I have written previously about being clothed in Christ, It is a part of the same thing, being sons of God and being the body of Christ. When we were clothed in Christ we became a part of the body of Christ.
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgement, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Romans 12:3-5
There is something that is of importance about the body of Christ. It is one of the greatest considerations that we are to have. Jesus said that it is by our love for one another will the world know that we are His disciples. Many times throughout the epistles it talks about our relationships with one another. About how we should treat each other in love. Bearing with one another, forgiving one another.
This is the great theme that runs through the new testament, even in Jesus’ expectation and prayer for His church, That we be one as He and the Father are one.
“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.” John 17:20-23
Of course there is the time when Peter asks Jesus, “How many times in a day should I forgive my brother?” Jesus’ answer was,”seventy times seven”. Then all through the Epistles we are taught about the unity of the Spirit and building one another up. Esteeming one another higher than ourselves. Serving each other in life and ministry.
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love; being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Ephesians 4:1-7
How can we not take heed to this very important teaching. No one should consider themselves more highly than anybody else within the body of Christ. This includes esteeming others more highly, than ourselves or other people. Different roles and gifts within the body are of just as much benefit to all as any other.We are all one body in the Spirit.
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14
Called to serve one another in love, because we are a part of the Body of Christ. We all have different gifts and talents for use as part of the body. Not self use or self promotion, that is not how the body, anybody’s works. Every part of the body has its own function/use. Whether we be an eye or a hand, we are a necessary part of the body.
As such we need to have respect for every part of the body, no matter how insignificant we may see the use of any part of the body. Yet we tend to judge other members/people as if they are of no use compared to others or ourselves. This is wrong, clearly through the teaching of the word of God.
For instance, I may not agree with all the teaching of certain groups within the various groups of the Church, but they do teach some sound things that other parts of the Church may not teach. No one group has everything right. This is because some wrong teaching has been passed down to us all through hundreds of years.
Those of us who are born of the spirit through faith in the Lord Jesus, who is the head of the body, are all a part of the body, for the benefit of each other. We need to exercise discernment in all that we are taught from various people. Trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit into THE truth, ALL truth.
If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. 1 Corinthians 12:15-18
As I began reading/studying John’s Gospel, I read verse 9 and a light came on that made a connection with Proverbs 20:27 in our pic.
There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. John 1:6-9
Jesus the light enlightens every man. Does that mean that the candle within man has been lit because Jesus has come into the world? I use the word candle as that is how the KJV puts it. The candle/lamp of the Lord searches every part of man to light up the truth about Christ.
In the notes of my Bible it says that the spirit of man can also refer to the breath of man. I go back to the beginning where I read that God breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils. This is the spirit of life, as without our spirit our bodies die. Death is when our spirit leaves our body.
The life-giving spirit is given to us by God. Think about it, that is why the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord. A thought; The lamp in man is dark, not lit until we become born of the Spirit. Then it is lit up! Proverbs was written before any idea of being born of the Spirit was written by John.
Then the spirit of man cannot be unlit then his body would be dead as the spirit has left the body; Then the spirit of a dead man could not be the lamp of the Lord. It is the spirit of the living men that are the lamp of the Lord.
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:10-11
Something to think about! We are made in the image of God. We are a triune being as is God. We are not just a body with a soul; we have a spirit too. Do you think that our spirit does what God’s Spirit does, searches the depths of our being , just as The Spirit of God searches the depths of God?
If this is so, what is our spirit searching for? Could it be for truth? What truth can man’s spirit discover within us? Somewhere deep inside every person there is the truth of God. deep inside every person we know that there is a God of creation, who longs for a relationship with us. Our spirit knows our deepest thoughts and longings. Everyone knows that there is something more to life than what we have or live out!
Proverbs tells us that our spirit is the lamp of the Lord that searches our innermost being. Some find a kind of truth and settle for that. But it does not fulfil the inner longings of the heart of us. That is because it is the learned truth of the world, not the revealed truth of the Spirit. As Paul writes, God revealed the things that God has prepared for us who love Him.
There are hidden things within us that need to be searched out. As Christians, the Holy Spirit aids our own spirit to seek out the hidden things of God that are within us. The ‘All truth’, that Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit leading us into.
but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10
We of ourselves cannot begin to understand the depths of what our Father God has prepared for us. We need to allow our spirits freedom to search out these hidden things of God that are deep within us. This becomes easier to us with the help of the Holy Spirit. It is not something that we can do with our minds. Our minds can at the best of times be unstable.
It is our spirits not our minds that are the lamp of the Lord, that search us. All that God has prepared for us who love Him; is so much more than salvation for a future glory of eternal life. We have eternal life in the now,in this life. There are many promises of God to us in this life not just for our future in our glorified future eternity.
God has planned for us to have an abundant, fullness of life in the here and now. There are those who will deny this as false prosperity teaching. If that was all it is that I am teaching then, it is false. God’s message to Israel was a message of prosperity. That was God’s plan for them and for us. He says in the Psalms, ‘Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness, and He will give the Desires of our hearts.’ Not the desires of our minds, but of our hearts.
The promise to Abraham was a blessing of prosperity in every way. The father of many nations, of which we are his children of the promise, we who are of faith are the sons of Abraham. Gal 3:7 When Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, what was it that the servant said to Rebekah’s family? God has greatly blessed Abraham my master so that he has become rich with flocks and herds and silver and gold…… Abraham did not realise the ultimate blessing/promise of God to him in his lifetime. The redemption for the whole world, for people of many nations.
For those who reject prosperity as a part of the Gospel, they are blinded by worldly reality. For many are the promises of God, the blessings of God. They are far greater than we can begin to imagine. All that He has prepared for us includes blessings in this life as well as in eternity. Paul says that God will supply all our needs according to his riches in glory; not according to what we think. Our minds cannot understand what God has planned for us, but our spirits can.
The Holy Spirit can reveal the hidden things of God’s blessing to us. They are not the riches of the world. Getting what we want according to the way the world says we should prosper. It is Heavenly riches that come through trusting our Father God.
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 1 Corinthians 12
Our spirits are the lamp of the Lord. As christians we have the added guidance of the Holy Spirit,that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. This kind of indicates that some of these things are not so obvious to our minds of flesh, the thoughts are from our spirits transferred to our spirits through the Holy Spirit.
In other words the Holy Spirit enlightens our spirit to those things that God has freely given to us. Things that help us in this life as well as the eternal life on the new earth, and before that in Heaven, and on this earth during the millennium reign of Christ.
Our spirits truly are the lamp of the Lord as His Spirit testifies with our spirits that we are the children of God.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15
The Lord reminded me of a scripture that has been with me since the first week after I accepted Him as my saviour. That was way back in August 1979. It is a part of a large portion of the words of Jesus, of which the picture verse comes from.
The reason for this being relevant to me, is that the day that I became born again, I was given a Living New Testament by an Army Scripture Reader, John Austin. The front cover has the Words, ‘The Greatest is Love,’ and the verse Matthew 6:26 printed out. Look at the birds………
And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? Matthew 6:26-27 NASB
You can read the whole passage Matthew 6: 25-34. I feel strongly that the Lord is saying to us that we should not be worrying, that we should be in faith instead. Trusting our God who is an awesome God. He is mighty to save, mighty to heal, and is our protection. If we would just trust him.
Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. Philippians 4:6-7 AMP
Some great verses of instruction. Yes, God is telling us how to live, take the worry and fear out of your mind, God will not do it! We have to make the choice to do it. Then God will be able to Flood our hearts and minds with His supernatural Peace. It has to be supernatural, because it is beyond our minds to be able to understand why we have that peace. I say again that WE have to do something before this peace will come. We have to make the decision not to be anxious or worried.
A part of that is learning how to rejoice in the Lord, no matter what! Praising God takes our focus off ourselves and things that are bothering us, and puts our focus upon God. He cares for us! He says, “come to me all; all means all: who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” As we Praise and worship Him, we are coming to Him.
Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4,6-7 AMP
Think about it, whenever we are in praise and worship, we feel like there is some sort of release. Like nothing else matters at that time except worshipping our great and mighty God. Trouble is a lot of the time, when we come away from that place we pick our worries up again on the way out. We are supposed to lay our burdens upon Him and leave them there.
Yes they may show up again calling out, ‘Don’t forget about me?’ But you don’t need to pick them up again. God says, “Do not worry about anything!” He would not tell us to do something that we could not do. In any case if we trust God nothing will be impossible for us.
And He said to them, “Because of your meagre faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20
Here is a truth, it is biblical. We cannot add a single minute to our life by worrying, but we can shorten our life by worrying. We Can lengthen our lives but putting our trust in God and walking according to His ways.
Seek First God’s Kingdom
Stand, sit, walk around, kneel, lay down, whatever way you choose to seek the Kingdom of God it does not matter. We should be seeking the Kingdom of God before all else. “Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God. I am reminded of the prayer that Jesus taught, Lord’s prayer. Jesus told us to command God’s Kingdom to come, and to command that His will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 NASB
God tells in and through Isaiah Concerning the work of My hands, Command you Me.
Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. Isaiah 45:11 NKJV
That is part of seeking God first, taking authority over our thoughts and emotions, so that we can walk according to God’s purpose for our lives. If we walk according to God’s purpose for our lives, we will be bringing God’s Kingdom onto the Earth; God’s will be, being done on the Earth in our own lives.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NASB
What is God’s purpose for our lives? Firstly to walk by faith and not by sight. We have to use our faith. He says that without faith it is impossible to please Him. It follows then that without faith we are not seeking first the Kingdom of God, and His kingdom cannot come into our lives. Without faith His Heavenly will cannot be done on the Earth, in our lives.
When we read the whole of this portion of Scripture Matthew 6:25-35, it is easy to see that Our God is personally interested in each one of us. Not just as a Church, but as individuals. He desires a personal relationship with each one of us. He is our Father; we are His Children.
And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:27
Putting God first, seeking first His Kingdom, allows Him to meet all the needs of our lives. Worrying actually hinders the flow of God’s blessing and provision. That is why God says, “Cast all your cares upon Him.”
Worrying can be a barrier to our prayers.
With that thought in mind Look at this verse again.
Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. Philippians 4:6-7 AMP
Be anxious for nothing, BUT. That is an important but, because it tells us that if we pray and ask, with thanksgiving; God will give us the peace that we need. Peace that is transcends all understanding. That is one part of God’s Kingdom coming into our lives here on the Earth; God’s will being done in our lives. That is something to rejoice in.
Many times, in the psalms, it calls for us to praise our God. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, enter his court with praise. Always, it is a call for us to Paise Him. It is not just a good idea of something to do. We are called upon to give praises to our God. We can choose to follow the call or not. Think about it, if we are praising God, we are seeking His Kingdom, for the Lord dwells within the praises of His people. We are His people.
And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise Him.” Romans 15:11
Make the choice, Praise the Lord. Even if you don’t feel like it. Do it until you feel a release. Though it not about the feeling, it is about the peace that surpasses all understanding. God’s will is, for each of us to have that peace. Sometimes you have to speak to yourself; to your mind; to your soul. King David did. (I will say to my Soul!) When he did not feel like praising God. So, I will leave you With God’s word through David the man after God’s own heart!
Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget any of His benefits; Who pardons all your guilt, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with favor and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. Psalms 103:1-5
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Psalms 34:1-4
The verse in the pic has been much misused, misunderstood; even by me in the past. It is taken out of context. The Book of Revelation was written to believers, not unbelievers. I used to think that Jesus stood at the door knocking and I had opened the door to let Him in when I was born again.
THis is not what this verse is about. It is a message to Christians. To the Christian Church. To the Laodicean Church Jesus says, “Because you are only lukewarm, I will spit you out of My mouth.” Basically giving them a good old telling off! (Chastisement) “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” V 19
Reprove is the chastisement. Yes, a telling off! The discipline is the coaching telling the Church what it needs to do.
“I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:18-19
Therefore be zealous and repent! This discipline, coaching out of complacency and mediocrity. I noted that in each of the letters to the seven churches Jesus said, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
To the churches!
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20
This says to us, to me, When I think that all is well and everything seems to be going great, and I start to just drift along, not acknowledging the Work of God in my life; I have shut the door to the Lord. I get by in my own strength, rather than trusting in the Lord to help in every area of my life.
Jesus has to knock on my door. It is me that has to open the door, Jesus just waits and knocks. When we open the door we allow Jesus to come in and dine with us. I think that this is a reference to Jesus being the bread of life.
The Holy Spirit within us helps, urges us to open the door, and let Jesus in, to come and share His life with us and we can share our lives with Him. ‘Hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
I hear what the Spirit says through reading the word of God. As I read I understand more and get fed. As I read I am also praying for understanding.(most times!) Have you got your door shut to Jesus?
He is not pounding on the door demanding entrance. He is knocking hoping that we will let Him in. I know that we sometimes allow the pressures of life to close the door. It is like we take our eyes of Jesus and the wind blows the door shut. Jesus just knocks for us to open it again. Repenting is just turning around and opening the door to allow Jesus back in to dine with us.
Praise God, Jesus wants to share every meal with us, every part of our lives. Our ups and downs; our joys and sorrows; failures as well as our successes. Can we have the door open all the time? I think so, by sharing all that we go through in life with Him, and hearing what the Spirit says as we read His word.
According to the world our Bible is full of hate speech. The spirit of the world hates truth. The truth of God and His word. God does hate sin, because it is damaging to the people of the world who God loves. The world says that saying that certain sins are sin, is hate speech.
For instance, to call theft sin is OK; to call adultery a sin is OK. On the other hand, to call homosexuality a sin is hate speech! To call abortion a sin is hate speech! Sin is sin, but it is not true that all sin is equal. God’s word says that Homosexual conduct is an abomination. Yet it still is a sin that can be forgiven.
I will be bold and state, all who promote and support the LGBTQ+ agenda are against God and His truth. It is hate speech towards the word of God. They are rejecting the truth of God’s word and faith for salvation through the Lord Jesus. Rejecting the love of God. They are the ones communicating hate speech against God and His children.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20
The picture verse is from the prayer of Jesus for us, God’s children. God’s word warns man of the consequences of sin. The world hits back, because it wants the freedom to do as it pleases. The truth is that God will not force anyone to do what is right. They have their free will to sin all that they want to. The word of God shows the way for the world to be set free of sin and its consequences. The world chooses to exercise its free will to reject God’s plan for true freedom.
Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12
Question; Is it hateful to point out where sin will lead, that God in His love has made a way for all to enter eternal life through repentance, turning away from a sinful life, and accepting the forgiveness freely given through God’s grace? Is it hateful to preach the Gospel? The world will answer, Yes! Why? Because it speaks against what they choose and want to do and promote as normal and right.
There is more to this, because many within the wider church have been deceived into accepting the world’s view on social issues such as LGBTQIA+ agenda, race, and abortion. If we say anything regarding these things as being sin we become guilty in their eyes of hate speech. Something that most people do not want to be labelled with. So, many within the church succumb to acceptance of the world’s view. Even though they know in their hearts that it is wrong. This is as bad a sin as the sexual deviances of the world.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonoured among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. Romans 1:24-25
This scripture says that God says, “OK carry on and do whatever pleases you, whatever desires that you have, you are free to immerse yourself, as a consequence your bodies will be dishonoured, defiled, because you prefer to follow the lies of the devil rather than the truth of My word.” It is not hate speech to say that, “Here is the truth, if you accept the truth, you can be set free from the deception that you are under.”
Jesus told us that the Truth would set us free. Free from the consequences of sin; Free from the lies of the Devil; Free from all condemnation. How can the Truth be hate speech? It is freedom! Why would we allow ourselves to be condemned by the Lies of satan? We live in freedom in Christ Jesus our Lord. In whom there is no longer any condemnation.
The world is placing man and man’s rights above the reverence of, and the love of God. Self is being placed higher than the love of God. misplaced love for man and his desires without God. Exchanging the truth of God for a lie. They worship people and their rights above God. Worshipping the creature rather than the creator.
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 1 John 2:21-23
I was interested in what the head of the Italian football league said. “It will be impossible to totally eradicate racism from football. He is right, as every person has the right to their own views. Some people will never stop having racist views. Most views are taught. The only time all of these social issues will be sorted for good is when we live on the new earth, at the end of the tribulation (Jacob’s trouble).
Man chooses to focus on social injustice, rather than accept their own sinful lifestyle without Christ. They live in darkness and want to stay in darkness. Wherever we look, social justice is large in the media. Social justice stands in part for freedom to what the minority of the people feel is right. They want to continue in their life of sin, because they see it as their right. Their right to do what pleases them, rather than God. It is the promotion of so-called good, without God. Self-Righteousness!
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgement, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practises the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” John 3:18-21
This is the truth, the word of God. The world hates the Light and because the Light will expose the evil that is in their hearts. This piece of the words of Christ says that they have already been judged. Not by Christians, but by God, because they have not believed in the Lord Jesus. Evil has been judged and condemned, just as the author of Evil, Satan is condemned
The world gaslights the true christian world by accusing us of being intolerant towards them because of what the Bible says. The truth is that they are more against us because of what the Bible reveals about them, than we are against them. We long for the world to come to the truth of the knowledge of the love of God.
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17
We have to guard our hearts from the ways of the world. The world tries to influence and overrule us with its own standards of morality. Saying that things that are bad (sinful), are now accepted as being good for those who practise what is evil in God’s eyes.
We are not of the world, In the world but of Christ; Of the Kingdom of Heaven. We are told not to love the world nor the things of the world. That includes not being in agreement with the ways of the world. We are a people of faith in Christ. Hear the word of Jesus:
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
Tribulation of the saints is building in our society. It comes as increasing opposition to the truth of the word of God. People who do not believe in God, and the Son Jesus, cannot attack God, so they attack and accuse those of us who do believe. It is getting to the point where we cannot preach the Gospel. This is because they do not like the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Our encouragement comes from the Word of God. Through our faith in the Lord we have overcome the world, even under the growing persecution. In the west we have not yet got to the point of being persecuted to death. The world shouts loud for freedom of speech; freedom to promote its ideas for fairness and equality. While at the same time squashing the Christians freedom of speech, and promoting truth.
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:4-5
You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John 4:4-6
Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world, (the devil). We have to understand that we are in a spiritual battle. When God says that He has given them over to a depraved mind, it means that God is not protecting the people from the deception of the devil. He, our enemy, is the prince and ruler/power of the air, whose aim is to deceive and destroy our faith in the Lord.
Be of good courage and stand, for our battle is not against flesh and blood but it is a spiritual battle, which Jesus has already won on our behalf. Stand on the Word of God. Be bold and be strong for the Lord our God is with us.
This verse is well known, though only the first part is normally quoted. The second part is how we will know that the Lord is good. We will be blessed as we take refuge in Him. There are many verses that tell us to take refuge in the Lord. We will see just some of the benefits of this and what it means.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord Than to trust in man. Psalms 118:8 NASB1995
How many of us trust man more than rely upon God. We trust what the doctors say, politicians, financial institutions, News, the weather man, bosses, friends, even Christian leaders, all can have bigger influence upon our lives than we let God have. Do we really trust God to fulfil His word in our lives?
Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Proverbs 30:5 NASB1995
Here God promises protection. That does not mean that we will not go through trials. It means that we are never alone, for we have the creator with us. In fact, we have been designated angels to protect us. The angel of the Lord encamps round about us. We also have the word of God to trust.
I am reminded of what Elisha said to his servant as he saw the mass of the Assyrian army surrounding them. “Do not fear, for those who are for us are more than those who are with them” Elisha then prayed to open his servants eyes, and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire. Yet they were not needed to go into battle. Elisha prayed again and the whole of the Assyrian army were struck blind.
Elisha did not trust what he saw, men. Nor the angels that were ready to protect him, He trusted in the Lord. He took refuge in the Lord. When we see trouble coming upon us, will we see and fear, or will we take refuge in the Lord?
Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Proverbs 30:5 NASB1995
Every word of God is tested! I think that here it is saying that if we trust God’s word, it will be tested in our lives. The enemy will try us and test our faith in God and His word. Trials and tribulation do not come from God, but God will use them to strengthen us as we take refuge in Him.
The Lord is good, A stronghold in the day of trouble, And He knows those who take refuge in Him. Nahum 1:7 NASB1995
In the middle of a prophesy against the enemies of God we find this verse. We will have enemies come against us. It may be people, but we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness. God knows those who take refuge in Him and He becomes our stronghold, in the spiritual battle.
We as Christian humans still see many of our battles as physical, when really they are spiritual. We can get angry at people, and attack in defence. When we should take refuge in the Lord. Let Him deal with the situation. This is one way of resisting the devil. And have him flee from us.
A few times in my life when I have resisted the temptation to retaliate to someone, and taken refuge in the Lord, the person has come back later and apologised for their behaviour or words. That is God fulfilling His word in our lives.
I think of David being pursued by Saul for twelve years, to kill him. David had at least two opportunities to end the trouble by killing Saul. Instead, he relied upon the promises of God to make him king, saying do not touch God’s anointed. David knew that his battle was not with the man, but it was a spiritual battle.
When things get too much for us; when we cannot cope in our own strength; when hard times, trials and tribulations come, we must take refuge in the Lord. He will deliver us from all our troubles. That is God’s promise for everyone who takes refuge in Him.
I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him And saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Psalms 34:4-8
We come back to the Psalm we started out with. Seek the Lord take refuge in Him. He will deliver us from all our fears and save us from all our troubles. I could go on for a long time write much about this theme. Maybe a topic for another book! I leave you with this Psalm.
O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. Many are saying of my soul, “There is no deliverance for him in God.” Selah.
But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the Lord with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain. Selah.
I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me round about.
Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God! For You have smitten all my enemies on the cheek; You have shattered the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the Lord; Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah. Psalms 3:1-8
Will you trust in men, in what you see in the world; in your situation, or will you take refuge in the Lord and be blessed?
The influence of evil in the world will always rule over what is good and right in man’s eyes. Right up to this day and into the future till the return of Christ. That is the legacy of what Adam did by eating the fruit of the tree of good and evil. The people of Israel had got to the point of not knowing where the line was between good and evil. God needed to show them what was acceptable to Him. Set in stone what was right, the Law was issued to show them what was sin. God also provided ways for the people to escape His wrath, through sacrifices and sin offerings.
In dealing with the freedom of grace, against the obedience to the law, we need to look at the requirements of the law. I want to begin with What God said to His people through Moses and Joshua. What the law says about obeying the law, the blessings and the curses. This is very pertinent because God is specific about what happens; both when we obey as well as the consequences for disobeying His law. Deuteronomy 28 sets all of this out.
“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God: Deuteronomy 28:1-2
“But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to be careful to follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Deuteronomy 28:15
God tells His people the Israelites what will happen when they obey every word of the law. He tells them how much He will bless them; they will be prosperous in every way. No matter where they live or what they do, so long as it is not against the law. They will be blessed with children, and all of offspring their animals will be blessed, also the crops of the ground. God will defeat all their enemies for them. They will be blessed in their store houses. They will not get sick; they will live long and prosperous lives. If you read verses 1-14, it just sounds almost too good to be true. That is the grace of God to those who obey the law. The history of the Jews shows that when they, or the king obeyed they laws they prospered, and lived in peace.
There is a flipside to this from verse 15-68 tells what will happen if they do not obey the word of the law. It is hard reading, sad really. God makes it quite clear that to obey is better than not to. Horrible sicknesses, poverty, children still born; fear gripping them; overrun by enemies, slavery. To name but a few. All things that you would not wish to experience. When you read it, you might think, why would a loving God do those things to His people. He did not do these things they are a consequence of sin. A consequence of God removing His protection from His people.
I see it like this, from the story of Job. Satan came and asked for God to remove His protection from Job, because then Satan said that Job would curse God. God gave permission to Satan to do what he liked to Job except take His life. With Israel Satan is the one who was allowed to inflict the curses upon the people, through God removing His protection. We must remember that Satan will not be allowed to have complete dominion over the Israelites. The limit is that they should continue to live. When we look at history, we can see that there are times when nations have tried to absolutely destroy Israel as a nation; but there is a limit, God will not allow them to be destroyed. Despite all the turmoil’s the people of Israel have had to endure, they still remained as a powerful nation.
They were scattered to the farthest ends of the earth; and some still are. Yet God brought them back to the promised land to live. There will be one more attempt to destroy the people of Israel at the battle of Armageddon, that will fail because the restriction that God placed on Job is also upon Israel, they will not die as a people. God holds that right of protection over them. They are still under the curse of the law. Nowhere in the list of the curse of the law does it say that they will be allowed to be totally destroyed. That is not one of the curses. So, when the armies of Satan amass against Israel in the one final battle, they will see that there is no way to survive, but God will win the battle on their behalf.
Back to the law.
For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, to perform them.” Galatians 3:10
The curse of the law, here stated in the New Testament by Paul. Paul had been a Pharisee, a student of the law. He knew every little bit of the law. Yet so many Christians cannot understand what he has to say about the law and it no longer having dominion over us. As gentiles/non-Jews, we as Christians were never under the law of Moses. We have the law there for us to see and learn from it as the word of God. But we were never subject to the law and should have never been taught that we are subject to it. Once we succumb to the false teaching on this and begin to live according to the law, we are doomed. We become subject to the consequences of disobedience, the curses of the law.
Paul tells us here in Galatians that if we try to live according to the law and do not abide by ALL the things written in the book of the law, we will live with the curses that come by our failure to keep every part of the law. This is big. I have been taught for most of my life that I must make sure that I obey the Ten Commandments. I was not told the consequences for disobeying them except that for some things I could be prosecuted for and sent to prison. The Ten Commandments are an overall summary of the moral law of Moses.
The curse comes upon those who do not keep the whole law. So, I can keep the big ten and break another laws; wearing two different types of material at the same time; then I am guilty of breaking the law as a whole, or as James put it, the whole law. The Israelites could not pick and choose which parts of the law they could or need not to obey. They were required to obey every part of the law. The Christian world seems to think that it is OK to obey some parts of the law and disregard the rest. Is that pleasing to God?
There is maybe someone who thinks that it is OK to commit adultery but will never eat pork. If we put it the other way round it is still the same; it is OK to eat pork but will never commit adultery. The law is still broken. I have heard some say that the Ten Commandments are the ones that God requires of us as Christians. That is not what Jesus taught us. The new Commandment from Jesus was to love one another as He loves us. In truth if we do this, we will never break the big Ten. Out of our love for God and people, we won’t steal; we won’t lie; we won’t murder; we won’t commit adultery, and we won’t want the things that other people have got.
It is not about obeying the law; it is about love.
Apart from the curses of the law as stated in Deuteronomy 28, if someone was caught trespassing the law, there was a judicial system, and punishments to be handed out. Sometimes all that was needed was to bring a sacrifice to the priest. Things like adultery, murder, homosexuality, bestiality, amongst other sins carried a penalty of death by stoning. In these days we tend to think of stoning to death as a barbaric punishment. Even the death penalty is frowned upon and abandoned in some most countries. If we obey the Ten Commandments but will not obey the part of the law that says that a person should be put to death for committing murder, we break the whole law.
See how it gets so complicated when we pick and choose which parts of the law to obey. That is what the world of Christianity has done. I have had discussions with people/Christians who insists that we should obey the law of keeping the Sabbath. Thy do not understand that if we have to keep one law, we have to keep the whole law. What they really mean is that we should have church on the seventh day of the week; but it is Ok to cook and wash up after themselves on the sabbath; after they have been to church. That is not keeping the Sabbath. If you are trying to keep the Sabbath day, cooking and washing up is breaking the Sabbath. The penalty in the law for this, is stoning to death.
It reminds me of what it says in the Book of Judges. After Joshua died things started going downhill. They got to the point where it says, over and over that, ‘There was no king in the land and everybody did what seemed right in his own eyes. We could say something similar about most governments today. There is no God in the lands and the governments did what seemed right in their own eyes. They pass laws that allow people to do what seems right in their own eyes. Most governments have abandoned God, some even pass laws that make it an offense to preach certain things from the word of God. These are supposedly Christian nations.
If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. Leviticus 20:10 NASB2020
There must be many thousands of people who are glad that we do not adhere to this law anymore, though there are countries and religious groups that do still uphold this law. The people in the west get shocked and horrified at the barbarity of it when they hear of this punishment being carried out. The mindset is that no one deserves to be put to death just for adultery. Most of us see that the death penalty for any crime is so backwards. Christians too, yet they are the ones who will tell us that we must obey the law. Look at it this way, God set out laws, you shall not commit adultery; He also set the penalty, death! So, if we do not commit adultery but agree with not handing out the penalty God set for that sin, we are just as guilty of breaking the law as the adulterer.
I know that it sounds harsh, but we are picking and choosing which parts of the law seem acceptable to us, and this is not right. In our Weston societies it is no longer against the law to commit adultery, but adultery can be used in law to justify divorce. That is a conflict of the law of God, and if you think deeply about it a conflict in the laws of the land too. The biggest conflict that we have is through those who teach and insist that we obey only parts of the law and leave out the need to obey the whole law, as against the perfect law of liberty. We have been released from the requirement to follow the law. The law of sin and death. Of sin because it shows us what sin is; of death because the penalty for not keeping the whole law ultimately, is death. God’s word says that if we live by the law we will be judged by the law.
But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Romans 7:6
In Christ, we have been released from the law, we are no longer in fear of death because we have been given life by the Spirit of Life that lives in us. This is how the law works, it is an instrument of fear. If you do not do what is right by the law, you will be punished. What we do not understand is that we can be punished by man passing judgement against us, and issuing a punishment, whether it be a God ordained punishment or a man devised punishment. We can also suffer the consequences of that sin in physical sickness. This is because we have opened ourselves up to the curse of the law and allowed Satan to have some rights over us; to be able to inflict sickness and disease.
This is especially true with immorality, sexual sin. This type of sin includes, adultery, fornication (casual sex), homosexuality, prostitutes, rape, paedophilia. All are sexual immorality and is picked out as not sinning against God but sinning against our own body, if we do any of these things. Although sexual sin against a child could easily be viewed as a sin against God. And we will suffer the consequences in our own bodies. For the most this is sexually transmitted diseases which includes Aids, chlamydia, syphilis, and a lot more.
Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits, is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18
Though homosexuality is particularly pinpointed as an abomination to God. Below in Romans it definitely says that they will receive due penalty in their own persons. This can be recognised as STD’s. We know as documented that AIDS came about within the homosexual community, then spread to the heterosexual through bisexuals. This is an example of how sin and its consequences can spread throughout the world even infecting those who did not take part in that particular sin.
Sin has no morals; it does not care about who it infects. That is why God gave the law, to protect His people; so that they could see what is right and what is wrong. God told His people to destroy everyone in the land of Canaan, because He knew that the sin that they practiced could infect them. They did not destroy all the people and so the sin of the Canaanites and other nations around them, did infect God’s people, even to the point of sacrificing children to the god Molech. If the Israelites had obeyed what God had said to them, they would have remained under God’s protection. Instead, they allowed themselves to be deceived. Which caused God’s protection to be withdrawn, or to put it another way, they stepped out from under God’s protection.
The law was God’s protection of His people in a way. God told them, so long as they obey, they will be blessed, and prosper. If you don’t obey bad things will come upon them. Right back when the law was given, God spoke about consequences of obedience. Health wealth and a prosperous fulfilled life in every way. He also set out the consequences of disobedience in what seems to be a more detailed way. Instead of just saying many sicknesses, including the plagues of Egypt. He lists a horrific set of things, curses that will be allowed to come upon them. To top it off He also say and anything else not listed will come upon them.
God knows that the devil has authority over the earth, all of His creation. The devil’s logic is, worship me or die, and while you die take some pain and suffering, so that your life will be a miserable existence. Ultimately the consequence of sin is to allow the devil to oppress us. There are many more sicknesses in the world than those listed in Deuteronomy 28. The law was given so the people knew what was right and wrong, as a protection to His people. To protect them from the consequences of sin, and the sicknesses that the devil wants to bring upon the people.
But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law, being confined for the faith that was destined to be revealed. Galatians 3:23
Before faith in Jesus, God’s people were under the custody, protection by obedience to the law. Though there were those who live and walked with the Lord in faith. Even though they were not perfect and kept all of the law, their faith in God’s promises gave them preferential, attention in the eyes of God. Faith being credited to them as righteousness, even though they messed up from time to time. The Man after gods own heart, David committed sins that called for the death penalty, yet he was told before he wrote Psalm 51, that, “Do not worry you will not die.” God said that He had removed the sin from David; that he had been forgiven. David’s faith and faithfulness to God outweighed his sin. Because of his faith, he was credited as righteous, until Jesus came and removed the note of charges that were held against him. David new the grace of God in all circumstances of his life. Who holds that note of charges against us? It is the devil, and he uses it to accuse the saints.
The requirement of the Law is more than just obedience. A part of the requirement of the law; or to put it another way, why the law was required; was to show God’s people what was sin, and what was righteousness. This was to show that the people needed to live by faith in what God had told them. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now God was showing His people what was good and what was evil. Now that sounds a bit strange to me.
Mankind already had the knowledge of good and evil. So, why would God need to give His people a set of laws, so that they knew what was right and wrong? The answer is that left to our own devises we as fallen man will naturally gravitate toward what is evil. That is what happened before the flood. It is what happened to the Children of Israel in Egypt. We can see it in our societies today. Not everyone does what is evil, but they do stand up for the rights of those who do what is evil. Even to the point of giving hearty approval to the things that they do. This approval, much of the time, goes under the name of political correctness.
Israel was going into a land where people were doing detestable things in God’s eyes. They had come out of a land (Egypt) that worshipped man made and man declared gods, they had become infected by the culture of Egypt, and were ready to worship the gods of Egypt, they had four hundred years of influence to follow after the worship those gods. They really did not know the truth of what was right and wrong. What the world calls right and acceptable, is rarely right. They did not know any better than what they had lived with. We understand theologically that Egypt was a type of the world.
because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20
The real truth behind the law was that disobedience is sin. That disobedience (sin) has consequences. Disobedience is associated with the desires of the flesh. These include seemingly minor things such as strife, jealousy, dissentions, factions. Things that we do not usually associate with being sin. Something that is not listed specifically but is just as much of a cause of factions as anything, is gossiping. We tend to frown upon someone who has a casual sexual relationship, but not bat an eyelid at someone who tells some secret about another person. We know it is wrong, but it has become an everyday occurrence in some peoples’ lives; it is just normal. It is though, disobedience to the law of God.
Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behaviour, idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
We could change the word evident in the verse above to obvious; Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious. Yet some of these things listed we see but do not recognise them, in our interactions with other people. Paul is pointing out that when we look at the world these things are obvious, warning that we should not allow these things to come into the fellowship of believers. Pauls talks in a couple of places, reminding people of how they used to be before Christ; that now they have been set fee from the old way of life through Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit.
We have a choice. We can choose to live according to the law, and suffer the consequences when we fail, or we can live under the grace of God; knowing His forgiveness when we fail. Living or trying to live according to the law, is having a works-based mentality. It is taught in our churches. They teach that if you want to be blessed by God, do this. Don’t tithe or give and God will not bless you. This is a law-based mentality. It is not wrong to encourage to tithe and give to the work of God, give to the poor. It is wrong to attach conditions of God’s blessing to giving. Just as it is wrong to attach conditions to God’s blessing to any part of obeying the law. What is even more wrong in the New Covenant is to attach the curses of the law to not give or obey any part of the law.
There are many parts of the biblical law that we do not follow; whether it is due to political correctness, or the fact that the consequences set out by God are just too barbaric for our civilised societies. Yes, God did tell the Israelites the conditions and consequences for obeying and disobeying His law. We can say that it was specific to the Israelites at that time. It was for their protection from the customs of the people of the land that God was going to give them. God said them specifically about some things, “Do not do what these people are doing.” It was because of these things that God was going to dispossess the land from the people. Deeds of the flesh!
However, at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? Galatians 4:8-9
Paul said the law was weak, because it could not achieve the require effect. That is to make people righteous. It is quite clearly stated that righteousness can only be achieved through faith. God gave the law to His people knowing this. What the law could do was give people confidence in that If they obeyed, they would be blessed. If they slipped up in some way by their humanness, they could offer a sacrifice that would cover their sin. This was a temporary measure until Christ the redeemer came and ended all need for sacrifices.
In this respect the law was perfect, or we could say that it showed perfection; what perfection looked like. It was perfection for the Israelites. Paul tells us that as perfect as the law was, that there was something that it could not do. It could not redeem us from the consequences the of sin that is in the world. The sin that infects and affects everyone. What the law could not do was to make us righteous and justified and holy before God. What it can do is show us where we go wrong and fail. As Paul said, the law is our tutor, that leads to Christ. Here’s a thing, the law leads us to Christ, but Christ does not lead us back to the law of Moses. Christ leads us to the law of liberty.
Some of the requirements of the law was to offer animal sacrifices to cover people’s sins, and for other things also. We are told that these sacrifices were temporary, until the perfect sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Those sacrifices were also temporary because they had to redo them repeatedly. Not just the sacrifices but we are told that the LAW is ONLY a shadow of the good things to come through Christ.
For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the form of those things itself, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually every year, make those who approach perfect. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? Hebrews 10:1-2
The law was an intermediary plan by God until the promised Messiah came. The law was for guidance; a to do list, if you like. Before the Cross of Christ, a covenant of obedience or else! God promises to bless if you obey. This what we call a conditional covenant, as opposed to an unconditional covenant. God’s promise to never destroy the earth by flooding, is one of God’s unconditional covenants. The covenant that God made with Abraham; all the promises were unconditional, later to be sealed by the sign of circumcision.
These are pre-law covenants. They continued through Isaac and Jacob with God repeating the promises to both of these sons of Abraham. What then is the reason for the conditional covenant of the law? Our all-knowing Father God knew that His people would be enticed into idol worship and immoral practices of the nations that were in the promised land and surrounding areas. The law was the way to steer the Israelites towards righteousness. Righteousness is only achieved through faith, God expected for His people to have faith in His law, in His Word.
But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Romans 7:6
We live in a world that is full of people crying out for social justice. Things like the feminist movement that evolved into gender equality. Which will never be fully achieved, because it is impossible. Though I have noticed that the BBC now has a bigger percentage of female news presenters than male. Maybe it is time for men to stand up and protest for equality?
People can now choose what gender that they would like to be known as. This is strange, because when born we are either male or female. That is the way God created mankind, so that through marriage to each other children are born through opposite sex relationships. There is only one way for children to be born, the male sperm fertilises the female egg. That is the design of the Creator God.
This is rebellion against God. Yes, people have the right to choose their gender pronouns, maybe they don’t have the right for this idea to be written into law. This is taking personal sin and making it a corporate sin of a nation. This is gender equality taken to the extreme. It actually dispenses with the feminist movement altogether, as there is no need to stand up for women’s rights.
The world has gone mad with the naming of a condition they have called, ‘Gender Dysphoria.’ It reminds me of the words of the serpent in the Garden of Eden; “Did God really say.” Did God really say that you are a male? Did God really say that you are female? Gender Dysphoria is an attitude of the mind, an attitude of the flesh. Without the correct direction it can become a mental illness, that needs to be treated as such.
Instead of corrective training, the world says that we must accept that people feel like they should be a member of the opposite sex. This feeling of dysphoria is not a new phenomenon. I knew of a couple of people in the 1970’s that had undergone sex changes. Saw many men that dressed in women’s clothes. Women that dressed in men’s clothes was not such a strange idea back then.
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:27-28
As a teenager I had thoughts that maybe I should have been a girl; this because most of my best friends were girls and I seemed to get on with them more that the boys. I did not have Gender Dysphoria. Although in these days they probable would tell me that I did. I never wanted to be a girl I just liked having girls as friends. I am glad that I have two great children a boy and a girl. I am blessed to have helped them grow up knowing who they are as far as gender is concerned.
In todays societies of Western Europe and USA children as young as Four are encouraged to entertain the idea that they have been born as the opposite sex. In the UK a teenager who had gender transforming surgery (sex Change) was murdered by other teenagers. Reasons for this are unknown. Think about this, someone at the age of sixteen had already changed sex, by undergoing long therapy and treatment to get to the point of surgery!
Instead of reaffirming the wrong thought processes of this young boy, the therapist and parents should have been reaffirming the physical fact that he was a boy. He was born a boy; he was a boy. That he would grow into a man and become a father of boys and girls. Through undergoing a sex change he would never be able to father children, or give birth to children. Maybe have a whole life of mental anguish.
It is not loving to reaffirm someone’s Gender Dysphoria. It does not help them to know who they are and what they could become in the real world. It only creates more mental illness. They will find it harder to fit into society. The worlds solution is to try to change society to accept and fit around a minute minority of people. This is just pandering to sin.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. Matthew 15:19 NASB1995
Sin is sin, it does not matter if one lies, murders, steals or commits adultery. In the idea of affirming Gender Dysphoria is an evil thought that proceeds from the heart of man. People get these thoughts, it is true but we are told by God to resist the devil and he will flee from us. We can do this as Christians, but those without Christ cannot. The prince and power of the air, the devil is at work in the hearts and minds of the people of the world. Right to the tops of governments.
I know of Christians who struggle with their sexuality. Some battle for years before finding peace. Some give in to the urges of their minds. To condemn people for their sin is not love, it is not right. We are to love them as God loves them, but not affirm that they are OK in their sin. Love helps to build people up in the truth and turn away from sin. To do otherwise is not right, it becomes a sin for those who think that they should love people and allow them to stay in their sin.
‘for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
We as Christians should not bow to the political correct ideas of the world. The world has enough people to support their ideas. We have been consecrated, set apart from the world. In the world but not part of the world. Yet some Christian organisations are falling into line with the evil ideas of the world. Some are making considerations about how they can fit the worlds ideas into their Christian beliefs, coming from the thoughts showing love. To not stand upon and declare the truth is not love.
To call out the sin and show the path to forgiveness is love. The world will call this hate speech. They are lying to protect their thought processes. To point out error and lead to truth is love. There is only one path to righteousness. There is only one way to forgiveness and wholeness That is through Jesus Christ. His blood was shed to cleans us from all sin. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.
People in sin have an attitude that there is only one life, I have to do what is needed to feel joy in it, no matter what! They need to know that only in God’s presence through the forgiveness of sin, there is fulness of joy. Without a heart and spirit transplant people will remain lost in the sin of the ways of this world.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26 NASB1995
The Pope has been working hard to bring different religions together in some sort of unity. It seems that climate change is the vehicle that is to be used to usher in the new one world religion. It is not just different religions that are getting in on the act, but also different Christian organisations too. The Anglican Arc bishop Rowan Williams presided over an interfaith ceremony on Parliament Hill London with a scroll of 10 climate change ‘commandments.’ A One part of the climate change agenda is to promote the not eating of meat to help save the planet.
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. 1 Timothy 4:1-3
It is a fact the Pope is behind an effort to try to unite different religions into a unified religion, a one world religion. Even to try and unify the different parts of the protestant church to come back under the umbrella of the Roman Catholic church. The Pope is recognised by Himself and the Roman catholic church as the only legal spiritual representative of Christ on the earth. World leaders and religious leaders from all over the world are expected to bow and kiss his hand when they meet the pope.
It is known that the Pope has some sort of authority over the most influential leaders of the world through different organisations. Organisations such as the Masons, The Illuminate. It is said that the Vatican’s authority and influence reaches wide and deep into the world’s leadership. That is governmental as well as religious leaders. This ties up with the prophecies of Daniel and the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar, about the statue, and the feet of part iron and clay. The iron being out of the roman empire and the clay being of governmental rule.
We are told in the book of Revelation that the antichrist will set up a one world religion and cause the people of the earth to worship the beast. The dragon that will rule over the world. We are told about the spirit ruler of this world who has influence over what the ways of the world. He is the devil and will come in a physical form at the end, as a man. The bible calls him the beast.
It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. Revelation 13:7-8
As Christians we must not submit to this false religion of climate change. As Christians we have the word of God which tells us how this world will end. It will not end until God is ready for it to end. There are signs that we are nearing the end. Wars and rumours of wars, people’s hearts failing at the thought of what is going to happen. There are more excess deaths in the world now than at any time before or during the Covid pandemic. Many of them due to heart problems.
Famines and serious inflation. It will get worse. The bible tells us this. But we are told to look up for our redemption from this world of sin draws near. What is happening in the world Jesus said that they are just the birth pangs. The real pain is on its way. As Christians we may well not be on the earth, by the time the tribulation comes, For the bible teaches about the rapture of the saints. I believe that this will take place before the tribulation. Others have different views.
And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Matthew 24:4-8
The Book of revelation tells us of the immense torment that will come upon the people of the earth during the tribulation. There is nothing that we can do to stop that. It also talks of a one world government and religion headed up by the antichrist. He will bring peace and organise food distribution. Everyone will love him and do as he direct, to worship the beast. Though there will be a great turning to the Lord Jesus as the God send out people to preach the Gospel to every nation. There will also be two prophets in Israel who the beast will eventually kill and are raised up to life again after 3 days.
And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” Daniel 9:27
All through this time a third of the vegetation of the earth will be burned up, half of the human population of the world will be killed. There are some terrible things that will happen, all of the fresh water on the world will become bitter. The sun will scorch mankind, All the Sealife will die. Things that God has predicted, and there is nothing mankind can do to change these things, except repent of sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said that most people will not enter through Him the narrow gate. At that time of tribulation men will become angry at God, and His people, believers that are still on the earth.
The new world order and the new one world religion are in the process of coming together. This means that the coming of our Lord is close, the day that we meet with Him, Jesus in the air is so near. The tribulation is coming to the world a 1.5% rise in global warming is inevitable man cannot stop it.
People used to laugh at the man walking the streets with a board on saying, ‘The End Is Nigh,’ But now we have leaders of the whole world crying out that the end is nigh! Maybe I am the only one laughing at them, but the people of the world are believing the wisdom of the world. Wisdom that comes from the father of lies. In a way the people of the world are worshipping the created world, rather than the creator. The book of James says that if we ask God for wisdom, He will gladly give it to men who ask in faith.
Who will we trust, the wisdom of the world or the wisdom that comes from the father of lights, who gives generously to those who ask? The world is full of scientists and experts who claim different things. Climate change, geologists, medical science, monetary systems, and many more. If we think not too deeply about it, they all say things that are contrary to what God’s word says. Jesus predicted that there will be wars, earthquakes, famines. He said that these will be the beginning of birth pangs. Birth pangs get more frequent and more painful as the birth of a child draws nearer. This is what we are seeing happen in our world today.
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. James 1:5 NASB1995
The question that I ask is this; Can this move by the Pope to unite the worlds religions under the banner of climate change, be the beginning of worship of the beast?
I say that as Christians we should stay far away from being involved with any part of this climate change agenda, it is part of the new one world religion. There has never been anything in the history of the world that has united different religions of the world like Climate change!
FREEDOM IN CHRIST 