God's Truth In Love

Archive for the ‘Marriage’ Category

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GOD Growth in COVID-19 / Couples Growth

In Adultery, Agape Love, Biblical Principles, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Contentment, Coronavirus, Coronavirus/COVID-19, Couples, COVID-19, Disunity, Divorce, Godliness, Learning, Lifestyle, Love, Marriage, Renewal, Repentance, Revival, Righteous Living, Righteousness, Uncategorized, Unity, Wisdom on April 2, 2021 at 8:33 am

Over the last few posts we have taken a look at the GOD growth in individuals and families during the pandemic. Today we take on the matter of growth in the couple relationship. I use the term GOD growth because God wants to bring about change in people that draws them closer to Him and that causes them to implement His Principles regardless of whether or not they have come to trust in Him for their salvation as of yet or not. God is about seeing His Will and His Principles come about in our society, in our homes, and in us personally before and after we enter that personal relationship with Him.

Questions to ponder. Why do people find it easier to bad mouth their significant other or spouse rather than express openly to other people what they like about the person? Why are their negative traits a more interesting topic of discussion than their positive traits? Society presents the idea that to complain about your spouse is funny and entertaining, but is it really? Why does society want to perpetuate the idea that loving relationships are rare and so hard to come by?

Locked down, locked up, with your spouse during COVID-19; now this will make or break a marriage. When there is only the two of you, no children, no other distractions, you find out really quick whether or not you are just two ships passing in the night or two hovercrafts rotating around each other but never really coming in contact, not true contact. I believe if you went through this last year together primarily in lockdown and you still actually want to be together you might actually have a pretty solid relationship.

When we are alone with someone day in and day out, with them and with no one else, we see everything about them that we perhaps did not notice or that at other times are they were better able to hide. Especially during a crisis like the pandemic, we see their fears emerge, we see their insecurities at large, we see their compassion or lack thereof on display, we see their generosity and love or their selfishness and hatefulness. We talk to them more; we find out more about what makes them tick. We explore with them their hopes and dreams because when you are in a situation like we are in during this pandemic, locked down at home primarily, you cannot endlessly ignore the only other person in your spear, in your world for that matter for the most part, and you cannot talk about nothing nonsense forever. So eventually you dig down to what really matters, and that is when you begin to draw close to one another.

In this time of couple reflection many were able to find out how loved and cared for they made their spouse feel and the ways in which they did that. Also, they might have found out the ways in which they do not make their spouse feel loved and cared for and what they could do about it to change the negative impact on the relationship. For many it was a time of realigning the relationship and finding once again common goals and dreams.

A marriage is a covenant relationship. When someone badmouths their spouse for fun and the entertainment of people, they are betraying that covenant. What you speak about your spouse affect how you feel about your spouse. Your spoken words have a powerful effect on you and other people. People should rarely if ever hear from you what you believe to be “wrong” with your spouse or so my parents who believed in absolute loyalty taught me, just as the Bible teaching not to speak negative or harsh words (curses) against people. I have never found it entertaining to hear people teardown their spouse, and from what I have heard from other people they too think it terrible to listen to someone else do so, thinking badly of the person who is badmouthing their spouse, even if they themselves have been guilty of likewise at times.

I believe the select few in society who are not willing to do the work needed for a loving caring relationship like to perpetuate the idea that loving caring relationships are so terribly difficult to come by, in order to make themselves feel better about their own lack. Let them live in their isolation and loneliness, do not get sucked in, value the relationship you have and act like you do.

I want to close each of this series of postings with a quote from the original post, “COVID-19 – God and Man at Work.”

“Blessings from God are not just material or financial, more often the greater ones (blessings) are intangible such as growth and change.”

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GOD Growth in COVID-19 / Family Growth

In Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Contentment, Coronavirus, Coronavirus/COVID-19, COVID-19, Disunity, Divorce, God's Voice, Godliness, Learning, Lifestyle, Love, Marriage, Parenting, Repentance, Revival, Righteous Living, Righteousness, Uncategorized, Unity, Wisdom on March 18, 2021 at 10:30 am

In the last post we took a look at the GOD growth in individuals during the pandemic. Family growth is the topic of this post. I use the term GOD growth because God wants to bring about change in people that draws them closer to Him and that causes them to implement His Principles regardless of whether or not they have come to trust in Him for their salvation as of yet or not. God is about seeing His Will and His Principles come about in our society, in our homes, and in us personally before and after we enter that personal relationship with Him.

Questions to ponder. Why do people find it easier to talk about the dysfunction of their and other people’s families than they are able to find the courage to talk about the positive loving things within their family? Has society’s distorted view of family made people where they feel almost ashamed of loving, caring, normalcy?

Boy has the family dynamic changed over the last year amidst the COVID-19 lockdowns. With children out of school. Some parents unfortunately unemployed, and most of the other parents working from home, family has taken center stage.

We have all seen the news reports, where the anchor is attempting to do a new story via Zoom from home and the child is in the background doing all they can to get that parents attention, making the parents task almost impossible. Sometimes it is so cute you just cannot help but laugh. Other times it seems that the child is driving the parent to distraction. And on any given day it might be a little of both. Nevertheless, during the pandemic families have been forced to be together.

Just as with the private individuals, of course there are incidents where families crammed together had a negative impact for the family members. However in those situations there were most likely deep deep problems prior to the family finding themselves in lockdown together.

For many people, the endless hours of family togetherness have resulted in finding new ways to spend that time together. Finding out more about each other. A realization that all of the busy activities that both the parents and the children were involved in were robbing them of what was precious time together. It no doubt unearthed cracks in the foundation of the family that needed some repair. It helped fathers to realize what they are made out of as a father. It helped mothers to come to terms with just how much nurturing of their children they were doing and willing to do. For the children, it just may have created a new found respect for their mothers and their fathers and a greater understanding of them as real people.

For many families it created a much-needed family reset, which in America we need greatly for the American families to function in a moral and godly manner. God wants us to lift up the wholesomeness of family, not the dysfunction. To find the courage to speak out about the loving manner in which families should function or do function. We cannot allow the distortions of a backwards society make us hide our light under a bushel, when it comes to lifting up the ideal of loving, caring, normalcy in the family unit.

I want to close each of this series of postings with a quote from the original post, “COVID-19 – God and Man at Work.”

“Blessings from God are not just material or financial, more often the greater ones (blessings) are intangible such as growth and change.”

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COVID-19 – God and Man at Work

In Agape Love, Attitude, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Christian Lifestyle, Christian Living, Christianity, Church Growth, Contentment, Coronavirus, Coronavirus/COVID-19, COVID-19, Disunity, God's Voice, Godly Counsel, Holy Spirit, Love, Marriage, Repentance, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on February 28, 2021 at 9:25 am

During the whole of the pandemic we have heard so much about the negative affects that the isolation and the restrictive movement have had on people’s lives, or so we hear in our local media. However, I challenge the notion that it has been all bad.

What has God been doing in the lives of people as He kept children at home, dads at home, moms at home, couples at home together? What has God been doing during the time when He stripped away religious practice and worship truly was up to the private individual, in their own way, in their own home?

Has there been mental and emotional, and perhaps even spiritual problems due to the isolation and the restricted movements of the pandemic? Yes, of course there have been. There has been horrible abuse, horrible loneliness, and sin has existed. However, there has also been great growth for individuals, for families, and for couples. Growth we will explore in more depth in another post. There has also been more time for individuals to take a good look at themselves, to explore their own inner spiritual person, come to terms with and perhaps do something in response to what they discovered during the isolation that God has allowed in their life.

The pandemic has caused financial loss, but I dare to say that in a spiritual and relational level it has done more good for people than harm, and certainly more good than what was financially lost. Blessings from God are not just material or financial more often the greater ones are intangible such as growth and change.

Sometimes God has to get people’s attention, sometimes God has to get a country’s attention, but God always leaves people who are repentant better off than they were when He started a particular work in their life.

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How Do We Make Godly Decisions? – Study of Proverbs 6:32-33 – Men of Shame

In Adultery, Advice, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian Living, Decision Making, Discernment, Discretion, Divorce, Godly Counsel, Learning, Marriage, Masculinity, Proverbs, Prudence, Repentance, Uncategorized, Wisdom on July 13, 2019 at 10:43 am

The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.

Note – All words or phrases found in quotation marks are actual parts of the Hebrew definition(s).

32 But whoso committeth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. 33 A wound and dishonour shall he get; and his reproach shall not be wiped away.

Man of Shame

It seems this adultery theme is staying with us. It has been covered in many ways in our review and examination of this chapter of Proverbs. God has it covered so much because it is such a destructive force in a marriage, but to be honest I would really like to be done with the topic.

Okay, just when I make my last statement things get interesting. Verse thirty-two states that a man who commits adultery “lacketh understanding” and that by doing so, committing adulty, he “destroyeth his own soul.” When I examined this “understanding” that the man lacks I find something incredible but so powerfully true.

In the Hebrew language this means that the man lacks, “a heart and feelings” the man lacks according to the Hebrew language both proper “will and even intellect” he lacks a proper center to his life, Christ. What is in quotation marks here is right out of the Hebrew language, who would have known that lacking understanding actually encompassed so much.

The soul is where the mind, will, and emotions reside and verse thirty-two say that as a man partakes in any form of adultery, he destroys his own soul. It is something he does to himself. Wow see the connections between the lack of understand and the destruction of the soul; soul equals the mind (the lack of intellect), the will (the lack of willpower), and emotions (the lack of heart and feelings), the connection is incredible.

Let us look closely in the Hebrew language at what this destruction of the soul actually entails.

“destroyeth” in the Hebrew language means:

“to decay, (causatively) to ruin (literally or figuratively) to batter, cast off, corrupt, destroy, lose, mar, perish, utterly waste”

Wow, that is some severe damage.

I have known men who got caught up with women who were not their wives, I have seen what it did to them, their marriages, and their wives; needless to say the destruction done to the marriages and the damage done to the wives is heartbreaking but in some ways it is equally sad when you see it take a man who was once decent at heart and turns him into something barely worth giving a second glance, he becomes so utterly rotten and diminished as a man. I guess what I am describing that I see in this type of man is what is talked about in verse thirty-three.

He becomes a man of no honour any longer. The verse says that he has a wound, which in the Hebrew means he is scared, he has a “figurative infliction” notice it is “infliction” not affliction, infliction means he will suffer due to what he has done. The Hebrew say he becomes “a leprous person” someone treated like they have the “plague” and I am sure there are many wounded wives who can attest to that truth, they did not want the adulterous man touching them for some period of time, if not permanently. Those women who did allow it are incredibly strong women, rare women, though should the man continue or repeat his adultery even very strong women may begin to find it almost impossible to be touched by such a man.

This “reproach” that the man suffers due to his own actions is something verse thirty-three states never goes away. I think many men and women who have gone through this horrible blow to marriage would both agree that even in cases where the marriage survived, which is rarer than one might think, and God brought proper healing to the marriage, the marriage is never quite the same; the man is never view without the stain nor with the honor he was once viewed.

In the Hebrew language this “reproach” is describes as “contumely, disgrace, +the pudenda:— rebuke, reproach (-fully), shame.” “Contumely” being “harsh language or treatment arising from haughtiness and contempt” – the contempt felt for a man who would do such is great on his wife’s part, his children’s part and in many cases even his friends or co-workers. I almost hate to go here but the Hebrew refers to the disgrace, shame, and contempt that is felt both toward the man and his “pudenda” which is his sexual organ. For a wounded wife the idea of having his sexual organ touch her sexual organ must be a painful concept; something once beautiful is now marred with ugliness.

Oh men, I urge you it is far easier to avoid this trap and save your dignity than it is repair your dignity and recover the look of love and sparkle in your wife’s eyes.

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.

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How Do We Make Godly Decisions? – Study of Proverbs 5:15 –20 Infidelity – A Love Killer

In Adultery, Advice, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian Living, Confusion, Decision Making, Discretion, Divorce, Godly Counsel, Marriage, Proverbs, Prudence, Repentance, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on April 5, 2019 at 11:57 am

The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.

Note – All words or phrases found in quotation marks are actual parts of the Hebrew definition(s).

15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. 16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. 17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee. 18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. 20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Infidelity – A Love Killer

Infidelity of any kind, in any form, is the worst thing you can possibly do to a marriage. It is the betrayal of the love you share with your spouse. Infidelity tears at the covenant between a man and woman, a husband and wife.

Hence the reason God makes it plain to find our pleasures in all forms in our spouse. When we find our pleasure in the company of a member of the opposite sex, who is not our spouse, we are being unfaithful to our marriage covenant, whether that pleasure be sexual, spiritual, emotional, mental, intellectual, etc.

We are designed for deep intimacy with one person of the opposite sex, our spouse. It is in them we are to find our satisfaction on any level relationally with the opposite sex. “Fountains” in the Hebrew language means, “figuratively a source of satisfaction.”

A man is meant to continue with the wife to whom he marries in his youth (v.18), divorce is not God’s design though He does make provisions for allowing it to happen. Adultery does such severe damage to the marriage covenant that it is one of only two reasons God allows divorce. (One may divorce in the case of adultery, Matthew 5:27-32, or in the case of an unbelieving spouse who desires to divorce a Believer, 1 Corinthians 7:10-16. – However, as a Believer we are not enter into a relationship with an unbeliever in the first place, 2 Corinthians 6:11-18.)

Not only is a man to remain with the wife of his youth, she is the only woman he is to receive any sexual excitement or satisfaction from all the days of his life (v.19). Yes men, books, movies, computer images, thoughts of another woman, are sin, your thoughts are only to be for your wife. You are to keep your desires focused, and for that matter alive, for your wife. v.19 Note here that God addresses the man with the responsibility for keeping his interest in his wife alive.

Verse twenty asked the question, ‘Why would you want anyone else but your wife?’ That is a question for the ages. How many men thought they wanted something else other than the wife of their youth only to find once they had the woman they so thought they desired, and the bloom was off of the rose, they were longing to have the wife of their youth back, the woman who had loved them so, yet, in many cases it was too late or in the cases where they were able to have the wife of their youth back they had damaged the once precious love that woman had for them.

Adultery kills love, think twice before partaking in it on any level!

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.

Also, please keep me in your prayers and know that if God should speak anything into your heart as you pray for me regarding my life please feel free to share that with me. God speaks through His people.

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.

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How Do We Make Godly Decisions? – Study of Proverbs 5:1-14 – Adultery in the Flesh and in the Spirit

In Anxiety, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian Living, Confusion, Decision Making, Godliness, Godly Counsel, Marriage, Proverbs, Prudence, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on March 28, 2019 at 9:00 am

The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.

Note – All words or phrases found in quotation marks are actual parts of the Hebrew definition(s).

1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. 3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. 7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: 10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; 11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

Adultery in the Flesh and in the Spirit

The Law of Double Reference is when a portion of Scripture can be applied in more than one way, applied literally (in the physical) or figuratively (spiritually), and could apply to more than one person or group(s) of people at various times. A principle consisting of one of the afore mentioned variables or any combination thereof. The Law of Double Reference can be applied to Proverbs chapter five as the principles found therein can be applied to spiritual adultery, lack of the use of godly wisdom, and literal marital adultery.

In verses one through fourteen we can see the damaging affects and effects of adultery in a person’s life, the type of adultery found when one refuses to use godly wisdom as God instructs and instead decides ot use their own wisdom or worse yet worldly wisdom, which is represented by the ‘strange woman’s drops of honeycomb’ in verse three. The use of worldly wisdom in place of godly wisdom is a form of spiritual adultery against God our Creator, Christ our Savior.

Let us examine the fall-out we can expect when we fail to apply godly wisdom to our life, instead using worldly wisdom.

v.4 – The use of worldly wisdom is sure to result in bitterness and pain. The world’s ways of dealing with the events of life keep you bound to those events, they shape who you are, whereas godly wisdom applied when the issues of life arise will free you from the inner turmoil and the events of life just become things that have happened to you not things that have defined who you are.

v.5 Wordily wisdom will lead you to misery in life and in some cases death. Worldly wisdom pulls you down further and further, whereas godly wisdom pulls you up and out of your circumstances as an overcomer.

v.6 Applying worldly wisdom will mess up the course of your life, as only God knows His Plans and Purposes for you, therefore, only godly wisdom can help you walk in His Will, Plan, and Purpose for your life.

v.9 Your honor in life will be robbed from you if you choose the path of worldly wisdom. You will be treated with, or even set yourself up for, utter disrespect at times by people.

v.10 When you use worldly wisdom you find that other people will end up with your money and what you have worked for will end up in the hands of other people instead of your own.

v.11 The use of worldly wisdom can actually result in the loss of your health. You may find yourself simply wasting away with disease.

Abandoning godly wisdom and/or substituting worldly wisdom in its place is a choice you will come to regret, as verses twelve through fourteen point out. Verse seven and eight warns us to stay away from worldly wisdom. Perhaps we should listen.

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.

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How Do We Make Godly Decisions? – Study of Proverbs 3:27-30 – What of Your Neighbor

In Advice, Agape Love, Anger, Bible, Bible Study, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Compassion, Decision Making, Discretion, Encouragement, Exhortation, Forgiveness, Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Godly Counsel, Hatred, Learning, Marriage, Peace, Proverbs, Prudence, Truth, Uncategorized, Wisdom on July 11, 2018 at 12:05 pm

This blog will alternate with each post between two subjects. One week will address why churches are not growing, and the coming move of God. The alternate week the blog will continue with the in-depth study through the Book of Proverbs.

The Scripture passages are identified with bold upright font and the author’s notes are identified with italic regular font.

27 Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. 28 Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. 29 Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. 30 Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

What of Your Neighbor

First, I pose the question, “Who is your neighbor?” It is not just the people who live next door to you, it is also those individuals with which you come into consistent contact on a reasonability normal basis. Your neighbor is not everyone in the world however. A neighbor must be a person within your community or sphere of life. The Hebrew language regarding the word “neighbour” as found in verse twenty-eight defines a neighbour as “an associate (more or less close):— brother, companion, fellow, friend, husband, neighbour.”[1] Therefore, once again, a neighbor is a person with which one has some connection either through relationship or a shared area of living, working, recreation, church, etc.

The ”good” represented in verse twenty-seven is good in a wide variety of application in the “widest sense.” However, this good is to be done to “whom it is due” and according to the definition in the Hebrew language that is inclusive of only a spouse or someone individual with whom you are obligated such as an employer or overseer of some sort that has personal authority over your life granted to them through relationship, such as the head of an organization you volunteer for, the head of a committee you sit on, the person[s] in authority over you at work, etc. Verse twenty-seven does not apply to everyone a person would consider a “neighbour” and that is important to remember. Any good it is within your power to do for your spouse or your employer should be done as God prompts and directs. Yes, I know how difficult the last statement I made is to carry out in practical life. Good cannot always be granted to those who have repeated abused the goodness offered to them. A person must pray and allow the Holy Spirit to guide their actions.

Separately verse twenty-eight deals with helping our neighbor in need. If we have what our neighbor needs, and they ask us for what they need, it is not right in God’s eyes to withhold what they need from them. If we can help our neighbor with a true need, a need that is rare and not reoccurring due to our neighbor’s personal mishandling, and we can give said help without neglecting our own household then godly wisdom dictates that we should be willing to give that help without delay.

You and your neighbors should be able to feel they can live in community together without harm being done to each other and without a desire to perpetrate evil upon each other. We should not want to hurt or do harm to anyone, most especially those within our closes associations. That includes taking their lunch or soda from the frig at work, liberating aka stealing office supplies, taking the neighbors newspaper, borrowing from your neighbor with no intent of returning or repaying what you borrowed, etc.

If people have done nothing to us, then we should not seek to be disagreeable with them. We should not seek to argue for argument sake. However, verse thirty clearly reads that we should not seek to strive with another person “without cause” implying that there are times when there is cause to disagree or strive with another person, especially if they are doing us harm or seek to do us harm. We defend ourselves if we are harmed but when we are not harmed we seek to live in peace.

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.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 31 – Take Back What the Enemy Has Stolen

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.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt. 29 – The Enemy’s Lies

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.

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Evil Transforms (If We Let It) – Pt.20 The Cancer of Divorce

In Bible, Biblical Principles, Chrisitan Lifestyle, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Divorce, Femininity, Feminism, Forgiveness, Marriage, Masculinity, Truth, Uncategorized on December 7, 2016 at 4:29 pm

In this piece we will explore one last point from chapter eight 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 final point made in this chapter is in regard to marriage, divorce, and the affect of both on America.

Marriage is, among other things, the representation of God’s union with Israel (Isaiah 54:5) and Jesus’ union with The Church, The Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23-32). The hindrance of marriage is a part of the Great Apostasy (1 Timothy 4:1-5), which is to come on the earth. Marriage is meant to bring happiness to mankind (Genesis 2:18), be a means by which our races are continued (Genesis 1:27-28), and be a pathway for bringing children into the world to become godly men and women (Malachi 2:14-15). Marriage is a state of being that was, and is, instituted by God (Genesis 18-24), as a union between a man and woman (Genesis 2:22-24). It is meant to be a permanent bond (Matthew 19:6) between a man and woman that only ends or is broken by the death (Romans 7:2-3) of one or both persons. Divorce is only allowed based on biblical standards in the case of adultery (Matthew 19:9) or desertion (1 Corinthians 7:10-17). Yet divorce, and divorce for convenience sake, is common place in America’s society today.

Jesus’ teaching on marriage and divorce:

Matthew 19:1–9 (NKJV)

Instruction About Divorce

Mark 10:1–16; Luke 18:15–17

19 Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these sayings, that He departed from Galilee and came to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2 And great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them there.

3 The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

8 He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

As the author points out divorce is taking its toll on society and to a large degree destroying the very fabric of American society and the American home. The author, a man, seems primarily to put the responsibility on men when it comes to divorce. He states that a man should not blame a woman for giving up on him and divorcing him because “Your intense need for their emotional and sexual support, your selfishness, and impatience, your immaturity – all this and much more literally creates and feeds the resentment within your beloved.” He then points out that women are more vulnerable than men and that men must be strong for their wives inspiring their wives to be strong. The author also states that men should give up their “hurt feeling” that are often really anger toward the wife for being emotional and perhaps unreasonable because the man is actually the one who has created the frustration in large part in his wife, through the attitudes mentioned earlier.

Kupelian believes that “America needs to get a handle on its divorce epidemic.” It is producing and resulting in what he describes as “national suicide” one family at a time. The conflicts and pain builds up over the course of time and people reach a point where one or either both believes they cannot endure the painful presence of the other any longer. The author makes a profound statement however on this sad commentary, “How many marriages could be saved if the spouse intent on divorce were just to learn to give up all that anger toward the other?”

The continual and total release of anger, coupled with forgiveness can keep a marriage together throughout the course of a lifetime.

Ephesians 4:26 (NKJV)

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,

Ephesians 4:31 (NKJV)

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.

Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV)

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Matthew 6:12 (NKJV) Jesus speaking

And forgive us our debts, (trespasses)

As we forgive our debtors. (trespassers)

The author closes the chapter with three suggestions that would keep people from divorce. He offers simple suggestions but the suggestions are not simple things to do in a world where “me” is top priority in life.

1. Men need to stop viewing women as though they were created to serve their ego because women were not created for that purpose. Men should instead care for them simple to care about them, for who they are, not because of what you are getting from the relationship.

2. Women give up your anger toward your man. Realize their failure to find real, selfless love for you is a serious flaw they have, very serious. However, your resentment toward them because of this flaw is your serious flaw.

3. “Reject divorce as an option.”

In the next posting we will begin to review chapter nine of David Kupelian’s book, How Evil Works. That chapter deals with the evil power of hate.

 

 

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

http://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Evil-Pseudo-Experts-Corruption-Disguised-ebook/dp/B006N75LFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1443464127&sr=8-2&keywords=How+evil+works

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.