Archive for the ‘Exhortation’ Category
Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Choices, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Desire, Devotional, Discretion, Encouragement, Equality, Exhortation, Fairness, Fear, Godly Fear, Growing, Information, Justice, King Solomon, Learning, Parents, Peace, Proverbs, Prudence, Renewal, Righteousness, Spirituality, Strength, Teachable, Truth, Wisdom
In Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Discretion, Encouragement, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Parenting, Peace, Prayer, Prophecy, Proverbs, Prudence, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on September 27, 2017 at 3:05 pm
The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.
8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
Mom and Dad’s Instruction
Listening to the counsel of godly parents is a must for a blessed life. By listening to the counsel of godly parents there is an extra measure of God’s grace provided to the child, whether grown or not, whether the child lives at home or not.
It does not matter whether or not you choose to live out the counsel of your godly parent, you will carry that counsel with you either as grace that adorns your life because you receive the counsel or burdens of knowledge that weigh down your life because you refuse to receive the counsel.
That word “chains” in the Hebrew means “a necklace as if strangling” – godly counsel ignored chokes the life out of any situation.
Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Choices, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Desire, Devotional, Discretion, Encouragement, Equality, Exhortation, Fairness, Information, Justice, King Solomon, Peace, Proverbs, Prudence, Renewal, Righteousness, Spirituality, Strength, Truth, Wisdom
In Advice, Anxiety, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Devotional, Discretion, Encouragement, Exhortation, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Peace, Proverbs, Prudence, Renewal, Revival, Truth on September 9, 2017 at 6:37 pm
The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.
4 To give subtilty (prudence) to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
Being simple in this verse means something totally different than most people would imagine. In this verse, the meaning in the Hebrew language of being a “simple” person is to be a person who makes room in their life, and even invites, both mental and moral silliness and foolishness, which leads to silly and foolish behavior. Believe me there is no joy, fulfillment, or productivity in being a simple person. Simple people waste their lives. Do not be a simple person. Choose to be a person who is wise and lives by disciplined choices.
Wisdom is needed for an individual to have the ability to govern their lives properly. One must obtain knowledge regarding wisdom and biblical principles to come to the place where they are equipped to live with prudence aka subtilty and discretion, two quality our society is in desperate need of currently. If you want to stand out among your peers have prudence and discretion.
Let us examine what prudence and discretion are as defined by the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.
Prudence =
Main Entry:
pruydence
Pronunciation:
‚prü-d„n(t)s
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin prudentia, alteration of providentia — more at PROVIDENCE
Date:
14th century
1 : the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason
2 : sagacity (aka wisdom) or shrewdness in the management of affairs
3 : skill and good judgment in the use of resources
4 : caution or circumspection as to danger or risk
Application of definitions.
1 – One must stop and think before they act. Does what they are going to do line up with their principles, moral code, God’s desires for them, etc.? Have they thought about the pros and cons of the situation? Has the outcome of the situation been considered?
2 – Does what the person wants to do line up with godly wisdom?
3 – Is this the best use of the person’s times, money, talents, gifts, etc.?
4 – What will happen if this choice is made? What will the potential outcome be? What are the risk involved and are the risk worth the reward?
Discretion =
Main Entry:
disycreytion
Pronunciation:
dis-‚kre-sh„n
Function:
noun
Date:
14th century
1 : the quality of being discreet : CIRCUMSPECTION; especially : cautious reserve in speech
2 : ability to make responsible decisions
Application of definitions.
1 – What is the impact of what the individual is about to say or do on both other people and themselves?
2 – Does the person’s behavior line up with responsible behavior?
You obviously want to find favorable answers to all of those questions when making a decision or choice that can affect your life, and almost every choice affects our life to some degree. Making life’s choices with prudence and discretion through the application of wisdom will radically transform a person’s life into success beyond measure – the abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10.
John 10:10 (KJV-AV)” The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Do not allow the Enemy to steal your life through unwise choices.
Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Choices, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Desire, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, Information, King Solomon, Peace, Proverbs, Renewal, Spirituality, Strength, Truth, Wisdom
In Advice, Anxiety, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Proverbs, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on August 12, 2017 at 11:15 am
Here are some great Scripture references, which can be studied on the matter of making decisions:
Decision—determination to follow a course of action
A. Sources of:
Loyalty Ruth 1:16
Prayer 1 Sam. 23:1–13
The Lord 1 Kin. 12:15
Satan 1 Chr. 21:1
The world Luke 14:16–24
Human need Acts 11:27–30
Disagreement Acts 15:36–41
Faith Heb. 11:24–28
B. Wrong, leading to:
Spiritual decline Gen. 13:7–11
Repentance Heb. 12:16, 17
Defeat Num. 14:40–45
Rejection 1 Sam. 15:6–26
Apostasy 1 Kin. 11:1–13
Division 1 Kin. 12:12–20
Death Acts 1:16–20
C. Good, manifested in:
Siding with the Lord Ex. 32:26
Following God Num. 14:24; Josh. 14:8
Loving God Deut. 6:5
Seeking God 2 Chr. 15:12
Obeying God Neh. 10:28–30
Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Choices, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Desire, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, Information, King Solomon, Peace, Proverbs, Renewal, Spirituality, Strength, Truth, Wisdom
In Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, Fear, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Impatience, Jesus, Peace, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on July 21, 2017 at 12:59 pm
Please note:
There are six points to be explored when it comes to making godly decision. In each posting we will explore two points for a total of three posting on the matter of guidelines for making godly decisions. Each part in this series will begin with the following question and answer followed by a review of two new guidelines you can use to examine how you are making your decisions.
Here is a question someone once asked me that will to bring us to the topic of this study.
Question:
When you want something or want to do something really bad, something that on the surface is not bad, and you have different emotions about it, how do you discern between what God is telling you to do, and what the devil is trying to get you to do?
Answer:
Without a specific example of the “something” referred to in the question this can be a hard question to answer. The reason it can be difficult to answer is that we use so many factors to discern if the prompting and leading we are sensing is truly from God, Satan trying to trick us, or even just our own desire. There are some things to keep in mind however, when trying to discern which it might be.
We need to make sure our hearts long for what God desires and that we seek Him in every decision. Scripture tells us He will guide us if we let Him.
Proverbs 3:5,6
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
“shall direct” –
as found in the Hebrew language means the following:
3474. rv’y:
yaÆshar, yaw-shar’; a prim. root; to be straight or even; figuratively to be (cause to make) right, pleasant, prosperous:— direct, fit, seem good (meet), + please (will), be (esteem, go) right (on), bring (look, make, take the) straight (way), be upright (-ly)
God tells us exactly in His Word how to obtain the information we need to make wise godly decisions.
James 1:5,6 NKJV
5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
From the Greek Language, we can know:
“wisdom” 4678 –
4678. sofiva soáphia, sof-ee´-ah; from 4680; wisdom (higher or lower, worldly or spiritual):— wisdom
o God provides the information we need both for the world and for the spiritual life. Any and all information needed for living and following God should be found by seeking God for His godly wisdom. Making each of our decisions based on His wisdom will ensure our abundance in life.
“liberally” 574 –
574. aJplw`" haploµs, hap-loce´; adv. from 573 (in the obj. sense of 572); bountifully:— liberally.
o There is no desire on God’s behalf to withhold information from us that we need. He will grant us any form of godly wisdom we need, if we will only ask. The problem comes in two areas. One, we do not ask. And secondly, we ask then we doubt what we believe God to be telling us.
“wavering” 1252 –
1252. diakrivnw diakrinoµ, dee-ak-ree´-no; from 1223 and 2919; to separate thoroughly, i.e. (lit. and refl.) to withdraw from, or (by impl.) oppose; fig. to discriminate (by impl. decide), or (refl.) hesitate:— contend, make (to) differ (-ence), discern, doubt, judge, be partial, stagger, waver.
o Here is where the rubber meets the road. Once we have heard from God regarding His godly wisdom for us, we must not depart from the course He has set before us.
However, for many people, we hear from God, then fear sets in and doubt takes over. We begin to tell ourselves things like, “What if that was not God I heard?”, “What if I am wrong about what God said exactly or what I heard?”, or “What if something or someone other than God was speaking to me?” Before you know it, we are so confused and filled with so much doubt about what we should or should not do we become paralyzed with fear. That paralysis leads to lack of productiveness, and lack of action taken, which leads to lack of abundance, growth, and change in our lives.
Once we have heard from God, His wisdom for us, along with the duration of time in which He is asking us to invest in the matter, we should move forward despite any second-guessing. Will we make mistakes? Yes, but if our hearts are honestly seeking to do God’s Will according to God’s Wisdom, God will take care of any mistakes we make.
Ask Him what to do, and then do it despite the little voice of the Wicked One who wants to make you doubt.
Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Choices, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Decision Making, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, King Solomon, Peace, Proverbs, Renewal, Spirituality, Strength, Truth, Wisdom
In Advice, Anxiety, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Confusion, Courage, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, Fear, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Impatience, Jesus, Peace, Prayer, Proverbs, Renewal, Revival, Truth, Uncategorized on July 12, 2017 at 1:20 pm
Please note:
There are six points to be explored when it comes to making godly decision. In each posting we will explore two points for a total of three posting on the matter of guidelines for making godly decisions. Each part in this series will begin with the following question and answer followed by a review of two new guidelines you can use to examine how you are making your decisions.
Here is a question someone once asked me that will to bring us to the topic of this study.
Question:
When you want something or want to do something really bad, something that on the surface is not bad, and you have different emotions about it, how do you discern between what God is telling you to do, and what the devil is trying to get you to do?
Answer:
Without a specific example of the “something” referred to in the question this can be a hard question to answer. The reason it can be difficult to answer is that we use so many factors to discern if the prompting and leading we are sensing is truly from God, Satan trying to trick us, or even just our own desire. There are some things to keep in mind however, when trying to discern which it might be.
We will have peace about whatever it is that we feel led to do. God will not lead us into something we do not have peace over. We may feel a bit scared, inadequate, or intimidated but we will not be at spiritual unrest over the matter. If we have spiritual unrest, we should question whether God is the source of the prompting.
John 14:27 NKJV
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (Jesus speaking)
Psalm 107:20 (AV)
He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
If confusion is present that is a sign God is not influencing that part of the decision.
1 Corinthians 14:33 NKJV
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Choices, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Decision Making, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, King Solomon, Proverbs, Renewal, Spirituality, Strength, Truth, Wisdom
In Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Proverbs, Renewal, Revival, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on July 6, 2017 at 11:05 am
Please note:
There are six points to be explored when it comes to making godly decision. In each posting we will explore two points for a total of three posting on the matter of guidelines for making godly decisions. Each part in this series will begin with the following question and answer followed by a review of two new guidelines you can use to examine how you are making your decisions.
Here is a question someone once asked me that will to bring us to the topic of this study.
Question:
When you want something or want to do something really bad, something that on the surface is not bad, and you have different emotions about it, how do you discern between what God is telling you to do, and what the devil is trying to get you to do?
Answer:
Without a specific example of the “something” referred to in the question this can be a hard question to answer. The reason it can be difficult to answer is that we use so many factors to discern if the prompting and leading we are sensing is truly from God, Satan trying to trick us, or even just our own desire. There are some things to keep in mind however, when trying to discern which it might be.
God will NEVER under any circumstance contradict His written Word, the Bible. The Bible is God’s Will and God does not go against His own Will under any circumstances. If whatever we are prompted to do does not line up with the truths found in God’s Word, it is not God prompting us.
Psalm 119:160 (KJV-AV)
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.
Isaiah 40:8 (KJV-AV)
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
Psalm 119:133 (KJV-AV)
Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.
Psalm 19:7 (KJV-AV)
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalm 111:7–8 (KJV-AV)
7 The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. 8 They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
God will not contradict a previous personal command He has given us. If God told us something or gave us an answer on something one week, next week He will not give us a different answer on the same matter under the same circumstance. He will at times have us do something for a period of time then later have us stop, but He will not contradict Himself in what He guides us personally through Rhema Words from Him to do.
Numbers 23:19 NKJV
“God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Hebrews 13:8 NKJV
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, King Solomon, Proverbs, Renewal, Spirituality, Strength, Truth, Wisdom
In Advice, Agape Love, Anxiety, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Proverbs, Uncategorized on June 27, 2017 at 11:56 am
Life is a challenging sea to navigate at times. Life is wonderful and exciting filled with many blessings and joys but it is also tough and difficult at times filled with many trials and sorrows. Without some frame of reference for how you will conduct your life, your life will to take over and control you instead of you controlling your life. When I write of you controlling your life, I am meaning “controlling” in a positive godly way.
The correct way to navigate life is with the wisdom, guidance, and direction of God for He is the only one who knows everything your life will entail. Much of His direction for life is found within His Word, the Bible. Within the Bible He has proved us with a treasure-trove of wisdom for how to live and conduct ourselves on a daily basis. The Book of Proverbs is a condensed book of that wisdom and focuses solely on imparting wisdom to mankind.
The human vessel through which God chose to release this wisdom was King Solomon. The wises man to ever live. He displayed his wisdom even before God imparted great wisdom to him, when he had the opportunity to receive from God anything he desired, money, fame, wealth, women, anything, and Solomon chose instead to ask God for wisdom. God rewarded the young man’s honorable and wise request by giving him great wisdom and all the rest as well – money, fame, wealth, women, etcetera (1 Kings 3:1-15).
Wisdom, godly wisdom, makes the obtaining of all the rest a real possibility. A life lived under the guidance of godly wisdom will succeed and bear fruit, whereas a life lived apart from wisdom will surely end in failure and destruction. With each day, each moment, each decision we must choose which type of life we are going to live.
Whether you are someone of many years who needs to obtain wisdom for the balance of your years, in order to be fruitful, or to be reminded of the wisdom that has blessed your life thus far or you are a young person just starting out in life without any real understanding of what it means to live life with godly understanding and wisdom, this study is for both age groups. It is also for all those individuals, like myself, who are in-between the two age groups, who are attempting to live their life under the godly counsel, with godly understanding, and by walking in the wisdom of God, yet, we need to be reminded continually of what that wisdom is and the diverse ways in which we can apply God’s wisdom to our daily circumstance. Wisdom is fruitful for all people, at all stages of life, under all circumstances.
I invite, encourage, and exhort you to jump into the sea of wisdom with both feet and trust that just as Jesus was there for Peter to stabilize his steps and keep him from sinking (Matt. 14:25-33), God will use His wisdom as one of the tools in your life to stabilize your steps and keep your life from sinking.
In the next posting, before we actually begin to examine the Scriptural text of Proverbs, we will take a look at how to make godly decision. Some simple and practical guidelines for how to approach decision making God’s way will be explained.
Throughout this study if you need the wisdom of God on a matter, and you wish to receive the counsel of another Believer in Christ, please use the “comments” link to send your question to me.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Advice, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, Proverbs, Renewal, Spirituality, Strength, Truth, Wisdom
In Advice, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian Living, Devotional, Encouragement, Exhortation, Proverbs, Renewal, Revival, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on June 21, 2017 at 12:08 pm
Want to gain wisdom and godly understanding about how to conduct life?
Next week we will begin a study in the book of wisdom, Proverbs.
Input, insights, and questions will be welcome, desired, and encouraged.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Bible, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Activism, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Darkness, Devotional, Encouragement, Evil, Exhortation, False Doctrine, False Gods, False Teaching, Fear, Forgiveness, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God’s Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Good, Hate, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Light, Mental Disorders, Mental Illness, Narcissism, Political Correctness, Prayer, Pride, Psychiatric Drugs, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Satan, Spiritual Activist, Spiritual Fruit, Spirituality, Strength, Truth
In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Devotional, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, False Doctrine, False Gods, False Teaching, Fear, Forgiveness, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Hate, Hatred, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Loss, Love, Marriage, Media, Mental Disorder, Mental Illness, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on June 14, 2017 at 4:45 pm
This piece, will be the last in our review of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. This book and review of it has been such a blessing to my readers and myself, we are so grateful that God led David Kupelian to write the book.
To effectively combat an enemy, one must understand both their enemy and themselves. Seek to gain godly wisdom and understanding. Act and respond in accordance with that godly understanding and godly wisdom. How one responds to the evil and hated that is unleashed in our society and world is a key element in how well they are able to resist both and be a godly spiritual activist for Truth.
Control of oneself and one’s own actions is essential to being powerfully effective. As the author points out, ‘there is a world of difference between righteous indignation and seething hatred.’ As Christians, we want to possess righteous indignation but we do not want to enter into that realm with our Enemy, and enemies, who reside in seething hatred. The author also points out that righteous indignation is based on a strong sense of justice. However, seething hatred is always found to be self-destructive, out-of-control rage. We must rise above the temptation to hate those who hate us so we can embrace a truly righteous passion to right the wrongs we see strangling God from the consciousness of our country.
There is a universal human imperfection that we all suffer from. However, we cannot allow our own imperfects to render us mute when it comes to what God wants from us as a people. I have said more times than I can count, ‘Just because we do not live up to God’s Standard does not mean His Standard changes or that we have a right to try and pull God’s Standard down to our level so we can feel better about ourselves.’
There is a moral compass, the needle of which is our conscience, and every individual is born with one. We must employ methods to jump-start people’s conscience whenever possible. There was a saying that went around years ago within the Body of Christ, ‘Stop trying to be the Holy Spirit for people.’ This was a most destructive statement for the spiritual well-being of the Body of Christ. Why? Well my brothers and sisters the Book of Hebrews was written to address the issue of apostasy, and command Christians to cling close to Christ and God’s principles. Our part in seeing that takes place is exhorting one another toward living out God’s principles. You cannot very well do that if you see sin and never say anything about it to anyone, you never call sin sin and call for repentance from sin and a return to God. A novelist George Orwell has been often quoted as saying, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
Hebrews 3:12-15
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
We must be willing to act when necessary as well, not just talk. There are those individuals who are so disconnected from their conscience that Truth does not compel them to do the right things. That is when the application of proper pressure done in godly way becomes necessary. Even after that there will be some individuals who will still remained unmoved.
To quote the author, Kupelian, in the last sentence of this book, “Truth is enough – because when properly honed and targeted, it is more than sufficient to annihilate all of their grand seductions.”
When Jesus was answering Pilate, He stated the following.
John 18:37 (NKJV)
Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
Are we supposed to do something different from what Jesus stated here He came to do, “bear witness to the truth” – yes or no? No, I do not believe so, nor does the author of this book. We are God’s people and as God’s people we should stand for Truth forever!
How Evil Works
http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works
Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
The Marketing of Evil
https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption Disguised/dp/1942475217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483474172&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Marketing+of+Evil
Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Bible, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Activism, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Darkness, Devotional, Encouragement, Evil, Exhortation, False Doctrine, False Gods, False Teaching, Fear, Forgiveness, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God’s Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Good, Hate, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Light, Media Influence, Mental Disorders, Mental Illness, Narcissism, Political Correctness, Prayer, Pride, Psychiatric Drugs, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Satan, Spiritual Activist, Spiritual Fruit, Spirituality, Strength, Truth
In Anxiety, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, False Doctrine, False Gods, False Teaching, Fear, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Media, Mental Disorder, Mental Illness, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on June 6, 2017 at 6:41 pm
In this piece, we continue to move throughout the closing chapter of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. The chapter addresses how Christians can, and should, act to turn the tables on evil, particularly here in America.
People underestimate how television is used in our society to shape how people think and what they become. Television has become a means by which to punish those who do not adhere to what society views as political correctness. ABC recently cancelled Tim Allen’s show Last Man Standing because the views expressed on that show did not line up with a vanilla politically correct society. ABC claimed scheduling issues but it is so obviously politics, not scheduling, that motivated their decision. Just one more reason to ditch the major networks of television.
The author notes from The Hidden Persuaders a truth exposed now half a century ago and which remains true to this date. That too many people, including Christians, meander through life in what can only be described as a mental-emotional fog, allowing their subconscious and its sensitivities to words and images to cause them to feel, act, purchase, and vote in conformity with, as Bernays (the father of public relations) puts it, “they who pull the wires which control the public mind.” Christians wake up; spiritual, mental, and emotional alertness is a must if you do not want to be either controlled, manipulated, deceived, or led into sin being led astray from God’s principles.
There is no doubt that as Kupelian states, the elite media and the regular citizen’s mindset is different from one another. The elite media regards traditional American values as both corny and stupid, while at the same time regarding immorality and perversity as sophisticated. Sophisticated? What a joke! However, this elite media does use its outlet to warp the minds of people leading them away from modesty and common decency, toward reveling in depraved behavior, which leads to them being cynical and even hostile toward people and values that are genuinely virtuous.
Why do “big media” and jaded people attack these people who choose to live in accordance with genuine virtuous standards? These people remind them of their lost innocence and this reminder is painful and unwelcome. Therefore, they feel compelled to attack the “reminder” of what they have lost.
Do not allow the “mainstream media” to tear you down. As the famous rabbinic saying goes, “Those who are kind to the cruel will end up being cruel to the kind.” They will change you, if you allow them to do so. Do not allow our society to intimidate you into being something that goes against God, His principles, His standards, and that goes against your own heart, mind, and spirit.
Remember goading you is meant to upset you, and once upset the mental and emotional processes in the brain are altered and therefore the process of altering your mindset has begun. Refer to earlier postings regarding how brainwashing and evil reprogramming takes place. When you are intimidated and upset, when you emotionally overact, you lose the battle.
In the next posting, we will conclude our review of the last chapter of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works.
How Evil Works
http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works
Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
The Marketing of Evil
https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption Disguised/dp/1942475217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483474172&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Marketing+of+Evil
Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Bible, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Activism, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Darkness, Devotional, Encouragement, Evil, Exhortation, False Doctrine, False Gods, False Teaching, Fear, Forgiveness, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, God, God’s Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Good, Hate, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Light, Mental Disorders, Mental Illness, Narcissism, Political Correctness, Prayer, Pride, Psychiatric Drugs, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Satan, Spiritual Activist, Spiritual Fruit, Spirituality, Strength, Truth
In Agape Love, Anger, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, False Doctrine, False Gods, False Teaching, Fear, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Gender, Gender Idenity, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Marriage, Mental Disorder, Mental Illness, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized on May 29, 2017 at 9:00 am
In this piece, we will begin to explore the closing chapter, chapter eleven, of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. The chapter addresses how Christians can turn the tables on evil, particularly here in America.
The author begins by stating that over the last few generations various organizations and agendas have eroded the liberty, morality, and prosperity of America. The level at which institutions from schools, churches, news media, and government have been subverted is extensive. This has brought about distorted loyalties, confusion, and demoralization among the people in our society, including Christian people.
Churches have conceded to the immoral ideas of our society becoming subverted. The only cure for such subversion is repentance. Turning back to God’s true principles in accordance with His Word. As Kupelian states, we are unlikely to win over “hard-core radicals who are leading our country astray but we can reach many of the decent but confused people they’ve seduced.” That is exactly what we need to be about doing. Expose them and their agenda, their immorality, the destruction they will bring; expose them and keep exposing them until they are so shunned by Americans that they are rendered ineffective. Christians as individuals need to repent and turn back to making TRUTH known, Truth in accordance with God’s Word, His Written Standard. We are in a battle between truth and deception, between good and evil.
What are some of these deceptions?
· Government cares about you, hand over your rights, and government will solve all your problems.
· Homosexuality is good, moral, natural, and acceptable to God.
· Abortion is good, a needed “right” in life that our tax dollars should fund.
· Per activist judges, prayer and the Ten Commandments are bad.
· God made a mistake with your gender when you born so you are free to be your own god and choose your gender.
· The name of Jesus has no place in a public forum and certainly not to be used in public prayer.
· Per public education, you have evolved from an amoeba.
· Hooking up is cool, living together without marriage is normal, and sex is not an expression of love and commitment within the marriage covenant but instead something to enjoyed with anyone and everyone you desire, whether you are married or not.
· Christian are psychologically challenged, and those who claim they can “hear from God” or hear God within their spirits are clearly mentally ill.
These lies if left unchallenged will destroy us as individuals and as a society, and that destruction has already begun.
In the next posting, we will continue with our exploration of the final chapter of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works.
How Evil Works
http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works
Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
The Marketing of Evil
https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption Disguised/dp/1942475217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483474172&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Marketing+of+Evil
Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Bible, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Darkness, Difficulties, False Doctrine, False Teaching, Forgiveness, Godliness, Happiness, Light, Love, Peace, Pride, Renewal, Satan, Suffering, Trials, Truth
In Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, Fear, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Gender, Gender Idenity, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Truth, Uncategorized on May 23, 2017 at 8:10 pm
In this piece, we will conclude our review of chapter ten of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. This chapter has taken several postings to review, and has been a worthy investment of time.
A challenge for each of us. Really prideful people will find this very difficult, if not impossible to do. Examine introspectively your genuine commitment to Truth. Attempt to observe your thoughts and feeling honestly and you will find out whether or not you are commitment to Truth and to Jesus’ Way of life, the life that leads to a life of abundance.
John 10:10 (NKJV) – Jesus speaking.
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Separate yourself from rehashing the past or worrying about the future, and instead focus on what you see inside yourself right now. This will draw you closer to God. In that quietness, God can show you with great clarity your flaws and give you the insight needed to change them. Doing what He shows you to do – doing it Jesus’ Way – will bring real change. If we spend our time rehashing the past or worrying about the future trying to figure things out for ourselves we will literally block His Divine Light that provides us with the answers we need.
Sadly, due to past event many people’s normal mental state is, to put it in the author’s words, “a turbulent, ever-churning mixture of thoughts and feeling and unconscious mental riffraff.” Evil can take root in us when we make our home outside of the Light of Christ – when we were “emotionally reacting to the cruelties and confusion of everyone around us.” We must choose to walk in the Light and we must choose to take our thought captive. Remember that any pain without its friend resentment is much easier to walk through. We can see and acknowledge our anger inside without reacting to it. Then as we calmly and steadfastly wait it will gradually yield to the Light and lose its hold on us. We can acknowledge our desire for sin without wallowing in that sin. We do not have to respond to what is inside of us, we can obey God instead.
1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV)
casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
By obeying God, we are our true selves, we are who He intended us to be. We do not need to fix ourselves, we only need yield to who God created us to be. His grace is there for us to do that. It is when we attempt to live contrary to who He created us to be that we find ourselves in a struggle because there is no grace available for living in self (the state contrary to God’s intent for us). As the author sates, “When the one we reconcile with is our Creator, the result is peace with God.”
The concept of “being still” in Christ means we choose to observe “ourselves with the upmost sincerity: “watching” our thoughts, feelings, problems, and upsets, in a way that effortlessly calls out to God for help.” “Simple, honest observation of our compulsively sinful tendencies is sufficient for God to transform us through genuine repentance.” When those things rise up within us that are contrary to what God has created us to be, we call out to Him to keep us from them.
We will begin exploring chapter eleven in the next posting. This chapter deals with turning the tables on evil, especially here in America.
How Evil Works
http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works
Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
The Marketing of Evil
https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption Disguised/dp/1942475217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483474172&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Marketing+of+Evil
Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Bible, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Darkness, Difficulties, False Doctrine, False Teaching, Forgiveness, Godliness, Happiness, Light, Love, Peace, Pride, Renewal, Satan, Suffering, Trials, Truth
In Agape Love, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, Devotional, Encouragement, Evil, Exhortation, False Doctrine, False Gods, False Teaching, Fear, Forgiveness, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Grief, Hate, Hatred, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Jesus, Loss, Love, Persecution, Prayer, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on May 15, 2017 at 12:11 pm
In this piece, we continue with our review of chapter ten of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so. This chapter requires many postings to review however there is so much to be gained from this chapter, and it is well worth the investment of time.
Where is happiness and true godly spirituality found? People “spend their entire lives coveting and acquiring the possessions and relationships we figure will make us happy,” the author writes. But does that make us happy? Do those things and relationships make us happy? In a sense as the author states, “to actually find true and lasting happiness, we must somehow forsake these very desires.” I would agree with that statement to some degree. Things and relationships do bring us a certain amount of happiness but they do not fully, and can never fully, satisfy us in a way that brings deep and lasting contentment. Often, people are very wrong about what they believe will bring them happiness, and especially what will bring them deep and lasting contentment.
St. John of the Cross, who authored the Christian Classic Dark Night of the Soul wrote, “If you purify your soul of attachment to and desire for things, you will understand them spiritually. If you deny your appetite for them, you will enjoy their truth, understanding what is certain in them.” What truly has value and what does not? What is the value in each thing, each activity, in our lives?
Jeanne Guyon wrote in A Guide to True Peace therein stating, “If the malignant enemy is not resisted in his first attack, he enters by gradual advances, and takes entire possession of the heart: and so long as opposition is deferred by habitual negligence, the power of opposing become every day less, and the strength of the adversary proportionally greater.” The Enemy (thief) will steal, kill, and destroy our peace and our joy (John 10:10). However, the truth be told he cannot do anything lasting to us until we open the door to him. Resist and he will flee (James 4:7). However, the first portion of that verse, James 4:7, is extremely important. “Submit yourselves to God.” We must submit to God first, in order to have the strength and grace to resist the devil.
The author talks about that internal tug of war going on in each of us. God making His presence known within our conscience and that malevolent intelligence within us that makes us ultimately rebel against our God-given conscience, against God Himself. Even though Christ might have us there is a battle for our daily life (our soul – our mind, will, and emotions) going on all the time. That battle is fuel by pride, pride in every form, the pride deep within each one of us – the sin nature. Pride is like a living being, and living beings can be either feed or starved. Paul said it best, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31). The author makes a wonderful statement, “As our pride (or “sin self”) diminishes and dies through our obedience to God, the direct result is that our “good side,” our true, God centered character and identity, enlarges.”
When we starve our pride, our dark side, the born-in-sin nature, we draw closer to God. When we pursue security, pleasure, comfort, the endless quest for new highs, the lust for power and prestige or when we escape into porn, drugs, entertainment, food, alcohol, shopping, whatever it might be, these things enlarge our pride. Enlarging our pride keeps us in conflict with our own conscience. Pride will also keep your eyes darkened to your own sin thus keeping your bound to your sin.
Living our way is a pursuit in pride though I doubt many people see it as the destructive pursuit and poison to life it actually is in truth. Pride, the pursuit of self, has a solution. Jesus gave us the answer very clearly. “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:25 (NKJV) When we live for Jesus, when we give up our own agenda, our pride, our pursuit, our ideas of what is best for us and we live Jesus’ Way life takes on a happiness, peace, and contentment that only Jesus can show us and be trusted to give us. No thing or person will be able to give us this degree of happiness and peace.
I will close by quoting the author who says it brilliantly, “I realize this is worlds apart not only from all that today’s pop psychology teaches, but also from much of what the modern church preaches. Be that as it may, it is the deep core of what the godly life once was understood to be in Christendom.”
“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:25 (NKJV) – Life Jesus’ Way, try it and open the door to…
We finish exploring chapter ten in the next posting. In the conclusion of this chapter review we consider the need to go within to walk in the Light of Christ.
How Evil Works
http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works
Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
The Marketing of Evil
https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption Disguised/dp/1942475217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483474172&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Marketing+of+Evil
Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Bible, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Darkness, Difficulties, False Doctrine, False Teaching, Godliness, Light, Pride, Renewal, Satan, Suffering, Trials, Truth
In Anxiety, Apostasy, Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Depression, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, False Doctrine, False Gods, False Teaching, Fear, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Humanism, Idolatry, Jesus, Loss, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Fruit, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on May 8, 2017 at 6:48 pm
Beware to the modern-day pastor who wishes to lower the Standard of God, the standard on being a Christian, so it will be tempting to those people who want heaven but they don’t want God’s government.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Bible, Biblical Principles, Christian, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Darkness, Difficulties, Forgiveness, Godliness, Happiness, Light, Love, Peace, Pride, Renewal, Satan, Suffering, Trials, Truth
In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Courage, Encouragement, End Times, Evil, Exhortation, Forgiveness, God, God's Voice, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Hate, Hatred, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Persecution, Prophecy, Prophet, Prophetess, Religious Freedom, Remnant, Renewal, Revival, Rhema Words, Spiritual Activism, Spiritual Activists, Spiritual Remnant, Spirituality, Suffering, Truth, Uncategorized on April 28, 2017 at 5:29 pm
In this piece, we will continue to review chapter ten of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works, along with addressing the mass exodus from the established church by sincere Christians. Please find a link below where you can purchase the book from Amazon, should you desire to do so.
To pick up where we left off – the mass exodus from the established church by born-again, spirit-filled, Jesus loving Christians. I have written about this exodus, the cause and effect, a great deal in the past on this blog. If you go through the archives you will find various posting on the topic along with a series titled, The Spiritual Remnant. Please review those posting for greater understanding on my observations over the last twenty plus years.
The author notes that the home-church is becoming the preferred method of “church” for most of those Christians exiting denominationalized religion and institutional church. I agree it is becoming a preferred method for many reason. The author and I agree that relationship connection, accountability, and freedom from the unnecessary politics of the established church are the primary reason. Rev. Billy Graham in his last televised evangelistic program both acknowledged and encouraged this growing trend. People are returning to the blueprint Jesus laid out so many years ago when He and the apostles started out. I believe there is a prophetic reason for the fact that this is happening in history at this time but that is something I do not wish to go into at length at this time – perhaps, in another posting.
A survey was done by for an article in the Washing Post and Barna estimated that 20 million Americans or more have left the established church since 2000 and turned to alternative forms of worship, study, and receiving pastoring. These forms include home churches, online faith communities, and workplace ministries. Why is this happing? I will answer that question by asking another question.
Over 80 percent of Americans are Christians attending thousands of churches each week. They hear the music, listen to the sermons, do missions, pray, and have ceremonies yet America is, as the author states, “rapidly losing her very identity as a Christian nation.” So why is this true? The answer to that is why Devout Christians are leaving the established church in rapid numbers. The needed Truths are not being told or received in most established church congregations today.
Another question posed by the author is why so many “born-again Christians are getting divorced, taking antidepressants, hooked on online porn, or just plain confused, resentful, and dissatisfied with life?” Again, the answer is both simple and very complicated at the same time; the needed Truths are not being told or received in most established church congregations today.
I was part of the “seeker sensitive movement” in the 1990’s, and I along with many others I have known and served with have repented for allowing that movement to shift from what God was doing too far the other way; though I personally did fight against, warn, and resist that shift. Many of us have sought to find the balance God originally intended between established religion (religiosity) and sincere godly Christian spirituality. It has been difficult because people love to live in the extremes, and those two extremes, religiosity or grace-abuse, seem to be the primary camps of congregations littering the current church landscape in America.
Kupelian states, “too many of our churches have lost the essence of what it means to walk with God and have filled the vacuum with either excitement and entertainment or dry theology and ceremony.” Bingo! Religiosity. Christianity is mean to be a spiritual religion not a legalistic religion like Islam – performing rituals to please God or a god.
We will continue our exploration of the tenth chapter of this marvelous book in the next posting. Where happiness and peace are addressed.
How Evil Works
http://www.amazon.com/How-Evil-Works-Understanding-Transforming/dp/1439168202/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-1&keywords=How+evil+works
Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms our country entirely. Evil can be understood and overcome before it transforms someone you know or even you. Knowledge is power and without it we will perish. We need to be extremely knowledgeable when it comes to evil.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
The Marketing of Evil
https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption Disguised/dp/1942475217/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483474172&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Marketing+of+Evil
Evil is sold in our society just as anything else might be sold, through marketing. Satan has marketed his product through those willing and those ignorant to his schemes. Through his craftiness he has turned the minds of even Believers to think that tolerance of his evil is some form of love. In so doing he has transformed to a large degree the once Devout Church and transformed our society to an enormous degree. He has not accomplished this without his workers however, the willing, the sold out for their own gain, and the ignorant masses following blindly behind the majority.
Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:
This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers, and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.
Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV
11And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
God's Truth in Love 