Wednesday, December 3, 2025
His Trials were way bigger than Ours
If your trials are overwhelming and you are falsely accused of things you never said or did, remember Christ was too!!!!
Everything is Hard in this Life
It was hard for Christ to be beaten and nailed to a cross; this ought never to be a reason for disobedience.
Christ in us can give us the strength to obey Him. I don't deny that many things in life are hard, but it can never be a reason to resist doing what God tells us to do.
When I was a child, I used to say things like "but it's hard." When I became an adult, I knew difficulty was not a reason to be lazy or deny the truth.
Life is hard................ all the time! When things seem to get easy for a time it won't be very long before another challenge comes along to stretch us a little more.
Those who avoid chastisement, run from discipline, and even punish those who attempt to help with constructive criticism, are not able to grow spiritually or emotionally. They remain children all their lives as they grow more bitter in their elder years.
James 1:2-4 "2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
We cannot become better people without the trials that force us to see ourselves in reality, the frail people that we are without Christ.
Romans 5:3-5 "Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."
1 Peter 1:6-7 "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
When we endure trials and progress in Spiritual growth, it is God Who is glorified, not ourselves.
Christ in us can give us the strength to obey Him. I don't deny that many things in life are hard, but it can never be a reason to resist doing what God tells us to do.
When I was a child, I used to say things like "but it's hard." When I became an adult, I knew difficulty was not a reason to be lazy or deny the truth.
Life is hard................ all the time! When things seem to get easy for a time it won't be very long before another challenge comes along to stretch us a little more.
Those who avoid chastisement, run from discipline, and even punish those who attempt to help with constructive criticism, are not able to grow spiritually or emotionally. They remain children all their lives as they grow more bitter in their elder years.
James 1:2-4 "2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."
We cannot become better people without the trials that force us to see ourselves in reality, the frail people that we are without Christ.
Romans 5:3-5 "Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us."
1 Peter 1:6-7 "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
When we endure trials and progress in Spiritual growth, it is God Who is glorified, not ourselves.
Raised in Tradition and Refusing Anything Else
When someone was raised with holidays and love those holidays more for the feelings they get than the truth, it is impossible to reason with them about the truth.
Most people will make excuses or change scripture, or worse, ignore scripture to justify their desired beliefs. It is the reason the church gatherings are such a mess. Traditions are more important because of the sense of safety in doing what one has already done.
When feeling safe, accepted by the group, and enjoying the pleasure of the belief becomes paramount in someone's life, then Christ is an add-on, in other words, only to make themselves believe they are honoring Christ when He is not really very important.
Mark 7:13 "13 Thus, you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
"Many such matters" is what we are encountering right now. Those who love the word of God and proclaim it among church members will be maligned, dismissed, and even rejected outright for their desire to actually follow Christ without traditions of men.
The traditions of men are very powerful because they manipulate feelings, which dominate our culture far more than truth does.
I remember a little boy who was chastised for his rude behavior. His response was, "You made my feelings cry." He was not ashamed of how he acted when confronted. He was blaming the one who corrected him for making his "feelings cry."
This is where we are now in our culture: feelings are more important than truth, the very reason most people never change or grow more mature in their responses to life. They remain angry, full of gossip against anyone who will correct them.
Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ."
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."
Never fear those who reject you because you do not fall into the deceptions of our age.
Matthew 10:27-28 "…27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
Most people will make excuses or change scripture, or worse, ignore scripture to justify their desired beliefs. It is the reason the church gatherings are such a mess. Traditions are more important because of the sense of safety in doing what one has already done.
When feeling safe, accepted by the group, and enjoying the pleasure of the belief becomes paramount in someone's life, then Christ is an add-on, in other words, only to make themselves believe they are honoring Christ when He is not really very important.
Mark 7:13 "13 Thus, you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
"Many such matters" is what we are encountering right now. Those who love the word of God and proclaim it among church members will be maligned, dismissed, and even rejected outright for their desire to actually follow Christ without traditions of men.
The traditions of men are very powerful because they manipulate feelings, which dominate our culture far more than truth does.
I remember a little boy who was chastised for his rude behavior. His response was, "You made my feelings cry." He was not ashamed of how he acted when confronted. He was blaming the one who corrected him for making his "feelings cry."
This is where we are now in our culture: feelings are more important than truth, the very reason most people never change or grow more mature in their responses to life. They remain angry, full of gossip against anyone who will correct them.
Colossians 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ."
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."
Never fear those who reject you because you do not fall into the deceptions of our age.
Matthew 10:27-28 "…27 What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the housetops. 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Christianity has become Religion in these Last Days
Why I am convinced more people are lost who say they are Christians than those who are authentically transformed by Christ!
"Christianity" has become a religion like all the others, but more deceptive because it causes people to think they are saved but remain self-reliant instead of relying on the Holy Spirit.
They become prideful, thinking they won't be lost because they are doing a good job keeping themselves saved by being good. And yet, they remain unchanged in their heart and are very proud of who they think they are!
Galatians 2:15-16 "…15We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile 'sinners” 16 know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."
Romans 3:28 "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law."
Romans 3:20 "Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin."
Philippians 3:9 "and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith."
"Christianity" has become a religion like all the others, but more deceptive because it causes people to think they are saved but remain self-reliant instead of relying on the Holy Spirit.
They become prideful, thinking they won't be lost because they are doing a good job keeping themselves saved by being good. And yet, they remain unchanged in their heart and are very proud of who they think they are!
Galatians 2:15-16 "…15We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile 'sinners” 16 know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified."
Romans 3:28 "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law."
Romans 3:20 "Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin."
Philippians 3:9 "and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God on the basis of faith."
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