Thursday, October 26, 2006

Bitterness and Right with God??

Can we be bitter and spew hatred towards other Christians and be right with God??

No, we can not.

Acts 8:
"You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God.
8:22
"Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.
8:23
"For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity."


Simon was a believer and wasn't right with God because of his bitterness and sin.

8:13
Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.


It is impossible to be right with God while at the same time causeing divisions and spewing hatred. Not to meantion the telling of lies. We must repent and be obedient to the Word!! Evil words can not produce good works.

Romans 3:
3:8
And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say ), "Let us do evil that good may come "? Their condemnation is just.


I know, I know, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. But read the rest of that chapter, it is talking about those who put away their flesh and live right with God. You also have to walk right and be repentant in order to be right with God. As I showed in my last post, if you do not repent and try to put your wrongs right, you are NOT in right standing with God.

Read what the above verse says.....Their condemnation is just!! Why condemnation?? Look further down in the chapter:

3:12
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."
3:13
"THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS ";
3:14
"WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS ";
3:15
"THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD,
3:16
DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS,
3:17
AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN."
3:18
"THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."


Just because you are a Christian or claim the title does not ajudicate or allow you to do whatever. We will be judged by every careless word that comes out of our mouths.

Matthew 12:
12:34
"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good ? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.
12:35
"The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.
12:36
"But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.
12:37
"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned ."


Back to bitterness:
Eph 4:

4:29
Let no * unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
4:30
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
4:31
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
4:32
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.



and

Hebrews 12:
12:14
Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.
12:15
See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;
12:16
that there be no * immoral or godless person like Esau , who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
12:17
For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.


I know that there are those who believe that once they are saved they are able to whatever they wish and still be able to make it up to heaven. This is a heresy and a lie that is causing many to be surprised when they die. You must repent, which means to turn away from your sins and to do your best to not do it again. You also have to listen to what God is saying to your spirit and what His Word says. He is speaking to believers here!!






2 Peter 2
2:1
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
2:2
Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;
2:3
and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
2:4
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;
2:5
and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2:6
and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;
2:7
and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men
2:8
(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds ),
2:9
then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,
2:10
and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties,
2:11
whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.
2:12
But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where * they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,
2:13
suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you,
2:14
having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children;
2:15
forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor , who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
2:16
but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.
2:17
These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.
2:18
For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,
2:19
promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.
[b]2:20
For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
2:21
For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them.
2:22
It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." [/b]


We need to becareful of following such people!! Those who are not right with God themselves are not able to teach others to be right with God. Kind of like the blind leading the blind. Check the fruit of the leaders you are putting your trust in!! If their fruit isn't in line with the Word and if they are spewing hatred, they are not following God and are non of His. Not until they repent and put right that which they have done wrong!!

This is why I was told to write my post concerning not having proof of things that I still believe were done by a certain person!! I had to do the right thing!! Their actions can not dictate our actions. My heart is right with God and I know that I have done what He has asked of me. The rest is no concern of mine, it is between God and them.

By our own words and/or actions we can condemed ourselves.All we can do is to pray that they will be brought into repentance and may they turn their lives around to be pleasing to God!! For their own sakes. But until then,the bible teaches us to avoid such people. For your own good and your own walk with God!!


One small note about "prophets" and those who are claiming that some are "false" ones. See, if you look in the OT you will see many prophecies where it is a "do this and this will happen, repent and you can change this" or even the other way around!! We are able to change our course for the better or worse. It is all about free will.

You can not behave in in a fleshy fashion and expect God promote you. The bible talks about how you are to treat those who brought you to Christ. When we fail this you take ourselves right out of the prophecy. We will have no one to blame but ourselves our own actions destroy us and overshadow everything we do as long as we allow our actions and ill preceived "hurts" to take over our lives.

Don't you realize that when we do this we are being used as an instrument of the devil and not God?? This is not of God!! Before we try to take a splinter out of anybody else's eye, we need to worry about the huge log in our own.

You and only you are to blame for what happened to you at ___!! Your fruit and actions concerning all of those who stood up for you and tried to help you at ___ are proof of your sinful life and refusual to get right with God!!

STOP berating others for what you have done to yourself!! When you sin and continue to sin and live in that sin, you are only hurting yourself. Just think about how many people you have caused to stumble because of your OWN actions!!

What does the bible say about those who cause others to stumble??

Mt 18:6
but whoever * causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.


and

.

Galatians 5:
5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
5:7
You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth ?
5:8
This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you.
5:9
A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
5:10
I have confidence in you in the Lord that you will adopt no other view; but the one who is disturbing you will bear his judgment, whoever * he is.
5:11
But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted ? Then the stumbling block of the cross has been abolished.
5:12
I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.
5:13
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.
5:14
For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
5:15
But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.



Check yourself!! If you say that your actions are of God, then I know that you are a bigger liar than even I believed you to be!!

I did not write this to cause more hurt. As long as we are breathing, we have the opportunity to repent and get right with God. I pray that you do so before it is too late.

In order for these words to NOT be twisted to say anything other than they say, I have made them public.

My intent is to not harm you, but rather so that you may be convicted and get right with God!! Sometimes we must humble ourselves when we do the right thing, I know from experience, but it is also the most freeing thing you have ever done.

To sit there and know that you have done all you can do to be obedient to God is an awesome feeling!!