Emotion is not Fruit

So many people think if they have emotion it means they have had a spiritual experience.

Emotion is not evidence of salvation or spiritual growth. Emotion leaves as quickly as it comes and creates no lasting change.

I have cried at sad movies knowing the story wasn't real, as soon as the movie was over I was back to my old self.

I have heard people say; "that movie changed my life" but it was a lie because the next day they were back at the same old lifestyle without any regrets or introspection. There idea of "changed my life" means it made them highly emotional.

A changed life is evident to everyone who new us before we were changed. If no one notices a difference without us telling them we are different then perhaps there was not a real change.

Change in us does not happen because we say so, it happens through the saving power of the Holy Spirit Who comes to live in those who have been repentant.

I never hear people coming out of "Christian movies" weeping over their sinfulness and asking Christ to make them a new creation. All of them seem joyfully emotional, not broken over their sinfulness.

Just saying!!!! It is best to ignore what people say and observe their life over a long period of time. Anyone can say words, they mean nothing. It is the changed life that is dramatic, not because they changed themselves but because Christ did all the work in them.

Ephesians 2:9-10 "…9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life."

WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP!

Anyone who attempts to change themselves will find it not lasting in their elder years. Evidence that a person's Christianity was a sham is when they walk away in their elder years and seem to have no interest in the Bible or their brothers and sisters in Christ.

James 2:14

14. What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?

17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!

20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?

22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?

23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.

24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.

25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?

26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

Many people I know clean up their lives after they become a Christian but their arrogance and superior attitudes prove they were never changed by Christ. They joined a club to feel good about themselves, they do all the club things, activities and mantras but their heart remains as black as the day they decided their own fate.

Matthew 23:27-28

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"

God said you shall know them by their fruit. Those who are pretenders do not have this fruit. The fruit is the character qualities of Christ. These people do not rage at others because of a disagreement, they do not accuse others to silence them, they do not gossip to harm those who disagree with them. They do not treat others disrespectfully just to be superior.

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."

Matthew 7:15-20 "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."

Reject a Stubborn Divisive Man

If anyone tells me they have a message from God for me I automatically refuse to hear it.

When God wants me to know something He tells me Himself.

1 Timothy 2:5 "5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, "

My answer to people who want to tell me they have a message from God for me is simply this; "there is only one mediator between me and God and that is Jesus Christ, you are not it."

The people who say; "I have a word from the Lord for you" are just showing off to make us believe they have a more special "in" with God that we don't have, it's not true. If we are born-again we hear from Christ Who lives in us.

Rebuke anyone who tells you they have a word from God for you. There is only one mediator between us and God and that is Jesus Christ Who lives in us.

Only the devil would want us to trust in another person instead of Christ.

Once again the damage of the Pentecostal church marches toward perdition. It isn't bad enough that the doctrine is seriously off, they want us to place our trust in people.

This is why they say silly things like: "Don't touch God's anointed" when we expose a false preacher. Once again this phrase is taken out of context and has nothing to do with pastors or preachers.

Pentecostals say; "Don't judge" they say we are under the blood and that sin doesn't matter anymore. These are typical pentecostal phrases and mantras used to intimidate people into ignoring what God said and adopting the language of false preachers such as Joyce Meyers and Benny Hinn as well as many others.

When we hear a phrase of any kind it is best to go to Scripture, find that phrase and read the entire context as well as searching other scripture that uses those words or phrases.

NEVER JUST BELIEVE WHAT PEOPLE TELL YOU, PROVE IT OR DISPROVE IT WITH SCRIPTURE.

1 Thessalonians 5:20-22 "…20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt, 21 but test all things. Hold fast to what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil.…"

Every born-again believer has the responsibility to know the scriptures for themselves, to pray for wisdom and to believe only God. We have the responsibility to call out those who are misusing the Scripture. If someone rebells and refuses to hear from God's Word then we are to ignore them. If they attempt to intimidate us by judging our character because we disagree then they are to be avoided.

Titus 3:9-10 " 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, arguments, and quarrels about the law, because these things are pointless and worthless. 10 Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition,"

YES, God said to reject and avoid those who twist the scriptures and will not listen to correction .

If we choose to ignore the scriptures and just believe what others say we will be led astray. Most people don't even have a good working knowledge of the scriptures, they only have what mantras and sayings other people have repeated without proof of their validity according to the Bible.

The Impact of the Changing Values on America

The question on a forum today was something like this; "How do you think the changing values of America will impact us as a nation?"

My answer was as follows:

When the culture as a whole kicked God out of everything the people became more and more narcissistic. The more people clamor after pleasure and money the less happy they feel. They are only happy if they are getting something they want, there is no sense of sacrificing themselves for anything or anyone of value. When this sacrificial sense of a good character is missing then lawlessness abounds in everything. They will fill churches pretending to be good but hating God and anyone who will correct their evil character.

Here is a snapshot of the end times that we live in that God prophesied will and is happening right now.

2 Timothy 3:1–5 “3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult (ragingly insane) times will come. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these.”

Transformation is Different From Conversion

If your Christian conversion only cleaned up your life to impress others then you are walking a very superficial and unregenerate life just a little less worldly.

I see so many people who have become Christians, they stopped all the drug use and don't steal anymore but their attitudes are still rude and arrogant. In fact, they are proud of walking away from their terrible lifestyle.

The sad thing is they believe they cleaned up their own life it was their accomplishment, but it was not Christ Who did it, this is the reason the rank attitudes and pride still reside within these pretenders.

Many pretenders think all they have to do is clean themselves up a little and they are Christians. This is how all false religions operate, people join them, and do the best they can in their flesh but nothing on the inside has changed.

When a person becomes born-again they come broken over their sinfulness confessing it to God and desiring to be cleansed by Him. When Christ cleanses us He cleans up the mess in us by doing away with our own spirit and replacing it with the Holy Spirit of Himself.

When Christ comes to live in born-again believers He is continually cleansing us, teaching us, and directing our path so that we are growing in holiness.

If someone's heart attitude has not changed over the years then they were never born again. Our attitude is changed first and then the actions follow.

The heart is changed, all things have become new. Everything we are is first in the heart before the actions occur.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”

Matthew 6:21 "21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

We act out the things we believe in and love in our hearts.

Proverbs 4:23 "23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Once I chastised some Christian young ladies who were on the beach in their bikini bathing suites. They were playing ball with young men and even climbing on top of one another to make a pyramid while dressed in these immoral costumes.

The leader of this "church" group came against me for judging them. I clearly stated God's Word about modesty and the condition of the heart. The leader quickly came back with the mantra we hear so much; "you don't know their hearts." I replied with more scripture and asserted that we know their heart by the way they are dressed. Clearly, these young women wanted the young men to lust after them.

You can see where I am going with this; the state of the apostate church uses scripture out of context to condone and promote sin. No one was repentant because of my rebukes and they even accused me of things that were not true to discredit me. What they were not aware of was that I was merely quoting God's Word and standards to them to help in spiritual growth.

We cannot help pretenders who fight against the truth. We must count them as rejecting God because of their rejection of His principles from the Bible and stay away from them.

There may be those who will dislike my next statement but I must say it anyway. The worst group of all pretenders are the Pentecostal/Charismatic groups. They are constantly taking scripture out of context and twisting it to fit their agendas affording them the ability to sin without a conscience.

Every discussion I have been in where there was a rebuke for sin and God's word was rejected has been a Pentecostal. They pick and choose passages out of context to fit their desired belief. They fight bitterly to win the argument without regard that it was God's Word being quoted. They will say my post was my opinion when it was full of Scripture proving my points.

If anyone is in a Pentecostal group these days they will not find good counsel or righteousness, most of them if not all are rebellious and unregenerate. They also base all their spirituality on emotion, thinking that the more emotional they are on the outside the more spiritual they appear to others. Outward appearances are the most important to these groups.

Just recently I heard a Pentecostal preacher violating scripture because she was a woman preaching and leading over men in the gathering. She was advocating getting tattoos, she even went and got one herself to show her approval of them for young people.

She is a well-known preacher you probably already know who she is by this description. Yes, you guessed it, it was Joyce Meyers.

You may think I am being harsh and exaggerating in this post but perhaps it is because ALL the people I have met in the Pentecostal movement have been arrogant, rebellious and often rude justifying their sin as they support others in sin. I am not saying it is only the Pentecostals but they lead the other groups in inculcating their ideas into other denominations.

If you are Pentecostal and have not experienced this I understand that some may not be like this, but most are, just as most denominations are in violation of the Word of God.

They will rebuke a woman for chastising half-naked girls on the beach while coddling and encouraging those same girls to keep showing off their flesh to lusting men.

We have seen more disobedience to the Bible than we have seen obedience in the apostate church.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 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. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"

We must become so bold and steadfast that we can tell the truth without fear of being rejected. Rejection will be common when a believer speaks God's Word. We ought to be speaking "Bibleeze" far more than our own thoughts, let those who are rebellious fight with God.

Notice when you do this they will leave the discussion of what is in violation and begin attacking you personally, how you said it, or that you said it at all, while judging you as mean and rude. They refuse to stay on topic and move on to manipulation and intimidation. When this happens calmly bring them back to the subject or even better leave the discussion.

We cannot reason with or resolve anything with someone who rejects God's Word. These people cannot be our friends, they will see us as the adversary from that point on, never able to treat us respectfully because of their angst toward us.

Proverbs 29:8-9 "…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."

I understand this passage is about going to court but isn't that really what we are all doing when we are in a discussion with those who claim to be Christians but are hostile toward the word of God?

When we discover someone is like this we need to remove ourselves and never go back unless they come to us later admitting they were wrong in their attitude.

Proverbs 17:12

"It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly."

Proverbs 26:4

"Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him."

Our Interpretation Depends on our Attitudes

We all have a tendency to interpret what others say to us based on our history with them as well as our own mindset, and how we tend to think all the time.

If someone is a kind loving person and someone else instructs them or corrects them to help the kind person tends to listen with interest and even take their advice if they agree with what was said. The kind loving person will even be grateful for the input.

If someone is an angry arrogant person on the inside, they will rage at anyone who corrects them, they will see any correction or advice as a personal attack. It's not about what the person said or even how they said it, it's that they said it at all. The reason they see advice as an attack is because if they ever give advice they would be attacking to demean. They think everyone is like them.

When we see someone raging because they have been corrected or disagreed with, this is an angry person on the inside. Those who are not angry don't ever rage, they may strongly disagree but they never attempt to intimidate another human being to make sure they win over them. There remains love in the heart of Christ-followers.

This is what raging is all about, it is an attempt to control another person through intimidation. Narcissists hate when others make their own decisions apart from them.

Because the narcissist is so deeply insecure they cannot abide someone who is strong enough to stand without them or anyone else. They must find a way to break them down and when they cannot break them down they continue their attacks by undermining how others view the target of their hatred. They gossip, lie, and accuse their target of things that never happened and will rage at anyone who will not believe them.

Many of you will recognize these dynamics because you too have been victims of these demonically inspired people. And, the number of these kinds of people is growing every day as we march toward the tribulation.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult (ragingly insane) times will come.

2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,

3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,

4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."

One of the things to watch out for is the continual attempt to force you into their mold, through intimidation, mocking, subtle ignoring, excluding, and gossiping with others.

When we see these things happening we can calmly and confidently walk away leaving these people behind in favor of spending time with godly people who will love us His way.

We must be diligent to spend time with those who will be supportive of our desire to walk with Christ. We will grow in holiness if we have godly companions. If we walk with narcissists regularly they will infect our walk, distract us from God and cause continual conflict. This is why God said, "Avoid such people." There is plenty of scripture to support our rejection of those who refuse to love Christ.

2 Corinthians 6:16-18 "…16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17 “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”…"

We become just like those whom we admire and spend time with. If we spend our time with those who love Christ and desire to walk with Him, then they will enhance our own walk with Him.

If we spend time with those who are rude, arrogant and self-willed, our walk will be diluted because we will fear the arguments that these god-haters demonstrate all the time. We will continually be dodging the devils arrows distracting us from Christ.

Isaiah 52:11

"Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD."

Jeremiah 15:17

"I never sat with the band of revelers, nor did I celebrate with them. Because Your hand was on me, I sat alone, for You have filled me with indignation."

We ought to hate the attitudes and actions of narcsisists to the point of avoiding them. God hates what they do and so should we.

Ezra 6:21

"And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,"

One might say "but aren't we suppose to evangelize people", the answer is yes. However, when we see that someone has rejected Christ and will not listen to us we are to move on, we are not to remain friends with them.

Revelation 18:4

"4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying,

“Come out of her, my people,

lest you take part in her sins,

lest you share in her plagues;"

If we do not stay away from Christ rejectors we are endorsing their decision to reject Him. God never said to hang out with those who hate Him. We are to give them the gospel and walk away if they will not hear us.

Matthew 10:14 "

"And whoever does not receive you nor listen to your words, as you leave that house or city, shake the dust off your feet."

How To Spot A Collective Narcissistic System

The Simmering Hostility Inside A Narcissist

I have a lot of experience with narcissists since I grew up in a family like this and our entire culture here on the west coast is predisposed to selfishness and rudeness when they don't get what they want.

Narcissists are angry beneath the surface all the time even when they are enjoying themselves, they seem sad all the time loaded for bear at the slightest perceived offense.

They are especially uncomfortable with those who possess the Holy Spirit. They rarely disagree without angst in their voice or questioning to learn more. Since they think they know everything it is offensive for anyone to disagree to think differently from them.