Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Those persons chosen by God as HIS people acknowledge the truth from God.
The world and it's people fight the truth from God.
Several years ago, a Catholic woman sought me out to be friends. We went to lunch together. At that time we played bridge together although I no longer play bridge. Even after I stopped playing bridge this woman would call me monthly to go eat lunch and she would seek me out to "visit" with her.
At one point, early on in these visits, I gave her the following verse of scripture. Jesus said: Mt. 23... 9 And call no man your father upon the earth:for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
She was in Arizona at the time I sent the above verse to her by email. I heard nothing from her for a few weeks. Then she sent me an email saying, "Thank you for the message."
I knew she did not receive the message for she continued attending the Catholic church and I was certain she was still calling these Catholic "priests" Father.
She continued to seek me out as if it didn't really matter what I said.
And for a time, I continued to go to lunch with her. But her words about other people showed such scorn that I found being around her to be increasingly difficult. She ridiculed people and thought herself righteous. At one point, I heard the following from God about this: "self-righteousness"...
I began pleading with God to help deliver me.
Finally I had a message for her and when I delivered that message she struck out against me.
Recently God said to me: "She has not rejected you but ME that I should not reign over her."
II Thess. 2 explains this as follows ...
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
They will not come to the Word because they love darkness rather than light, as it says in John ...
John 1 ... 10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received HIM (the Word), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
... Jn. 3 ... Jesus said ... 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Later God gave me a dream about this Catholic woman ... There was a by-pass type bridge ... the type of walk way that goes over railroad tracks ... This woman was on that by-pass bridge. I was down on the ground level watching her. (She was trying to by-pass me / by-pass the Word I carried to her) ... When she got to the steps going down from the bridge, she fell.
At the same time she fell, a church building was burning in the background. Flames were shooting out the roof of that building and out the windows on both sides. Firemen were rushing toward that building but there was no way that church building would be saved.
There is a passage of scripture which speaks of "God giving them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth."
If God does that, they will be saved as we were saved by God giving us repentance to the acknowledging of the truth when we heard the truth.
II Tim. 2 ... 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
Concerning the word "meekness" ... Our "meekness" is toward God in that we yield to presenting the Word of God and hold nothing back to please that human ...
The word of God is a two-edged sword ... cutting ... sharp piercing ...
The Word of God is like a hammer that breaks the rock of the hardness of their corrupt hearts.
So do not think it is your way of presentation that is the problem.
You cannot sugar coat the truth. The truth cuts.
If God gives that person repentance, that person will repent, just as we repented.
I Peter 2 ... 7 Unto you therefore which believe he (the Word) is precious:but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, 8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient:whereunto also they were appointed.
And if that stone (the Word) falls on them, they will be crushed. So we either fall on the Word and repent ... or at some point THE WORD calls on us and crushes us.
Here is an example of delivering the Word in meekness.
This report is given by Pam Padgett ...
During the last months of college, I rented a room in a house owned
by a woman I met in the singles group of the church group I attended at
the time. This woman had been divorced twice and had a young daughter.
At first she seemed content to remain unmarried and raise her
daughter. But then she started looking for another husband. I
shared with her scripture that tell us that a divorced woman commits
adultery if she remarries, such as
Matthew 5:31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32 But I (Jesus)
say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the
cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever
shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Mark 10:11 And he (Jesus)
saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another,
committeth adultery against her. 12 And if a woman shall put away her
husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
Romans 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the
law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she
is loosed from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband
liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an
adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so
that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
After sharing these scriptures, I was shocked when she told me that
she didn't care what the Bible says, she knew what she believed. I moved
from her house shortly after this.
The place I moved was quite a distance from where this church group
met. Although I continued to attend the Sunday services and would sit
in the area of the auditorium where the singles group sat, I no longer
attended the singles meetings. I heard this divorced woman was
engaged to a man I also knew from the singles group. I went and spoke
with him, sharing scriptures such as Matthew 5:31-32 showing that they would commit adultery if
he married her since she was divorced. He said he would consider these things, but he did not stop the engagement.
Then I heard that the maid of honor at the wedding was to be a woman I
also knew. I went and spoke with her, sharing scripture about the
adultery that would be committed by this marriage. She said she knew it was wrong for them to marry but they
would get married whether or not she was the maid of honor, so she was
going to do it.
About this time, I went to one of the Sunday morning services. I
arrived before any of the other singles, and sat in the area where we
usually sat. But no other singles came to sit there. Right before the service
began, I looked around and saw that the singles were sitting a few pews
behind me. I thought this strange, but didn't think a lot about it.
The next Sunday I sat in the "new" singles area, but they sat in the
"old" singles area. The following week, I got there shortly before the
service began, and went to where the singles were sitting. Without
saying a word, those I sat next to got up and moved away from me.
It
was obvious they wanted nothing to do with me, but I had no idea why. I
cried out to God asking what was going on? Had I done something
wrong? For a few weeks I didn't hear anything, and didn't know why I had become an outcast from the singles.
Then after the service one Sunday morning, a woman I didn't know very
well stopped me and said she had a message from God for me. The
message she delivered was that God knew how I was being treated by those
in the singles group, and that I needed to know it was because of what I
had spoken about this divorced woman remarrying and that this was what
HE had wanted me to do. I was so helped by this message, now knowing
why I was being shunned and that it was for doing good in the sight of
God. It was also very helpful to realize so strongly that God was
watching over me, and the mercy and kindness God had shown to me in
having this woman deliver this message to me.
(Later Pam told me when she carried these scripture to them, she thought: "But it's in the Bible ..." and they were attending church.)
People who attend church should care about that which is in the Bible... This certainly seems rational to us who do care.