Comments by Joan Boney:
The apostate church trust in other humans. Humans set up their churches and their doctrines are set up by man and their doctrines are changed from time to time by men.
The only hope the elect of God has is what God tells them by His Spirit and by the scriptures.
2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
The Holy Spirit of God lives in each individual who has been born again.
I Cor. 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
John 14:26 Jesus says: But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in MY name, HE shall teach you all things, and and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John 16:13 Howbeit when HE, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all truth: for HE shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever HE shall hear (from God), that shall HE speak: and HE will shew you things to come.
We know the truth because the Spirit of Truth lives in us.
The apostate church trusts in the church and the organization of man to set up their rules.
A Jewish woman told us they have their own doctrine, when we told her according to the Bible if she a divorced woman remarries, she commits adultery. But she said they have their own doctrine.
There is no doctrine but Bible.
Three times I have heard Catholic women say their priests told them they should not read the Bible because they would not understand the Bible and might get it wrong.
In each case the priest told these women they, the priests, will tell them what to do.
Margaret Tafoya, a famous American Indian potter told me this story: She wanted her children to study the Bible so she removed them from the Catholic school which was on the reservation, and enrolled her 7 children in the McCurdy mission school.
The Catholic priest told her she could not do this and she must put them back into the Catholic school.
Margaret said, "No, I want my children to study the Bible."
The priest said, "People like you don't need to study the Bible. We will tell you what you need to know."
Margaret continued to say she wanted her children to study the Bible.
When Margaret wouldn't give up, the priest told her, "If you do this, we will put you out of the church and you will never be able to confess your sins again. And you can't be buried in the Catholic cemetery."
As Margaret told me this story, she said, "I don't know what came over me but when priest told me this I said to him, 'I don't have to confess my sins to a man like you. I'll confess my sins to the Lord.' ". He got so mad at me and put me out of the church.
I explained that no man can put her out of the church. God added her to the church and gave her HIS Spirit and only God can remove HIS Spirit from her.
(I think she understood.)
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A woman went to work for me in 2004. She was a wonderful housekeeper. She was Catholic.
She watched me and saw I was different in the way I dealt with my life. She would see me read the Bible and she was amazed that I didn't seem to copy other people.
One day she said to me, "Don't you feel you have to keep up with the Jones's?" (At first I didn't understand what she was talking about.) She said, "Don't you feel you have to have things as nice as other people?"
I replied, "No ... I don't think I do."
Then she asked: "Aren't you afraid to read the Bible?"
That surprised me.
I have always been careful with Bible, often praying before I read Bible. I depend upon God to show me what HE wants me to know as I read Bible. I know God often teaches me when I am reading the Bible.
But I know the Bible is our only "rule book" and our only guide as a Christian and by the Bible we see what we are to do and how to live on this earth by the Spirit of God who guides us.
The Holy Spirit of God uses the Bible to teach us what to do to please God in the issues of this life.
Many times I will be reading a section of scripture and will be shown something by the Holy Spirit of God which gives me courage to do what I believe God wants me to do or I will be comforted in that which I am doing. My faith in God also is increased by scripture.
God and the scripture and the Holy Spirit work together to show me what to do as I live on this earth.
To me, Jesus is "The Word" and The Word is everything to me.
I can't imagine any other way. I would hate to try to trust in myself to make decisions. I would hate to trust in other humans.
I know God put me into the body of Christ and HE is the only way I can know what to do.
It is the Spirit of God who leads me but HE uses the scriptures many times in my life. Doing what I'm shown to do by the Spirit is critical to me.
It is not man who is leading me. It is God who leads me by HIS Spirit.
Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
But I know most people judge themselves by what other men say.
To me the only thing that matters is: Did God show me to do this thing?
When I know it was God who showed me to do this thing, then I have confidence to do that which I have been shown by God.
This scripture explains how I feel:
So if God has told me something, that is all that matters.
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