God is taking off His gloves with us.... are we ready?

[Gideon]

The reality of our condition of drawing near Him with our mouths but with our hearts far from Him, of being healed only slightly as we say 'Peace, peace' but with no peace in our hearts.... well, it is about to smack us in the face. And thank God for that! LOL. We are about to be awakened to what being a Christian actually means for us, and it is definitely a good news/ bad news type of thing. 

We as the present day church, especially  here in the west, have heaped to ourselves pastors and leaders who have so lowered the standard.... the promises of God  to fill us with overcoming life, that few believe it is even possible that God can..... and WILL... deliver us from evil.  And how few there are who believe the rest of God and the joy of serving Him is available in this life. Boy, are we wrong. 

Do we not get it? The gospel is not just about forgiveness, but about setting us free indeed from the grip of the world, free from the hold that our lower nature has on us, and free from the power the devil has illegally exercised over us due to our unbelief. Jesus calls it FREE INDEED. 

There is a great book I have found that shares the exact same message I am sharing..... the truth about our new nature.... that most of God's children have yet to put on. I love the title, written by Dan Stone. 

The Rest of the Godpel... When the Partial Gospel Has Worn Us Out

And how true it is. We have been fed a gospel with no promises to grab hold of, and no warnings, no exhortations, no rebukes, no corrections or chastenings to keep us balanced. Thus we have completely lost the reality of the battle we are in with the forces of darkness. 

We are the saints in the last day talked about in the Word who heap to themselves teachers, having  itching ears  Oh, We want the assurance of Heaven. We want the pearl of great price. We want a battle-free walk...contentment without godliness.... where Christ never interferes with OUR plans but heaps all the benefits of sonship on us regardless. We just don't want the cost that goes with it, do we?. 

And what is the cost? US. We are told as clearly as possible, if we do not hate our own life, we CANNOT be His disciples. We are told salvation is an exchange. Our old nature for His new nature in us. All our pearls for the pearl of great price. But we want to get the pearl fo Jesus on 'credit' and pay as we go. 

We have been lied to by the enemy that all God is looking for is that first magic prayer of faith, ignoring the fact that faith is a walk with God, yoked to Him, and we go where He goes. Have we simply cut out the verse warning us that it is he that endures to the end that will be saved? It is time we pasted it back in our Bibles. 

Like it or not, we are the spoiled  prodigal son who has taken all the "good" God has for us as His Father, and lived  for himself, a total contradiction to what our Bibles tell us. Up till now, all has been going pretty well, right? Wrong. We simply have not yet found our  faces  in the hog trough. Well, our walks as prodigal children are coming to a close. We are about to "come to ourselves" and the choice we will soon be asked to make will determine everything. 

Oh, I pray we see it.  We are the ones who have "re-manufactured " grace  into a license to sin. Our  Bibles call it turning the grace of God into lasciviousness. Legalism was a great problem in the early church. Not so at the end. A false grace  will be. It will masquerade as grace, promising us liberty but bringing those who listen to it into bondage to self, sin and the god of this world.   Oh, we would never admit that that our motive is to abuse God's  grace, but nevertheless, that is the end result, isn't it? We want the freedom to sin and to live for self with no repercussions. What a God we serve! Woo-hoo!  And God weeps. 

Look, I fully realize the truth is hard to accept. But can we finally be honest here? As a whole, the vast majority of believers have ZERO desire to walk as living sacrifices, even though we are told that in God's opinion, that is our 'reasonable service'. We think that is extremism. Hmmmmm, I wonder who is wrong? 

Oh, mind you, we get condemned when we slip up, but that is not the same as getting chastened and  corrected. But it never brings us to our knees as it did with Paul when he was found trying to 'be good' in his own power as seen in Romans 7. No, we proudly boast that Romans 7 gives us full justification to remain in the flesh, for if Paul could not do it, what hope do we have?  And we totally ignore that a) Paul HATED his constant failure and b) Jesus, his delieverer, heard his cry and DELIVERED HIM! Glory!

I want to declare something for all readers of this post and pray you really get it. God loves us far to much to let us walk into the judgment hall and stammeringly, try to give an account of how we have lived. Want to know the definition of terror. That is it. 

What will it take to see His precious children awake to righteousness and sin not? Lifting up the promises of God and encouraging those bound by sins they hate?  Absolutely. But some, a good portion actually, are so cozy, so comfortable, so asleep sitting in their church pews that they will only be awakened with shame or fear. 

God is not holding back in these last days. We have played church long enough. We have been savorless salt long enough. We have hidden what little light we have under our bushel baskets of Sunday services that assure us sll is ok, and then Monday mornings, go back to OUR lives. 

News flash. They are not our lives. He owns us. We now have a choice and it will not go away until we tell it to go away. We van either continue to sow to our flesh and in the end reap corruption.... OR.... we can finally yield ourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead.

God's gloves are coming off. He will not let us dishonor His name any longer as we have done up to this point. Ask most in the world one word that describes Christians and do you know what it is? Hypocrites. Ouch.... but can we really blame them?  

The final harvest is about to begin.  God has raised up messengers all over the world awakening His children to the fact that their master is about to return.  Will we be those spoken of who begin to make excuses as to why we cannot come right now? Do we really believe that a prayer spoken years ago which has degraded to a head doctrine that has no influence over how we now live is the faith that Jesus desires of us? 

Do we not get it? If we truly are believing, it changes our priorities. James was not talking about "working" for our salvation. That is beyond ridiculous and would mean two apostles of God were in total conflict.  If that were the case, throw your Bible out, for it is simply not to be believed at all. No, guys, James is simply saying that when we are truly walking in faith WITH God, we produce fruits of that abiding. Instead of fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, the Holy Spirit inside us brings forth God's very character out of us. And brothers and sisters, right now, like it or not, we are dishonoring the one we say we believe in. 

Do we remember what occurs in the final hours when His own who have had the good seed sprout in them let the cares of this life, like weeds, choke put the life within  them? The Holy Spirit leaves those wicked servants and the emphasis is shifted to the poor, the lame, the outcasts of society. That guys, is the next great revival. will we be a part of it? I pray so.

And do we know what will trigger this last great harvest in all the world? God tells us in Ezekiel 36, coincidentally right after He upbraids us for our having a form of godliness but denying the power of it.

"And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God , “when I am made holy  in you before their eyes."

Ezekiel 36:23

We are now moving into the valley of decision. We have played church long enough. We have loved ourselves long enough. We have disobeyed the Lord who died for us long enough. The choice we make now WiLL affect our eternity. May we all choose wisely. 

blessings, 

Gideon

Edited March 29, 2020 by Gideon

[JustPassingThru]

13 minutes ago, Gideon said:

God's gloves are coming off.

Sorry friend, your title and your thread are a total "turn off" for me.

My father was a boxer and when he was mad, angry at me he always threatened me with "putting on" his gloves and "boxing" me!

Because of that I had a extremely hard time "relating" to God as a "father;" ...but He loves me, ...understands me and my personality and my problems, ....and is faithful, ...I now "know" my Heavenly Father and He is "nothing" like you portray Him.

You mentioned the "prodigal" son, ...but you didn't talk about his loving father that was watching, waiting for his return and because of his great love for his son when he saw him a long way off didn't wait for him to knock on the door, ..oh no, ...he "ran" to greet, take him in his arms and "love on" his son.

That portrays the Heavenly Father that has His arms around me.

Yes, Father is "shaking" the world and yes some of his children are being shaken by it as they watch their house of cards falling down, ...but all that is necessary is to "believe" in their hearts what He has told them in His Word and they will see they are "firmly" planted, standing on the Rock that cannot be shaken, ...just like our own children when they did something foolish and put their lives in danger, ...but when we had them in our arms again all we could do is sob in relief and hold them tight and our love for them flowed out of our hearts to them in an unspoken manner and and way, ...they "knew" we loved them and they would say on their own, without any provocation..., "I'm sorry daddy." 

Why not post threads that are uplifting, encouraging, comforting, filled with God's Agape Love for His children, ...why not teach from His Word rather than some book written by man?

My I humbly suggest, in the Love of Christ, the advice I learned from my mother, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Lord bless

[Alive]

3 minutes ago, JustPassingThru said:

Sorry friend, your title and your thread are a total "turn off" for me.

My father was a boxer and when he was mad, angry at me he always threatened me with "putting on" his gloves and "boxing" me!

Because of that I had a extremely hard time "relating" to God as a "father;" ...but He loves me, ...understands me and my personality and my problems, ....and is faithful, ...I now "know" my Heavenly Father and He is "nothing" like you portray Him.

You mentioned the "prodigal" son, ...but you didn't talk about his loving father that was watching, waiting for his return and because of his great love for his son when he saw him a long way off didn't wait for him to knock on the door, ..oh no, ...he "ran" to greet, take him in his arms and "love on" his son.

That portrays the Heavenly Father that has His arms around me.

Yes, Father is "shaking" the world and yes some of his children are being shaken by it as they watch their house of cards falling down, ...but all that is necessary is to "believe" in their hearts what He has told them in His Word and they will see they are "firmly" planted, standing on the Rock that cannot be shaken, ...just like our own children when they did something foolish and put their lives in danger, ...but when we had them in our arms again all we could do is sob in relief and hold them tight and our love for them flowed out of our hearts to them in an unspoken manner and and way, ...they "knew" we loved them and they would say on their own, without any provocation..., "I'm sorry daddy." 

Why not post threads that are uplifting, encouraging, comforting, filled with God's Agape Love for His children, ...why not teach from His Word rather than some book written by man?

My I humbly suggest, in the Love of Christ, the advice I learned from my mother, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Lord bless

Thank you for this word, brother. And I praise God because of where it comes from. Its delightful to here those words--"know" my heavenly Father.

Wonderful!

[Gideon]

9 minutes ago, JustPassingThru said:

Sorry friend, your title and your thread are a total "turn off" for me.

My father was a boxer and when he was mad, angry at me he always threatened me with "putting on" his gloves and "boxing" me!

Because of that I had a extremely hard time "relating" to God as a "father;" ...but He loves me, ...understands me and my personality and my problems, ....and is faithful, ...I now "know" my Heavenly Father and He is "nothing" like you portray Him.

You mentioned the "prodigal" son, ...but you didn't talk about his loving father that was watching, waiting for his return and because of his great love for his son when he saw him a long way off didn't wait for him to knock on the door, ..oh no, ...he "ran" to greet, take him in his arms and "love on" his son.

That portrays the Heavenly Father that has His arms around me.

Yes, Father is "shaking" the world and yes some of his children are being shaken by it as they watch their house of cards falling down, ...but all that is necessary is to "believe" in their hearts what He has told them in His Word and they will see they are "firmly" planted, standing on the Rock that cannot be shaken, ...just like our own children when they did something foolish and put their lives in danger, ...but when we had them in our arms again all we could do is sob in relief and hold them tight and our love for them flowed out of our hearts to them in an unspoken manner and and way, ...they "knew" we loved them and they would say on their own, without any provocation..., "I'm sorry daddy." 

Why not post threads that are uplifting, encouraging, comforting, filled with God's Agape Love for His children, ...why not teach from His Word rather than some book written by man?

My I humbly suggest, in the Love of Christ, the advice I learned from my mother, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Lord bless

Thanks for your input. Sorry you were turned off. It still will not change what is about to happen. God's motive IS for us, but He is a good father, and right now we need to be awakened to the  danger of the hour and  how we are now living.. 

He will get our attention by whatever means necessary. As I stated, some will awaken willingly, repent of their half heartedness and yield fully to the Spirit's leadings. 

Others will has to be shaken awake, and it will not be pleasant. However, in both cases, God's only motive for us  is love.

blessings to you,

Gids

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Gideon

[Jostler]

God is and has been attempting to wake His people up.  And it is because He loves us.  This is a serious, sobering hour with much at stake, and it is love that warns.  Warning gives time to make a response that avoids having circumstance make the decision for us.  It has never been popular with men...and probably never will be.  But those who have ears to hear, and choose to take warning instead of offense, will be those who take hold of Him.  These will be those who are strong and do exploits in coming days, because they know their God.

There is as yet little awareness of what is coming, and it's going to come hard and fast.  And on many fronts.  There are some "general" things prudence suggests we should all be doing to prepare.  But only He can tell each individual exactly what they need to be doing to get ready for this season, prepared to walk with Him and be about the Father's business.  Our obedience is the ark that will carry us in a place above the flood waters.  And to obey, we must first hear.  To hear we must be within earshot of the Shepherd....close to Him.  He has given us a season of being hidden in our inner rooms, and it would be wise to be spending time with Him instead of Netflix.  Lives depend on it...

Edited March 29, 2020 by Jostler

[walla299]

20 minutes ago, JustPassingThru said:

<snip>

I "know" my Heavenly Father and He is "nothing" like you portray Him.

You mentioned the "prodigal" son, ...but you didn't talk about his loving father that was watching, waiting for his return and because of his great love for his son when he saw him a long way off didn't wait for him to knock on the door, ..oh no, ...he "ran" to greet, take him in his arms and "love on" his son.

That portrays the Heavenly Father that has His arms around me.

Yes, Father is "shaking" the world and yes some of his children are being shaken by it as they watch their house of cards falling down, ...but all that is necessary is to "believe" in their hearts what He has told them in His Word and they will see they are "firmly" planted, standing on the Rock that cannot be shaken, ...just like our own children when they did something foolish and put their lives in danger, ...but when we had them in our arms again all we could do is sob in relief and hold them tight and our love for them flowed out of our hearts to them in an unspoken manner and and way, ...they "knew" we loved them and they would say on their own, without any provocation..., "I'm sorry daddy." 

Why not post threads that are uplifting, encouraging, comforting, filled with God's Agape Love for His children, ...why not teach from His Word rather than some book written by man?

My I humbly suggest, in the Love of Christ, the advice I learned from my mother, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Lord bless

I'll start by agreeing with what JustPassingThru said.

I didn't have an early father who wanted to "box" me. I had one that was never there even when physically present - and one that allowed no religion in the house at all without even being an atheist. Now imagine what happened when my bother and I got saved. He wasn't happy, and I'll leave it at that. I know my heavenly Father better today despite the issues in the past. All of that is the healing that only comes from Christ.

Interesting thing about the prodigal son story is that in that culture and time an older man did not run and act like that. It was not expected of a family elder. We can still see this in many cultures today, especially in Asia and the Middle East. Yes, that father had been waiting for his rebellious son - just like my heavenly Father waited for me for all those years of living in sin and rebellion.

Folks still need to hear the gospel message. If they don't understand they are sinners, then what do they need to be saved from?

All that need be said is the upcoming troubles will sort out the western church one way or the other. John said they left because they were never part of us (or words to that effect in 1 John.)

[Alive]

Born again Christians have a very wide array of light. Our Father meets us each where we are along that curve. Discipleshipping individuals and minsitering to them is an intimate thing. It is done in a local environment where the Holy Spirit helps in that ministering.

This is one of the difficulties of the internet and why its important to take care.

Pointing to Christ and His finished work of salvation and trusting the Great and Good Shepherd to manage His loved ones--it seems to me is the best place to be on the internet.

[Behold]

50 minutes ago, Gideon said:

Thanks for your input. Sorry you were turned off. It still will not change what is about to happen. God's motive IS for us, but He is a good father, and right now we need to be awakened to the  danger of the hour and  how we are now living.. 

With all due respect to you  intent, as reflected by your call to serious discipleship, i would tell you that what interests God more then our works (discipleship) is our leading others to Him.

Here is an Analogy.   If you build 30 Churches in 30 yrs, and not one person in any of them who is sitting under your Preaching and Teaching gets called to the Mission field, or gets called to the Seminary, or gets called to witness to their Neighbors....... If the fruit of your ministry is :  to build a bigger barn to entertain $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ More Sheep at once, then your preaching is impotent, your talk is cheap, and your Gospel is dead, even if your Halo glows in the dark.

People who are really doing something for God, who are not called to be Pastors, are actually not in church that much, because they are too busy "out there" doing something for God.

And if your life is all about Church, then be sure you are a part of the responsibility, and not just the person who soaks up the AC and the Music wishing the Pastor would keep it short on Sunday morn so you can head off to the Chicken Shack with your carnal buddies to talk about the Pastor's wife's singing.

Working only on trying not to sin, is "intro to Christianity, hand me the Milk Bottle" Room A-1

If you are saved, then you are a Minister.  You are to minister the Love of God by giving., as that is what God is all about.  God is all about GIVING.

You are most like God, when you are GIVING something away.

So, find a way to do this.   Be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.

2 kinds of people in this world.  Those who cause problems and those who solve them.

Be a solver.  Be a helper.   Be dependable. 

 

Edited March 29, 2020 by Behold

[Gideon]

2 hours ago, Behold said:

With all due respect to you  intent, as reflected by your call to serious discipleship, i would tell you that what interests God more then our works (discipleship) is our leading others to Him.

Here is an Analogy.   If you build 30 Churches in 30 yrs, and not one person in any of them who is sitting under your Preaching and Teaching gets called to the Mission field, or gets called to the Seminary, or gets called to witness to their Neighbors....... If the fruit of your ministry is :  to build a bigger barn to entertain $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ More Sheep at once, then your preaching is impotent, your talk is cheap, and your Gospel is dead, even if your Halo glows in the dark.

People who are really doing something for God, who are not called to be Pastors, are actually not in church that much, because they are too busy "out there" doing something for God.

And if your life is all about Church, then be sure you are a part of the responsibility, and not just the person who soaks up the AC and the Music wishing the Pastor would keep it short on Sunday morn so you can head off to the Chicken Shack with your carnal buddies to talk about the Pastor's wife's singing.

Working only on trying not to sin, is "intro to Christianity, hand me the Milk Bottle" Room A-1

If you are saved, then you are a Minister.  You are to minister the Love of God by giving., as that is what God is all about.  God is all about GIVING.

You are most like God, when you are GIVING something away.

So, find a way to do this.   Be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.

2 kinds of people in this world.  Those who cause problems and those who solve them.

Be a solver.  Be a helper.   Be dependable. 

 

And what will we do with all the new converts who will be just like us? God has clearly spoken but we do not want to hear it.. yet. When will the lost in the world listen to the call of God? When He shall be sanctified in us before their very eyes. And not until. 

Many in the world will love the light when they see it, but they have no desire for "churchianity". They see us as pretty much like them, without some of the "bad" sins that afflict them perhaps, but our hearts and our treasures are right here in this world, just like theirs.  

I read a true story once of a man facing the gallows in England. Early in the morning, the  procession of guards, the condemned man and the priest sleepily and unenthusiastically uttering prayers made their  way to the waiting hangman's noose. 

The prisoner suddenly stopped  and turned to the priest. He asked "Do you believe in an eternal hell, and the shocked priest nodded his head that he did. The prisoner then uttered these words:

"If I believed as you say you believed, though all of England was strewn with shards of broken glass, I would crawl across it on my knees if needs be, to save one soul from such a fate."

It sounds so spiritual to mention soul winning, but God sees our hearts and where our treasures  really are. We simply do not care for the most part, not in a way that changes how we life, how we spend  our time, how we spend our money. 

Do we wrestle at the midnight  hour for friends, co-workers, and even members of our own families? According to one of the Barna polls, believers spend about 2.8 hours a night watching tv. We better realize, all of our platitudes that make us sound like all is well will melt away whwn we have to give account for how we have lived. 

Yes, winning the lost is important. But until God has won OUR hearts over, we will simply end up going through the motions and the lost in the world will see what we possess inside, hearts centered on US. 

I am fully aware how hard this sounds, but we have no time for mincing words and dancing around critical issues any longer. Are there exceptions to what I am sharing? Praise God, yes, and for these precious saints, I thank God. But they are few and far between.

The final harvest is approaching and it will be accomplished by living sacrifices who have put off their old natures by faith and clothed themselves with light. These will overcome by the blood of the Lamb AND the word of THEIR testimony.   They will walk in victory over the world that has blinded us, over our old nature rhat has held us earthbound, and yes, the devil himself.

 Those in the world who love the light will be drawn to the Lord because they will actually see Him IN US! Glory! Once again, men will exclaim "Behold how they love one another!" just as they did in the book of Acts. This is our future, all who love the Lord. But until we admit our lack, we will not be given His fulness. 

It is time to reckon our old nature is no longer us, have our minds renewed and put on our new natures, armor of pure light. 

blessings,

Gideon

 

[Behold]

2 hours ago, Gideon said:

And what will we do with all the new converts who will be just like us

 

What will i do with  the new converts that i led to the Cross or those younger or otherwise Spiritually hungry who find me, on Christian Sites or on Secular sites...?

I'll help them get deeply grounded in Grace .. Hebrews 13:9.   and the rest of the basic Teachings of Paul until they are Theologically Solid and can handle all the basics of New Testament Doctrine.

I'll do my best to addict them to the word of God as their final authority and their leader and comfort.

When im finished they will be able to deal with heretics, legalists, and understand how to "hear" them, and refute them, and  most importantly, they'll understand that Job 1 is sharing the Gospel followed by Job 2 which is teaching the basic fundamentals to their converts regarding "justification by Faith" and "the gift of Righteousness". 

In other words, and the short version is, i'll train them the way Paul trained Timothy and Titus, the very best that i can.

It'll be similar to what i do here, or on any Christian forum,  but it'll just be more intense.

Edited March 30, 2020 by Behold