Christian Living

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Inordinate affection, idolatry and grieving the Holy Spirit

Instead of trying to live in obedience to a set of rules that are built on a foundation of legal acts based on the Law that Moses gave – we are to give ourselves completely to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to live in us and work through us and our pattern of life is that of Abraham and what he set forth; To live by Faith!
We are to fully adhere and join in the operation He has in our life (The Holy Spirit). We must be cooperative in producing a life that is pleasing to Him, His Word, and those around us. Whether or not we are ever accepted or the like does not matter, all we do must be done as unto the Lord. Now as we look at society, at Pastors, Christians, District Officials, and Sunday school teachers, Song leaders and etc., it is easy to spot with the natural and spiritual eye, a problem!
The Holy Spirit through Paul said: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:20-21)

Humankind, especially ‘religious’ men and women stomp their feet at this and sulk like a brood cow in a 20 acre pasture, they act as a petulant spoiled brat of a child. This turns into an act and a willful act of grieving the Holy Spirit: “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you”. (Ephesians 4:30-32)

Men want credit for who they are or what they have done and they most often seek a title and not a towel (John 13:10-15). I used this because so many wish to have a “title” or “position” and a “noticed name” instead of humbling themselves a servant (to God and man as unto God) and people like this are truly idiots and Idolaters, for self reigns in their life rather than Jesus Christ. Verses 10-15 pertain to our daily walk before God, which means that the Believer doesn’t have to get Saved over and over again; the “head” refers to our Salvation, meaning that we do not have to be repeatedly Saved, while the “hands” refer to our “doing,” signifying that this doesn’t need to be washed because Christ has already done what needs to be done; all of this is in the spiritual sense. Christ speaks also concerning the constant cleansing needed regarding our everyday walk before the Lord, which the washing of the feet represented. Naturally it shows us how to be of service to our fellow man, which of course and as we all should know has nothing to do with literal foot washing, it is done as a way to show love, care, compassion and humility – all brought about by the Holy Spirit as in our lives lived now should be evident.
Mankind likes that which he can touch and control. Refusing to accept that alone and without the Holy Spirit we are incapable of good and that no matter the religious efforts put forth in ceremony, tradition, remembrance, religious advertisement and etc, all of this is and will be condemned and to the point of obliteration. Man cannot serve two masters, either it is the way of Jesus or it is the way of self-righteousness (evil). Man willingly tries to rid himself of these efforts and in doing so it speaks to his importance and makes him look as he is really trying to change. However, for man to accept the truth and the truth of judgment upon his nature – the religious ceremony and moral virtue as well as being commanded to trust the Holy Spirit as a guide is a bitter taste in the mouth of a far greater percentage of humanity than not. The offence of the cross is large – in Galatians 2:20 we find what must happen to us in order that we may change - I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:20-21)

Things become worse and worse and complaints always follow and man should indeed complain of himself for what he does not do in accordance with the Holy Spirit long before he complains about his brother or sister. Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. (Matthew 7:1-2)
The verse in Matthew means that whatever motive is ascribed to others by us will certainly be ascribed to us. As well we are to Judge accordingly and we can call out the sins of others as long as we are not guilty of the same thing thereby making us a Hypocrite. An example would be if a brother or sister in a church and community was a gossip, a back biter , a slanderer and was causing division amongst the church family and community and causing those outside not to wish to come inside; this person needs to be “judged” as it were and needs to be corrected. Again let us say , that if the “pulpit” will not call them out and down and correct them, then a parishioner needs to stand and say to this person that they are in error. This has to be done with compassion and love, yet harsh enough for them to realize the guilt and sin of it, this will and can cause loss of reward for some and soul for others if not handled promptly.

Someone has always tried to bring things into the salvation factor and it matters not what they are, the only faith that God will recognize ever is faith in Christ (Romans 1:7; 3:5, 21,22; 10:3; II Peter 1:1). Anything other than this is considered as self righteousness and constitutes as sin against the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit through Paul in Romans 4 tells us that Salvation cannot exist both in works and in law. Faith in works cancels out Christ and what He has done for us or can do for us, as long as we live under law. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: (Romans 4:14)
If a minister, preacher, bishop, board member, TV personality, or etc., ever says that you have to be baptized in water to be saved then the water baptism becomes a law. If the same folk declare that to be saved you must fast for ever so many days, then fasting becomes a law. If this is also said or used in conjunction with gaining victory over sin – then fasting, praying, confessing scriptures, dieting, vitamins, and any other plethora of items – all these become laws and in turn becomes and is sin because your faith then is transferred from Christ to these items and that leaves Him out of it and grieves the Holy Spirit and at that point a person is treading on thin ice. There are several ministries and ministers and even those who are just world known celebrities and they are promoting prayer shawls and blowing shofars. They have an erroneous idea that wearing this or blowing this will cause their prayers to be heard and answered in a speedier fashion. In this they have reverted back to law and just as in the foolish Hebraic roots movement have willfully placed themselves under law and out of grace. Bad Move! If we look at Romans 4:15 we see that law now used instead of grace has a penalty and that penalty is wrath and from a righteous and angry God and a grieved Holy Spirit Since Jesus Christ has already satisfied the demands of the Law that we as mortal human beings could not keep, then why should we be so willing to place ourselves under it again and sign our own death warrant.
Is self-control and self on the throne and self in charge and self righteousness worth the eternity in hell along with loss of reward, or if we slip for a while and then come back so to speak, is it worth it if we have caused a brother or sister to stray or either stay away from Christ because of our arrogant pride and foolishness?
Let it be said: If anyone uses anything and places themselves under law, which is in fact, to walk away from Christ then this person or group or leader can and does place themselves and their followers and family under law, which is wrath and that is a very serious and deadly place to be for the immortal soul of man. Grace is the goodness of God extended to undeserving people. When a believing heart places faith in Christ and not what other men have devised or schemed then the Lord will bless us with what we need We can see this in Romans 4:16. Lastly, the Holy Spirit reveals to us that the Father of us all is Abraham. The Lord revealed to Abraham the way of salvation, which is Faith and faith alone. He was given this revelation first, thereby making him the “father of us all”. Abraham received righteousness based solely on Faith evidenced and not by law, works, fasting, schemes, circumcision or etc., Romans 4:17 tells us (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Romans 4:17) Let’s look at it again below broken down and explained…
(As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations [Genesis 12:1–3; 17:4–5],) before Him Whom he believed, even God (refers to Abraham believing God), who quickens the dead (makes spiritually alive those who are spiritually dead), and calls those things which be not as though they were (if God has said it to us personally, we can call it; otherwise, it is presumption).
But they rebelled, and vexed his Holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. (Isaiah 63:10)
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:26-32)

We see in the verse from Isaiah 63 how the Israelites rebelled and the Holy Spirit turned against them as an enemy. The Spirit of God the Father, who pitied them in all their afflictions; or the Spirit of the Angel of his presence, that redeemed and saved them; for the Spirit is both the Spirit of the Father and of the Son; and he is holy in his nature and operations, and the author of sanctification in the hearts of his people; him they vexed and provoked to anger against them, speaking after the manner of men, by their sins and transgressions; rejecting his counsels and instructions by Moses, and by the prophets in later times, in and by whom he spake unto them, and by the apostles in Gospel times; for the Jews, as their fathers before them ever did, resisted the Holy Spirit of God in the evidence he gave of the Messiah, which must be very provoking, Acts 7:51. the Angel who went before the people of Israel, and they were charged not to provoke, Exodus 23:20, therefore he was turned to be their enemy; not that there is any change in God, or any turn in him from love to hatred and he fought against them; as he threatened he would when they behaved ill towards him; and as He truly did when He brought the sword upon them, gave them up into the hands of their enemies, as often in the times of the judges, and particularly when the king of Babylon came against them; Leviticus 26:25 and as the Messiah did when he brought the Roman armies against them, and destroyed their city.
When we war against God the Holy Spirit, we will pay for it. We pay with lack of sleep and anxiety attacks, we pay with loss of life, we pay with loss of income, cars, food, resources to obtain or keep these things and we can also pay with sickness in our family and even to those closely associated with us. When war against the Holy Spirit is pursued then as He withdraws His Sprit the enemy is given more and more latitude to work in our lives and thereby if we are not careful we shall and can be overtaken.
This all can happen and someone that has actually been overtaken may not realize it and may be ritually and habitually repeating prayers, quoting Scripture, and acting as would a battery in which the alternator or charging mechanism has gone down but has not been realized. The person keeps on going and going and as the lights get dimmer and dimmer they are looking everywhere and trying to reason as to why they are being attacked and having great difficulties and etc., Then all of a sudden one day they are dead; dead in spirit, dead in life, dead in love, dead in negativity, dead in lies, dead in religion and all because they never kept proper check as to what was happening to them and around them and now the cells are dead and soon the battery so to speak will be tossed aside and is not even good for recycling any longer. We can live either under law or Grace. Where do you hit the mark and how have you grieved the Holy Spirit of god in your daily life.
Turn off the false prophets no matter why they are on, tune into God and even as Satan attacks, you will see a greater and more victorious life than ever before. The reason you are down and out know is that false doctrine has ruled you and you have tried to live under these two systems and it has failed you and you are tired and fed up, so you should be….with yourself. God has given us a pattern and when we walk away from it because we are so large and in charge, we can fool ourselves and bring wrath upon our life and family….

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