We are the Clay Pots

If I had been god I would have smashed all those clay fists that were shaking at me for making them.

Our God is so merciful and loving He gave those clay pots another chance to believe Him and trust in Him.

No one could have done what Christ did when He died on that cross for the sins of others and then offered salvation that was free and easy by merely trusting in Him.

In fact it is so easy it is hard for people to believe because they think something worthwhile has to be difficult and earned.

It is human nature to want to strive for something and then be proud we accomplished it. God did away with that pride by giving it freely, we don't want to let go of our pride, we want to believe we did something that we can boast about.

Ephesians 2:8–10. “For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

The only way to expunge that devilish pride from our heart is to ask God to remove it for us. We cannot get rid of it ourselves, if we could we would be proud of ourselves for getting rid of the pride.

Proverbs 16:17-19

…17 The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life. 18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19 It is better to be lowly in spirit among the humble than to divide the spoil with the proud."

The more prideful we are the harder we will eventually fall. No one gets away with pride forever, eventually there will be a recompense worse than anything that would occur from repenting and confessing it to be cleansed by Christ.

1 Peter 5:5

"Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

James 4:6

"But He gives us more grace. This is why it says: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Luke 14:11

"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Obadiah 1:3-4

"The pride of your heart has deceived you, O dwellers in the clefts of the rocks whose habitation is the heights, who say in your heart, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ / Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, even from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD."

There is nothing good down that prideful road full of frivolity and self-exaltation, only misery wretchedness, and anguish, if not at the present certainly in the future.

The narrow road that leads to heaven will be hard but full of joy and peace with intense expectations for eternity with Christ.

Hallelujah!

I've Never Been This Homesick Before | Farmhouse Edition | Official Musi...

Our God, He Is Alive

God's Ordinances not Man's

God gave ordinances but they are His, not ours. Baptism is a symbol of our having died to self and been raised to new life, head covering for women is a picture of the church and the lack of it for men is a symbol of Christ. , and the Lord's supper is a symbol of the death burial, and resurrection of Christ. These are symbols of Christ not based on man's feelings but on God's purposes.

Notice that man (symbol of Christ) and woman (symbol of the church) stand side by side because Christ lives in the born-again believer, both the man and the woman.

Man has created many rituals God never gave and with reflection we see how they have led away many from thoughts of Christ to the thoughts of the rituals instead.

Mankind loves to have things they can see that make them feel safe and special. God gives His principles that elevate Him above everyone and everything else.

Let us evaluate everything we have been trained to do and believe so that we can more fully follow Christ, expunging everything from our lives that detracts from Him.

No Rituals Just Christ

No "ritual" of worship happens with the new testament born again believer because Christ lives in us, we are His temple, this is why He said; "we worship in Spirit and in truth."

We don't see outward ritual here except what He gave in the Bible, the Lord's supper, baptism as a display of our newfound salvation, the head covering on women as an expression of the church and the lack of head covering on men as an expression of Christ as the head of the church.

Christ is the head of the church no man is the head. There is no hierarchy in Christ's church because He is the head.

Any gathering who has appointed a man as the head is in violation of the Scriptures.

1 Corinthians 14:26 "26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a psalm or a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. All of these must be done to build up the church."

Ephesians 5:19

"Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord,"

Romans 12:6-8

"We have different gifts according to the grace given us. If one’s gift is prophecy, let him use it in proportion to his faith; / if it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; / if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is giving, let him give generously; if it is leading, let him lead with diligence; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully."

1 Peter 4:10-11

"As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another. / If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen."

Hebrews 10:24-25

"And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. / Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

All those in the body share to edify one another as we are built up i the faith to go into the world and preach the gospel to the lost.

The gospel is not for believers.

To encourage people to bring their unsaved friends to the gathering of believers is a violation of the Word of God. It is man's idea because those in the gathering are lazy, rather than speaking to the lost outside of the gathering they are letting someone else do it through preaching that belongs in the world not in the church.

We are told to go out and make converts, we are not told to bring the unsaved into the gathering where the edification of the saints would be neglected by the continual preaching of the gospel. The saints do not need the gospel they need edification in the Word and support from one another. It is the lost who need the gospel.

Acts 2:42-47

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. / A sense of awe came over everyone, and the apostles performed many wonders and signs. / All the believers were together and had everything in common."

There is not one scripture that tells us to bring the unsaved into the gathering. However, if one happens to wander in out of curiosity that is different, we love them and allow them, this is far different from inviting every unsaved person in the community to come. This matter of welcoming the unsaved who happen to wander in has been used as a lazy excuse to invite all unbelievers in to avoid the embarrassment of speaking to the unsaved one-on-one in the streets on their turf.

When we deviate from God's plan for His church we run into many problems that do not have to be there. The edification of the church is the purpose of the gathering, so that they are equipped to go in to the world living out their faith and sharing Christ with others.

And, the building is not the church, it is not holy and has not been commanded by God, it is man's idea and has led to much error and deception.

Doing things God's way brings Spiritual and emotional maturity for those who gather in His Name. The Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Deception is Real but Our God is Stronger

There is now more deception than truth in our generation. Everything is tainted with covert lies that sound good, but are evil in the sight of God.

When we take each thing and compare it with the word of God we see how much deception is woven in among the truth, this betrayal of God is rampant and constantly menacing.

2 Timothy 4:3-4

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."

All that is holy and righteous is being rejected by this generation. Most people in the apostate churches are accepting things that are sins against God while they defend the sin and reject the truth. They also reject all those who bring the Bibel to bear on everything.

2 Timothy 3:1-5

"Ragingly Insane Times"

"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."

Many of these people make up their own ideas influenced by demons to confuse those who do not read their Bibles and do not seek the counsel of the Holy Spirit.

Our generation does not want to learn God's ways, they want to make up their own ways, add a little of God to their ways and claim it was from God.

As long as believers remain silent and do not correct or rebuke the wrong thinking this phenomenon of half-truths is growing into full lies. The believers are becoming more intimidated to speak openly that most will remain silent. However, sometimes silenced is what is best because of the stubbornness of our culture, we might be throwing our pearls before swine.

The lies are used to imprison others into bondage to the lies while a few who teach the lies remain in domination over their subjects.

Born-again believers are not in bondage to people or leaders who exalt themselves above others. We are free in Christ to believe and follow Him.

The day we reject the idea of a person as the authority over us is the freest day of our life as we look only to the Authority of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us. No man has authority over the Holy Spirit. No man has the truth better than the Holy Spirit.

To allow a "person" to have authority over us is to place them above the Holy Spirit.

John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come."

Trust Christ not Man!!!!!

What is Worship

The definition of worship: "respectful devotion—loving, honoring, and obeying someone who deserves our highest regard"

We do this every time we speak of Christ as we honor him through obedience to Him.

The born again believer worships in "Spirit and in Truth", no outward rituals are required for this mindset of worship.

The only rituals God gives us in our worship is the Lord's supper which Christ commanded us to do in remembrance of Him. And, the ritual of baptism to declare to others our new life in Christ as well as the head covering for the woman and lack of head covering for the man in the gathering as a representation of the woman as the church and the man as Christ.

There are no other outward rituals God commands for the believer. We need no buildings built to meet in, no vestments for men to wear, no special prayers devised by men, no knee bowing at the pew or any other outward sign. Our devotion to Christ is not in ritual but in heart loyalty to Christ and all His commands and principles. We add no human ideas to His, we do not take away from His commands to make them palatable to our culture.

What a freedom and peace we enjoy when we just follow Christ alone.