Hate

See the image above? If you look closely you can see it is made up of the word "LOVE." I like the idea, but the truth is hate does not come from love.

Hence my thoughts today.

Jesus told his followers that the world would recognize his people by their love. In other words, Christians love (people). Hate is not a part of Christianity. Oh sure, you can tell me we are to hate evil, but evil is a thing. People, we love. No matter who people are, what people do. We love people. Any people, all people.

Think with me for a moment . . . If you were tasked with getting people as far away from God as possible, what would you do? Obviously you would want people to be as opposite from God as possible. Well, one such goal would be to develop hatred as a common, even acceptable thing. After all, if God is love, hate is the opposite.

That is exactly what the devil is doing. And unfortunately he is reaching this goal- he is succeeding in making(?) people hate other people. The question mark is there because I wonder about making someone hate. I am not so sure he is causing hate directly, but he is causing situations around people to develop severe anger. Severe angst. Hate naturally flows from these feelings. If you cook yourself in anger the final dish you bake is hate.

Hate. 

There should not be a single Christian who hates any person. True, there are people we should be actively fighting against. I pray against certain people every day. I do not want to see their agendas come to fruition. However, while I pray against their acts, I pray for them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. Or maybe they are Christian already . . . is that possible? Can people so far from acting like God (loving) actually be Christian? Perhaps like the frog in the kettle, they have become unaware of the boiling water they have been simmering in?

We are dangerously racing towards the end times. Ten years ago, I could not see how we could possibly get to those days. Yet today, isn't it obvious? Can't you see where we are headed leads to the vision in the book of Revelation?

Stop. a. moment. 

Are there people you dislike so much, you actually hate them?

If you call yourself Christian, ask yourself if this can be possible and still remain a Christ follower. Certainly, not for long.

If you follow Jesus, you love.

If you follow the devil, you hate. 

Jesus IS God

Perhaps my picture dilutes my statement above. But I like it anyway!

While reading a devotional the other day, Jesus BEING God occurred to me in a new light. We tend to separate the two (actually all three of the Godhead) into different beings. But this is not the case. Jesus and God (and Holy Spirit) are one and the same.

Maybe for our better understanding, God has given us this image of the three. Whatever. They are not separate. They are One. They are the same.

I think we get the image of God being the tough one; the iron fist, as it were. He who judges with a hard hand. Jesus loves us, but God, well, God is the one we fear.

In John 10:30 Jesus says this outright- "I and the Father are one" (NIV). In John 14:8 He says "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." That's the line that hit me hard.

We cannot think of God in one way and think of Jesus in a different way. Once we know Jesus, we know the Father.

And who is Jesus? Jesus IS Love. Therefore, the Father IS Love. He is long-suffering, He is gentle, He is caring, He listens to you, He answers your prayers, He speaks to you, He protects you, He watches over you, He holds you in His hand. God would not have sent Jesus to be different than He was. He could not have done that, because they are One; they are the same. 

So to get a perfect image of who the Father is, study Jesus!  He came for that very reason (among others)- to show us exactly who God the Father is. 

Exactly.

So that person you go to in devotion, and spend time with- getting to know- you thought it was Jesus. Well, it is, but He's also the Father. And Holy Spirit. Not three different beings- all One and the same. As you get to know Jesus you are getting to know the Father (and Holy Spirit).

You are getting to know who God truly is. 

One Thing I Don't Understand

Truth be told, I guess there are MANY things I don't understand. Ha! beat ya to it!

I think it incredibly sad that so many people don't get who God is. For whatever reason, they miss the boat on believing the truth that 1) there is a God, 2) He is the Yahweh of the Bible, and 3) there is only ONE true God. But I suppose it can be explained away because they are human and do not have access to so many things. Often our humanity keeps us from seeing things as they really are. There are just SO many things we will never comprehend. {sigh}

That's not what I don't understand. What totally messes with my mind is that many Elohim and Angels, who have a LOT more knowledge and understanding of things than we do; who have been with God from before OUR beginning; who have seen him as he is with their own eyes- don't truly get who God is. I mean, if they did, how could they possibly not love him and end up turning against him and falling? How in the world could they think they could be greater than he? Or overthrow him? Or deserve even a smidgen of worship? Or . . . whatever else comes with this.

I mean, THIS I get- as limited as I am! How, then can they not get it? 

Really- this bothers me tremendously.

When I spend time thinking about it all, I begin to feel a bit of the sadness this must bring to Yahweh himself. Imagine his great love for everyone he has created. And yet some reject him and try to do it all their own way. 

How it must break his heart.

Deceiving the Elect

Whew. This is a tough one. Truth be told, I have been wrestling with this post for a LONG time! I think I'm about ready, so I'm going to get started. I am praying for people (you) to be at peace and open to hearing something that may rattle your cage at first. Without Holy Spirit's presence in our hearts, there are things that can easily send us off the rails. To be clear- that is not my desire. Rather I am hoping for God's truth (all truth is God's truth) to win out and open eyes.

In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus talks about the end times. I think it's a familiar passage where he tells of what the end days will look like. Roughly in the middle of his talk, he says something to the effect ". . . to deceive even the elect, if that were possible." This can be taken specifically in reference to false Christs and prophets, of which he is talking about in that sentence, but I believe it also refers to the whole passage in general. In other words, in the end times, there will be things happening which will deceive some Christians; those who follow the way of Love/Jesus.

Frankly, that possibility has long terrified me! How can a Christian be deceived when he has Holy Spirit within? I DO NOT want that to be me! Therefore, I have prayed fervently over the years to clearly see the truth and not be deceived. Truth has been my focus, my banner. Because of that focus, and without going into a long explanation, I believe truth has almost become a spiritual gift of mine- an extension of my gift of apostle. And I do not take this lightly! I cannot stress this enough.

A lot of crazy things will happen before and during the "end of days." I'm certain no one's going to argue with me on that. And apparently one of those crazy things is that some Christians will be deceived. I have long wondered how that could happen. Yet recently I have seen a situation play out in America which has shown me HOW this can happen, does happen and will happen. Here's where I don't want to lose some of you, so please bear with me. Just hear me out.

Trump Derangement Syndrome. There. I said it. Still with me? If that statement alone sent you away, it is likely you have it. Let me delve into it all (and my point remains the same- still focusing on deceiving the elect). Hear me out.

When asking some good Christian friends about the recent election and who they were voting for, some said: "Kamala." I asked why. Their vehement response: "Because I would NEVER vote for Trump!" So their vote was not determined by who they were going to vote for, rather who they would NOT vote for. "ANYONE BUT Trump. Policy doesn't matter. Facts don't matter. History does not matter. The only thing that matters is I will not vote for Trump."

If I could possibly continue my questioning, they became extremely agitated and angry. If I pushed them, they were likely to say "I hate Trump!"

Whoa. Hold your horses. You're a Christian. Hatred is NOT on our list of feelings. We don't hate anyone. We LOVE everyone. Sinners, murders, criminals, drunkards, addicts, whatever- it does not matter. We love everyone. Why? Because Jesus loves everyone. EVERYONE. And everyone has the option to be redeemed by Jesus blood. Which is why we love- in hopes of one day getting them to see his love for them (in us), repent and get saved. We cannot hate anyone into the Kingdom. Jesus said it was our LOVE that would show them who we are- CHRISTians (Christ followers). We are marked by our love. Hatred is the mark of The Evil One.

So how do we reconcile a Christian who has Holy Spirit within, yet hates? Paul says that is not possible. The two cannot coexist in the same person. If you have Holy Spirit within, you love. Therefore, the opposite is true- if you have The Enemy within, you hate. One pushes the other out. So there is no such thing as a Christian who hates. Get it?

Therefore, these Christians who hate, have likely lost their Christianity. They have been blinded by hatred (from the Evil One) and that hatred has pushed Holy Spirit out of their lives. They are no longer Christians (Christ followers).

And there it is. In this instance, I have seen how it is possible for a Christian to be deceived into losing their faith in Christ. Whether it happened slowly or all at once, they have allowed The Enemy to deceive them and come into their lives and take control.

I suppose there will be other such instances in which this happens as well. Whatever the situations, I can see it and understand how it can happen to the elect. In the end there will be many ex-Christians who do not realize they have lost their faith in Christ. They will continue to go to church, act like good people, yet harbor hatred or some other similar thing in their hearts which will disqualify them from being a Christian. [Shudder]

I may be able to see it, but I don't have to like it. My sincere prayer for you is that you will see the lies of The Enemy coming at you from a long ways off so you will be able to avoid the hit on your life and avoid it.

May you seek Truth and The Truth with a determination that will save your soul in the end. Don't let it happen to you.

(PS: Possible future post- at what point on this road do we lose our Christianity?)

Confession

I believe confession is important (just to be clear, we are to confess to God and each other, not necessarily a priest or pastor). I also believe in holiness- which, to me, means we can live without sinning. This entails having such a close relationship with Jesus, Holy Spirit stops us before we do anything he would not like. Therefore, if we are living in holiness, there is no need to confess when we aren't sinning. Unfortunately, I don't always live up to that possibility. Case in point:

It has occurred to me that I have been rather judgemental in my thoughts of others recently (I actually believe Jesus is the one who has brought me to this realization). This is so recent, I am just now working through what this means for me. However, I do know it starts with confession. Let's see where this goes.

I have been having trouble sleeping lately. It's the kind where your mind just will not shut down and continually thinks. What I have mostly been thinking about is the awful state of the world and the terrible people who have brought us to this incredible place (fear has risen from that and I will likely delve into that here at a later point). I guess I have thought of this as a righteous anger, so it has been overlooked in my attempts to put into words all these thoughts and hopefully help others to see the truth.

But being a Christian is not about going to church or following a set of rules or doing the right thing. It's all about living in a relationship with Jesus. And let me set the record straight, if I need to- Jesus is love. He did not come into the world to condemn it or to judge humankind. He came to love us into a relationship with himself and his father. And we Christians have not been doing a very good job at living like that relationship is what it's all about. Being right seems to be of utmost importance to us (and judging those who are wrong). Or at least what we think is right. Unfortunately, what we think is right and what actually is right are often two very different things. 

Since a little bit before retiring, I started realizing how very important love is in a Christian's life. If we are not loving, we are not following Jesus. If we are not loving, we are not living in that relationship with Jesus. Well frankly, if we are not loving, we are not Christians (Christian meaning "Christ-follower").

 I must confess my desire to bring others to the truth has not been coming from love. Rather it has been coming from my being "right" and them being wrong. How can they not see the truth? I want them to think right like I do.

How haughty of me. How non-Christian. Ouch.

To you, my readers, I confess and apologize. I ask forgiveness.

Where do I go from here? I'm not sure, but I will be listening to what Jesus has to say to me about this. I'll let you know how it goes.