The
spirit of antichrist has been working in the world since before the
Flood of Noah, even till today.( 1 John 2:18, 22, 1 John 4:1-6, 2 John7 KJV)
It has one job. To create the Anti-Christ system in preparation for the appearance of Satan's messiah, the Anti-Christ in these last days
When
you see in the Bible the world being taken over by evil before the Flood of Noah. That was the
spirit of antichrist. When you see Nimrod building the Tower of Babel
and uniting the world against God. That was the spirit of antichrist.
When
you look at history and see all the world conquerors. That's the spirit
of antichrist. When you see the idol of Daniel, showing the kingdoms of
history. That is the spirit of antichrist.
When you see the 20th
century and the struggles between capitalism and communism and fascism
for global control, and control of the mind. That is the spirit of
antichrist.
As you see the uniting of the world through torment and destruction, and fear. That is the spirit of antichrist.
The
word antichrist, does not mean against Christ. It means "instead of"
Christ. It's job is to unite the world under the Anti-Christ, and get
them to worship, another god. That god being Satan who desires to be the
most high.
The spirit of antichrist does not care about our
politics. It uses all sides to push its agenda. It works through
individuals, groups, religions and governments to gain more control and
build the infrastructure for the Beast system.
There are humans
who rule this world, and have submitted to the antichrist spirit and
other demonic forces. These humans from top to bottom are deceived
slaves.
Even good Christian people can and are used by this spirit to help push the agenda.
The
Holy Spirit and God's Word, helps us to fight these things if we are
Saved and Spirit led. Remember, Satan can quote scripture and use it to
oppress people. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us into all Truth. It
is the power of the Holy Spirit that quickens, the Sword of the Spirit.
We
are called to fight the good fight of faith against the enemy in all
its forms. But, we know we have already won, and the final victory must
be Christ's.
When they say Christ has come, do not be deceived, you will know when your Lord comes.
When they say you are an extremist. Rejoice for so persecuted they the prophets before you.
When they threaten you, and strip everything from you, and beat on the door to come in, fear not for He is with you.
Remember, all these things must happen but the end is not yet.....for He is coming...quickly.
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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”—Heb. 11:1
Translation: Faith is made up of hope for things we do not see and have never seen, but have evidence for.
If we rightly divide this verse we first need to understand what “Hope” is.
Hope is not a “Gee I sure hope so.”
No, it’s “more like “My only hope”. It’s like a life preserver or
like a harness that a steel worker wears when he is on a high rise and
needs a safety line to prevent falling.
We hope for things we have never seen, but have been given evidence of.
We have never seen God. We have never seen heaven or hell.
But, things have happened in our lives that have given us evidence of the reality of these things.
We have seen God move in our lives and answer prayer. We have seen
people get healed of disease. We have seen blessings come to us and to
others. We have seen the beauty of nature and the signs it holds. We
have felt God in our spirit, comforting us.
This evidence is our lifeline to God. God provides this evidence so
that our lifeline will be stronger and cause us to reach out to Him more
and trust Him more. God Himself is our lifeline and He provides faith
for it.
He gives us faith at birth, and He builds our faith to believe in
Jesus Christ and put our faith and trust in Him. Then, He continues
throughout our life to build our faith. If we know Him.
Hebrews chapter 11 is called the faith chapter of the Bible. This is where we can get a definition of what faith is.
The very first thing it mentions is having faith in God’s creation.
Belief that God created all things out of nothing, simply by speaking it
into existence.
We believe in creation because God told us in His Word that this is
what happened. So, by faith we believe His Word. Our belief in His Word
makes us righteous. Abraham believed God and it was counted to Him for
righteousness. When we are told of Jesus Christ, we have the chance to
believe or not. If we believe, then we are believing the Word of God,
and we put our faith in Jesus Christ and we are declared righteous.
Jesus is the living Word of God. (Romans 4:3 Rom. 3:22)
God washes us and places us in Christ. This is what happened to all
the Old Testament saints. They believed God and God declared them
righteous and placed them in Christ. Just like us.
Remember God is not bound by time or place. God is not filled with
doubt. He knows for a fact that His plans will succeed. So, when an Old
Testament saint died, having never known Jesus, God places them in
Christ because they believed God’s Word.
So, if that saint was alive to today, and heard a sermon on Jesus.
This saint would have accepted Him. I know this might not be liked by
some believers, but every person who has ever been saved has been saved
by grace, through faith. Not by works. They did the works because they
believed the Word God gave them.
Grace comes from God and we see evidence, then choose to put our faith in Him at His Word.
Obedience or works are nothing without faith.
They are just rule keeping or going through the motions.
There are some things we cannot do without faith first. Like
Confessing Jesus is the Lord, or believing He came in the flesh. (1 Cor.
12:3, 1 John 4:1-3 )
Like Abel sacrificing the first of his flock, as a picture of the
future sacrifice of Christ. That’s what ALL sacrifices are. (Heb 11)
He did this because He received a Word from God, or believed the Word of God given to Him from Adam.
He then became a picture of Jesus, when he was killed by His brother
because of envy. Like Christ was killed by His brethren for envy. (Gen.
chapter 4, Matt. 27:18)
And they were sent to wander the earth.
We see that Enoch walked with God. He had a relationship with him,
just like we are called to have a relationship. But, it started by first
seeing evidence of God from God, or it came from a Word given from God
by someone else. Perhaps from Seth, or from Adam himself. (Gen. 5:22-24)
Remember Adam often walked with God in the cool of the day.
Do you see that our faith leads us to know God and walk with Him. it
leads us to seek Him and turn to Him and let Him direct our paths.
It’s a relationship not rule keeping. No one is saved by keeping the
law. We are saved by knowing Him. By confessing Jesus is the Lord and
having a relationship with Him by faith. (Rom. 3:20-31)
Noah built an Ark. Because He believed the Word given to Him and he
acted upon it. Who in their right mind would build an ark in the front
yard?
Our faith might lead us to do crazy things. It might lead us to look
strange or be persecuted. But, it might also lead to the saving of our
family, friends and world.
We see that Abraham believed the Word God gave Him, and he was made
righteous. He went unto a land that was not his own and trusted God. He
trusted God even though Abraham never saw the promise fulfilled.
There are things we are trusting God for. And we might never see it
fulfilled, until we stand with him on that day in glory. When we cross
into Paradise to be with Him, and we see the new heaven and new Earth to
come.
We seek a city, a country, a future place with God called Home. For this place is not our home.
Sara believed that God would give her a child in her old age. Even
through her doubt, God provided. Despite her laughter the promise came
and she was written in this book. Because God’s promises are not based
upon our faith, and obedience. But, on His might, grace, and goodness.
He does it. Not us. (Gen. 18)
Our faith often leads us to reject things in this life, knowing God has a better plan.
Like Moses who chose to reject the high living of Pharaoh and suffer
with His own people. Because He knew that he would be the Deliverer and
knew that Christ would deliver us all. (the book of Exodus, Acts Chapter
7, Hebrews 11:26)
All of the Old Testament saints teach us that God gives us a Word, and by faith we believe that Word and follow Him.
Jesus is that Word. And when we turn to Him by Faith, He saves us and
directs our paths through His Holy Spirit and the relationship we have
with Him.
Even through persecutions and a tough life we keep turning to Him and calling out to Him in faith trusting His Word.
And even if we do not see the promises fulfilled in this life, we know that there is a better day.
So, since we are surrounded by the great saints of old and the lives
they lived we can turn to Jesus and trust Him through faith like they
did. Setting down our burdens and letting Him wash away our sin. So, we
can be free to live the life with him that he called us to live. (Heb.
12:1)
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He wrote it, and will bring it to pass in our lives. Not by our works but His.
And it was a joy to Him to endure the suffering and shame of the
cross for us. Then sit down at the right hand of God in power. (Heb.
12:2)
Through faith we are saved and our faith grows as God builds it
through our relationship. And every bad thing we face, and every good
thing we receive, all works together to build our faith as we turn to
Him and trust Him.
And His promises will come.
They come today. They come in the future. And they come forever.
Trust Him.
-----
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
“Seek ye first my kingdom and my righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matt. 6:33
When we read scripture we need to “Rightly divide” it. (2 Timothy 2:15)
What does that mean?
Well, every word in scripture has meaning. They can often be linked
to other parts of scripture. When we want to understand or define
something, we need to use scripture to do it.
So, what does it mean to “Seek ye first my kingdom”?
It means to put the building of God’s kingdom first in your life. So,
how does that look? Well, it means that spreading the Gospel is the most
important thing to you. (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18)
You tell people about Jesus personally on a one to one basis. You
tell people about Him publicly; and you support ministries and
missionaries that actively spread the Gospel. You have a desire for
people to get saved, and you step out in faith, to let the Spirit work
through you in doing that work.
On top of that, we support and participate in Kingdom building
activities, such as loving people, healing people, helping people,
protecting people, growing people, serving people and feeding people.
All of this is done in His name, and with an eye toward Kingdom
building. Not being fake, or having an ulterior motive; but being real
in our purposes. We want people to realize that there is a God who loves
them and wants them saved, and that process starts now in this world.
Now when I say this, it makes it seem like I’m saying that you need
to become a preacher, or go door to door, or become a missionary. I’m
not saying that. God has given each of us different personalities,
different gifts, and different callings on our lives. Build your
relationship with God, and step out to do the small things and you’ll be
shown by Him what directions to take. But, be real. You don’t have to
take mission trips, or go to seminary. But, when a friend or neighbor
falls on tough times are you there? Do you tell them about Jesus? Do you
exercise your gifts at work? Not being preachy or holier than thou, but
someone that is approachable, helpful, and keeps a confidence?
We do this out of our salvation. We do not do it to be saved, but
because we want to tell people the great things God has done for us.
What is “My Righteousness”? We are made righteous,
because we believe God. We believe what He has told us in His Word. We
believe what He has spoken to us in our hearts; and we believe He has
called us. We believe what He tells us about Jesus Christ, being the
Lord, and we confess Him as our Lord. We agree with God that we are
sinners and need Him.
We believe our personal relationship with Him; and the great things
He has done in our lives. This causes us to live rightly as He grows us.
We study and live by His Word. We seek to grow our faith and our
relationship with Him. Not obeying rules, but growth through faith and
relationship. Seeking His righteousness, is to seek the relationship
with Him, and we grow in faith and spirit through it and Him. We cannot
be righteous without Him, and faith in His Word. (Rom. 4:3, Rom.
10:9-10)
“And all these things shall be added unto you.” What
things? The things we need, and even in many ways the true desires of
our hearts. God knows what all humans really need and want. He also
knows us personally. He is more than happy to provide these things. But,
always remember that our spiritual condition, our relationship with
Him, and His kingdom are paramount. Sometimes that will lead to great
hardship.
God is not shocked when you desire success or abundance or any of
“these things”. But, as we seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness; our
desire for, and our definition of “These Things” starts to change. We
become humble. We become meek, like a wild horse broken and trained for
battle. We become less needy, because we have all in Him. We succeed,
but our success is not apart from Him. He is always at the forefront of
our minds and what we do.
Now when I say that, I’m not saying we don’t sin. I’m not saying we
don’t forget God. I’m saying that He is a constant fixture in our lives,
and grows in it. It’s a growth in Him. If you’re not experiencing this,
ask God to give you more of Himself and He will.
John tells us that we will sin and fail, but we turn to God and ask
Him to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. (Unbelief) and He will. Then,
when we are washed we are as though we never sinned. god remembers it no
more. (1 John 1:8-10, 1 John 3:9)
Terrible things happen in this life and in this world. But, even in
the midst of these situations or places. “Seek ye first my Kingdom, and
my righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” is a
promise. It might not manifest the same in everybody or in every
situation. You might even be miserable for a while as He works things
out in your life. To be honest, there are believers who died serving
Him, and being in Him, long before any of “these things” manifested in
their lives. But, I can promise you they have “these things” today with
Him. I can also bet that the families they left behind were blessed. God
is just. He pays His workers.
But, like most of God’s promises it requires faith to get started. Do
you trust Him? Step out and start doing the little things and begin to
grow. He will lead you and guide you; just go. He will move. It doesn’t
matter where you are. Seek His kingdom and His righteousness. Do it from
a pure heart, wholeheartedly. If you can’t, then ask Him to give you a
clean heart, and help you to be pure in your motivations toward Him and
others.
Then watch your views of what “these things” are change and turn to
what He wants you to view them as. Your relationship is with Him; no one
else. We answer to Him. Build His kingdom, and He will build yours.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
Jesus tells us a story about a young man who left home and went to make a name for himself. (Luke 15:11-32)
It could be a kid going to college with his parents credit card.
Or a kid chasing a dream with his fathers support and blessing.
We know this guy. We have seen him or her in our families or neighbors. We have seen them in ourselves.
We are free. We don’t have to answer to anyone.
We are trying to make it. We are chasing a dream or forced to take care of ourselves.
But we get pulled off the path.
Like the man in Jesus’ story.
He started riotous living. He started making friends in low places.
He was meeting all the best guys or best girls. He was getting drunk and
using drugs of all kinds. He was down at the club, or local bar. He
woke up next to all kinds of people.
And all the dreams died.
We’ve been there, or seen people there. We can smell the smells,
taste the tastes and hear the sound of the music thumping. We’ve done
the beer runs, and smoked the things that make us wanna go get some
more.
They are living for the party. Living for friends. Maybe living the
dream. But, it’s not the real dream. It’s not real hopes and dreams.
Jesus says that trouble comes. A famine in the land.
And trouble always comes. The party always ends.
It could be an accident that causes it. Maybe a divorce or break up. The loss of income and friends. Illness.
But, the party ends.
This causes us to get desperate. These times of trouble can lead us
to draw more into the party life, trying to hold on. Drinking and
drugging more to try to numb the fear and pain. Chasing things that is
not good for us. Trusting people we should not trust. Waking up in
places we do not want to wake up in. As our friends abandon us.
And we break. We have no choice. We are ruined.
Jesus said, the man went and got the worst job possible. The lowest of the low, just to keep himself from starving.
But, even that wasn’t working. He wanted to eat the pigs food.
We might end up homeless, digging in the dumpsters. We might even
consider a life of crime. Stealing, selling drugs, stripping and
prostitution to survive.
We hit rock bottom. We are as low as we think we can go.
Do not be deceived. There are always worst things that can happen. Rock bottom has a basement.
Jesus said, that the man woke up. He was willing to be a slave in His fathers house.
How desperate are you? Are you desperate enough to turn to God and
say “I can’t do it! I don’t know what to do! But, I need you! Do
whatever you want but please save me and help me.”
Are you so desperate to be free from your troubles and addictions and
life, that you just give it all to God, and even if He kills you or
throws you in prison or cripples you, it’s ok.
How desperate are you?
Jesus said the man went to see his father. He was desperate. He had ruined his life and was not worthy for anything good.
But, the father saw his child a long way off, and ran to him. And hugged him and held him.
That’s God.
He sees our broken and desperate heart, long before we even get to
Him. And He comes running. He comes running to save us and help us.
He wraps His arms around us and makes us His child. He brings us a robe and a ring and we are with the father forever.
And our life changes. We see things happening. Good or bad, but it’s
ok because the Father is with us. He shakes it out and gives us hope. He
grows our faith as we draw closer to Him. And we see him move. And more
faith grows.
The dreams come back to life and we see them growing in Him. We see
good things coming into our life, and it comes even more abundantly.
God himself is working in our life and everything is fine.
He blesses us where we are because we are His. We are His child and we turn to Him and know Him.
And He always comes running when we turn to Him. He always moves to
help us, even when we can’t see it. He is working and it will work out.
He is with us.
The sign of Christ in you is not that you work to quit sinning.
It’s not that you pretend to be sinless, and go to your church every time the doors are open.
The sign is that you confess that Jesus came in the flesh, and confess Him as Lord. (1 John 4:1-3, 1 Cor. 12:1-3, Rom. 10:9-10)
The sign is that you love God and love others. (Matthew 22:36-40)
The sign is that you believe the Word. And you believe it so much
that you become a fool for Christ. You believe things that this world
rejects, and that makes us fools. (Rom.4:3, 1 Cor. 3:18-23)
The sign is that you believe so much that you do not want people to
suffer or perish. If you really believed you would be telling people
about the great things God has done for you and them. You would be
getting the Gospel out. (2 Peter 3:9, Matthew 10:32-33, Luke 8:38-39)
The sign is that you want to help people because you love them. You
want to go feed the poor, and clothe the naked. You want to visit the
prisoner and comfort the sick. You want to set the slaves free. (Matt. 25:31-46)
The sign is that you desire a relationship with Him, and things are
removed in your life that distract you from that relationship. You watch
for Him and grow in Him and will bear fruit. (John 15)
The sign is that you take all the bad that has happened to you, and
you turn it around for good. You use it to grow and to help others
overcome. You don’t bury it in the soil. (Matt. 25:1-30)
You use the gift God has given you to save and help others. You don’t
wrap it in a napkin and keep it in your pocket. (Matt. 25:1-30, Luke
19:12-27)
The sign of Christ in you is a focus and an urgency to build the
Kingdom. To seek His face. To let Him guide you and abide with Him.
(Matt. 6:3, Proverbs 3:5-8)
You endure hardness. Your endure molding as a potter molds clay. You
endure refining like a smith removing the dross from the silver and
gold. ( 2 Timothy 2:3, Jeremiah 18:1-6, Malachi 3:1-4)
And because of this, you won’t have the desire or time to sin.
But, you will sin. We all sin. If you say you don’t sin, then you lie
and Christ is not in you. When we sin we confess it to Him daily, and
He washes our feet. He cleanses us of all unrighteousness and works to
help us to overcome. And to Him, it is as though we never sinned.
Period. (1 John 1:5-10, 1 John 3:9, Psalm 103:12)
We do not sin because He does not hold it against us. When God says something doesn’t exist. It is gone.
He overcame Sin. He overcame Satan. He overcame Death. (John 16:33)
It’s all gone. That’s a fact. We are over comers in Him. (1 John 4:4)
Our faith grows in Him. As we know Him. Our lamps are full of the oil of faith because we have seen Him moving in our lives. (Matt. 25:1-13)
If you spend your life focusing on not sinning, your focus is on yourself. Not Christ.
Just let it go. Let Him remove what He sees fit. Let Him break you
and remold you. Trust Him. You will see yourself, sinning less. It will
just happen, as you focus on Him and let Him work. Remember, it’s about
you and Him. It’s not about what others think. (John 21:21-22)
What is written above is hard. But, its also easy because you cannot
do it. You just turn to Him and let Him do it. It’s not a checklist of
things you do. It’s a relationship that grows in you and you gradually
see yourself doing more of these things. Remember, dead things do not
grow. Are you growing in Christ, or are you dead?
This life is but a breath. This world passes away. Just turn your focus to Him.
He has overcome the world. He is eternal. And He is in you.
It’s supposed to get us to wake up and turn to God, so He can save us and help us.
We fall on tough times. We have a spouse who betrays us. We have kids
who reject us. We have friends and family who throw us under the bus.
We lose jobs and homes and friends. We are ruined, even by people who
claim to be good Christians.
But, God will establish you. Just turn to Him.
He promises.
“the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.”—2 Thess. 3:3 KJV
Speak this promise to yourself to build up faith. Faith comes by
hearing the promises of God. Speak it to yourself and hear what it says,
and believe it.
“The Lord is faithful. He will establish me and keep me from evil.”
Jesus prayed for you, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out
of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”—John
Chapter 17 (verse 15) KJV
It’s going to happen.
Just turn to Him. Pray and ask Him to save you and help you. Trust Him. Follow Him.
We can look at Joseph. ( Genesis Chapter 30-Chapter 50 KJV)
His brothers betrayed him and threw him into a pit.
That’s just like how you’ve been betrayed or lied to or destroyed by people claiming to be family or friends or others.
They were going to kill him, but God used one of the brothers to speak mercy, because God had a plan.
He has a plan for you. He has made a way for you to escape. Trust Him.
They sold him into slavery.
They lied to his father, and anyone else who might need to know. They covered up their lies and betrayal.
When you do good you don’t have to hide it. When you do God’s will, it’s ok if you get found out.
But, God was with Joseph.
I’m sure there were some times, when it was scary, and Joseph didn’t
know what was going to happen. There were probably times the devil
whispered into his ear to get him to fear and doubt.
I’ve had the same. You probably have to.
But, God came through.
Joseph went to work for a decent man named Potiphar, who God used to
lift Joseph up to the highest place in that man’s household.
God established Joseph. He set him in charge of everything. Simply because Joseph trusted God.
What the devil tried to destroy, God saved and established. What his brothers sought for evil, God turned around for good.
And He can do it for you. He’s done it for me, and will again.
But, the devil wasn’t done with trying to derail God’s plan.
Potiphar’s wife came tempting Joseph.
The type of temptation is irrelevant.
The devil can use all kinds of things to try to trip us up.
He tempts our flesh to see if we will bite. Then he destroys us. It
could have been theft, or too much wine. It could have been an accident
or misunderstanding. It could be a bad boss who the devil uses to get
you to fail. If you fail, just turn to God, confess it and let Him grow
you.
But Joseph did not fail. He resisted and resisted.
He wanted to be right with God. The God who had established Him. The God who had given him everything.
But, Potiphar’s wife lied and falsely accused Joseph. And he was thrown into jail.
You might have been lied on. They might have twisted things to
destroy you because you would not submit to their evil ways or abuses.
They might have listened to the rantings of a petty person who always
wants to get their way.
Remember God sees. Revenge is His, He will repay.
And He will establish you. Which is probably the best revenge. Keep your heart pure, despite their evil.
God established Joseph again. He made him head trustee in the jail.
That’s God. He can bless you in the midst of terrible things.
When they seek to do you wrong, know that God will establish you and
keep you from evil. He will bless you. He turns all things around for
our good. Just turn to Him and love Him.
All that time in Potiphar’s house, and being trustee in the jail was
preparing Joseph and training him. Not just in practical things, but
preparing him in spirit. Joseph continued to abide in God and trust Him.
Till the time came for the blessing to break free.
And God raised him up and established him again, as the head of
Egypt. It was an Egypt who needed a wise worker from the darkest pits.
God established him, and He will establish you.
“The Lord is faithful. He will establish me and keep me from evil’
It’s a promise.
Turn to Him. Trust Him. Abide in Him. Have a relationship with Him. Endure the attacks that come and stay with Him.
God will establish you.
Your faith in Him and His promises will move mountains.
And on that final day, you will be with Him in Paradise.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
Is it complaining against God? Or complaining about life? or
complaining all the time? Or is it actually speaking the truth against
false things? Sometimes the Holy Spirit shows us things that are wrong,
and we don’t know how to properly deal with it.
I have been involved in Christian Ministry for over 20 years. I’ve
been to churches where the members are silent about the most ridiculous
ungodly activities and projects, because they do not want to be accused
of murmuring or complaining.
In the book of Exodus Chapter 4 and Numbers 17, we see that the
Israelites are murmuring and complaining against the Lord, and He
expressly condemns it.
Some Leaders in churches use this verse and others as a tool to stop
ALL dissent in a church. According to these leaders, the flock are
supposed to accept and silently go along with everything the leadership
does. They are supposed to be silent in the face of abusive behaviors,
and the latest fad that does nothing for the Kingdom.
That is false. Sin in leadership, is still sin. Does God support sin?
The scriptures speak of false teachers, false prophets, and false brethren. (2 Cor. 11:28, Gal 2:4, 2 Peter 2)
We are supposed to be wary of such things. That means we should rebuke and stand against it.
As the latter days get closer and closer things will get worse and
worse. Believers need to stop being silent about the direction their
churches are going in.
When the Holy Spirit reveals that something is not right. Your duty
is to pray and ask the Lord, whats wrong. Pray for the people, and study
the Word to make sure you are correct. Sometimes, it’s better to just
pray, than to confront. Or speak out.
But, when the Lord leads you to speak out, do it in the right way, with love and respect.
You will probably be rejected and ignored, or even attacked. You
might be accused of causing division or murmuring and complaining. You
might be treated as a troublemaker, and never asked to do anything in
the church.
Yes…these are Christian people who do these sorts of
things to other believers. There are people in churches who are about
controlling things not building the Kingdom.
Understand that “Murmuring and Complaining” in the book of Exodus,
was a specific thing. They were saying that they wanted to go back to
Egypt. They spoke of all the good things of Egypt.
You have to understand what this really is.
It’s like if God delivers a man from alcohol abuse.(Egypt) and the
man constantly says that his life was better as a drunk. He misses the
parties, and fun. Even though God is moving him to a good place.
That’s what murmuring and complaining is. It is not speaking against
false brethren or leaders, or opinions on how to spend money. If
leadership must twist scripture to maintain control, then that should be
a red flag. You need to know this because churches in these last days
will be ran by false brethren and teachers. Look at China today. The
legal above ground churches are all ran by pastors who are taught in
government funded colleges and are government sanctioned, not God
ordained. The churches from God are underground. In China, if you speak
out against false doctrine they call the secret police and you find
yourself beat. That is where we are headed globally.
Real murmuring and complaining is against the work God is doing in
us. It is a tough work. It is a battle between spirit and flesh. The
flesh wants to go back to Egypt, but the Lord is taking us to the
Promised Land. The journey is hard. We might lose jobs and homes, and
friends, and family, and reputation and everything that we hold dear.
But, we are gaining the Lord. He is our promised land.
The minute He saves us we have Him. IF we really have Him. Then He works in our lives to change us.
The Israelites refused to confess Him as Lord and trust Him. It’s not
about the Law. Joshua and Caleb were not saved because they obeyed
rules. They were saved because they trusted in God alone for salvation.
They did not trust in their own strength, but in His. They believed His
promises. When we complain about the Lord, we are doubting Him. It
destroys faith in us and others.
We are called to abide in Him. That is a relationship.
When we cry out to God, He comes running. But if we are not willing
to really give ourselves to Him, then we are not saved. The Israelites
refused to trust that God was good and doing good things. This is the
same lie Satan told Eve in the Garden. He got her to doubt God’s
goodness, and promises.
So, understand that murmuring and complaining is about a specific
thing in the scriptures. It is not a blanket term to be used to silence
people. In the book of Acts, murmuring led to the creation of the
deacons. (Acts 6:1-8) So, as I said the Holy Spirit could have stirred
some of the people to notice something was wrong, and used it to help
the early church, and the deacons were formed. In today’s churches if
someone said that the widows were being neglected, they would be called a
complainer. They would have to speak to 5 different committees and then
go before a business meeting, and then just maybe they might get
something fixed. At least until the next committee takes over. Unless of
course, they are a member with money. (James 2:1-9)
In Phillipians, it says “Do all things without murmurings and disputings:” (Phil. 2:14)
In context, this is referring to two things. God’s working in our lives, and our appearance before the unbeliever.
“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling.For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:12-13)
God’s
work in our lives can be hard. If we are not careful it can open doors
for a spirit of bitterness. Where we become snarky and talking trash
about the hardness of the battle between the flesh and spirit, or the
changes in our lives.
This phrase “work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling” often leads people to wrongly assume it refers
to a works based salvation doctrine. but it’s actually referring to
dealing with the work God is doing in our lives. Like a child whose
parents have decided to move to another city for work. The child has to
work out how to deal with this, while not becoming angry and bitter.
They have to work out how to deal with the loss of a school, and friends
and a life they had. Major changes happen when we really turn to God,
and we need to work out how to deal with it and not become bitter.
This bitterness can lead to murmurings and disputing with others in
the church. So Paul goes on to explain, that we should be of one mind
and not murmuring and disputing in front of those who we are trying to
help, and lead to Christ. Again, it is not a blanket verse to silence
people from speaking out when something is wrong. It is an admonition to
do it properly, at the right time, and in the right way, when possible.
Course, understand that control freaks and oppressors, also control all
the means of speaking out.
We can see in the next verses that Paul’s admonition for us to not murmur and dispute is to avoid driving people from Christ.
“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without
rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye
shine as lights in the world;
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the
day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
(Phil. 2:12-16)
Our murmuring and complaining doesn’t hurt God. But, it can drive
others away from knowing Christ. Because who would want to join a group
that is so un-happy? And again, it comes back to false leadership.
Leadership should solve things properly. Not just silence dissent.
Leaders who do not treat people rightly, are actually engaging in the
thing they seek to stop. Hiding it, doesn’t fix it. It is fixed through
love, and a proper answer that heals.
Not only does complaining drive people away in church situations, but
also in your own life. Nobody wants to be around that. If every time you
come around it is always negative or complaining. No one will want to
be around you. Drive that demon out.
A final word on murmuring and complaining is that when you do it, you
are driving away your blessings. The tongue has power. You can speak
the promises of God and believe them and watch Him work. or you can
speak negative, complaining words, and watch it work. Both will reap a
harvest. If you constantly speak negative things about yourself or
others, do not be surprised if it doesn’t become true in your life.
We reap what we sow.
As we get more and more into the latter days we need to get rid of
the false beliefs and teachings we have clung to. God will do it if we
don’t. Scripture says that we are to judge ourselves lest we be judged
with the world. In these last days, the things we have done or not done
can come back to haunt us if we refuse to see it and confess it to the
Lord to change it. This goes for entire churches, not just individuals;
as it shows in Revelation. So, when we see wrong things in the church
we need to speak out about it. This is judging ourselves as a body. It
is not complaining. (1 Cor. 11:31-32, 1 John 1:9-10, Rev. Chapters 1-3)
As we move into these latter days we are going to face tough times.
We will see that the things we complained about and disputed over,
really do not matter. When you can barely afford heat, new carpet won’t
matter. When you have to quietly meet in a hidden basement because of
persecution, having the latest sound systems and praise music, won’t
matter any more. There are believers all over the world, who have
nothing. While we bicker and destroy peoples faith because of opinions
on a building or types of paint, or views on doctrines.
Only God will matter, as He leads us through the dark dry desert in those days.
Don’t be like Lot’s wife, who desired the fine things and life of Sodom.(Gen. 19)
Understand that the Bible is full of these warnings for a reason. It
is not about murmuring and complaining. God can handle your complaints.
It’s about looking back after putting your hand to the plow. (Luke 9;62)
It’s about never confessing Him as Lord, and never having a
relationship, and never knowing Him. It’s about not trusting Him. The
Israelites in the wilderness did not trust Him.
If we do not know Him. We cannot trust Him. We cannot abide in Him. (John 15:4)
Our complaining is a reflection of our feelings toward God and His
promises. It drives people away from Christ and us. It drives blessings
away.
Turn to Him and trust Him.
—–
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
This world is a terrible place. We all face difficult things that
cause us trouble or hurt. Sometimes, it’s our own fault. But, many times
it’s not.
We struggle with our own thoughts and behaviors. We get hurt by what
others do and what the system does to us. Meanwhile we all face disease,
disaster and death. This includes any generational curses or spiritual
attacks we face.
Standing on God’s promises can help us overcome these things.
Speaking God’s promises out loud to ourselves and others and believing
them can help us get through this world and into Paradise in the next.
Reading through the Bible, you see that faith, and trusting God is
the most important thing. Believing what God tells us matters. We are
made righteous by believing God. We can see mountains move by believing
God instead of trusting our flesh and our fears.
In the beginning the first couple listened to lies and did not trust
God. They didn’t believe what God told them, and all the trouble in the
world came upon us because of it.
Through out the Bible there are choices given to trust God or not.
But, our flesh, our fear and the enemy leads us to not trust Him. Even
in our own lives we have terrible problems and choices which arise where
we can choose which way to go. To trust God or trust our own flesh.
It’s a battle. We can turn to God or not, in every situation.
So, what does it look like to use God’s promises?
Let’s say we are facing a problem. It doesn’t matter what it is, because the solution is to always turn to God.
So, we pray.
Then, immediately after the prayer, we might start doubting God. Our
thoughts come to attack us, our fear rises up, and people close to us
keep sowing doubt.
Stand on the promises of God.
Jesus said, “whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my
name, I will do it.”–(John 14:13-14)
Believe this. Say, “Jesus said that whatsoever I ask in His name He will do.”
Speak this to yourself and others. You are not demanding. You are
reminding yourself, and encouraging yourself. You are driving away the
enemy, of fear, doubt, flesh and devils.
Paul said “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”–(Rom 10:17)
That means our faith grows when we hear God’s promises. So, speak
them out loud and let your faith be strengthened against whatever is
against you. Speak the promises to your family and friends.
Jesus said “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say
unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove;
and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”–(Matt. 17:20)
If faith comes by hearing, then faith increases through speaking the
Word of God. And if that faith can grow to the size of a mustard seed we
can speak to mountains and remove them. Faith can remove mountains in
your life. But, you gotta speak the promises and Word of God out loud.
Do you believe?
Demonic forces whisper into our mind and lives, causing us to doubt. They turn our flesh against us and we forget God.
Speaking the Word out loud reminds us. Hearing the promises grows our
faith. Speak them to yourself and others. Are you ashamed of Jesus? Are
you ashamed of the Word? Then, speak it loud and proud.
Let’s say we fear failure. We speak “No! God is faithful. He will
establish me and keep me from evil. In Jesus name.” Say it. Believe it.
(2 Thess. 3:3)
Get away from people who sow doubt. Get away from faithless people
who tell you the facts. God doesn’t care about your facts, He is a
miracle making God. He will use all the facts to prove we can trust Him.
Stand on His promises.
When in doubt say, “No! I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. In Jesus name.” (Phil. 4:13)
When we are facing real terror, we can say the Psalms soldiers have used for centuries.
“Terror, and destruction will not harm me. I trust God and have made
Him my refuge. No evil shall befall me. In Jesus name.” (Psalm 91)
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want, In Jesus name” (Psalm 23)
“He will protect me from the pestilence. I am healed in Jesus name.” (Psalm 91)
Stand on the promises. Trust the Lord. Cast out demons. Speak faith in your life and others.
Does this mean we can jump out of an airplane without a parachute and just trust God’s promises?
Jesus said “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” (Matt. 4:6-7)
This is the sort of faith destroying question the devil asks.
Whether it’s your mind, other people or the devil. There will be
folks who will try to crush your faith. Whether intentionally or not.
Get away from it.
God wants us to trust Him. He wants us to use His Word to stand
against the problems we face. Speak it out loud in Jesus name. Remind
yourself of His promises. Trust Him.
This not only applies to our lives, but it is the foundation of our Salvation.
We believe and trust that Jesus is The Lord. We believe and trust
that He is the Son of God, and came in the Flesh. We believe and trust
that he died for us and rose from the dead for our justification.
It’s a promise. It’s the Word. He’s the Word made flesh.
Ask Him to save you. Confess Jesus is the Lord. Trust and believe the
Word. Speak the promises into your life. But you gotta know the Word to
speak the Word. Do you know it? Do you know Him?
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
We all face trouble in life. It is something we can all agree upon.
No matter who you are, something bad will eventually come to cause you
trouble. Something will break your heart. Something will break you down.
Something will make you crazy, concerned or confused.
When we look at the story of Job in the Bible. We see a lot of spiritual truth that we can apply to our lives.
Now, understand that trouble is relative to you. Just because someone
on the other side of the Earth is in extreme poverty with nothing.
Doesn’t make your problems any less concerning. Just because someone
else is dying of some terrible disease, doesn’t make your troubles any
less destructive to your life.
Evil is evil, in whatever form it manifests. We need to stop
belittling peoples troubles and start solving problems. It’s very
possible that if we solved the petty problems, they would not become the
huge problems. If we cared about the person who can’t afford simple
things, we might also care about the person in total poverty and solve
the problem. If we care about the person with a flu bug, we might also
care about the dying man, or even prevent disease from growing.
I say this because Job, faced terrible tribulation. He lost
everything he owned, His children were all killed, and his health was
attacked. On top of that, his wife was against him.
Just because Job’s troubles were really bad, doesn’t mean yours are
not concerning to you. The Bible often gives us the most extreme vision
of things so that we will see that our troubles are also able to be
overcome. The same faith can overcome all of it. The same God is with us
in all of it, no matter how big or small.
In the book of Job, Satan comes to God and asks to test Job. He claims that if Job is mistreated he will turn from God.
That is the focus of the story and that is our focus. Nothing else matters.
It doesn’t matter how bad the trouble was. It doesn’t matter if God
allowed it. It doesn’t matter if Satan did it, or God did it. None of it
matters.
Because Job had no clue. He just knows he is having trouble. His
whole life has been upended. We even see toward the end of the book that
Job is confused and has questions. It’s ok to have questions, doubts
and confusion. But, Job turned to God. Job stayed with God. That’s the
point.
When we face trouble, we often have no clue what’s going on. We might
think it’s nature. Or God is punishing us or the devil is attacking us.
We might know exactly what we did or didn’t do. We might be suffering
because of something done to us by people who claim to love us.
None of it matters.
The answer for all of it is the same. Turn to God.
Pray to Him, ask Him to save you and help you. Listen to His guidance.
Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15)
He turned to God and trusted Him. Even if God chose to kill him, Job
knew God was good and had good reasons. He trusted God, and continued
walking in the way that he was walking in his life, because he did not
see that he had done anything wrong. And he hadn’t. God will let you
know.
The whole point of the story is that Job turned to God and stayed
with Him. No matter how bad. No matter what philosophies, or good
intentions from friends. No matter how much a friend called him a
sinner. No matter how much pain and humiliation. Even when his wife, was
led by Satan to say, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse
God, and die.”
Job stayed with God. He trusted God and turned to God.
Now understand that I am not talking about going to church. You can
go to church all you want and still not know God. You can be the
greatest member of your church and still be lost.
Do you know Him? Do you trust Him? Turn to Him.
This can be seen in the Garden when Satan through the Serpent,
tempted Eve. He caused her to doubt God’s promises and His goodness.
(Gen. 3)
That is the the devil’s favorite tactic. To get us to stop trusting
God and to not reach out to Him. Once that’s done, we have no real hope
or real help. We are defenseless and powerless.
This is why God brought the curse. It is designed to cause us to turn to God.
When Adam ate of the fruit all humanity gained a corrupted nature
through him. The only solution is to turn to God for salvation and
help. The Curse causes us to seek that help, if we are willing.
Always turn to God. Turn to Him in everything, and He will save you, lead you, grow you and know you.
You have a choice. Do not let trouble or the enemy drive you away from God. Turn to Him and let Him work.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
If you seek to save yourself you've destroyed Grace.
"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.And
if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more
grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace: otherwise work
is no more work."---Romans 11: 5-6 KJV---all verses are KJV
In this verse in Romans, Paul makes a statement
regarding grace that should settle all matters regarding salvation by
faith, or works, or whether you can lose your salvation, or whether you
must do works to maintain it.
He plainly states, that it cannot truly be grace if you have to do anything to obtain it, or keep it.
The whole idea of grace is negated by any notion of effort on our part.
The
King of everything is offering us salvation, adoption, total
forgiveness, mercy, joint ownership of the Kingdom, all for free,
forever, if we just turn to Him, and ask. Confessing Him as our Lord,
believing and trusting Him alone.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."--- Eph. 2:8-10
We are saved by grace. THROUGH faith.
Faith is a medium. It's like a telephone line that connects us to God's Grace. We are not saved by faith, we are saved THROUGH faith.
God
does not want anyone boasting or acting like they did some great deed
to be saved, or that they were obedient servants. We must accept our
fallen state and inability to save ourselves, in order to receive God's
Grace. That's part of it. You must acknowledge your need for him alone.
But, here's where we encounter a problem.
Some
people want to use Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 as an excuse to try to
save themselves. It will not work. We cannot save ourselves or even help
God at all. The second you try or think you are, grace ends.
After
Adam fell humans became corrupted with a sin nature. We are not able to
do right or fix ourselves. This is why God gave us the law. The purpose
of God's law is to show us we cannot obey it and need to turn to God
for salvation. This is why Jesus came to save us. We are not saved by
doing the works of the law. We are saved by Grace. We are saved through
faith in Christ alone. We follow the law because it helps us avoid
trouble in this life. But, it does not save us.
Let's rightly divide the Word, in verse 10.
"We are HIS workmanship"= It is God's Work not ours. "created in Christ Jesus unto good works"=
We are "Born Again" or Created in Christ, to build the Kingdom, to
Spread the Gospel. to love and help people. These are the works we do.
"which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."= God already had a plan for our lives in Him and wants to work through us.
This
is not about our salvation. We cannot do the works God desires without
first being saved and letting Him work through us, by His Spirit.
But,
some continue to use this verse and other verses to attempt to prove
that we must pay for our salvation or do something to earn it.
The
fact that they think they can earn it, is proof that they really do not
understand how wicked we are. It proves God right, when He says "None
seek God". We
seek ourselves, when a person wants to save themselves. (Romans 3:11)
When you wonder if someone can
lose Grace. The answer is no. But, many "Christians" have never received
Grace. Because they have chosen to earn it themselves, And force others
to do the same.
They don't lose it. They
never had it. They never fell on their face and said "Have mercy on me a
sinner". They never really had any oil in their lamp because they never had faith in God. ( Luke 18:10-14)
Let God save you.
Just turn to Him and ask Him to save you. (Acts 2:21)
Confess that Jesus is your Lord and believe He rose from the dead. (Romans 10: 9-10)
Believe He has saved you and is working on you. Trust His promise. It's not a feeling.
God
has saved you, if you asked him to. Now He will start working in your
life to help you to have more faith and grow in Him. To help you serve
Him. He will lead you to study his Word and find a place where you can
be with other saved people.
Trust Him.
Let me give you a little analogy.
Let's say there's a parent and a child.
Which is better?
The child that ignores the parent, and goes its own way and is hurt or has a ruined life?
or
The child who chooses to read about the parent and rules and laws, obeying them perfectly but never really knowing the parent?
or
The
child who turns to the parent and says. "Please help me". The child who
chooses to turn to the parent and ask them to help them and grow them.
The child who wants a relationship?
Which is better?
It's kind of a no brainer.
Turn to the Lord and trust Him.
-----
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
