The Narcissists in the Debate were Embarrassing!

I have encountered enough narcissists in my life to be able to recognize two of them on a stage pummelling one another to appear superior.

Also, both debtors were abysmal. If I were a high school teacher and these two came before me in a debate they would both get an F for lack of content, decorum, and arrogance that dominated both of these characters. Sorry to say, I will vote for Donald but holding my nose while doing it. Who knows God may tell me to ignore the whole mess and allow Him to take care of it.

I am old enough to have seen Ronald Reagan's speeches and debates, he was articulate and focused on the things he was going to do.

There was little content in this "Donald vs. Joe" debate that anyone could hang onto. It was embarrassing, to say the least.

Boasting about themselves is not proof of anything. Boasting is a sign of deep narcissism without evidence. Sad, Sad, Sad, that this is all we have to choose from in this election.

If someone does not like my honesty because they are looking for fantasy thinking that makes them feel better, then they will not be prepared for what is coming.

Trump's words do not always match his actions. Sending the matter of the murder of babies back to the states to decide is nothing more than passing the buck.

We need another "emancipation proclamation" for the unborn just like Lincoln did for the blacks on January 1st 1863 in which he freed the blacks. And, it needs to be done by the highest leader in the land.

No person should be a slave or property to any other human being. When the unborn is nothing more than property to their parents all love and tenderness are removed and replaced with raw ownership subject to the whims of unscrupulous selfish parents.

Sorry, passing the buck as Pilot did is just as abominable as endorsing the act of murder for certain people.

We will not recover from this mess as a country because everyone has been trained to fear what others will think of what they do without any concern about what God thinks. They lie and say they believe in God but violate more of His principles than they obey while endorsing many sins that have become acceptable to our culture even in the "Christian" church system.

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.…

Our country has a form of religion but denies God as they pretend to love Him they ignore Him and those who warn them about His wrath to come. I cringe every time one of these candidates uses the Bible or asks for a blessing for America. I never hear them encouraging anyone to repent. They pervert the Word of God for their own gain.

Our culture is stubborn, rageful, and disrespectful to God and all those who love Him.

Repentance is the only way out of this mess but the nation is too far gone for this to happen. Once a nation cross the line into total rebellion and perverseness there is no turning back. The entire culture is accustomed to evil so much so that even the church attendees accept some of the sin as normal.

This is the state of our nation today:

Isaiah 30:10

They say to the seers, "Stop seeing visions!" and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions."

2 Timothy 3:1-6

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

1 Timothy 4:1-3

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; …

The hope of the believer is not in this world, it is in Christ and our homegoing. We no longer want any part of this world, our heart is in heaven with Christ.

Be at Peace even if others are not at Peace

Romans 12:2-4 "…2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God has given you.

4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and not all members have the same function,…"

Romans 12:16

"Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited."

Others may not be in harmony with us because they hate Christ but we will always be exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit no matter how others are responding to us as long as we walk in the Spirit. We will not be fighting even when they are fighting.

We make peace by telling the truth for the purpose of correcting what is wrong, not to win or to be superior. A peacekeeper is one who hides things and pretends, avoiding any discussion, this person never helps to resolve they only enable.

Matthew 5:9

"9 Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called sons of God."

Making peace is hard work, it means having a discussion to see all sides of a matter. Peacemaking cleans things up while peacekeeping leaves the dirt and allows it to grow pretending there is no problem. In fact, often the peacekeeper blames the one who wants to have a discussion to resolve matters for starting a fight when they were not fighting at all. The one who is fighting is the one who refuses to value anyone but themselves in the room by declining to talk through a matter.

Peacekeepers do not value people to be able to engage they harm the one who wants to resolve a matter and coddles the one who loves their own opinion without respect for others.

Peacekeepers pretend everything is alright causing the evil thing to spread, all the while denying anything is wrong.

Denial is a form of lying to protect oneself, it not only helps the growth of yeast to continue but causes the carriers of the yeast to feel proud of themselves for their deception.

Galatians 5:9-10 " 9 A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough. 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be.…"

1 Corinthians 5:6

"Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?"

There are those who boast that they keep the peace by quenching all conversation that might resolve things, thinking they have stopped a fight. What they don't realize is that discussions do not have to be fights, they can be delightful discussions when both parties are seeking truth and turning to God's Word for their guidance. However, this takes respect and love for others in a discussion.

Romans 12:9-11 "9 Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another. 11 Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.…"

It is not love to avoid all discussions with those with whom we disagree.

Philippians 2:3

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves."

1 Peter 1:22

"Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart."

When we love one another we enjoy discussion about important things and we have no need to win over anyone else. God's truth is what is important not our own pride.

Do not Assume Anything, Assess Everyone

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vJ2MWIVhmqg

Salvation is Through Christ and not of Ourselves

Anyone who still walks in pride thinking they are a good person is not born again!!!! Repent and confess to be changed by Christ.

All His Work None of Our Own

Our salvation is dependent on two things, our confessing our sinfulness to God in brokenness and His responding by changing us into a new creation.

Initially, we desire to be changed by Him and then in response to our brokenness and desire to be changed He does all the work in us, we cannot do that work, it is Him, all of it.

Ephesians 2:10 "10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Anyone who thinks they can change their own character by their own deeds is their own false god.

The Change is Dramatic When Someone Becomes Born Again

I have seen cases in which the man became a Christian to become married to the woman. He knew she would not marry him unless he was a Christian so he decided to become one, but it was not real, it was manipulation and pretense to gain something he wanted.

Then the woman is shocked when there is no change in the man's character or he changes for a short time and then regresses to the point of disinterest in Christ or the things of the Lord.

We see this sort of thing often in our culture because "words" take priority over actions and change is no longer considered relevant in "becoming a Christian."

No one chooses to be a Christian in the sense that one day they decided to join the group, especially if they join to gain something they want.

A person is changed by Christ into a new creation when they confess their sinfulness and desire to be changed by Him. There is a deep sense of sadness that comes over those who realize they have offended the Holy God as well as a desire to be cleansed of their sin. Without this process of brokenness over sin there is not salvation.

We see so many pretenders in the church today because the element of brokenness over sin is left out and no longer required to be one of the evidences of someone who no longer wants to offend God.

In fact, many people come to Christ to feel safe and to gain praise in a community, they have no sense of their own wickedness, they even think they have something to offer God without any inclination that change is needed to have a relationship with Christ. I don't mean someone needs to change themselves to have a relationship with Christ, I mean they must desire Him to change them to have a relationship with Christ.

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."

Acts 19:18-19 "18 Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.…"

When we have been changed by Christ we begin to hate what we used to love. We don't burn our idols to become saved, we burn them because Christ changed our thinking and we hate what He hates and love what He loves.

When someone became a Christian and nothing changed, their heart still likes themselves more than they love Christ then they were never born again. When pride still remains and stubbornness to the Word of God still remains then they were never changed by Christ because they joined the Christian club for their own sense of safety.

It is notable that when people feel unsafe they run to God but as soon as they feel safe again they ignore Him. This happened in 9/11 when the towers came down. People flocked to the buildings that purported to be Christian safety zones, but not long after the impact of the tragedy they began to ignore God again.

This practice of using God to feel safe has been going on from the beginning of Christ's ministry.

Matthew 5:3-4 "3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

God will not save the proud who elevate themselves but He will change anyone who sees themselves in truth as desperately wicked unable to save themselves.

If arrogance and superiority remain in someone then Christ has not changed them. If there is the lack of the fruit of the Spirit then Christ has not changed the person who claims with their mouth that they are a Christian but still remains full of self-exaltation and stubbornness.

Those who have been changed by Christ have all the fruit of the Spirit of God. These characteristics are the attributes that are the very essence of Who Christ is, they are not human and only those changed by Christ into a new creation will have these traits.

There will be those who appear to have them but revert to their old self at the slightest hint of pressure about anything from anyone. These people were attempting to appear to have this fruit but it was an act not brought on by the power of Christ but their own theatrics. This is the majority of people who attend the apostate churches today, they are performing for their audience but still remain selfish, entitled and arrogant on the inside.

We cannot be different on the inside than our true character. When someone seems to step out of character there has not been a change they are only reverting to their true nature that was never changed, it was an act. This act can go on for years all the while the lack of fruit would only be seen by those who are discerning and know the Scriptures well.

Matthew 23:26-28 "…26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to be righteous, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.…

Those who love Christ will never regress into selfishness and sin, because it was Christ who changed their hearts.

There are many preachers in pulpits today who are not saved, they think they are because they attended a special school, or that they have lived what they believe to be a good life but they were never dedicated to the truth of the Word of God, they are playing a role and fooling many undiscerning soles.

Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law".

May we develop a heart of discernment through the study of the Bible, so that we will be able to know the difference between a true believer and a false believer.

Matthew 7:21-23

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.’"

Satan is not Against Religion He is Against God

Amen, Amen, and, satan couldn't make everyone accept false religions so he came into the church defiling God's Word with false doctrine and false practices to entice unbelievers to filter in unnoticed and to cause believers to become silent in their witness. 

Now Most church gatherings are nearly completely apostate operating according to human standards while negating the Word of God.

Mark 7:13 "thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”