I wrote this months ago and I want to share this because it matches up with this topic.
Today sometimes it's hard to tell who really is a Christian and who is not. Today we don't check people and call them out we just pretty much take them at their word. If you say you are a Christian than I am not going to question whether you are telling the truth. That's between you and God. But, what I love about the books of John is that he is saying I'm going to tell you straight out. If you look like a sinner and talk like a sinner and live like a sinner than you are a sinner and not a Christian. A good example of what John is saying is if you see an Orange tree, you will never see Apples growing out of that tree, it is impossible because it has Orange seeds and the seeds can only bear it's fruit. This is a certainty. There's no questions about it. You don't have to second guess that tree. The tree is going to do and reap what it's seed is period.
Well, when it comes to Christianity, John is basically saying the same thing. There are characteristics that a Christian have that can not be mistaken for anything else. Whatever seed or spirit that lives in a person is going to come out and it cannot show any other character. For Christians, that seed is the Holy Spirit that was planted in us and I have already covered what it is that the Holy Spirit carries. The Holy Spirit carries the 7fold Spirit of Christ Isaiah 11:2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;. And now we have that Spirit Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And what I am telling you is bibical 2cr 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? The meaning of reprobate is: A morally unprincipled person. One who is predestined to damnation. To abandon to eternal damnation. It is always extremely important for us to check ourselves often to make sure we are living the life of a Christian and the great book to do a self check on this is the books of John(1st, 2nd, and 3rd).
Let me tell you why this is so heavy on me. Our hearts can and does deceive us often. That's right our own heart.Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, [I] try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, [and] according to the fruit of his doings. And also Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] theways of death.
Good examples of how we do this is instead of judging our living and what is true by the word of God, we often say things like I know I'm not living the way God want me to but I do have good intentions, and my heart is right. We also say things like I know deep down in my heart that God... Our hearts trick us every time. If our hearts do not match with Christ than don't trust it!!! It's the same as if you meet someone whom you are thinking about dating. You would not put your heart out all the way for someone until you get to know them first and can trust them. You can trust God and his word better than your own self/heart so do a Bible check and if your heart is not matching with God's word than rely solely on his word and not your heart and than you will later find that your heart will become pure and will match up with God. Those who are strong in the word will understand completely with what I am saying. Listen to what I am saying because this is so very, very important.
Today's Christians get so caught up with these talk shows and feel good messages that tells us that we are ok. If what you are feeling and doing is something that you know is wrong, that is ok, God loves everyone and accepts everyone for God is love and yada yada yada. DON'T GET CAUGHT UP WITH THOSE MESSAGES THAT WILL LEAD YOU TO DEATH! It is only the word of God that you can depend on for 100% truth. People will even get you to doubt the word of God like homosexuality and abortion to name a few. Your heart will trick you into believing that what you are feeling about that subject is right that God created a person to be homosexual and that abortion is ok in certain situations.
An authentic Christian walk by the word of God, walking by faith. Believing only in what the word says.
Another thing to remember is that God is more real than you and I because, we are not even living in our true body yet. We are not in our "real" resurrected body. We will change into complete perfection but God is already and has always been what He is. Onipotient, Onipresent and Omniscient. Although we know this already but you must understand that because we are not perfect yet, we can't use what is imperfect to rule our members, our members must be under the control of the Holy Spirit only which includes the heart. God is not only real but God is truth, he is serious about us and he is serious about sin. We can not afford to be insensitive to sin because our God is totally sensitive to it. We must be as Christ is.
If you know you are sinning and you are having a hard time getting out of that sin than I suggest you do a self check on yourself right now. Before I left SCAN Health Plan I asked myself what kind of condition do I want to be in when God take me home, in otherwords when I die. Well my answer is that I want to be walking as Christ walk and I want to be walking in my assigned gift from the Holy Spirit, not living in sin. I remember talking to a man I met on the internet who passed away about a year ago. He said the reason he does not commit fornication is because he dosen't want to be caught in that sin when Christ comes. No one knows when Christ is coming and I don't want to be in the middle of having sinful sex which is sex while unmarried. I said well that is nice that you think like that but...don't you understand that you are already caught whether he arrived or not in a sinful act? Caught is caught whether He comes now or not so you have the right attitude but just know that any sin is a sin that we are caught in. You still might find yourself caught in or caught up in a sin without having the chance to repent of that sin before you die. Dying with unforgiving sin means you have to answer face to face with God about that sin and you will be held accountable for that sin. It doesn't mean you will go to hell but you will have to answer to Jesus Christ Himself. No one in their Christian mind would ever want that to happen to them.
Now I am speaking from the word of God not from myself because if the truth be told, I don't enjoy denying what my flesh wants. If it was up to me, I would be sinning all the time because that is what my flesh desires but it is not me who I have to please but it is God who is my master that I have to please. So what I am saying to you does not come from the "Book of Angela" but from the "Book of the Bible" that was written by God's own words.
A true Christian does not practic sin. Practic sin means living in sin. So lets break down what living in sin means.
Living a life in disobediance to Gods words and standards is living in sin. If God said thou shalt not and you are doing it everyday than you are living in sin. In the same token, If God says thou shall or thou must and you don't, you are living in sin. I use to think that the hardest part of being a Christian is forgiving one another but really the hardest part of being a Christian is accepting what the word of God says and stepping out on faith living exactly what the word of God says. Not being afraid to call out what is not of God and speaking up for what is of God. Comparing our walk to the Bible to see how well we match up to it instead of comparing ourselves with each other. Here is a blog reference that explains in details about living in sin/darkness http://betchert.blogspot.com/2011/08/building-relationship-part-1.html
I can't stress enough how serious God is about us and our living and the relationship that God desires from us. When one of my best friends and pastor died it just took me for a loop. I was so confused and my thoughts were for lack of a better word disorganized. I just didn't understand who, what, how, when, where and why? I was so busy being stunned and confused that I stopped reading the Bible. I say stopped because I read the bible daily and for weeks I just stopped. Than God spoke to my heart and I realized what I was doing. God said when you are in a relationship and you are mad at that person what is the first thing you do? You don't speak to that person. You shut down. You wait until you are not mad anymore to start a small conversation before working your way back up to the relationship being the way it use to be. Normally, when a person is hurt or sad, they run to their friend for comfort, but if they are mad at the person, than they will avoid that person.
Now me being who I am had a hard time accepting this because I love the Lord so much but I could not deny my actions. The Lord was longing for our relationship. He was longing for me to talk to Him about anything that is troubling me. When we are honest with God, he brings things to our attention or send someone to give a word that matches with how we are feeling. God is our Father but He is also our friend and protector and comforter. Confusion is natural to feel when something happens that throws us for a loop but it is God that we must run to immediately for comfort. Even when it is God that we are hurt about because of lack of understanding. I'm saying this because a lot of times we think that we are ok. We don't want to admit that sometimes we just don't understand what God is doing and sometimes we feel like we should have been warned about things. God telling us ahead of time so that we can be prepared. God has already prepared me for this I just didn't know it would be my best friend and pastor. But all that was given to me prior now makes sense. So now I am back in the word of God feeding my spirit that was hungry and thristy.
Back to authentic Christians. A true Christian according to the Book of John do not practic sin as was stated earlier, and If you are practicing sin, than you are lying about being a Christian. A true Christian do not keep or hang around friends that are practicing sin. I could not be best friends or even friends with someone who speaks Chinese and doesn't know English at all.
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There is so much more I would love to say but I have already said a lot! I know, I just can't stop but it's because I love you guys, I have to share because just as God is serious about us, I am serious about you. My love for you guys is real and I will be honest and tell you what is happening with me which is the reason for God dealing with me and the reason why I am spreading the word. I can't say that I love you and keep these things to myself. I just can't.
As always, I love you and God bless you.
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