Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Jesus says: Follow Me


Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet

There are some who call themselves Christians who are children of the devil and if possible would draw us away from the faith we have in Jesus ... the faith we have in that word spoken to us by Jesus.

For when we were born again, God spoke to us and gave us HIS Spirit.

God did things to change us from that person we once were when we lived according to this world.

Those children of the devil would try to cause us to think what we heard from God when we were born again to be false.

We must hold onto our salvation when they come to steal our faith.

We pray and God witnesses to us that which HE did by calling to our memory that which HE has said to us and done for us.  Cling to that.


***

Acts 13:8-10    Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.

And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?


***

The devil attacks us through church going people, through religious people who do not have the Spirit of God.  For we would not pay attention if people of the world tried to steal our faith and tried to stop us from following the Word of God, Jesus.  But when a person comes saying he is a Christian and attacks us, the attack is more burning.  

In the Old Testament there is an example of an old prophet who tried to turn away a young prophet by lies.

I Kings 13:1-10    And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

(The man of God resisted the word of the king and continued in the word given to him by God.)

But now another man comes to him and this man says he is a prophet too and he speaks a word that is opposite to that which the man of God has heard from God.

I Kings 13:11-26    Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.

And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? 



And he said, I am.

Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.

And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:

And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.

And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.

***

Paul said:  Galatians 1:7-10    there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.


But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.



***

I Peter 5:8-9    Be sober (clear minded), be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.


***

Jesus saysMatthew 10:32-39     Whosoever therefore shall confess ME before men, him will I confess also before MY Father which is in heaven.

But whosoever shall deny ME before men, him will I also deny before MY Father which is in heaven.

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

He that loveth father or mother more than ME is not worthy of ME: and he that loveth son or daughter more than ME is not worthy of ME.

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after ME, is not worthy of ME.



He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for MY sake shall find it.


***

The word God speaks to us often divides us from religious people who are steeped in church doctrines.  Often these people are our relatives.  This can make their attack even stronger.  They come to "set us straight" while they themselves are crooked and failing to do the simple things of God while living lives of weakness and sniveling, fearful and doubting, children of devils, while attending their churches faithfully.

Their words to us are very painful.

The attack from them often rages for days in our mind.

The only thing I know to do is each time their words and what they said and did against us comes to mind, turn to God and bring to Him what they said or did, and ask God for His help.  He will help us to recover and to stabilize.

If God has us speak HIS truth to them, know this:  God's truth,  spoken by us, will free us one way or the other.  Either they will repent and be sorry for their religious rebelliion ... or they will depart from us.

Light and darkness can have no fellowship.  If we turn on the light, the darkness flees.  If we allow the darkness to reign, the light goes.  

But the Word sets us free and saves us ... especially when we speak that word.

***

Pam Padgett was engaged to a man who said he was a Christian.  She kept her mouth shut for a while when he spoke things that troubled her.  But finally she spoke, and when she spoke a scripture, he wanted no more to do with Pam.

His son was going to marry a divorced woman.

Pam spoke the following scripture.

Matthew 5:32   Jesus said:  whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

The word of God divides us from those who are unbelievers in the word of God.

Often we have to speak the word to them and let them depart.

When we speak what God has said either in Bible or to us personally by HIS Spirit we save ourselves from the evil.

It hurts ... but God raises us up day by day as HE brings various scriptures and incidents to our mind to restore and stabilize us and heal us.

Eventually we can rejoice in HIM again and follow HIM in peace as we continue to live on this present earth.

Today Pam says she is very glad she didn't marry Chuck!  God spared her!  But she had to speak God's word to be free.

So hold fast and continue in God.

It might be helpful to write down all those things called to your mind by God through the Spirit of God and focus on those things during the multiple attacks.

The apostle Peter says:  

I Peter 4 ... 12-14   Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when HIS glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part HE is evil spoken of, but on your part HE is glorified.


*****