so I went to the marchers and began giving them the gospel. One of the guards took my arm in an attempt to prevent me from speaking to the marchers about the gospel. I turned to her, looked her in the eye and said, "get thee behind me satan." The guard released my arm and I proceeded to get in the march and spoke to the homosexuals about the Lord.
The Lord silenced all those around me in the picketing, and I was able to reach the head lady carrying the banner that promoted their position. This woman began to cry as I shared with her. I never saw her come to the Lord, but I know God sent me to speak to her and others around me heard too.
Had I listened to the "leaders of the church", that woman and others around her, would never have heard the gospel message. I thought that the pastor should have moved church outside during the march to preach a clear and hard hitting gospel.
As it was, these lost people were made to feel comfortable and victorious in their sin. Shame, shame on those church leaders and their drone like underlings! They had an opportunity and wasted it.
Thankfully there were others who were sharing too, but only a few in comparison to the numbers that attended there.
Does anyone venture a guess what will probably happen when homosexuals want to get married in these churches? Get ready to see the abominations that will go on in the apostate church, no one will be able to stop it.
Friendliness is not the answer, we are never to be unkind, but we are to be bold and tell the whole truth no matter what it brings.
Many people were angry with Christ, He made no attempt to soften the truth so they would like Him. The Gospel has the power to reach into the soul, getting someone to like us by dumbing down the Gospel, only serves to make others feel good about themselves.
Our mission is to tell the truth and when we do that, people will feel bad, how else are they to come to Christ in brokenness over their sin. I wept when I became born again, there was no anger at anyone for making me feel bad. When I got over the feeling of shame over my sin, I began to feel excited and empowered that I was a different person and could go on now sharing what was shared with me, a life changing Gospel that convicts and brings people to repentance.
Christ is not interested in our "good feelings", He is interested in saving us from hell and cleaning us up, that we might bring glory to Him.
Have you been broken over your sinfulness? Have you experienced the spiritual freedom that comes from being forgiven, while going on to grow in holiness?
We marched, stood in front of stores for hours getting signatures on petitions, wrote letters, protested, worked on political campaigns and everything else we could to stem the tide of evil.
But to no avail, things never got better they got worse. We were baby Christians in those days, having been raised on "fighting for our rights" we actually believed if we made laws to stop sin, life would get better. How wrong we were.
Once in a while we would pass out tracts containing the "four spiritual laws", as though we were sharing the gospel. We didn't speak openly to people, we merely handed the people the tract, as friendly as possible and hoped that they would like Jesus because they like us. This was the instruction we received from Sunday school classes and sermons at church. The whole modern church mentality of never upsetting anyone was obviously not effective. Every sin has been multiplied and defended by the masses.
When we do things our own way to be humanly "effective", we are not empowered by the Holy Spirit, He will let us muddle through in our ineptitude.
The solution was not to make laws to force people, it was not to get people to like us. The solutions was to preach a strong and bold gospel message of sin, repentance and submission to Christ. Showing people that their sin was paid for, all they have to do is trust what Christ did for us and He would change them into a new creation.
When it comes to things like abortion and the Jewish holocaust, we must stand up for the helpless, that is another matter of course, we must speak out against murder of the Innocents. This would apply to abortion as much as it applied to the holocaust during world war 2.
The problem is when we speak out about the sin without mentioning why it is sin. The gospel message must accompany any dialogue with the unbeliever. Stopping the sin without informing the people of their lost condition, is of little value.
Proverbs 24:11 "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter."
None of our human methods had lasting value, they merely enticed non-believers to enter the church buildings equipped with a gospel of good works and a gravy train mentality. We now have more pretenders than true believers, in the church than ever before.
In days past, those who did not want to submit to Christ didn't stay with the believers, they ran from them. Now they seek out the churches to take care of their physical needs, without any fear that they will be convicted of sin.
Proverbs 28:1 "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."
1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."
The non-believers who have learned the lingo of the church, are now in leadership positions, quenching the voice of those who proclaim the truth of the Bible, even running them out of the church to protect the flock from truth.
I once attended a church many years ago that had preached against homosexuality, even having a recovery program for homosexuals, same sex marriage wasn't in anyone's mind at that time. Because of their preaching within the walls of their building, the homosexuals organized a march against the church on a Sunday morning.
The pastor of that church instructed the congregation to remain silent while the march was going on. The pastor put out cookies and coffee served by volunteers, to serve to the homosexuals and placed guards around the march so that no church member would speak to the marchers, to avoid a riot.
I was incensed by this mandate to remain silent and just give them goodies, so I went to the marchers and began giving them the gospel. One of the guards took my arm in an attempt to prevent me from speaking to the marchers about the gospel. I turned to her, looked her in the eye and said, "get thee behind me satan." The guard released my arm and I proceeded to get in the march and spoke to the homosexuals about the Lord.
The Lord silenced all those around me in the picketing, and I was able to reach the head lady carrying the banner that promoted their position. This woman began to cry as I shared with her. I never saw her come to the Lord, but I know God sent me to speak to her and others around me heard too.
Had I listened to the "leaders of the church", that woman and others around her, would never have heard the gospel message. I thought that the pastor should have moved church outside during the march to preach a clear and hard hitting gospel.
As it was, these lost people were made to feel comfortable and victorious in their sin. Shame, shame on those church leaders and their drone like underlings! They had an opportunity and wasted it.
Thankfully there were others who were sharing too, but only a few in comparison to the numbers that attended there.
Does anyone venture a guess what will probably happen when homosexuals want to get married in these churches? Get ready to see the abominations that will go on in the apostate church, no one will be able to stop it.
Friendliness is not the answer, we are never to be unkind, but we are to be bold and tell the whole truth no matter what it brings.
Many people were angry with Christ, He made no attempt to soften the truth so they would like Him. The Gospel has the power to reach into the soul, getting someone to like us by dumbing down the Gospel, only serves to make others feel good about themselves.
Our mission is to tell the truth and when we do that, people will feel bad, how else are they to come to Christ in brokenness over their sin. I wept when I became born again, there was no anger at anyone for making me feel bad. When I got over the feeling of shame over my sin, I began to feel excited and empowered that I was a different person and could go on now sharing what was shared with me, a life changing Gospel that convicts and brings people to repentance.
Christ is not interested in our "good feelings", He is interested in saving us from hell and cleaning us up, that we might bring glory to Him.
Have you been broken over your sinfulness? Have you experienced the spiritual freedom that comes from being forgiven, while going on to grow in holiness?
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Legalization Does Not Make Anything Right
It seems that people think the legalization of sin is tantamount to God's approval!
We must read the Bible to be able to discern right from wrong, not trusting in our government laws.
We must read the Bible to be able to discern right from wrong, not trusting in our government laws.
You Can Do Better!
"Self esteem" is just another word for "pride", and we know what God said about that. God's kind of encouragement leads us to say to people "you can do better."
Proverbs 11:2 "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom."
Proverbs 16:5 "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished."
Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
Proverbs 26:12 "Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.'
James 4:6 "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Proverbs 11:2 "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom."
Proverbs 16:5 "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished."
Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."
Proverbs 26:12 "Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.'
James 4:6 "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
Giving Without Work Is Not Love
Giving Without Requirements Is Not Love
I have been running into lots of people who seem to believe
that nothing should be required of others in our giving.
When God told the farmers to leave the edges of their field,
not harvesting them, that those who were poor could come and gather the
harvest, called 'gleanning', He never said pick up all the edges and just give
them to the poor, He told them to leave edges that those who were poor would
come and work to get them.
When we require nothing in return for goods we rob the poor
person of the dignity of gathering for himself, learning thoughtfulness of
others, that they not inconvenience them and the gratefulness that comes from
being able to have food that they worked to get.
The same principle applies in relationships concerning
repentance.
When we require no repentance for wrongs done, we rob the
offender of an opportunity to grow and become more holy. Not requiring
repentance in an offender is selfishness. It is much easier to pretend nothing
is wrong, than to expect accountability when we know we may lose a friend.
Matthew 18:15 ""If your brother sins, go and show
him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your
brother."
Our charity must be with the welfare of the poor person in
mind, not just their immediate need, but their overall well being. Giving
without any requirements hardly ever fosters change in another person's heart,
it merely enhances and reinforces an entitlement mentality, this is true of
material goods as well as forgiveness.
We have been fostering laziness and ungratefulness by
requiring nothing from those who have offended or refused to work.
Of course we require nothing of an invalid who cannot work,
but this does not include all those who claim to be "disabled", but
seem to have the ability to walk all over town doing things they want to do.
We should be giving freely without requirements to those who
are elderly or infirmed physically who cannot get out of their beds. These are
not the majority of cases that we see. If someone can walk or drive down to the
food bank to get free food, then they are able to do something to earn it.
We have an "enablement mentality", in our country.
We want others to think well of us, so we think giving without requirements or
rules, is godly, but in fact it is not always so. The focus of our giving is
ourselves, to be glorifed ourselves, to be admired and liked by the community.
If we have a deep concern for the poor we would teach them
to fish instead of just giving them the fish already caught.
Salvation and spiritual growth is much more important than
someone's feelings. Those who would resist helping or working to earn their
food, are in a state of rebellion and laziness. A decent person who is grateful
will want to work for their food, and may want to do extra work to be able to
share with others.
Ephesians 4:28 "28 Let the thief no longer steal, but
rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have
something to share with anyone in need."
Work shows us our inner character, it develops skills and
enhances the health of the body. When we rob the poor of the opportunity to
earn what they get, we are only thinking about ourselves.
Proverbs 18:9 "Whoever is slack in his work is a
brother to him who destroys."
Our charity must be with the welfare of the poor in mind,
not only their bellies, but also their spiritual inner man.
We have a culture that looks only at the outside of a
person, they want food so we give it, neglecting the need for the poor to
develop their inner man and enjoy the fruits of their own labor.
We are a fast food culture, we want to do the easy thing,
just throw money and goods at the problem, then we will not have to take the
extra steps of interacting with the poor, helping them see their need for work
and spiritual growth.
JUST GIVING WITHOUT REQUIRING WORK AND JUST FORGIVING
WITHOUT REQUIRING REPENTANCE IS NOT GODLY BUT SELFISH.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Self Esteem Mentality has Destroyed our Country
My husband heard a report on the news this morning that in all the areas of the country where the standard for school academics was raised, there was a high drop out rate. What does this tell us? We are living in times when the children do not want to do anything hard, they like things to be easy and lots of praise for doing almost nothing. They drop out of school when things get tough and they do the same in marriage when the road gets rough. Bailing out of difficulties seems to be the mentality of this generation. Parents have not allowed their children to struggle or sweat, but jumped in every time the little darlings cried, rather than spurring them on to greater accomplishments.
This is what the teaching and training of self esteem has brought to our country. The children do not know how to do anything with diligence, but what they do they must receive praise.
Our children are praised even when they could do better, to spare their "self esteem." What we have created are arrogant and unteachable people who will not work hard and who will expect great perks for doing little. These people refuse to work unless they can have the top jobs right away, they will not work hard starting at the bottom as previous generations did.
This mentality has infiltrated the church and caused leaders to dumb down the gospel message to please the hearer, rather than challenge and convict. We have an entire generation of whiners.
There is only one solution for this mess, and that is to bring the gospel to this generaton and let the Lord work in their hearts.. Attempting to explain hard work and the principles of God to an unregenerate heart, will be of no help. They will not hear until they have realized their lost condition and need to be changed on the inside.
Beginning on the outside to change their behavior before they are born again, only produces pride and most of the time will only make them more rebellious. When a person who is not saved asks us for advice we can give it, but if we offer advice when it is not solicited, before someone has a changed heart, our advice will be spurned and rejected.
We must speak the gospel message whether anyone wants it or not, but advice for life must wait until they want it or they have been regenerated by Christ.
Proverbs 23:9 "Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words."
Ezekiel 2:7 ""But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious."
This is what the teaching and training of self esteem has brought to our country. The children do not know how to do anything with diligence, but what they do they must receive praise.
Our children are praised even when they could do better, to spare their "self esteem." What we have created are arrogant and unteachable people who will not work hard and who will expect great perks for doing little. These people refuse to work unless they can have the top jobs right away, they will not work hard starting at the bottom as previous generations did.
This mentality has infiltrated the church and caused leaders to dumb down the gospel message to please the hearer, rather than challenge and convict. We have an entire generation of whiners.
There is only one solution for this mess, and that is to bring the gospel to this generaton and let the Lord work in their hearts.. Attempting to explain hard work and the principles of God to an unregenerate heart, will be of no help. They will not hear until they have realized their lost condition and need to be changed on the inside.
Beginning on the outside to change their behavior before they are born again, only produces pride and most of the time will only make them more rebellious. When a person who is not saved asks us for advice we can give it, but if we offer advice when it is not solicited, before someone has a changed heart, our advice will be spurned and rejected.
We must speak the gospel message whether anyone wants it or not, but advice for life must wait until they want it or they have been regenerated by Christ.
Proverbs 23:9 "Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words."
Ezekiel 2:7 ""But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious."
Jealousy destroys gratitude!
When we are jealous of what others have or their talents and gifts, we can only be walking in ungratefulness for what was given to us, thinking that we need what others have to be elevated or successful.
James 4:2-3
"You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
We cannot praise God and be jealous of others at the same time.
James 4:2-3
"You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
We cannot praise God and be jealous of others at the same time.
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