Friday, August 27, 2021
Legalism vs Obedience
Next time someone accuses you of legalism because you believe in obeying God, you might want to give them clear definitions of legalism vs obedience.
Obedience is seeking God's Word for truth and doing what He says to do. Legalism is following man's rules that God never gave.
Never allow someone to guilt you into obeying man's rules that God never commanded. If they are good rules feel free to honor them, but if they are not necessary and do not enhance your walk with Christ feel free to ignore them without blame or shame.
Those who wish to control others will attempt to guilt or shame them into obeying them. We are only responsible to obey God, using His Word as our standard for all things.
John 14:15
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
What are God's commandments? The answer is easy, everything in His Word are His instructions to us. Not all things were written to us but all things were for our benefit.
Hallelujah!!!
Judging Outwardly is Sin
People who judge outwardly are those who assume things they know nothing about. Usually, their assumptions are based on what they want to believe rather than what they know.
Avoid people like this, they make wild accusations based on their own desired opinion of someone not on facts or truth.
Those who love to assume or guess about the actions of others are those who desire to be superior to others. These people must be avoided if it is a continual practice.
Ephesians 4:29 "29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
Reading the Bible to Discover God's Heart!
Most Christians today do not read the Bible to find the heart of God, they read it to see what they can praise themselves about and reject the things they don't like in it.
We are living in the days of deep deception and resistance to the truth. Stubbornness is more prominent than humility.
Proverbs 29:1
"He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing."
Psalm 81:11-12
“But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels."
The last verse was written to Israel but applies to us today too. We are a stubborn nation who will not listen to reproof or correction, even becoming angry when chastised for ignoring God's Word.
This country has nothing to be proud about, rather this country should be ashamed and broken over the sin that abounds here. I understand that its the entire world now but I live in this country so it is what I address here.
We do not deserve good leaders, we deserve what God has given us, that is wicked leaders who care nothing about the people. Now we can experience toward us what we have dished out toward others, family and community.
Zechariah 11:4-6
"4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter.
5 Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no compassion for them.
6 For I will no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will let the people fall, each into another’s power and into the power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will not rescue them from their power.”
This passage was not written to us but it was written for our understanding of the way God operates with nations when they refuse to listen to Him.
We are not safe in this nation, we are not protected by God, we have been given over to our lust for power, pleasure, and wealth and it is ruining us. This is a judgment against us. Anyone who thinks we are "doing well" as a nation is believing what they wish to believe and not what is real.
Proverbs 14:34
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
The sin of pride has filled our nation, the very same pride that got the devil and his minions thrown out of heaven.
Isaiah 59:2
"But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear."
Our nation has indulged in "cultural Christianity" from the beginning, thinking going to church gatherings helps us be better people, but without a dedication to the Word of God and to Christ, Who is the Word.
From the beginning, "cultural Christianity" served us well in terms of keeping outward sin at bay making it a better way to live, but the hearts of many remained proud about how good they thought they were. They believed the "being good" was saving them but in fact, it was leading them further into pride in self while turning their back on Christ. Self-exaltation became the norm while Christ was ignored and pushed away in favor of the traditions of man that made those who followed the rules feel special.
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
So here we are today, having progressed the logical end of this sort of thinking, deeply entrenched in 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
There is only one hope for individuals of this nation and that is 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
The entire nation will not do this but individuals can confess their pride and sinful self-worship and become born again. Yes, the nation is going to fall but those who trust in Christ will be saved from hell and their sin and that is what matters.
If those who are prideful about their country would stop worrying about "making America great again" and begin evaluating their own hearts they might see their own need for repentance from that pride.
Yes, our country, America, is number one in the world, it is number one in every evil thing possible, there is nothing to be proud about.
Thursday, August 26, 2021
America's Freedoms Have Led to Debauchery
I understand that we are used to our freedoms in America, however many countries of the world do not have the freedoms we have and yet the believers there follow Christ.
I am quite sure the Israelites didn't like the Egyptians using them as slaves and yet it was God's will.
There may come a time when we no longer have the privilege of redress of grievances and will be living as the Afghans have to live, under a regime that does not allow any freedoms.
Would we be able to love Christ and each other without complaining about the loss of freedom?
Complaining would be useless because it would change nothing. We would be forced to focus on Christ and pray more, but not for freedom, for the unsaved to become born again.
We Americans have been spoiled all these few generations believing that we ran the government and must maintain our freedom at all costs. Freedom and wealth became our god. I know, I have lived here all my years and watched how fervently the people have fought to preserve their right to sin.
God has different plans for America, we are under judgment right now because of the sin we have enjoyed and worse yet disseminated all over the world. We are the world provider of filth in the form of television, movies, and pornography.
If you do not think we are under judgment just take a look at the broken families, the rebellious young people, and the spirit of anger that is all around us when we speak the truth of God. God is allowing our own sins to ruin us, the consequences of murdered babies, a falling financial system, the ruination of the minds of the children through government school indoctrination, and much more. We have lived in this mess so long we think it's normal, and sadly it is normal for this day but it is terribly wicked.
Revelation 3:16-17 "…16 So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth! 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked."
God has blessed us only to show us what happens when we place our trust in the blessings instead of in Him.
As a nation, we have turned our backs on His Word and perverted the gospel for personal gain. Many have disobeyed the scriptures more than they obey them. They have twisted His word to say what they want it to say rather than what He actually meant.
To add to the abominations pretenders have verbally bludgeoned those who would correct their false doctrine and beliefs to bring them back to obedience. Those who speak the truth have been rejected, treated disrespectfully, and maligned by those who love their sin.
America needs to repent but it will not. When the sin becomes this entrenched and accepted by even the church we know there will not be repentance, but there will be more and is now judgment.
Pride Drives Bad Decisions
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
…21 To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law.
22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings."
This passage pertains to anything that is not sin. If someone says to take off your shoes in their home, I would take off my shoes. If someone says you must wear a mask to visit me then I would wear a mask. This is so that little things will not be a distraction to the gospel and to maintain peace with others.
Born again believers ought to be so saturated with the gospel that everything they say and do would be in light of that, living, breathing, and speaking Bibleese.
We do not fear mandates or laws that seem unjust because Christ lives in us, we are not in bondage to our "rights" or "pleasures", we are bondservants of Christ. If He places us under a law or a rule to bring glory to Himself, then so be it.
We must remember that all authority good or bad has been placed by God. Perhaps to show us we have no power without Christ. In Christ we are free even if we are jailed, we are free.
We remain free as we move about the culture under the rules and laws of the government. Our freedom is not in physical terms, it is Spiritual and far more valuable than the things we think we want for ourselves.
Romans 14:2
"For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables."
Even with food, some people worry continually about what they eat, God says they lack faith, and yet we are commanded to love them. Some people eat all things without worrying, we are commanded to love them too.
Some people wear masks and get the vaccine, we are to love them, some do not wear masks and do not get the vaccine, we are to love them too.
We are not to allow these superficial physical matters to get in the way of our loving fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Satan loves to cause fighting, biting, and devouring within the people of God, let's not allow him to do it.
Romans 15:1
"We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves."
1Corinthians 10:33
"Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."
Let's not let pride drive any of our decisions!
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