Category: Uncategorized (Page 18 of 114)

“Temptations, hidden snares, Often take us unawares, And our hearts are made to bleed, For many a thoughtless word or deed, And we wonder why the test, When we try to do our best, But we’ll understand it better by and by.” — Charles Albert Tindley, 1851-1933

For as long as I have been a Christ-follower, Christians have been trying to get rid of suffering. There is large heretical industry devoted to literally selling people on the concept of painless and ultra-comfortable Christianity. However, even when people deny that they believe the so-called Word of Faith/New Apostolic Reformation heresy, promoted by religious TV and Charisma Magazine, many individuals subliminally agree with the objective.

The objective is to live a suffering-free, prosperous, stress-free, Christianity and scoot into heaven at the end of a long and comfortable life. That is not the scriptural depiction of one that truly follows Christ. If such an objective is pursued, one may continue to call him or her self a Christian, but he or she is likely not a genuine Christ-follower.

It is not that Christ-followers wish to suffer. They do not flagellate themselves to fulfill the daily quota of pain. Neither do they purposely seek hardships so that more spirituality can be realized. However, the necessity of carrying one’s cross is not fulfilled by wearing religious jewelry or t-shirts. Continue reading

Elijah’s Complaint:

“And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” — 1 Kings 19:10

God’s response:

“Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” — 1 Kings 19:18

Under the Juniper bush, Elijah discovered during his struggle with the feelings of isolation and rejection that he was not alone. God had 7,000 among the millions of apostate Israelites that had not compromised. It was a small percentage, but if they were nearby it would have been a comfort to Elijah. He was trained to face loneliness by the Brook Cherith. He was practically alone at the widow’s house. He was alone when he fought the battle with demonic prophets on Mount Carmel. So why did he feel depressingly alone afterward?

There are at least two reasons that the desperate loneliness gripped his mind. First, as anyone knows that has confronted demons or ministered to numerous spiritually needy people after preaching, one’s spirit can be drained of energy. The virtue (GK. dynamis, power) that goes out of them (Luke 6:19) must be restored by praying and seeking intimacy with God (Acts 1:8; GK. dynamis, power). An enormous drain on Elijah’s spirit occurred in his epic battle. He needed to be replenished—renewed. I have repeatedly experienced that condition and personally know and have ministered to friends that have experienced it.

Second, there did not appear to be a reward at the end of the battle. It seemed as if he had fought in vain. God sent fire upon the water-drenched altar and instead of being accepted as God’s prophet, Elijah was rejected and his life was in jeopardy. On a lesser scale, many Believer has poured out their lives and been harshly treated and betrayed by the very ones they helped the most. In a time of apostasy the absence of gratitude for sacrificial efforts will be scarce. In Psalm 73, Asaph lamented the disparity between the ungodly who appear to enjoy life while the faithful ones often suffer.

Sometimes we are drained by so many trials and suffering in our attempting to serve God faithfully, that we don’t realize other Believers are experiencing worse or equally harsh struggles. Many Believers feel alone and are struggling to make some sense out of the great apostasy that is occurring all around them. Numerous ones are also fight great battles with their health, lack of income, children that have rejected God, and are in despair.  If we don’t recognize that probability, we may develop “Juniperitis” and believe that we are the only ones truly serving God. That is not true. We are not individually THAT unique. Although they are few, God has a remnant of people “whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” Continue reading

So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” — Isaiah 6:5

It is a fact that Christ and the Apostle Paul prophesied about great endtimes deception and apostasy. We are now witnessing the fulfillment of that and other prophecies, which in my opinion indicates it is likely the endtimes.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” — 2 Timothy 4:3-4

The following prophecy has not been fulfilled. When it is fulfilled, innumerable deceived professing Christians, no matter how much eschatological Scripture they know, will not recognize the Beast that works those lying signs and deceptions. They will be under a supernatural delusion that causes them to believe Satan’s great and final deception.

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.“ — 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

The great percentage of professing Christians rejecting love for truth is the obvious reason for the current spiritually malnourished and anemic religious multitude. They read books, such as “Jesus Calling,” and do not recognize the demonic indicators. They watch movies, such as “The Shack,” and cannot recognize the blasphemies, including the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. As of today, Semler (Grace Baldridge), an openly, foul-mouth, homosexual “worship” leader, has the number one “Christian” song. Christians News Net

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth that leads into all truth. In my opinion, when they rejected love for truth, they lost communion with the Holy Spirit. All the religion they can muster is no substitute for that loss. Continue reading