Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Real Hope

Real Hope

A Word on Hope



There was an experiment conducted in the 1950's using rats. Read more HERE.

It was a cruel experiment but it gives some important insights.

The experimenter, took domestic rats and put them in glass jars filled with water.

A few rats immediately gave up and committed suicide, basically.

But, the rest of the rats swam for days trying to survive.

Next, the experimenter used wild rats.

They all gave up and died in a short time.

The experiment continued. But, let's stop here for a moment, and ask ourselves.

What's the difference between,  the few domesticated rats who committed suicide and the ones who did not?

Then, let's ask ourselves what's the difference between the domesticated and the wild?

Remember, there's more to the experiment. But, at this point we can see a difference.

This is my interpretation.

The difference is human contact.

The domesticated rats had been raised by humans. Fed, watered, cages cleaned, they probably heard the humans talking to them, or to other humans. They had developed a trust of the humans.

The wild rats feared humans, they had no good experiences with humans at all. 

The few rats that committed suicide, had never fully trusted their human masters.

That's the difference. Human contact.

Now, the original experimenter, we are told, saw that hope was the reason for what he observed. The domesticated rats who lived longer had hope that the human would come, like they always had.

They had hope, and trusted the humans.

In the next phase of the experiment. The experimenter tested both wild and domesticated rats.

He put them in jars of water and let them swim until the point where they finally gave up. Then, he saved them and let them rest before putting them back into the jars.

After this salvation, both wild and domesticated rats, swam even longer than before.

The experimenter determined that the rats had hope that help would come. So, they could endure longer.

Ok, so that's the basic lesson we can glean from this experiment.  Hope has the power to help people to endure the struggles of this world.

We can build hope in ourselves and we can give hope to other people. This hope can save the day.

But, let's go further.

Let's go into the spiritual. Which might not have been the intent of the experiment. But, it's my belief that everything exists to point us to God, and teach us of Him. It all works, to draw us to Him, or away.

What do animals think of humans? I know they fear us. But, do they think we are really smart animals? Or do we become "gods" to them?

I put "gods" in lower case and quotes, because I have no doubt that animals and small children know who the real God is.

But, do they see us as some kind of ministering angel perhaps? Or a fallen demonic angel?

I do not know. But, if we look at this experiment in terms of our own walk with God, can we see parallels? Similarities?

When we choose to believe God is working in our life, does it give us more hope? Does it give us more faith, when we trust Him?

Is hope and faith the same?

Faith-filled hope is not the same as "gee I hope so."

Hope with faith says "God is my only Hope, and I have faith He is coming."

That is not "hope so."

The rats trusted and had hope. When they were saved the first time, it gave them even more hope and faith because they had proof. They trusted that the human would come, and he did. Then, they knew he would come again, and had faith to endure.

Do you see the similarities?

God is good. He loves us and takes care of us. He saves us and will come again.

The things God has done for us in the past is proof for our hope and faith that He will take care of us, and be there for us in the future. Think of the great things God has done for you. It will help us to endure.

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“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author.

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

What is The Curse?

 What is The Curse?

A Lesson on God's Curse.




In the Bible, in the book of Genesis the 3rd chapter we see that God curses the Earth.

 

We need to clarify what this is and what it is not. Because there is a ton of truth that impacts our daily lives which stems from this event.

Let’s lay down some facts before we get to the curse, because you must understand some things in order to see what has happened.

First, God created everything good. Because God is love and God is good. This is a fact. We might not understand it, because we are fallen. We cannot understand God’s ways. But He is good and love. The definition of love in Gods eyes can be found throughout the Bible. I Corinthians chapter 13 is a good place to find it. Also, the fact that God left a beautiful heaven and came to terrible Earth Himself, to die an awful death to save people who hate Him. Is the paramount, vision of love.

You have to understand this in order to see what the scriptures are saying. Accepting that God is good and that He is love and that He loves us is very important. When Satan tempted Eve, he got her to doubt God’s goodness and love.

So, He created everything good. And because of love He gave us and the angels free will. In order to have free will you must have a choice. God could have created everything to love Him, but that’s not truth or real love. So, there must be free will. Forced love is not real love. There must be the option to choose something else.

The choice for humans was the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil placed in the garden with them. God warned them not to eat of it. They had everything they needed. That’s God. He takes care of His creation. There was nothing missing in the lives of Adam and Eve. They were also created good. In God’s good creation.

God warned them, “On the day you eat of it you shall surely die.” This shows that death existed, but was not in the world. There was no death at this time. Understand that nothing God creates can be destroyed. He is God. He is good. Death is not an end or destruction. It is a separation to a different place and a different form. Death is separation from God and from each other. (This is to stop the spread of Sin.) If we are made righteous by God, then we go to Paradise to be with Him. If not, then we are separated to the quarantine garbage dump of Hell or Hades. Then the Lake of Fire.

It needs to be said that time is different with God. And that time is not fully explained in the scriptures. God created everything in 6 days, then rested on the 7th. That’s a fact. But we do not know how long things sat after creation.

We know that Satan fell because he desired to be as the most high God. How long did that take? How long till he made that decision? This fact proves that angels and other spiritual being have free will the same as humans. Because they fell. Love requires free will.

Next, we see Adam and Eve in the Garden. How long were they there before the fall? We know that Adam had time to name all the animals before Eve was even created. How long did that take? Then, after Eve was created, how much time did they spend together until the fall?

We also do not know what affect death had on the Earth. Nothing died until death entered. Then, things started to die slowly. People lived for hundreds of years.

Which brings us back to the fall.

***

So, Satan in the form of a Serpent/Dragon/Dinosaur came to Eve and got her to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The scriptures tell us exactly what happened. That is what happened.

We have heard all kinds of speculation on what happened and who was to blame and all of that. I’m not going to get into that.

What we can see is that Satan caused Eve to doubt God’s Goodness and Love. He got her to think that God was withholding something from her. That God was oppressing her in some way. He got her to doubt God’s Word. This is the foundation and the blue print for false teaching.

Eve responded by trying to be morally superior. She quoted God. “Do not eat of it” then added her own religion to it. “Or even touch it.”. we do not know if the addition was from her or if it’s what Adam told her, because she was not present when God gave the initial warning.

Anyway, we see false teaching and religion on display here.

So, she eats, and gives it to her husband to eat. Now we don’t know how this actually worked. We envision that they were together, when this happened, but Adam could have been somewhere else doing the job God called Him to do. We don’t know.

The Bible says that Eve was deceived by Satan but Adam was not deceived. This will be explained by God at the curse, despite all the accusations given by preachers over the years.

So, they both ate.

And their eyes were opened and they saw they were naked.

Now understand some things. Before they ate, they did not see a problem with the state they were in. They were happy. All their needs were met, they were in relationship with God and they did not see a problem.

But after eating they discovered they were naked, and were ashamed and covered their nakedness with leaves.

God created nakedness. There is nothing wrong with nakedness. The story is speaking of spiritual truth. It is a picture of our fallen state. We as humans see our problem. We see our failure, and we create rules and religions to cover it.

When they ate of the fruit they died spiritually and became separated from God in spirit. This is the state of all humanity. We are separated from God and the things of the Spirit realm beyond the veil. God removed them from the Garden. They and us no longer had access to Him or real spiritual things.

Remember, God said… “On The Day you eat of it you shall surely die.”  But Adam did not die that day. He died 900+ years later. This is why Peter says that God’s days are a thousand years. (2 Pet. 3:8)

***

So, God comes to find his children who have fallen. He knows they have fallen but He wants them to confess. This is very important, because our confession to Him and our admission of our state is part of our salvation. We must be real with God, and let Him take care of us.

So, God covers them with coats of skins. The Bible does not say where these skins came from or what they are. But it is a picture of God covering us with Christ. Not our man-made religions.

So, all of this was said to set us up to look at the curse. I’m going to post the verses here, then put commentary within.

First, realize that this is what the curse says. Death and Sin is not part of the curse. Disease is not part of the curse. Poverty is not part of the curse. God did not do that to us. Those things are the results of living in a world ruined by Death, Satan, The Plague of Sin and the Fallen world. Not the curse. The curse is very specific, and was designed by God to save us and bring us back to Him. This is important to see.

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

Have you seen any dragons or dinosaurs lately? No. All you see are reptiles, that crawl mostly on their belly. Not massive proud beasts. Humans lived with dinosaurs in the garden and after, when we were run out of the Garden of God. Dinosaurs existed up to and a little after the Flood. This is the curse on the Serpent, or Hisser in Hebrew. The next part of the curse transitions from physical to spiritual to prophetic.

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

We see the physical aspect. There is a feeling of dread between reptiles and many women. This also goes on for generations. We see this and it’s truth of what God’s Word says. But it transitions into the spiritual. Because the Serpent is Satan, and the Woman is the Church. Or the believers made righteous in Christ by God. We are at war with the forces of the fallen angels. This war continues with every person who gets saved. The last part is a prophecy about Christ. He will crush the head of the enemy. This happened at the cross and will happen when he returns and ends it all. Remember, God is speaking to the Serpent and Satan here. The message is to him.

Next God speaks to the Woman.

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Now understand that we again transition from physical to spiritual. This is very important to catch. First, the physical is plainly speaking of a woman’s concern for the family and the things of the family. She is a nurturer and has a heart that strikes her differently. Remember she was created to be a help meet for Adam. (I realize that in this day and age we want to avoid saying “All Women” do this. But, yes, in this fallen world, things do get confused). Then, we see the pain in child birth and the suffering of motherhood and caring for children. The heart breakings that go with motherhood. The concern for the children. Then, we see that she will desire to help her husband, she is his help meet. But her sinful nature will cause her to desire to rule over him, and he instead will rule over her. It’s the battle of the sexes. Both men and women have corrupted natures that cause us to be prideful, angry and not listen to each other. Before the Fall it was not this way.

Ok, now we transition toward the spiritual, because why would God do this? He’s God. He is Good and Love. His nature doesn’t change. So, this is not punishment, as some like to believe. It serves a loving purpose.

This was designed by God to cause her to seek help. Help from who? Well, hopefully help from God. The woman’s desire to protect her children and family was designed to cause her to turn to God and be saved and pray for her children and to get them saved as well. And to try to minister to her husband. See? As it says in first Timothy chapter two; that she is saved through child rearing. (1 Timothy 2:15) We know that we are not saved by works (Eph 2) so, being saved through child bearing must imply that some aspect of raising and having children will draw the mother to God. In context this seems to be accurate.

Now we look at the spiritual, because the woman is the Church. We struggle in our battle between flesh and spirit and Satan. While we work to bring more people into salvation. We will try to create religion, to replace Christ. But He will still rule over us.

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;

19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Again, we will have a transition from physical to spirit. First, God plainly states what Adam did wrong. He listened to his wife instead of listening to God. God warned him not to eat of the fruit. But he chose to listen to his wife instead. Adam was not deceived, he willfully ignored God. This is why our corrupted nature and the plague of sin comes through Adam. This is why Jesus was born of a virgin in a pure womb without the works of man. Jesus was without Sin. He did not even have our corrupted nature. He was tempted like us, but succeeded, because there was nothing in Him to draw Him into sin. (James 1: 13-14)

Notice that God does not curse Adam. He curses the Ground. It’s my belief that when the Flood came, it washed away the perfect world, that existed at this time and left us in a world where the ground does not produce like it once did. It’s very possible that the former world was so fertile that you could plant one seed and gain a harvest, and eat one fruit and it would sustain you for a week or more. And nobody got fat. We could eat whatever we wanted and not get fat.  Maybe?

But, because of the curse our world is now in competition with itself. Everything struggles for the meager resources available. Course, if we all lived within our means we would be fine. But, because we fear death and do not trust God or others, we struggle and strive to always have more than we need. This goes for all of creation. This a response to death and the fear of it.

Man will work and struggle to survive. He will fight to protect and provide for his family. While everything constantly decays and falls apart and must be repaired and replaced.

But, like the woman this curse was designed to get Adam to seek help. Help from who? To reach out to God for help. That is the reason for the Curse. It is designed to get us to turn to God and be saved by Him. We live in this world of death and evil, ruled by Satan, but if everything went well, we would never turn to God. We would just continue in our fallen state. But, the hardship of the curse causes us to wake up and realize we need help. Then God presents Himself as the help. He comes running when we call out to Him.

This is why the love of money and wealth causes problems with salvation. As Jesus said, “its easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven” (Matt. 19:24) Why? Not because of wealth. We are not saved by works. But because wealth insulates us from the problems of life designed to cause us to need God. If you can throw money at all your problems, you have less need to throw yourself on God for help.

From the physical we transition to the spiritual.

We as believers shall eat the bread of the Word of God as we struggle in our battle with the enemy and our flesh. Till we die physically and until we finally kill off the fleshly man and bring forth the new spiritual man. The old life, must pass away as we grow into the new in Christ.

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

The woman is the Church. Christ declares that she is the mother of all those who are saved. We are saved by hearing the Word from other saved people, who follow the Spirit.

Notice in Genesis 2:20-23, right after she is created Adam names her Woman, because she came out of man. There was no need for salvation at this time. She was a living spirit. But, after the fall she is renamed and becomes; ‘Eve” the mother of all living. Because now there’s a need for salvation after the fall. She is a picture of the Bride of Christ, the second Adam; Jesus.

21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

We are hidden in Christ, and with Christ. We are washed in His blood and covered with His righteousness. This is the salvation of all those who are saved.

22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:

23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Why?

First, remember that Adam was created from the dust of the Earth, then taken somewhere else to live and serve.

It’s my belief that the Garden was in the city of God. Adam saw God. He spoke with Him, he walked with Him in Paradise. He had a relationship with Him. But the Fall severed that relationship and made it to where Adam and Eve could no longer live in the Garden.

In their fallen state they had become more fleshly and of the world. Not Paradise. Their eyes were opened and they were no longer in a state of Goodness. They had fallen.

This fallen state would have been made permanent if we had eaten of the Tree of Life. If we had eaten of it then heaven and everything would be corrupted forever. God could not save us and bring us into His kingdom. We would be filled with evil and the plague of Sin and death forever.

The way of salvation is blocked. Unless we go through Christ. He is the Gate. Robbers and thieves try to come in another way. But the right way is through Christ.

So, that is the reason for the Curse, and what is going on in this world. Turn to Jesus and find life.

-----

 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“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author.

 

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

John 9

 John 9

A Word on What Really Matters.



John chapter 9 is a great chapter of the Bible.

Jesus heals a blind man on the sabbath and the local church leaders get mad about it.

They don't care about the man. They don't care about the miracle. All they care about is that some rule was broken. or at least broken in their eyes.

So instead of loving the man and praising God. They start using fear and intimidation to control the man and his family. They treat him like he is a second class citizen. Threatening him and anyone else who doesn't do what they say to do.

But, the man knows the truth. He knows that God loves him, even though the church leaders try to make him think that he is a wicked sinner deceived by the devil. They even called him a liar.

The church leaders cannot handle the thought that someone might not be scared of them, or controlled by them, or deceived by them. They cannot just leave it alone, because they cannot stand the fact that this peasant is not submitting to their authority.

So, they drive him out of the church. And probably make up stories as to why he's gone.

But, Jesus came to see the man again. And asked him if he believed on the Son of God.

That's it. Jesus didn't tell the man that he needed to submit to the authority of the abusive church leaders. He didn't quote verses about "Not forsaking the gathering". There was no guilt trips or threats or fear or manipulation, or anything else.

Jesus just said to believe on Him. That's it.

Then, he tells the church leaders that if they would admit they didn't know it all they might learn something. But, since they think they have it all figured out. They will remain blind.
 
Oftentimes people are more worried about rules, and having control. They are so filled with pride, that they reject the truth and peace that is right in front of them.

That is a consistent theme in the Gospels. Time and again Jesus, the God of all, is sitting right in front of them, and they still cling to our fleshly fears and beliefs.

Pilate, when he interrogated Christ, asks 'What is Truth?'  Truth was sitting in front of him. The only truth that matters.

We cling to our fleshly beliefs and maintain worldly systems. Not knowing that God is right there.  When we die, we will just step through and He is there. He sees and knows all.

He waits for us to turn to Him and ask Him to save us and teach us and grow us.

He is right here with us.

Waiting.
 
----- 

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“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Test The Spirits

 Try The Spirits

A Lesson on Detecting the Demonic.





"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."---1 John 4:1-3


Gods Word gives us several ways to try the spirits.

But first we must define "spirits."

When I say spirits I'm referring to literal spirits. Either any kind of spirit that is behind a person, speaking into their mind or having twisted them over the years and have influence over them. Or an organization that is controlled by people controlled by these sorts of spirits. Which ultimately are and are controlled by the spirit of anti-christ.

Remember, we do not war against flesh and blood. Our battle is with the spiritual forces that are behind things. What is pushing, motivating, or giving ideas to you, another person or group. (Eph 6:12)

Jesus warned the disciples, "ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of" (Luke 9:54-55)

Be aware that even born again believers can be tempted, harassed, or led into doing things the enemy desires. The worst thing you can do is to think you are immune. The scriptures warn us about our enemy for a reason. Be vigilant, for the devil goes about as a roaring lion.(1 Peter 5:8)

Here's where people will say, "Yeah but whatever happens must go through God's hands."

Have you really read Job?

Gods Word warns us for a reason. Learn from it.

So we are called to test the spirits and there are several tests.

I hate to disappoint the pharisees out there but, committing sin is not one of them. You sin too. James said, that if you try to keep the law and fail on one point, you've broken the whole law.  So, when you commit that little sin you allow yourself. That makes you equal to a murderer and child molester according to the Word. That's why we need Jesus. (James 2:10)

But, lets get to the tests.

1. Confess Him as Lord.

In 1 Corinthians 12:3  Paul says that no one can confess Jesus is the Lord, unless the Holy Spirit guides them.

An unsaved person without the Holy Spirit will not say that Jesus is the Lord. 

The demons believe He is God, but are in rebellion and refuse to submit. So, they will not confess Him as Lord. (James 2:19)

Paul also says that a saved person cannot call Jesus accursed. They won't use His name as a cuss word or say bad things or untrue things about Him.

This is not an act of will. This is Love. If you've ever met Jesus and accepted Him and seen Him working in your life, there is no way you can say anything bad about Him. You know Him. The love is greater than what you have for your own child. If you know, then you know.

2. Confess that He came in the flesh.

In 1 John, the Word says to test the spirits. Then it gives the test. (1 John 4:1-3)

Some pharisees love to quote 'Test the Spirits", then go off falsely accusing people and attacking them over sin.

But, the verse plainly states that the test is whether they will confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh.

This is in the same vein as confess Him as Lord. Because the spirit must confess that Jesus is God, because God is the only One to come from heaven and become real flesh. That means He is Lord, because the Gospel is true.

See?

Demonic spirits, and those under their control, will not confess these things. They believe, but are in rebellion.

Now, comes the "Yeah but..." Yeah but I know a guy..... Who can confess Jesus is Lord...and blah blah blah...

Let me tell you, if a person can confess Jesus is the Lord, or confess that He came in the flesh, then that person at some point in their life got saved and has the Holy Spirit.

I don't care how much they sin or what they do or don't do. At some point they were accepted by God and got saved.

Jesus said "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

These people are affirming that He is God. They are not confessing Him as their Lord. 

They do not do the will of the father in heaven. They rely upon their works of righteousness for salvation.

They never knew Him. 

Jesus said that the works of the father is to "believe on him whom he hath sent." (John 6:28-29)


3. By their fruits

Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matt. 7:15-20)

He is referring to the Fruit of the Spirit. (Gal. 5:22-23)  

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance:

Do they express or work in this? These are fruit of the SPIRIT. It's something the Holy Spirit does through us and to change us. It is not by our works. A person can obey rules. But, to express this fruit for real must come from the Holy Spirit.

We will sin. We will say mean things. We will do bad stuff and justify it. We will do things in the flesh and fail. But, It's not our fruit. It's the fruit of the SPIRIT. That's why it's a test. It shows the Spirit working through us and in us. It cannot be faked.

Knowing them by their fruits is not a one time snap judgement. It takes some time to make an honest assessment and righteous judgement.

4. The works of the devil.

I am not talking about normal fleshly sin here. We all sin. We are called to confess it.

I'm referring to the specific works of Satan. He is the father of lies. He has come for nothing but to steal, kill, and destroy. He is the accuser of the brethren. He tempts people. He keeps them in bandage.

These are all sins, but they are specific actions that help Satan's kingdom.

Does the individual or group work in and support the work of Satan's kingdom with total disregard for the work of God's kingdom?

5. The Holy Spirit warns.

Have you ever felt that something isn't right?  

Well, we are not called to lean unto our own understanding. But lean to God and His Word. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Sometimes, that feeling is the Holy Spirit speaking in that still small voice. (1 Kings 19:1-15)

I've heard things or seen things that I felt was wrong, but couldn't place why, at the time.  That was the Spirit. He saw or knew something I didn't.

This testing of spirits can apply to organizations as well as people. Are they operating in Jesus name?

I'm not saying we should only associate with groups that promote Christ. If we did that we couldn't go shopping or buy cars or anything.
 
What I'm saying is that you should be aware that a group is not operating in Jesus name. You will not be deceived when you can see what spirit they are operating in.

No matter how good. No matter what they do. If it's not in Jesus name. Be aware.

Just because your gas station doesn't sell gas in Jesus name doesn't make them bad. They are just focused on gas. They might be owned by Christians or support the Lord's Work.

Remember, even churches can be dead. They can be run by people who do not really know the Lord, or have been led away.
 
Judge rightly.
 
In these last days deception is going to get worse, and false teachers will be every where. 

You see technology growing. We have deep fakes now. They can literally create pictures and videos, that show a person committing the most heinous acts, and it is totally fake.

 Human Teachers who are spreading all kinds of information and it all seems good. But, its propaganda for money. We have corporations who will pay scientists to come up with results from experiments that are slanted or flawed, in order to sell or protect a product.

We have AI who is not even human pretending to be human and sounding very wise. Even using the Bible, to teach things. Remember Satan quoted scripture. 
 
Knowing the Bible is not an indication of truth. You must know the Lord. And these tests show that.

All of this will be and is being used to deceive and draw people away from the truth and into the Anti-Christ Kingdom,
 
But, these tests given in the scriptures can help us determine what spirit is behind the teacher or doctrine.

Learn to discern truth.

-----

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“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author.

.


Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The Relationship

 The Relationship

A Word on What Matters Most




The scriptures say that on Judgement Day, anyone who does not know Christ will be told,

"Depart from Me. I never knew you." (Matthew 7:23, Mathew 25:41 , Matthew 10:32, Romans 10:9-10, John 5:24)

Now, we know that God is all powerful, and therefore knows everyone. So, what He is saying here is that He never had a relationship with you.

That's the most important thing in life. To have a relationship with The Lord. To know your creator. And to be known by Him. To be friends with God. Like Adam, who walked with God in the Garden .( Romans 4:3, James 2:23)

Am I talking about Salvation?

Yes and no.

I am not talking about saying some magic words. Or even trying to be a better person because God wants you to.

You have to understand the reality of things. 

First, humans are utterly depraved. We have a corrupted nature and commit sins because of our fallen sinful nature.

Humans do not seek God. We do not realize how wicked we are. We do not understand our need for Him. This is why God gave us the law. So we can see we are sinners and need Him.

He calls us and we can choose to turn to Him or reject Him.

If you want to know God, then it's a sure sign that He is calling you.

If you turn to Him (repent) and ask Him to save you and help you, confessing that Jesus is The Lord. 

He saves you. He washes you. His Spirit comes to dwell in you. And He starts to grow you, sanctify you, and work in your life.

He removes sin from our lives. And starts making changes. But, He doesn't remove everything.

This is where the relationship comes into play. As you confess your sins to Him, He works over time to help you overcome and to grow. He does the work. You just move in an occupy what has been accomplished. (1 John 1:5-10)

It is not our work. All our works of righteousness are as filthy rags (Isa 64:6). Remember, we are sinners. We are saved. But. We do not know everything or understand everything. He has to do the work, while we confess, pray, thank him and grow. This is the relationship. We are trusting Him to save us and grow us. We hear His voice and we respond.

The scriptures indicate that there are people who think they are saved but never were. They find out on Judgement Day. (Matthew 25, Matthew 22:12-14, Luke 19:12-27)

How can this happen?

They were called, but instead of responding with faith and relationship. They responded with religion, Self-righteousness and works.  Like the pharisees. They never knew Him and refused to be broken and grown by Him. They preferred rules, and rituals. They prayed like the pharisee, instead of the sinner. (Luke 18:9-14)

There are people who heard the call and believed it. But, never really confessed Him as Lord or turned to Him. Yes, they believe, like the demons of hell believe but they never really knew him. Trouble, Life, Satan and the Love of Money, drew them away before they really accepted Him. (James 2:19, Matthew 13,)

The relationship matters. Some people hear the call and reject immediately. Whether they understand or not. They were called.

Understand that the relationship is simple. It's not a struggle it's about letting Him work.

Think about it. We are totally wicked. How can we know what needs fixed and how to do it?

He gave us His Word so we know what to confess to Him. Not for us to fix. We cannot. Only He can. The law shows us we need a savior. Then after salvation, it shows us what we need to confess and have Him work on so we can grow.

You are a sinner. You cannot fix yourself. Even after being saved. You must let the Spirit work. This is the relationship.

If you do it yourself, then you will never really 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“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photos by the author.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Global Unity

 Global Unity

A Word on Satan's Global Plan.




Global Unity is a goal of Satan. He needs everyone together so he can rule them, and they will worship him.

He mimics God's plans, because he wants to be as the most high God. (Isa. 14:12-15)

God wants to save people and unite them in Christ. Satan wants to get followers and unite them under his messiah the Anti-Christ.

We see before the Flood, Satan and the Fallen angels corrupted humanity. They twisted the bloodline of Cain. Then deceived the Sethites to fall as well, till only one man was found who followed God and resisted the corruption. (Gen. 6)  This is a picture of our current times. The world is twisted and enslaved by the enemy and even the Church is being pulled in, so the wheat can be revealed. All preparing for the fire to come. But, there are those who have been made righteous.

After The Flood, Satan again brought humans together at the Tower of Babel and God came down to separate the people groups, by language. Then, caused the continents to separate, to divide the people even further. (Gen. 11:1-9, Gen. 10:25)

Why would God divide the nations?

Because a divided people is harder to rule. So, Satan cannot rule a divided world. This division has slowed the efforts of Satan to unite the world, under his messiah. He rules and enslaves humans in the spirit, but not openly in the flesh yet. But, that day is coming. Things start in the spirit, then in the fullness of time come into the world.

Ever since the Tower of Babel, Satan has worked to unite the people of the world under himself, to prepare for his messiah to come. He has led world conquests. We see in Daniel, the image of some of the world conquerors. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and the empire of these latter days.  Each seem separate. But, they are all one image. Ruled by the wicked one. (Daniel 2: 31-45)

Satan has used the religions, and false religions to conquer the world and unite them under his messiah.

In today's world, he is using democracy. Strong as iron but weak as clay. He twists minds to get them to vote as he wills. He is using technology and the internet, as today's Tower of Babel. Getting the world to believe and say the same things. 

All for his messiah, His Superman, to come and save the world from the destruction he has caused.

Which is the Anti-Christ, or the "instead of" Christ.

So when you see the effort to create unity and destroy divisions, know that the spirit of antichrist is working. Real unity only comes in Christ.

He seeks to destroy divisions in genders, races, countries, cultures, religions, history, heritage, and blood. he seeks to destroy God's creation and His image in everything.

He causes destruction so he can come and be the savior. He causes hatred and wars so he can claim to unite of the people. The Prince of Peace. 
 
God's division is not hatred, it's protection. It's to create more time for more people to come to know Him.

God sets us free and calls us to join Him in Christ. He does not force us. He does not steal, kill, destroy or cancel.

He just asks.

Read more posts on prophecy:

 
 
 
 
 
-----
 
 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“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the author.