Tag: False Prophets

Joy Waits on God

November 19, 2015

I am war-weary, in need of a furlough, and awaiting an honorable discharge. I am battle-hardened but this war is long; it has been raging for centuries, filling the earth with blood. My enemy is a deceptive predator who sometimes, weakens me by sneaking into my thoughts. You see, I once fought on his side, he thought he owned me. I was his tool, a common weapon that he had no regard for, and he thought to destroy me just for the twisted joy of practicing destruction. Please understand, my enemy, who was once my master can only, destroy. He has no power to build and he is enraged because the purpose that drives him has only one end, his own destruction. He targets me with his vengeance because I am the tool he prized for dishonor that was rescued by the One Who limits his power; by giving him over to his own desire. Though I once belonged to the enemy and was set to suffer his fate, my Savior rescued me, cleaned me up, repaired me, and gave me a new purpose. I no longer serve the purpose of destruction. I now, serve a new Master, my Friend, Who is the author of eternal life. By His Mercy, I live to serve God and surrender all that I am for His honor and glory.

The war I endure as hardship is the war with sin within. Those old thoughts and desires that the enemy knows so well and does all he can do to re-ignite, in hopes of weakening me and bringing me down. He oppresses me by the sin that flourishes without, in hopes of making my new purpose ineffective. He attacks and wounds my flesh, he threatens my existence. He taunts me, deceives me, and sets traps to make me fall. He accuses me of the evil he wishes me to commit. He castes his shame on me, hoping to weigh me down with undo guilt. He mocks me as he also, mocks my God, my Savior. He surrounds me with clouds of confusion like poison gas. He’s desperate because he knows he’s fighting a war he can’t win and that desperation has driven him mad. His fury is unleashing now to destroy everything and everyone in his limited power to destroy. He seeks to destroy me and those others like me who belong to Jesus. He can drain our blood and break our bodies but our souls belong to Jesus, the One Whose body was broken, blood drained out, but rose to live again.

Though all who believe in Jesus, in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, be wiped from the earth, they will remain safe in Jesus, awaiting His return. Then the enemy of man, God, and life will have his full season; a short time to visibly reign as god and bring woe to those who remain on the earth. Then Jesus and His called out company will return and cut that awful season short; because God is merciful and does not rejoice in the death of the wicked. Then my enemy will do hard time, awaiting Judgment, an eternal sentence in the prison of the torture he invented and visited on God’s children; suffering the eternal torment that belongs to the enemy of God. Then I will receive my furlough, it will last 1,000 years, in a world very different from the world I live in now. Joy won’t have to hide. Joy won’t be frustrated. Joy will over-flow and rejoice in the rapture of ultimate liberty!

My honorable discharge will come on the day I set foot in the new heaven and new earth, after one final battle with Satan; but it will be short. By then, all will know Satan for the loser he is, and sin will no longer sting and infect God’s children with death. Until then, I wait for my Jesus to return, strengthened by the joy I have in Him; protected in battle, my wounds tended, and relying on God for final victory. When overwhelmed by the specter of the enemy’s destructive force, I look up. Jesus is coming soon and I walk by faith, not by sight.

Dusty Joy

November 12, 2015

Every day believers are exposed to a plethora of information, an overwhelming amount of data to process. It is becoming harder to decipher truth from fiction and genuine faith from deception. Christianity is rapidly changing due to the internet and many who name Jesus aren’t known by Him. His name is used to disguise ideas opposed to Biblical teaching and unbiblical agendas. The digital age makes it easy to package any counterfeit in an eye-pleasing manner to lure in unwary consumers. Beautiful memes containing a veneer of truth conceal subtle lies that subliminally entice believers’ away from the narrow path and rob non-believers of true saving faith in Jesus Christ. Bible verses pulled out of context and used as toothpicks to support man-made theologies is an old trick of deception that is highly effective in this era of too much information and too little wisdom. Even born-again believers, considered to be spiritually mature can be temporarily deceived when they neglect daily washing in the Word and spiritually collect the dust of human words and wisdom. The joy of Jesus is diminished when not properly nourished and no other diet suffices for spiritual health and a right spiritual attitude of joy than daily feeding on God’s Word. Even digital Bibles get dusty when set aside and ignored and no matter the advances of technology, the true source of wisdom hasn’t changed. Don’t settle for substandard spiritual truth; test the spirits by comparing every word written about Jesus (including mine) to the divine truth of the Bible.

Dear believer, if your joy seems distant and you are discouraged, confused; click the link that takes you to divine truth and away from the digital dust-storm of deception. Align your heart, mind, and actions with the Words of the Bible, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and bathe in the pure light of Jesus. Rejoice as the dust and dirt of human wisdom is filtered away; and find strength to endure this deceptive, abusive age, in the sure, future promises of God. Give your joy a daily dusting. Cling to Jesus! Hold on! He is returning soon!

Test the spirits by The Spirit

November 12, 2015

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that[a] Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Maintaining Joy in an Era of Fear

October 26, 2015

 

There is one word that best characterizes the early 21st Century and that word is fear. From the fear of terrorism, global financial collapse, increasing totalitarianism, uncontrolled immigration, to the end of the end times, fear is the predominant mood. There are ominous black clouds on the horizon that seem impervious to the sun. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the enormity of what threatens all of us and become frozen by the threat. There are also, those who see the fear in common folk and view it as an opportunity to make money or gain power. They magnify the threat to sell everything from financial advice to protection when the world as we know it ends. Others promise a better life in a new land to displaced persons, take the last of their money to smuggle them across borders, and even make slaves of some of them; and because of them, there are more slaves in the world now than at any other time in history. Predators know that frightened prey is easy prey and the 21st Century is proving to be a feeding frenzy for predators. By fear, the black night closes in as more and more people lose hope. The only, way to respond in an atmosphere of such pervasive fear is to reach for joy. It is the joy of Jesus that strengthens believers and gives us the power to overcome and not give in to terror.

Fear is natural, an important part of human, subjective intelligence. God built fear into our emotional character and He designed it for a purpose. Fear warns us of danger and signals for protective action but being overcome with fear clouds judgment and leaves us more vulnerable. Being afraid of things that may or may not happen and living in a state of constant terror is draining and immobilizing. If fear is to function properly, then it must be brought into balance. Moderation of fear is achieved by mindfully assessing where it should be rightfully, placed. This begins by looking away from the world with its looming threats and looking to God, the One who created us in His image. He is the only One who not only, has the power to destroy our bodies but also, to destroy our souls. He put us together and He can take us apart. Truly, freedom from fear begins with a healthy fear of the LORD. Fear thrives in ignorance but fearing God is the beginning of the end of spiritual ignorance and the first step toward an attitude of joy through knowledge of the Living God. When that knowledge is combined with saving faith in Jesus, it becomes righteous wisdom and a lamp that guides through the dark times of life. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world and with each victory over fear, joy increases and fear subsides.

The dark future that appears to be bearing down on us now is part of God’s plan. It is part of His plan to end the rule of man over man and return the Creation to Himself. There is no escaping from it but there is one refuge and that safe place is in Jesus Christ. Placing faith in Him is the only, sure hope, the only place where the soul can be preserved for eternity. Those who belong to Him have only, the destruction of our bodies to fear from the world but our souls will remain intact in Christ, to be reunited with promised, glorified bodies; to live in that bright Kingdom that will rise on the other side of the looming, terrible storm. It is by keeping focus on Jesus and that future promise that believers are kept from being disabled by overwhelming fear. Our sure haven is protection from the purveyors of fear who seek weakened prey. By faith, we are perfected in God’s divine love and as we increase trust in Him, that perfect love drives away all fear.

Beloved, don’t be afraid of what the world fears. Maintain your joy by drawing close to God, in Jesus and find the strength you need to overcome everything that causes you to fear. There is no new prophet to follow and no new teaching to obey, for surviving the end of the End Times. Faith in Christ alone and obedience to God is all that is required. God never changes and His promises are sure.

All that I have written above is found in the Bible, as my acquired overview. It is important for every believer to read and study the Bible and prove to their selves, the truth of what I and others write and teach. Jesus is the Teacher of every believer and protection from false prophets and false teaching comes only, from each one looking to Jesus and studying the Bible for their self.

Joy-Enslaving-False-Prophet

October 10, 2015

With an innocent look so clean-cut and so nice

By smooth-flowing-words-to-tempt-and-entice

He draws his followers lured into traps like mice!

Luring them in once and then snaring them twice

By trickery he lock-chains his victims down thrice

Mostly women; and all his followers pay the price

Of no intellectual freedom and all sex-favors nice

Leave all behind! Come live with me in paradise!

Truth-sounding-Godly-words most useful to entice

Teaching-preaching-all-infesting-faith-lies-like-lice

Break them down once by degrading them twice

All-serve-Me-now-or-I’ll- bury-all-of-you-thrice!

Don’t heed False Prophet when he lures to entice.

There are many false prophets in the United States today. While most of us don’t understand how people are led away by them, they are adept at sniffing out the vulnerable and all of us are sometimes, vulnerable. From television hucksters, to polygamist cults, to Moonies, and online dooms-dayers, all of them have one thing in common: a strong leader that seats himself in the place of God. Mini-cults also, form around teachers and other strong personalities in churches, though most involved would never think of their situation that way. Anytime, we allow another person to place themselves between us and God, we’ve fallen victim to a false prophet. Many of them set dates for the rapture, promise health, wealth, and prosperity and even create their own scripture, but it isn’t false doctrine that exposes them. It is the lack of spiritual fruit that marks them as false because no amount of deception can build love, joy, peace, hope, and self-control into the character of a human being. They won’t point others toward Christ but only, point to themselves. They are spiritual abusers and no different from any other abusive controller. Beware of them and don’t allow them to enslave your joy.

 

 

 

 

Distortions of Joy

October 6, 2015

Words matter. All knowledge and wisdom is contained in words. With our words we either build up or tear down. Relationships are strengthened or torn apart by our words. A parent’s words teach children who they are and how to relate to the world. Loving words increase joy and hateful words increase discouragement. Words matter and as a believer who chooses to share my faith through the words I write, I know God holds me accountable for my words. Every word I write has a life of its own and I am mindful of the forces that my words unleash into the world. I desire that all of my words result in good and not evil. However, they have their own destiny and no matter how carefully I choose my words, I can’t govern the intent applied to them by the reader. Whatever I reveal of my God and myself by my words is coupled with the emotional climate of the reader and altered by their pre-existing mindset. I can’t change what another already knows but only add to or subtract from what they embrace as truth. Though I am accountable for my words, I am not always accountable for how they are received. Though I strive to write with joyful, loving words of encouragement, my words are destined to twisting in the minds of some and I will be misunderstood. The joy through faith in Jesus that I wish to impart is sometimes, distorted in the minds of others and the purpose I intended for my words is frustrated. As a writer who promotes faith in Jesus, I can’t measure my words according to how they are received but according to the perfect words of life found in the Holy Scriptures. I measure my words according to the character of Jesus Christ.

 

Word Mirrors

Truthful words written down in truth!

Then picked up and held as mirrors,

Reflecting images in another’s mind;

Minds searching for irrefutable proof!

Peer intent into words held as mirrors,

Hoping for kindly reflected Self to find;

Turn angry! March-stomp away aloof!

Seeing ugly Self- image in word mirrors,

Now my truthful words begin to grind!

Seeing you in me, this distorting spoof!

Words now cut-slice as broken mirrors!

Relating is shattered when intent is blind,

Twisting words reflects a distorted truth!

Truthful words reflecting hearts as mirrors,

Reveals what lies hiding in another’s mind.

 

There are also, among us those talented wordsmiths with another agenda. Their wizardry with words is precise and they have an uncanny ability to see the vulnerability of others and use their words as a salve to sooth their need. Using words as mirrors to bend light and distort even the Holy Words of Scripture to serve the evil intent in their heart. A false prophet may use sound teaching but what is true becomes false when tainted with his desire for control and power. Adept at twisting truth into lies and embellishing them with beautiful words that hurting people want to hear, they endear themselves to their prey. By their eloquence they deceive trusting souls and by speaking hope into their victims’ weaknesses, they exploit them. They are the womanizers, the grifters, the con-men, who seeing God as a useful tool in gaining power over others become preachers, teachers, and rise to great heights in the religious hierarchy. Others create Para-church ministries that evolve into cults. They are the” wolves in sheep’s clothing” that woo the church and then devour her to satisfy their appetite. They can’t be exposed for who they are by their skillfully crafted words but by their actions. Though they bleat as sheep the love of God isn’t in them and when their deceitful purposes are frustrated they will emit a truth-leaking growl. Though by their words they create a Holy House of Mirrors by distortions of joy, they are not characterized by the spiritual fruits that come only by true faith in Jesus.

Remember, words are mirrors and while they have the power to reveal inner truth, words also, have the power to distort. The mirror that reveals each of us as we truly are is the Word of God and in measuring every word written and spoken by human beings by those Holy Words is the safety of ultimate, divine truth.