Transformed or Pretender?

The evidence of authentic transformation by Christ is:

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."

When bitterness, anger, and rage are still dwelling inside of someone who says they are a Christian, then we know there has not been a born-again experience.

Claiming to be a Christian, even deciding to be one because it seems like a better life is not transformation its only play-acting to feel safe and to be accepted by others.

This false Christianity is not sustainable. As soon as a person like this is hit with difficulties or are confronted with their sin, the rage and anger emerge without one thought to seeking God to discover their flaws for cleansing. When rage and anger are the first response of anyone over a challenge we know this person harbors it just under the surface waiting for an excuse to present itself.

Those who have been transformed by Christ want to be changed, they want to be confronted about their sin and will go to prayer if the accusation is true. If they find themselves to have failed or sinned they want to correct themselves and begin again obeying Christ.

Remember that God does not "reform" the sinner, He transforms them.

2 Corinthians 3:18

"And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

The word "reform" seems to imply there was once righteousness, it went away and is returned.

The word "transform" means to be made completely different, changed permanently never to return to the old ways or thinking again.

2 Corinthians 5:16-18 "…16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…"

Joel 2:13

"Rend your heart

and not your garments.

Return to the Lord your God,

for he is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and abounding in love,

and he relents from sending calamity."

Ask yourself; "Have I been transformed by Christ" or "am I a pretender."

The Last Hour – Dr. Ed Hindson

Stuck with the Rebellion

I am struck with awe at how many lies and deceptions are now entering the church.

Matthew 24:24 "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will provide great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect."

Those who have been driven to politics while pushing out truth have been worshiping their freedom, they are willing to fight with believers over politics while never speaking the name of Jesus Christ to their brothers and sisters.

Self-esteem being taught as an important lesson for children.

I cannot tell count the number of times "Christians" defended the teaching of self-esteem in my presence. They had no idea what this teaching would bring to our culture, until now after the damage is done and the children are grown and selfish, as described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5

2 Timothy 3:1-5

3 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

The holidays and the observance mixed with paganism. Nowhere in the Word of God are we commanded to celebrate these holidays and yet those who defend them bitterly will be the same ones who ignore the Lord's supper. They are following the world in the holidays as well as following the world to ignore the very observance Christ gave to us and commanded us to do it every time we come together. 1 Corinthians 11

Divorce and remarriage are accepted by most people who say they are Christian.

Mark 10:11

"And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her,"

The false teaching of the Nephilim which was not spiritual offspring of devils. The word means giant men of valor. They were large and fierce but not spiritually conceived.

Genesis 1:24

"And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so."

The belief is that one cannot be a Christian unless they have a pastor and a building.

Titus 1:5-9

"For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict."

The placing biological family above God in all things.

Luke 14:26 "

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple."

The matter of tithing is nowhere taught in the Bible as a command of God for the church.

2 Corinthians 9:7 "7Each one should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not out of regret or compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver."

Calvinism is being followed instead of Christ. The division of believers through denominationalism.

1 Corinthians 3:3-5 "…3 for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and dissension among you, are you not worldly? Are you not walking in the way of man? 4 For when one of you says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.…"

The drive in our country to shame anyone who is not politically involved or who is spending more time looking up than working for candidates.

Matthew 6:33

"33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

We do not seek the government or the pastors for our training and sustenance, we seek Christ in all these things. We can obey the government but when we make it more important than serving Christ it becomes our god.

Daniel 2:21

"21 He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings;

he gives wisdom to the wise

and knowledge to those who have understanding;"

Romans 8:28

"28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

You see that most of the things that we practice in the churches are not biblical and God never gave commands to obey them. Christ gave us all we need in His Word we have no need to add things to His Word.

Family, politics, pastoral rules, congregational pressure to fit into the gathering man's way and much more have taken believers away from the gospel and made them in bondage to rules and standards God never gave.

Matthew 6:33

"33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

If each person would ask God to show them all that is not the truth that they have been taught all their lives and be willing to turn their back on all humanistic teaching their eyes would become wide open and the draw to follow these things would dissipate like fog in the sunlight as they realize how useless and even damaging these things have been to believers.

Bottom line: Just ask God, that's all, it's not hard.

The Salvation Message in a Nutshell

Confess your sinfulness and that you are without hope to save yourself.

Realize that Christ paid your sin debt and all you have to do is place your trust in Him.

When you have confessed and trusted, then He will come to live in you and change you entirely. You will be a new person.

Proverbs 28:13 "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,

but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

Hebrews 9:12

"He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption."

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

After Christ changes you, you will have the desire to know His heart and to obey Him, knowing that He is the One Who made you and knows the very best for you. You no longer look to yourself for answers, you will look to Him.

Romans 12:2

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

1 John 5:18

"We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him."

1 John 3:9

"No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God."

For pretenders who want to appear saved but don't love God's Word or Christ, stop the pretense and become broken over your sinfulness to become saved for real.

Many "Christians" came through the back door!!!!

Many people over the years have decided to become Christian for various reasons.

One reason is their friends were Christians, or the person they planned on marrying was Christian.

Young children "accepted" Christ because of the pressure of their parents to do what their parents suggested they do. They wanted the approval of their parents so they decided they should become a Christian to be loved by man. These children learn all the verbiage of the parents but have never trusted Christ and were never changed by Him.

Another reason people become Christians is that they believe they will make good spouses. Since obeying God's word is not essential to both parties the "Christian" marries the non-believer hoping to change them. The non-believer doesn't want to be changed by anyone so they remain rebellious and pretend to go along with what the believing spouse wants.

The real reason for the marriage on the part of the believer is physical attraction, if we were to be honest. If character mattered more than anything else the believer would not be attracted to the unbeliever.

Over time the desire to get along with the believing spouse is reduced and even goes away completely, the marriage is a disaster. Remember the unbeliever cannot sustain godly ways because they have never been changed into a new creation by Christ, they are merely pretending. It doesn't take long for the pretense to be exposed, the unbeliever becomes weary of the game and gives up entirely.

God requires a contrite heart to become born again. That word "contrite" means "crushed" by the sin they no longer love within them. The unbeliever changes their mind about their sin because of the gospel and desires to be changed by Christ into a new creation.

Acts 3:19

"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

To repent means deep regret or remorse over sinfulness.

1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

Those who decide to become Christians without ever repenting or are never crushed under the weight of their sin, cannot be born again. Sadly, many people came to Christ thinking all they had to do was be a better person, follow a set of rules and their in like flynn. Expecting to be very successful very quickly at this "Christian thing."

I know many Christians who think they are saved because they were born into a family that went to church every week and because they did all the right things expected of them.

Did you know a person can "do all the right things" and still go to hell? The reason is because they attempted to be good in their own strength and according to their own thinking. They tried to follow Christ in their own effort developing pride at how good they think they are. These people never self-reflect to keep close accounts with God because they are their own god.

When we become contrite (crushed) under the realization that we are sinners without hope, then we can come to Christ desiring to be changed by Him.

2 Corinthians 5:16-18 "…16 So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:…"

Unless Christ does the changing in us, we cannot be saved. We cannot change ourselves, or trust in ourselves and go to heaven. We must trust in Christ, confess our sinfulness and desire to be changed into a new creation by Him in order to be changed and saved.

When Christ changes us our mind is changed too. We no longer desire the things of the world as we loved before. We have a new nature that desires to know the heart of God. A new nature that desires holiness while avoiding sin. If our flesh causes us to sin we want to be disciplined by God to be brought back into fellowship with Him. We never lose our salvation but we can lose fellowship with God until we confess to be cleansed. The Holy Spirit in us will go silent until we confess. When we confess He will once again fellowship with us. The following verses were given to born-again believers.

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."

Psalm 66:18 "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear:"

Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take the discipline of the Lord lightly, 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?"

God does not throw away His children over sin, but He does discipline them so they will learn to grow in holiness.

Our flesh is sinful and must be resisted, it is the Spirit of God Who lives in us Who helps us to resist the sin that tempts us. If we ignore the Holy Spirit He will stop speaking to us or helping us until the consequences of the sin help to drive us back to Him to confess and turn from the sin. Do not think that a born-again believer will get away with sin merely because they are under the grace of God.

It is because they are under grace that God will punish them, they do not escape His spanking. If a believer persists in sin refusing to hear the Holy Spirit until death, they will lose rewards in heaven.

1 Corinthians 3:14-16 "…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?"

Those who do not have the fruit of the Spirit but call themselves Christian cannot be saved until they are contrite and desire to be changed by Christ. Those who defend their sin and refuse to confess will not be saved.

Galatians 5:22-23

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Every born-again believer has all this fruit, they are not acts of kindness they are character qualities. They do lead to right living but many unbelievers can fake this in right living, but they do not possess the quality itself. Unbelievers will not be forgiven of their sin even if they confess them, if they have not first trusted Christ. God wants them to realize it is their "nature" that is sinful and must be redeemed through confession and change of the nature by Christ.

When we have the fruit of the Spirit we don't have to pretend kindness, it is a part of who we are, we do this without thinking because it is our new nature. The same with all the other gifts.

If a person is kind to those they like and mean to those they don't like, this person does not have the fruit of the Spirit. a born-again believer is kind to everyone all the time, it is not in their character to be anything else.

When we are born-again we recognize others who have the fruit, it is the Spirit of Christ in us that connects with the Spirit of Christ in another born-again believer.

Too many people take out of context the verse that says we cannot know the heart of another man. While this is true that "we" cannot know, the Holy Spirit in us does know and He imparts to us the discernment and wisdom to be able to see the character of a person.

Matthew 7:15-20

You Will Know Them by Their Fruits

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."

Satan will try to deceive you by making you doubt the discernment of Christ in you by using Scripture out of context and intimidating you into feeling like a bad person for the wisdom God has given you.

The apostate church became apostate by using scripture out of context and intimidating people into doubting what the Holy Spirit has told them. Do not be surprised when you are rejected for telling the truth that God gave you. Christ was rejected too and all His apostles.

Keep looking up all the time every day, this will keep you strong and confident when Christ directs you into truth.

And lastly; Fear no man!!!! Many will try to intimidate, mock, exclude and demean you, let them and then ignore them and keep obeying Christ.

Satan is using these people to intimidate you into silence and even entice you into sin, don't let him.

Luke 21:28 " 28 When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Hallelujah!!!!

How a Covert Narcissist Controls You Through Disorientation - Day 10

What is Your Whole World?

O.K. so we struggle daily with the attacks of the devil through illness, people and circumstances, are these things bigger than Jesus Christ Who lives in us? NO!!!!

All the things we encounter teach us valuable lessons that bring us great joy when we learn them.

If anyone is looking for a comfortable safe life they will miss many lessons and many wonderful Spiritual blessings!

This life is a vapor passing very quickly, we only have a few years compared to eternity to learn the lessons and share the good news of the gospel with others.

Mark 16:15

"And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

When God spoke collectively to the apostles He told them to "go into all the world", not all the apostles would go to the whole world, they went where the Holy Spirit led them, just as we can be where God wants us even if it's just our own small communities.

Our world sometimes is unsaved family, when they reject us we go to our neighbors. If God leads we meet someone on trips who we speak to about the Lord.

One time I encountered someone at the hardware store, I spoke the gospel to him in the parking lot. Our world could not possibly be the entire world, but it's our little world where we encounter people every day.

And, on Facebook, we truly can reach the world from our living room. Even an invalid who is in a wheelchair can meet people and speak to them about Christ.

There are those who would say this is dangerous, but it's only dangerous if you do it without the Holy Spirit, leaning on your own understanding and through selfish pride that places you in danger.

When we depend on the Holy Spirit we can be safe, He will not allow us to be scammed if we pray over everything. Our ego must get out of the way and our dependence on Jesus Christ Who lives in us must be full.

Do not miss the opportunity in these last days to follow the great commission in whatever way and from wherever God leads you. We might be surprised one day to find out how much more far-reaching the internet was than if we had traveled thousands of miles.

Seek Christ and you will not go wrong. Do not make any moves until Christ tells you!