Do You Pick and Choose?

When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself.

“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself.”

Ezekiel 3:18-21

Have you ever left out part of God’s Word or sugar-coated it so the person you were talking to would not feel bad?                                                      

I know I have and then the Lord began to work on me. If I believe God, then I must know His Word and if I know His Word I must speak it as Truth – all of it!

He does not say, oh it is okay if you add to my word here and say don’t worry about it God will forgive you. God may forgive them but you are commanded to tell them what His Word says. Then it is their decision to continue in the sin or follow His Word.

I don’t know about you but I don’t to be held accountable for the blood of someone I did not tell the Truth to. I believe that is why so many churches are asleep today, why we are not seeing the power God says we have.

This is not an easy step to take but with God’s help we don’t have to worry or fret because He will give us His Words at the right time and He will protect us.

““I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. “I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Luke 12:4-12

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. II Thessalonians 3:3

I can profess to know God, to have faith in His Word but am I walking my talk?

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. James 2:18-19

Demons believe but they do not fear the one True God so they keep sinning, ignoring the Word of God. We as believers, walking in faith, are called to know God’s Word, when we know God’s Word and have a relationship with him (making the changes we need to make during our lifetime) we are able to help others grow in their faith and show it by their deeds.

Satan is pretty slick, he will come in and say ‘everyone is doing it, even those in the church, so why should you lose out on the fun?’

The Bible is pretty clear on what God hates, this is just one passage of many.

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,  idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 

Now I don’t know about you but I have had to repent of several of these things and more than once! That is why I believe we are to tell the Truth in love. We are not to beat them over the head and neither are we to tell them  it’s okay because their circumstance is different (if  it’s in the Bible it’s not okay!).

Too many believers want people to feel sorry for them so their ‘sin’ is lost in the emotional.

They talk bad about another person, telling things they should not be telling and usually leaving out the part they played in it. They have the poor me syndrome and that is not from God! We are anything but poor once we have accepted the Lord as our Savior, repented of our sins and started on our faith journey.

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. I Corinthians 15:17

I know this will seem harsh to some of you, but if you are believers you can’t pick and choose what you want from God’s Word.

 I want to speak the Truth in love, and then it is up to them to make the choice according to what God says. Neither I nor you can make that choice for anyone, not our husbands, our parents, our children, our friends….but we can search God’s Word and ask Him for wisdom on how we are to act and speak so they will be drawn to God.

So make sure when the Lord has you speak to someone, write about something, whatever He tells you to do – make sure you are doing it with God’s love, with a true concern for them to know what God has to say.

Whatever God says to do or not to do something, He will always give you the strength and the way, we are never alone.

How many times have I not spoken Truth to someone, or shared my faith. Now to listen to God and see how to do this in love, not in fear, not in Bible beating, but in genuine love because you want to see them blessed by their Father. Because you have your Father’s heart to see them saved and not suffer the consequences for a bad decision – a sin.

If you get attacked, let it go and trust God, love them and pray for them.  It could be the Holy Spirit working on them, making them uncomfortable and you are just an easy target. Again, love them and pray for them.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up      Luke 18:1

I’m grateful for the people that spoke truth to me and never gave up praying.

It’s never too late to repent  -  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death 2 Corinthians 7:10
 Let Jesus release you from those chains!

Something To Think About

February 14th Valentine's Day

Here is something to think about.

“But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:27-36

On this Valentine's Day, why don't you reach out in forgiveness and mercy to those that have hurt you. Someone you see as an 'enemy' leave them a special gift or card today. You don't have to sign your name, you can just put 'someone who wants to bless you' or 'Jesus - John 3:16'

Think outside the box and lift Jesus up on Valentine's Day!!  Give him the glory, honor and praise and watch what He will do in your life and the life of the person you are blessing in His name.

What's On Your Shelf?

The Power of Praying for Your Adult Children

We had another awesome class!

It has been awesome having some of the husbands join us in this study.

We were on Chapter 3

'Pray That your Adult Children Will Grow in Wisdom, 

Discernment, and Revelation'

This chapter starts out with an excellent point.

Stormie Omartian says

'In order to have peace as parents, we have to pray for certain things to be true in the lives of our adult children. And then we have to trust God to answer those prayers. We can't be obsessing over everything that happens in their lives, because that would not only drive us crazy, but everyone around us as well.....We don't have to figure out every little detail: that's God's job.'

Once again this brings it back to us. What do we need

to change in our prayer life as parents?

Are we trusting God? Or still trying to take things

into our own hands?

We need to stop praying....God change my son/daughter....

make them ..... and then it's something we want

maybe even worldly.

One thing I'm learning from this study is to make

sure my prayers are Scripture based and that

my heart is right.

To do this I must have a relationship with my

Father. I need to be in His word, to pray

and praise Him daily.

So as you pray for wisdom, discernment and revelation for your

children - pray it for you and your spouse too.

In the Greek

wisdom = insight, the art of using wisdom - clarity

discernment = perception - cuts through hazy ethical (moral) matters

revelation = once hidden now revealed in the Gospel

We need to pray for our children to have wisdom, discernment and revelation.

We want them to know God, have a relationship

with Him that is their own.

As they begin to have wisdom and allow the

Holy Spirit to work in and through them, they

will have discernment.

With discernment they will begin to have

revelation from the Lord, which will give

them purpose.

So Father, I ask that you give our daughters and sons Your wisdom. Wisdom to understand Your word and Your ways.

As they gain wisdom, teach them discernment so when

faced with the many decisions and situations, they will

know when to flee, how to pray and when

to boldly speak Your Name, Your Word.

And give them revelation into Your Word so they

will know what Your good and perfect will

is for their lives.

I praise You and thank You for blessing me with

my wonderful children. I trust You Lord, to

fulfill your word in their lives.

In Jesus Name I Pray,

amen

Psalm 119:34 Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions; I will put them into practice with all my heart.

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

Proverbs 1:5 

let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance

Psalm 119:125

I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes.

1 Corinthians 2:14

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Ephesians 1:17-19

  

Blessed When Insulted?

Blessed when I'm insulted, persecuted and falsely accused? Now that's something to think about.