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.
-----
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.
I often run into Christians who speak of the devil as though he is
powerless and weak. That he is a defeated foe and not a real enemy.
It’s almost like they haven’t actually read the Bible.
Yes, Christ defeated Satan on the cross.
Yes, God is in complete control.
But, no where in the scriptures have I found instructions for us to ignore the enemy. or act like he has no power.
As a matter of fact the Apostle Peter says, “Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing
that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)
A lion will roar, and it will cause the herd to flee. This gives the
lion a chance to devour the young, weak and infirm. We have the power
through faith to resist. But, it is an obvious affliction on those who
are attacked.
It’s not something to be ignored, or belittled.
We are told in the book of Jude to not be foolish in how we speak of
Satan, the fallen angels and spiritual forces. They have power and
authority. (Jude)
Paul says That we are not to be ignorant of the enemy. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
So, we need to know what we are facing. Not to treat the enemy as if
he is nothing or ignore him, but to face the enemy properly.
We are called to resist. But, how can you resist if you do not know anything about the enemy? (1 Peter 5:8-9, James 4:7)
So, let’s do a quick overview of the enemy.
It is believed that Satan fell through pride because he wants to be God. (Isa. 14:12-15)
At some point after his fall, he used a Serpent to deceive Eve, and get Adam to fall. (Gen.3)
Adam had dominion of the Earth. But, when he fell Satan took that
dominion. That is how he became the god of this world. (2 Cor. 4:4)
There’s a lot more to this story, but it could lead to an entire book.
So, Satan has authority in this world.
Paul plainly states it. All the Apostles state it.
When a person is born into the world they are born in a right
standing with God. They are subject to death, but not hell. Until they
commit the first sin, knowing it’s a sin. Then, they are subject to
hell, just like all humans.
It is also at this time that the person becomes a slave to Satan.
They are his children. They are his slaves to various degrees.
(Ephesians 2:2)
Here’s where some Christians will jump up and say “Yeah but he is defeated! God is in control!”
Yes, Jesus defeated the enemy on the cross. And there will be a future victory as well. (Gen. 3, Luke 10:18, Revelation)
This means that when Jesus died and rose, He defeated Satan. He set
the prisoners free. ALL the prisoners or slaves under Satan’s control
are free. But, only a few will hear the call and turn to Jesus to obtain
it.
Saints are free from the control of Satan. We are saved and cannot
lose it. But, as the Bible warns we can open doors and let the enemy
back into our lives again. We can fall under that power. Take addictions
as an example. (Matt. 12:43-45)
We can also still be impacted by Satan working through other people or nature.
All of this is plainly taught by the scriptures.
But, there will still be those who say “Yeah but God is in control!”
He certainly is.
Nothing can happen to us that God has not allowed.
We see this both in the book of Job, and when Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked to sift him as wheat. (Luke 22:31-33)
Why? Why does God allow the devil access to us?
It seems that Satan has some kind of legal authority to ask, and
expect an answer. We can speculate on why this is. But, we do not fully
understand how things work in the spirit realms.
What we can say is that we have faith and power in Jesus Christ to
resist the enemy. We have access to the King in prayer. We have God’s
Word and promises we can stand on. We also have a relationship with God.
We know Him. We know His character, and the Holy spirit dwells in us.
So, we know that God is always good. He seeks good always. He loves
us and wants us with Him. So, no matter what happens, He is on our side,
and we can use it to grow closer to God, and grow in faith. We can turn
evil around for good.
But, how can you do that if you do not recognize evil? If you ignore
the fact that we have an enemy, how can you stand against him or turn
his attacks around for good? (Rom. 12:21, 2 Cor. 10:1-6)
If you feel that everything comes from God, then how can you call anything “Evil”?
Does God do evil?
Of course not, but He does allow things to happen. It’s our job to
have faith in Him and turn to Him. Then turn the evil for good. We use
it to save people or help people.
The scriptures tell us that the enemy possesses power. So, let’s do a
list of what this power is. And I am in know way stating that this is
everything. But, starting from the beginning of the Bible and going
through we see that the enemy has the power to…
Deceive people who are walking with God and know Him, if they are not
careful. If they doubt God’s Word, and Goodness. He can use our loved
ones to get us to turn from God. He can use nature as a cover for his
activities. We see this in Adam and Eve.
We can see in the book of Job, that Satan and his angels go about the
Earth. We see that He has the power to cause a tornado to kill people.
He can get humans to rob and kill others. He has the power to cause
disease. He has the power to get our loved ones to turn against us. He
also has the power to kill. (God would not let Him kill Job.)
The book of Job shows us that no matter what happens God is with us and we are to stay with Him. Trusting Him and His Goodness.
But, we see here that Satan is the prince of the power of the air.
He apparently has power to control the weather. Which explains why we
see ancient people all over the world making human sacrifices of babies
to gods, so they can have good weather for crops, and fertility. We see
the destruction weather and climate can cause.
He uses humans to kill, steal and destroy, obviously. How does this
control occur? It’s possible that it starts with a whisper into the mind
of a leader who then gets men to follow him. A leader whom Satan worked
to put into a position of power.
We see that he gave Job a disease. We do not know what disease. It doesn’t matter.
All of this, the destructive weather, violence of men and disease,
came upon Job and led Him into despair. So, Satan can also cause
despair. (Except for God. Job continued to trust God and lean toward
Him, and that’s what saved him.)
Job also shows that Satan can get our loved ones to betray us, or at least add to our torment.
I tell you this so we can recognize what is going on around us and
pray properly or respond correctly. We respond with spiritual warfare.
We respond with love and prayer and praise and trust in God, and His
promises. We overcome evil with good. We take the bad that happens to us
and turn it around to serve God and help and save people.
So, let’s fast forward to the New Testament.
Immediately after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. (Matt. 4:1-11)
This is a lesson for us. Have you ever considered that the moment you
got saved and was baptized Satan was allowed to tempt you, and sift you
as wheat?
I’m not saying he is. I’m not saying it happens to everyone, all the time.
But, the question must be asked. If you’ve never been tempted by the
enemy, or faced spiritual warfare, then whose child are you?
The temptations Jesus faced are temptations we all face, except for Christ, they were far more extreme.
We learn that we can overcome these things by faith in God and His goodness, as well as using His Word.
So, we see that the enemy has the power to tempt us, and try to get
us to fall. But, we can resist and if we fail we can turn to God and
confess it to Him. (1 John 1:8-10)
We also see that Satan has power over the nations of the Earth. This is confirmed in the book of Daniel. (Dan. 10)
Paul also speaks of how the enemy has power in high places. (Eph. 6:12)
When we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that there are unclean
spirits and demons that work in peoples lives. and we are called to wage
war against them.
We also see that his greatest earthly rival was the religious leaders.
Jesus plainly said they were the children of the devil. (John 8:44-47)
So, we can say that Satan used religious leaders to kill Jesus and
persecute the Church. He got these religious leaders, to use the
governmental powers, to kill people, and impose laws upon them to
destroy their freedom.
The Bible also says that there are false brethren, false teachers, and false prophets. (2 Cor. 11:26, 2 Pet. 2:1)
All of whom are probably listening to Satan.
Since he is the god of this world, and has power over the disobedient
children. and he has power over nations, governments and religious
leaders.
Then, we can say that the empires seeking to conquer the world, are
doing it by his authority. That when they oppress people and persecute
saints, it is by Satan’s authority, throughout history and even today.
Ok?
We see from Jesus’s ministry that the enemy can cause a friend to
betray us and deny us. Even in the face of death. Even to betray us to
people who will kill us.
Friends and family.
The Bible teaches that saints will be betrayed unto death by those closest to us. (Luke 21:16)
History teaches it.
We see saints dying the most horrific deaths for Christ, caused by the devil.
The enemy will attack and tempt our family in order to get them into
terrible situations simply to hurt us. But, we turn this for good and
tell them about Christ.
All of the apostles and saints around the world have faced
persecution. And there is more to come. That is the reality, even though
we might not face it in our current time.
So, as you can see the enemy has power. We are not called to belittle
it, but to stand against it. We are not called to fear it, but to turn
it around for good.
It is a tactic of the enemy to get believers to not wage war, by making us think he has no power.
Now, understand that through Christ we have power and authority over
the enemy. Through faith we can stand on His Word. We are overcomers
through Him who is in us.
But, if you think there is no enemy you won’t exercise that power.
People crack jokes and say “The devil made me do it.”
Well, maybe he did. Maybe instead of joking about it, we need to wage war and make sure of what is going on.
Maybe there is a devil behind every bush. Maybe it’s a roaring lion.
God is with us, but we are called to wage war. If we are saved we are free from Satan but we are still in a war.
God is with us. He protects us. Nothing can touch us unless it is allowed, and we can overcome it.
This life is just a moment. Every terrible thing only lasts for a second compared to eternity.
And when we die we go to be with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1-8)
There’s no need for fear. There is no need to be focused on the enemy.
But, we are called to wage war.
We are called to turn to God and focus on Him, and we shall overcome.
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.
The early church had three things that helped them grow and take over the Roman Empire.
First, they had the Holy Spirit. They were saved and filled with the Holy Ghost, who led them and guided them in their work.
If your church never speaks of or teaches the Holy Spirit. If they do
not listen to or operate through the Holy Spirit. That should be a big
red flag. Especially in these last days.
Second, the saints of old were willing to die for what they believed.
They faced terrible persecution. They were fed to lions, crucified and
burned. They faced it with joy. This led the people of Rome to see that
they really believed, and therefore the Gospel might be true. The early
church put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.
Now, many have faced death for what they believe. But, the difference
is that the early church saw death as a door to going home to be with
the Lord. Their belief was real. Our attitude towards death is to be
different than the world’s. We see death as an escape from this world,
and being with Christ. (Phil. 1:21-30)
We get saved, and the Holy Spirit works in our life. We see that God
is real and we trust Him. This leads us to see death as a gateway to new
life. We are going home.
The third thing is love. The Holy Spirit works in our life and
develops love in us. It is a love that defies our fleshly reason. Love
that speaks against our corrupted nature.
The early church grew because of this love.
The ancient world was harsh. It is said that over 90% of Rome were
slaves. We could say the same about modern America. These slaves were
totally controlled by their masters. They had to ask permission for
everything. They could be fired (Killed) for no real reason. Every
aspect of their lives was controlled by the master. They were considered
a reflection of the master (business)
I say this, to make the connection between conditions then and now.
They were very similar in spirit. The same Demon or Spirit that ruled
behind the scenes in Rome, still rules today around us.
These slaves had nothing of their own. It was all owned by their master. (Bank/State)
So here comes the early Christians. They acted weird. They had faith
which made them willing to die spiritually and physically to this world.
They showed crazy love, not abuse. It was so much different than the
world around them. Not because they stopped sinning, but because they
loved and had faith.
They had church gatherings where they shared food and money to help
each other succeed. They sold everything for this cause. They jumped in
with both feet, loving each other and the cause of Christ.
The other slaves were drawn by the Holy Spirit to be a part of this.
They wanted to know what this was. Of course some wanted to take
advantage, but many were for real. And even those who wanted to take
advantage were loved and got saved because of how they were treated in
comparison to how the world and the system treated them. They saw the
Holy Spirit working, they saw the faith, they saw the love. Real love.
Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”—(John 13:35)
Our success as believers comes through the Holy Spirit, Faith and
Love. It comes from God. We cannot do any of these things without Him.
We cannot love the way we should without Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit
growing and molding us.
Our success in this life as believers comes through the love and
support we give each other by the power of the Holy Spirit through
faith.
We see someone hurting and we help. We see someone fallen, and we
help them rise back up because the Holy Spirit leads us to show love to
them. We do this to everyone.
But, how much more should we help other saints?
Our love for our fellow saints shows whether we are even saved or not.
When we see someone who goes to our church hurting, suffering, fallen
or in need; do we help them or ignore them? Do we cast them aside
because they fell or do we go to them? Do we support them in ministry,
business and life? Or do we ignore them because they don’t measure up to
traditions of men? I shouldn’t even need to post bible verses to prove
it.
Shouldn’t the leaders of the church be leading the church in love? To
help others? to support the saints in life and in their ministry work
for Christ? Not to be seen of men or to look good because you’re
supporting the latest fad. But, to help those people Jesus speaks of in
Mathew 25. It’s easy to love children in need. But, our love is supposed
to be big enough to love the prisoner. To love the enemy.
This love can only come by the Holy Spirit. Course, if your church
doesn’t really believe in the Holy Spirit, that could be a problem.
All saints are gifted for service. Our service comes by the Holy
Spirit working through us and developing the fruit in us. Is that
happening in you or in your church? Does all your church love terminate
on a few “obedient” people?
Do you have little cliques in your church? Groups of people who
control everything and no one else can get inside or be a real part of?
Are you a respecter of persons? Like James spoke about; embracing the
rich while destroying and ignoring the poor or lower class? (James
2:1-9)
Is that love?
Real love is shown in Christ, when he died for those who hate Him, and forgave them.
Love is explained in First Corinthians chapter 13.
Love is shown throughout the Word.
Love is shown in how God has loved you.
Love is shown by doing unto others what you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)
We are to overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12:21)
Loving others, is good and is a form of spiritual warfare. When we
see evil such as poverty, or oppression or disease, we respond with
love. We don’t victim blame. or make unrighteous judgements. We help.
When evil is done to us we turn it around for good, by faith and love
with the Holy Spirit.
We are saved by Grace,through faith. Not by works. (Eph 2:8-10)
We are not saved by Love. We are saved by God’s love and grace, but
not our own. However, our love for the saints and others is a reflection
of what God has done for us. It is a reflection of Jesus. It is the
Holy Spirit working in and through us.
We win the fight of faith through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in
us. Our love is through Him. All our failures work to lead us and grow
us in Him if we turn to Him. These failures and hurts teach us to love,
and have faith in Him. (Rom 8:28)
We succeed in 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.
Jesus said. "Peace I leave with you,
my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."---John 14:27 (John 14:1-31--in context)
When God calls us, and we turn to Him, confessing Jesus is the Lord, asking Him to save us and putting our faith in Him.
He saves us, and fills us with His Holy Spirit, washing us clean.
This
brings us peace. Not our peace. But HIS peace. This must be understood.
Because we do not nor cannot maintain this Peace ourselves. He does it as we
continue to turn to Him and grow in Him, and know Him. The Word He gives us is Jesus. The Word He gives us are His Promises.
The second part of the verse is what I want to focus on.
"Not as the world giveth, give I unto you"
Because
God doesn't give as the world gives. (You've lived in this world long
enough to know how this world and the people of it give.)
When God gives, it's free to you. He paid for it.
It's a gift not a loan. There is no interest and it doesn't have to be repaid.
He doesn't take it away from us if we fail.
He doesn't use it against us.
He doesn't use it to guilt trip us.
He doesn't hold it over our head.
He doesn't give us something cheap and shoddy.
He doesn't give us a hand me down.
He loves us. He understands us. He works with us. He knows us, if we choose to know Him.
He fixes us and helps to grow us. He doesn't cast us aside.
He is with us always even till the end of the world.
And that's why we have the peace that defies all understanding. (Phil. 4:6-7)
Praise Jesus.
So
what do we do? We remind ourselves of his promises. We speak them
aloud to hear them and drive the enemy away. We remind our selves of the
great things God has done for us. We thank and praise Him for it. This
brings peace as the Holy Spirit works in us.
-----
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.
There are times in our lives when we feel that God has abandoned us.
It seems that He doesn’t hear and we don’t feel His presence or see His
movements in our lives.
I have experienced the same.
God has opened my eyes to the reality of it, and I have listened to Him and grown in Him.
The matter is an issue of faith.
I want you to read this verse.
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they
shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”—Matt. 12:36
Now a lot of preachers want to use this verse to impose fear.
But, I want you to see that Jesus is telling us that God hears every
word. God is so close to us and so interested in us, that every word we
say will be shown back to us when we see Him.
If you are saved and know Him, then this is not a scary thing. It spurs us to greater things.
So, read this verse and believe it. Believe it like God is standing before you telling it to you.
We are made righteous and our faith comes when we believe the Word God has given us. (Rom.10:17, Rom. 4:3)
So, when we think God is not listening or doesn’t hear, we can stand on this verse and say.
“No! God hears every idle word!” And believe it.
It’s not like sending a text message to a friend and we don’t hear back. So, we think “Did he get the text?”
God got it. We can KNOW he got it, because of this verse. We put our faith in it and Him.
Daniel prayed and heard nothing back. Till finally an angel came and
said. We got your prayer the minute you started praying. And I came to
answer but had to fight through the Enemy to get here. (Dan. 10:1-21)
Trust God. Trust His Word.
Our relationship with God is based upon faith. Our faith grows when
we trust his Word and stand on it, and see Him move in our lives
Satan is working to keep you from trusting Him. To keep you from
knowing Him. He seeks to destroy you and keep your faith weak. To keep
you from the battlefield.
This why we cannot trust our feelings. We are flesh. We have a
corrupted nature. We live in a world that is full of distraction, and we
have an enemy trying to destroy us.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy
paths.”—Prov. 3:5-6
When everything tells us God has abandoned us and is not listening.
When the enemy whispers into our mind that we sin too much for God, or
that God has left us or even that He is testing us.
We can stand on the promises of God. We can rely on His Word and the things He has done for us in the past. That is our testimony. (Rev. 12:11)
So we say “No! I trust in the Lord. I’m leaning on Him and the Word says He will direct my paths!”
Have you seen movies where two armies oppose each other and a general
rides on a horse in front of his men and gives them great words of
encouragement?
He is building faith. He is building encouragement. He is trying to drive out fear and stir up morale for the coming battle.
“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” —(Rom. 10:17)
When we speak the Word, we also hear the Word and it stirs up our
faith in us if we are willing to believe it. Speaking the Word causes
things to happen in reality. God says “So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it.”—(Isa 55:11)
God’s Word says “I will never leave you nor forsake you”—Heb. 13:5
He is with us. Believe it. Say it to yourself.
“God will never leave me nor forsake me.”
Believe it. Drive the fear and doubt away.
Will the Shepherd abandon the Sheep? ( Psalm 23)
No. He leads us to still waters. He protects us with his rod. His staff comforts us.
Because He is with us. We believe it and know it. He is here.
Do you know the Shepherd?
None of this matters if you’ve never turned to Him and asked Him to
save you. It’s the same faith. He calls us and we realize that we need
Him.
Then, we hear the Word He gives us and we believe it and turn to Him.
Asking Him to save us. Then, He washes us clean in the Blood of Jesus
Christ and we are saved and begin to grow in Him. Just ask Him to save
you. (Rom.10:9-10)
This world is tough. But, the toughness of this world is designed to cause us to turn to Him. Because He is our only Hope.
He is with us.
Believe it. No matter what things look like.
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 are called to forgive others. It is one of the hardest things we can be called to do.
“But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matt. 6:15
We see an example of this in the parable of the servant who owed the King.
He
could not pay the debt, so the king forgave him. Then, the servant
turned around and refused to forgive a fellow servant, so the king
removed his forgiveness and punished the unforgiving servant. —(Matt.
18:23-35)
This is scary business.
So, what do we do?
Well, like everything in life we turn to God. We ask him to teach us
wisdom and lead us into all truth. (Prov. 3:5-6, James 1:5 John 16:13)
First we need to see what the ultimate forgiveness is. What forgiveness does the King offer?
Jesus Christ coming and dying on the cross for our sins. Dying to
offer forgiveness to those who hate Him and killed Him. He says “Father
forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:24)
That is our image of forgiveness. To die, in order to forgive those who hate us and hurt us.
But hold on because God does not offer a general forgiveness. You
must come to Him and bow the knee and ask him to save you and forgive
you. You must confess Him as Lord. You must turn to Him. (Romans
10:9-10)
Do you remember Judas? Was he forgiven? He was a betrayer?
If he had ran to Jesus and ask for forgiveness, he would have been forgiven. But, we have no record of him doing that.
When you look at what God does, and you look at the parable in Matthew 18:23-35
You will see a pattern. In every case the guilty party asks for
forgiveness, and/or offers to make things right. Then, forgiveness is
given. Then, mercy is given.
Notice in the parable of the unforgiving servant.
“But the
same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed
him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the
throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down
at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will
pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till
he should pay the debt.” (Matt. 18:28-30)
The unforgiving servant, made it a point to go out and find any
servant who owed him in a very small matter. Then, demanded payment. He
refused to forgive, and sent the man to prison. This is a complete heart
issue. This person did not understand the forgiveness offered. This
person never knew the King.
Are you hunting down the person who owes you? Is it a petty matter?
Are you choking them and demanding repayment for something that you no
longer owe? (Remember the king forgave the debt. This is not about
getting money to repay. This is strictly revenge.) Did the person ask
forgiveness? Did you give it? Did the punishment for the crime outweigh
the pettiness of the crime? Are you wrong? Have you really sought God?
These are questions to ask yourself when you wonder if you are really forgiving someone.
So let’s look at a practical example.
Someone does something wrong to you. What should we do as believers?
We turn to God and ask Him to help us. (Prov. 3:5-6, James 1:5 John 16:13)
We settle the matter with God. We say “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:24)
We let them off the hook between us, them and God.
We look at what we’ve done. We try to fix it. If we’ve done wrong, we fix it as best we can.
We offer forgiveness to the offender as best as we can between us and God.
That’s all we can do. Our goal is to be right with God.
We cannot force the person to accept the forgiveness or to
reestablish a relationship. All we can do is offer. Just like God
offers.
Jesus tells us that we are to go to the person and try to resolve it.
(Matt. 18:15-17 (Sometimes we can’t do this. It can cause more harm or
damage. Sometimes it is impossible, they are dead or have removed
themselves.)
But, remember our goal is to be right with God. You’ll notice that
the verses to forgive are in the same chapter as the verse instructing
us to go to our brother to solve the problem. Matthew 18. Forgiveness
involves a willingness to resolve.
The bottom line is a willingness to forgive and to be right with God.
It is about turning to God and asking Him to help with the forgiveness.
This is the same with anything. If you were addicted to drugs, would
you not turn to God and ask Him to forgive and help? This is the
relationship we have with Him. He helps us.
All
we can do is to be right between us and God. We cannot force anyone
else to do anything. We listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him guide us
in what to do. We follow the Word as best we can, with an honest heart
with God.
If a chance comes to express forgiveness or to make right, then we do it.
This is what we do between us and God. No matter what.
But, what about Justice?
What about protecting others?
What about fighting evil?
Let’s say you are a member of a church since you were a child, and
let’s say that certain members of the church did sinful things to you.
Things that impacted your faith. Things that ruined your life. Things
that were illegal. Things that hurt others.
Do you just forgive them and let it go and move on?
You can, but what if you hear that they keep damaging other people?
They keep driving people from Christ. They allow others to suffer from
the illegal things they do? They stand in the pulpit demanding that you
forgive while they themselves have refused to forgive and destroyed
others? They treat others as less than them?
Let’s say there’s a child molester in the church or neighborhood. Do you just let it go?
Do you forgive them and let them hurt others?
Let’s say you have a bad employer or manager who destroys your life.
They have done it to others and continue to do so. They break laws and
treat workers terrible. Do you just forgive and move on? Do you let your
employer continue to mistreat people and break laws, because they think
they are above the law?
Perhaps God allowed this to happen so that you will stand up and do
something. Maybe someone prayed 5 years ago for God to help, and you are
the help God sent. Maybe?
If a drunk driver kills your daughter do you just let them continue
to drive drunk and kill others? You can forgive, but what about others?
Doesn’t the authority bear the sword for the evil doer? Isn’t that from God? (Romans 13:1-8)
This is why we turn to God in all matters, but especially in the
matter of forgiveness. We forgive between us and God, then we follow His
Spirit as He guides us. We pray, and watch. We do what He leads.
This is part of our relationship with Him. But, these are serious questions.
“Revenge is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord.” —Romans 12:19
Does that mean we just pray and wait for God to move, while someone
continues to hurt others? We can forgive for what was done to us and let
it go, but is it love to just let them do evil to others?
Forgiveness is a hard thing for believers to navigate. This is why we let God direct our paths.
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.
It is available at Barnes and Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Wal-Mart, and other major outlets. It is only available as an eBook at this time. Purchase HERE
It’s a collection of articles on Bible Prophecy. It speaks of the
spirit of antichrist, the ancient past and how it has moved forward to
building the New World Order today.
The book also leans toward helping people to get saved and avoid the
deceptions that are coming upon the Earth, in these latter days.
Get your copy at most eBook sellers. (Except Amazon)
You can get my other eBooks online as well.
Made Free: Overcoming Addiction
is a free ebook for addicts and family members or friends suffering
with the addict. It gives new insight into addiction and ways to help
overcome it, from someone who has been there. I have an addiction
recovery Facebook page as well. Recover Freedom.
The Future is Coming, is a book of dystopian short stories I wrote about about the future and where we are heading. It is a warning in story form.
Against the Man, is a collection of poems that speaks of the plight and slavery of the worker in a beast system that seeks to devour the poor.
You can also support my work and ministry through PayPal, or through the links below.
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.
