NEW PERSON- OLD CULTURE

CARRYING THEIR OLD CULTURE

Many immigrants come to America with hope for a new life. They may become citizens but do they feel like an American? They may still feel like the person they were in their old country.

 

The old culture keeps them bound to their old life. It is only when they are assimilated into the American culture, learn the language and they drop the past they are fully an American.

Likewise when one accepts Christ and becomes a Christian they may not feel like they are a child of GOD. One reason is they don’t know how they are supposed to feel.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.

Did you get that? You are not going to be a child of GOD you are already His child. The main thing is you need to take GOD’S word for that instead of what your emotions tell you.

If a Christian fails GOD in some matter it is going to interrupt your fellowship with GOD much like a spat between husband and wife.  But you’re still the husband and you’re still the wife. Likewise a person is still a born again believer albeit one who has some problems.

 

If you continue to sin on purpose this means you haven’t discovered who you are and that you aren’t a debtor to sin any longer who has to continue to obey your old father Satan.

The next time you are tempted to do wrong just refuse to do it. It is amazing to find out you have been delivered and don’t have to yield to sin.

Eph.2:10 For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Just as immigrants don’t fully know what becoming a citizen means so also oft times Christians don’t understand what they are in Christ. This is evidenced by the way they act and live.

1 Corinthians 5:17  This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Spiritually you are a new person. You were dead in sins and trespasses but now are alive in Christ.

Philippians  3:20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.

Grasping this thought is paramount in living a successful Christian life. You are a citizen of heaven and have all the rights afforded to the citizens there.

 

In every case you are empowered to refuse to sin for with the temptation GOD has made a way of escape.

Romans 6:13-14 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Well there it is in black and white. The old saying “Practice makes perfect,” is still true so the next opportunity to sin occurs; do what you know is right and claim your rights as citizens of heaven.  Simply refuse to sin.

PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE (or Not)

Why am I NOT Delivered when you prayed?

 

PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE (or Not)

Romans 2:21-23   You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not … steal, do you steal? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God.

In some churches they will pray for almost everything. If a person is having trouble living uprightly they will come to the altar (if they have one) and be prayed for.

If they have sinned they ask for forgiveness and they ask the Spirit of GOD to deliver them from their weakness.

In all probability they will feel some relief and get a refreshing from our gracious LORD.

BUT (don’t you hate those buts) after a few days the same old malady returns and the struggle continues.

You might ask why the prayer for deliverance didn’t last or work?

If I’m honest and want help why didn’t I get it?

There must be an answer to that question so let me give you something to chew on. The reason may be because you are depending on the Holy Spirit to do what only the WORD of GOD can do.

1 John 3:2-3  Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Did you get that? You, (that person inside your skin) purifies themselves. This is where conduct enters in.

John 14:15  "If you love me, obey my commandments.

The word of GOD is infused with the power of GOD.  When you commit yourselves to obedience to the commandments you also will be infused with the power of the word.

 

As long as you rebel against the commandments you will never attain to the stature of the person you know you should be.

 

You are not going to get the deliverance you desire as long as you cherish that which the commandments condemn for you are reaping what you are sowing.

Rev.1:3 says it most clearly; “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.”

Commit yourself to obedience to God’s WORD and your deliverance is on its way.

 

THE DEEDS OF THE FLESH –by Guest David D. Needham



Walk in the Spirit

 

When someone says it so much better than you can then it is time to repeat what they have said and become silent yourself on the subject. This is what I have chosen to do by repeating what David C. Needham has written.

For the non-Christian the combined will to live - - to discover meaning finds expression in what Paul calls “the deeds of the flesh.

Galatians 5:19-21The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The first three “deeds” immorality, impurity, and sensuality, obviously relate to man’s attempts to get meaning through his body, his glands and senses, his fantasies.

Idolatry is very broad. An idolater is one who has made up his mind on where and how he will find life. And whatever it is, he will work feverishly to get it, guard it, sacrifice to it and worship it. To lose it is to lose life

Sorcery focuses on the search for meaning in the occult.

Enmities, strife, jealousy, and outbursts of anger reflect the standard reactions of one who is frustrated with a given set of circumstances. Either some supposed meaning in life has been taken from him, or threatened, or kept just beyond his reach.

Disputes, dissensions, and factions point to conflicting ideologies as to where life really is.  Where the values are.

Envying - is clear enough. Someone else has made it and I want it.

The final two deeds drunkenness and carousing evidence the fact I have given up. I have no will to seek meaning anymore. I have tried to make some sense out of life but now I’m through trying. I want out.

Needham’s book Birthright is very enlightening on self-awareness.

The deeds of the flesh are symptoms of being “Caught in a trap and can’t walk out”.  We find this conundrum expressed in Romans 7   So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Still struggling with the “Flesh Malady? Its time to stop struggling and accept your deliverance in Christ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVXbvH3irl4

This post is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

 

ALAS I DID IT AGAIN

ALAS I DID IT AGAIN

 

All men from Adam till tomorrow have the propensity to sin, Christians not excluded.  Some will try to disagree with that truth but they will have a hard time even convincing themselves. The old timey folks called the base problem, “Self” which meant the desire to rebel against everything that doesn’t please us. Argumentatively we try to defend our position by showing it to be just and superior to common acceptance.

And again some define this malady as a sin nature acquired from father Adam which may bear some measure of truth but then try to blame him for their shortcomings. This exercise is called blame shifting which I have found a very convenient cop out and have often used it for my peace of mind “when I did it again.”

The weakness of this proposition is, we are told once we are in Christ and we are spiritually no longer in Adam; Everything we did while in Adam, we no longer are obligated to continue to do.  And yet Satan’s stain that we acquired through Adam while he was in the garden remains and is easily called forth by the one who goes about as a roaring lion. 

"Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" is a Christian hymn written by the 18th century pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. In the midst of this song of praise these words are penned; “Let Thy goodness like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee,”  which sounds rather nice but continuing on… “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it Prone to leave the God I love.”  Those are the damnable urges that will break your fellowship with GOD if acted upon.

This is one of the greatest hymns ever written. The words, “Prone to wander Lord I feel it” has been criticized for not being in reality but in the time of severe testing believers can be pushed to their limits. Lusts appear that they were not aware of being part of their makeup. Is it saying too much that every Christian has had to face this reality to one degree or another when being tested by the enemy of our soul/spirit, revealing things we didn’t know about ourselves?

Why is it that being tempted feels almost like you have sinned? Is it because temptation is shrouded with the nature of its father and anyone who is touched by it feels the need to be cleansed. This is the weapon of choice Satan uses to trip up the believer to render him ineffective for the gospel’s sake.  Even worse; along with the temptation comes condemnation.

While temptation originates from the master deceiver it effectively seeks out a kindred place within our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. The song Cleanse Me sets forth a good prayer to pray;

Search me, O God, and know my heart today, Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;

See if there be some wicked way in me; Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

James 1:14-15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death. This form of death is multifaceted and impairs the total being.  Our faith, our effectiveness for God, the respect of others, the whole of you.

Most of life’s issues are the matter of choice. While you are not always in control of who or what makes the choice as a rule you do.  Perhaps a circumstance where you might not be in charge, is the solider that is sent into battle. It was someone else who sent him but you have control of most of the decisions that affect your life:  Who you date, who you marry, your friends, your job. You may not like your options but still the choices are yours. You are a product of what the choices you have made. Right and wrong choices are the result of “Right and wrong thinking.”  

If you are getting the wrong result and sinning you need to change your thought life.

Psalms 37:4-5 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.…

"Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait and wait without anxiety." Take this message with you and allow your faithfulness to guide you into the belief that what you desire is on the way”.   Gabrielle Bernstein 

Or as the scripture puts it; Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, what things so-ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjfToqk5w5g

 

This post is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

 

 

Ten Commandments or Ten Opinions?

Ten Commandments or Ten Opinions?

Ten Commandments or Ten Opinions?  Pick the former unless you want to wade through nearly 150 pages of dense U.S. Supreme Court legal jargon explaining why a Kentucky Courthouse may or may not keep a display of the Ten Commandments ("may NOT" carried the day, by a 5/4 vote of the justices) and why a Texas Statehouse may or may not keep its display of the Ten Commandments ("MAY" carried the day here, by a different 5/4 vote).

That's right. It took the U.S. Supreme Court ten opinions and nearly 150 pages in total to micromanage two of our State displays of the Ten Commandments, even though the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitutional applies to Congress, not the States: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion ...."

To be sure, some of those 150 pages were written by justices arguing against the judicial power grab, but the length of the opinions and their strong language are just the latest indications that the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court is rowing increasingly far from the mainstream in its pursuit of "Evolving standards of decency."  Expect falls ahead.

The current conflict over cases that come before the Court and the threatened struggle over its next nominee, should one of the justices retire soon, as expected, is a very bitter one. That is because over time majorities of the Court have come to claim more power than the Presidency and Congress in a judicial coup against the Constitution that threatens to destroy the Republican form of Government the Founders gave us.

And what is this power that makes presidents quiver and congressmen quake? It is the Court's claimed right to be the exclusive and final interpreter of the Constitution.

This dogma of judicial supremacy is, like so many controversial Supreme Court doctrines, not found in the Constitution itself. Rather it was invented in 1958 in a U.S. Supreme Court case called ‘Cooper vs. Aaron,’ in which a majority of the Court claimed: "The federal judiciary is supreme in the exposition of the law of the Constitution."

The majority in ‘Cooper vs. Aaron,’ went so far as to rewrite history to legitimize their claim of power. Even though judicial supremacy had not been invoked in any prior Court decision, the Cooper majority none-the-less claimed it had been "a permanent and indispensable feature of our constitutional system."

The Founding Fathers were very much aware of the concept of judicial supremacy over constitutional interpretation - - but they rejected it strongly. In 1804, for example, President Thomas Jefferson said judicial supremacy would lead to despotism:

"The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional ... not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the legislature and the executive also, in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic branch."

Jefferson was not alone. Only a few years earlier, Congressman Joseph Nicholson, a former judge, warned even more emphatically what would happen if the judicial branch was permitted to have the final say over all constitutional questions:

Where is the charter which places the sovereignty of this country in the judge’s hands? What gives them the powers and the independence now contended for, and they will require nothing more; for your government becomes despotism, and they become your rulers.

"They are to decide on the lives, the liberties, and the property of your citizens; they have an absolute veto on your laws by declaring them null and void at pleasure; they are to introduce at will the laws of a foreign country, differing essentially with us upon the great principles of government; and after being clothed with this arbitrary power, they are beyond the control of the nation ....

"If this all be true ... the constitution is not worth the time we are spending on it.  It is, as its enemies have called it, mere parchment. For these judges, thus rendered omnipotent, may overleap the Constitution and trample on your laws; they may laugh the legislature to scorn and set the nation at defiance."

Sadly, the despotism President Jefferson, Judge Nicholson and other Founding Fathers warned about is upon us, threatening the integrity of the whole judicial system.

The federal branch that Madison regarded as "the weakest branch" has "overleaped the Constitution" to declare our laws "null and void at [its] pleasure" even if doing so requires "introducing at will the laws of a foreign country," as the Supreme Court has done in declaring sodomy to be a constitutional right and in declaring unconstitutional the execution of 17-year-old murderers. The Court has issued other controversial decisions that cite international laws or foreign moral standards rather than the text and meaning of the U.S. Constitution as it was delivered to us by the Framers.

Ironically, although nearly all of the more controversial Supreme Court decisions have struck down laws passed by the people or their representatives (e.g. Roe v. Wade, which ended abortion laws in all fifty states), the judicial activist majority of the Court often does its work in the name of "We the people" or of "Democracy."

In the recent majority opinion striking down the display of the Ten Commandments in the Kentucky courthouse, for example, Justice Stevens wrote that the Court should "expound the meaning of constitutional provisions" in part by considering "our Nation's democratic aspirations."

As large majorities of Americans actually oppose so many of the Court's recent decisions, however, it's clear that the only "democratic aspirations" the majority of the Court has is mind is what Justice Scalia in dissent called the "personal preferences" of the "dictatorship" of a shifting Court majority.

Whether one calls it "despotism" or "dictatorship" or "democratic aspirations," one thing is clear: By advancing what Justice Thomas called in the Texas case their "judicial predilections" above the text and history of the Constitution, politically motivated majorities of the court are undermining the integrity of the judiciary and the foundation of our country.

If such is the consequence of man's law reigning supreme, I'll pick the Ten Commandments over the Ten Opinions any day.

(Tom Parker is Associate Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.)

 

THE SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL AND YOU



 

THE SPIRIT OF JEZEBEL

A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized, heroic, and at times, worshipful image. It may be political, entertainment with various appeals, demonic, or a combination of several components. In all cases the design is to bring you under the purveyor’s power.

The underlying power is from Satan himself which empowers the spirit of Jezebel within an individual. Once received that person is under the control of the minister of evil. 

I sell the things you need to be

I'm the smiling face on your T.V.

Oh, I'm the cult of personality

I exploit you still you love me?

I told you one and one makes three

Oh, I'm the cult of personality

(Living Colour song lyrics)

There are many cultists of personalities who are daily sending forth their message of Satan.

One such purveyor is a former Disney star who today has given herself fully over to the spirit of Jezebel . She herself is a captive of this vile spirit and now lives to obey its bidding. She uses song and sensual lures to trap the unwary and there are myriads who now worship at the feet of her cult of personality  and deification .

Don’t fail to read the web page below!

 http://www.jonasclark.com/sex-soul-ties-jezebel-seducing-spirit/

Another site offering powerful prayers to use for certain situations may prove useful to you.   Beyond the Barriors by Laura Gagnon.