Fear Does Not Consume the Born Again Believer

We were raised and trained to believe many lies in our culture, the only solution to this problem is for each born-again believer to ask God to reveal truth to them.

Why does it matter that we were taught ferry tales and embellished political leanings? It matters because these things cause people to turn away from the teachings of Christ and lean into the lies that make us feel good.

Many people are being treated contemptuously for telling the truth because of the way the truth makes people have a sense of gloominess.

Those who are secure in the Lord can face the truth without feelings of fear or sadness because we know all that is happening is known to God and that He protects emotionally and Spiritually those who belong to Him.

Deuteronomy 31:6

"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you".

Psalm 91

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty".

Those who fear are those who are not rooted deeply in the Lord Jesus Christ. They look to this world for their comfort because their thoughts are dedicated to figuring things out for themselves in their own way.

When we trust in Christ we do not fear! We do have misgivings at times but they do not consume us because rational thinking of the things of God keeps us from ruminating on what could happen and absorbed with God's promises.

Proverbs 3:5-6

"5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight."

The False god of Libertas

We were all raised to be in awe of the statue of Liberty that stands in New York harbor. My husband and I visited it when we went through New York on our way to Israel.

It brings about good feelings because we were all raised to believe it was a symbol of freedom. Sadly this fuzzy happy feeling we get when we see it is based on what we were taught to feel about it all our lives.

The statue was modeled after Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, but we were never told this because America at that time was pretending to be a Christian nation and the Christians would not have endorsed it if they knew what it really represented. The designer of the statue was inspired by images of Libertas.

The statue of Liberty is a magnet for lightening bolts. God is not the symbol of righteousness for our country but rather a false god of the Greeks is the symbol America used to make freedom to be and do anything we wanted the god of this nation. z

Has anyone noticed that "in God we trust" is on our money? Why our money? Why not place it in the courtrooms on the wall or anywhere else except money. I don't know why they chose to place that phrase on the money but it does appear that money is the god of America.

Freedom and money became the gods that American's worshiped more than the God of the Bible. Born-again believers have always been a remnant in the world including our country.

I am reminded of all the fancy buildings the people have built to worship in that wreak of pride and opulence. The people of America spend more time speaking about their freedom than they do about Christ, this ought to be a big clue.

We were raised to believe this was a Christian nation, but I don't believe it because of all the ungodly decisions down through the centuries that worked against the God of the Bible. There were decisions made in this country that resembled Christianity but the nation as a whole mixed a little Christianity with a whole lot of paganism but chose the word "Christian" to identify us with God even though most people didn't read the Bible or defend it's truths.

God blessed this country and used it to bring the gospel to the world but the more we depended on our freedoms than we did God the more filth we developed and disseminated to the rest of the world. We are the world providers to the rest of the world, of every form of filth known to man.

With immense wealth comes pride, arrogance and rebellion against God.

If we had been a Christian nation we would have rejected the gift of "Libertas" from France. We were indoctrinated into a mindset that freedom comes first then Christ second to make us feel safe.

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God Does Withhold Truth From Those Who are Resistant to it

Acts 16:5-7 "5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. 6 After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia. 7 And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.…"

When I read this passage I was reminded that the Holy Spirit does warn us not to speak to some people about the gospel and prompts us to speak to others. Our Christian walk is always based on the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Even if we don't understand why He would not want us to speak to certain people we know that He knows what is ahead and why He directs us to do things we do not understand.

There have been times when I wanted to tell the truth to someone but I couldn't get the words out, the Holy Spirit stopped me. And, there have been other times when I felt strongly compelled to speak the truth to others and was met with opposition by them.

The hardest thing for me to understand is when people who say they are Christians come against the truth so hard that they are willing to destroy relationships to defend what is against God.

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 live in unreasonable times in which "everyone does what is right in their own eyes and they have deep contempt for anyone who will say what they don't want to hear.

1 Timothy 4:1-2

"Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron."

2 Peter 2:1-3

Destructive Doctrines

"1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction [a]does not slumber."

In our day it is considered rude to correct those who are following false doctrines, even among "church attendees" we see the tolerance of false doctrine and a lack of defending the truth of the God's Word.

Those who defend their false doctrine reject the truth and label those who speak it "the problem", turning many people against those who belong to Christ.

The church has fallen into destructive conspiracy theories that lead many to follow the theories but neglect the scriptures and worse use the scriptures to prove their false theories.

Acts 20:29-30

"I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. / Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them."

Romans 16:17-18

"Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive."

Those who follow the false doctrines flatter and court those who are easily led astray by the lies and mock and demean those who speak the truth.

1 John 4:1

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world."

We are living in the end times when we will see all the things God said in His Word come to pass. These are times when it is difficult to have lovely dialogue and joyful responses to the word of God.

Jude 1:17-19

"But you, beloved, remember what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.” These are the ones who cause divisions, who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit."

Hatred and division are dominant in these last days, making us desire home more than we ever did before. The more we grow in Spiritual truth the less human companionship we will have.l

Keep looking up brothers and sisters, our time on earth is short!

Hallelujah!

Self-Esteem is not the same as Confidence

Confidence is not the same as "self-esteem" and yet most people think of confidence when they hear the words "self-esteem."

"Self-esteem" is esteeming ourselves better than others.

Philippians 2:3-5

"3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."

In other words, the "self-esteem" doctrine is against God's word and according to faulty human wisdom.

Confidence resides in a person who knows what they believe and trust in Christ for His wisdom. Confidence does not cause us to treat others as beneath us, but it does allow us to carry on our lives without fear of what others think of us.

Confidence allows us to be kind to those who are unkind to us. It allows us to defer to others because of our love for Christ and for them.

Those who are confident do not think of themselves very much, they just live the way they believe and share truth with others to help them.

Those who narcissistically live by self-esteem are those who lack confidence needing to be superior in order to feel good about themselves. Their own interests and their own feelings take priority over everyone else. These people cannot learn, they remain emotional and spiritual infants always on the defensive to prove themselves to others. They can never receive a correction and are always correcting and judging others.

A confident person need not feel superior to anyone and can boldly state their beliefs because they do not fear the reactions or retaliation of others.

Confident people walk in love and truth as a lifestyle.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails."

Love does not show partiality or need to impress those they think are superior to others.

A confident person feels no need to explain to others why they do things although they may have dialogues to clear up misunderstandings with those who are rational and reasonable. Those who would invite a good discussion to resolve things will want to discuss matters in love, this is what makes good relationships.

Our world is rampant now with those who are madly in love with themselves and enraged when someone challenges them to self-reflect for emotional and spiritual growth.

We cannot help those who refuse to be helped and we cannot have a relationship with those who want only to be superior to us. These people judge only two ways, they see those they admire as perfect and those they don't admire as all bad. They are not able to see someone in truth and love them, warts and all. Narcissists live vicariously through those they elevate while denying the good in those who are judged as imperfect.

In other words, the love of a narcissist is not love at all but conditional to our performance that matches pitch with the elevated idea they have of themselves.

What a blessing it is when we meet people who are honest open and loving, ready to discuss things as we all grow and learn from one another. There is no pretense with God's people, just authentic love as they live out their life in Christ.

It is also a blessing to enjoy the company of others we know are imperfect because we know we all are lacking in something. The beauty of the loving Christ like relationship is that we accept and love a person with all their blessings and warts. There is no pride or self-promotion involved in genuinely righteous brothers and sisters in Christ.

God told us to walk away from those who say they are Christians but who walk disobediently through self-exaltation. We can pray for them and even rebuke them at times but they cannot be our constant companions, they will bring out the worst in us and we will enable their bad behavior by remaining with them.

Galatians 5:22-23

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, / gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

Ephesians 4:2

"with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,"

Colossians 3:12-14

"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. / Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. / And over all these virtues put on love, which is the bond of perfect unity."

1 Peter 4:8

"Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

God made it clear that we are to edify one another, that is help one another to walk more Christlike with great compassion toward one another.

Gifts from the Heart are of More Value than Gifts from Obligation

Gifts given out of obligation are no gift at all, but a burden. Hosea 6:6

Obedience and Truth

Partial obedience is still disobedience and
Half-truths are still whole lies

Partial Obedience is Still Disobedience

We are living in the end times in which many, if not most people are experiencing individuals who are very selfish and mean.

I remember when the "self-esteem" teaching began back in the 1970's most people began to accept it because it sounded kind. Then the churches followed the world and adopted it too.

The problem with the building of "self-esteem" is that it is the devil's way of fooling people into believing we need to foster "sefl-love" not realizing that we are all born with self-love and need to love others better than ourselves.

Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves".

Sadly even those who said they didn't agree with "self-esteem" teaching began to implement it eventually under the pressure of family, church and friends who thought it was mean and rude to discipline children. This is the opposite of what God taught in His word and because church people were not reading the Bible or those who were reading it were interpreting it in the context of what the world was doing instead of evaluating the world according to the Bible we have the mess we have today. The culture is self-destructing as we near the end of the church age.

Now we have most families broken and fractured, even Christian families who attend gatherings every week but have no clue what God teaches and have followed the world's ways.

Ephesians 6:4 "

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

Putting this passage with other passages from the Bible we learn that lack of discipline is a form of frustrating a child because leniency brings insecurity to the heart of a child who is neglected through "time out" and indulgence when they have tantrums.

Proverbs 23:12-14 "…12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. 13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14 Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol."

Even the seculars back in the day, when we were children, understood physical discipline as the correct model to teach children to respect and obey their parents and to be considerate of others in society. The followed the biblical model not realizing where it came from because it worked well to build a respectful, helpful and kind society.

Many of us had difficulty with our children because we did the right thing according to God's principles but the schools they attended, and the churches as well as extended family came against what parents did that complied with God's Word. The children saw the world punishing spiritually and emotionally their parents and thought their parents were doing something wrong. Because the "village" influenced the children they learned to defy their parents in their teen years becoming bitter against them. This same generation treats parents with contempt except those lenient parents who accept any and all sin as long as their children want it.

Sadly these rebellious children are raising rebellious grandchildren who lack respect for anyone especially anyone who will correct them verbally.

We were raised to work together for the greater good, but our children's generation was trained by the culture to seek their own glory causing them to be uncooperative without regard for the greater good all they care about is being elevated in the eyes of others and the center of attention. The spirit of competition is greater than its ever been and working together is rarely practiced now.

We hear all the time how difficult it is to find young adults who do a good job at work and will collaborate for a more excellent purpose. The sense of "team-work" is passing away while independence is promoted. The idea of the "individual" being more important than the group, has permeated everything. God said it would be this way in the end times. This is one of the reasons I am convinced we are in the end times.

Society is looking continually for their fifteen minutes of fame even if they have to walk over others to gain it.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

Difficult Times Will Come

"3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult 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."

Those who use the Bible as the standard to follow are demeaned and rejected for being legalistic, but those who reject the Bible have their own set of rules the Bible does not teach and twist the scriptures to justify their false assertions.

The idea of "legalism" has been twisted to mean adherence to the Bible. The truth of the matter is that it is not legalism to obey the scriptures, but it is legalism to obey man's rules that God never commanded. In these last days "bad will be called good and good will be called bad."

Satan has been very clever in turning the entire world into a rebellious state while lying and claiming the Bible followers are the rebellious ones.

The legalists are calling the Bible followers legalists and denying their own form of human legalism in defiance of God.

It is impossible to reason with those who have decided what they want to believe that is against God's Word, the best thing to do is walk away and encourage those who want to walk with Christ.

John 14:15-16 "15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever."

1 John 2:3-5

"By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:"

1 John 3:22-24

"and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us. Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us."

God gives us every principle necessary to live as He wants us to live. If we love Him we love His principles and actually follow them. Those who pick and choose what they want to follow are not obeying.

Partial obedience is still disobedience.