Stop Please!!! You Are Destroying Yourself

The rate of backbiting in the house of God is getting really bad and it makes me sad not just because of the backbiter or “backbitten” but because of the listener whose walk with God is threatened just because they listened. Sadly, this time nothing and no one is sacred. I suspect that if Jesus was still on earth these gossips, liars and destroyers of personalities would have attempted to ruin Him. I guess such people have always existed because they attempted to do the same to Jesus when He walked the face of the earth. My goodness! These people just lie. They rewrite the truth even in their minds, making it more interesting by coating it with lies just so that they don’t lose their audience. They are so desperate to hold onto their audience that even when they run out of stories to rewrite, they make up stories about things that never happened forgetting that if/when God reveals them, they would lose respect because of the number of lies they have told. The amount of lies and character assassinations going on in church today is certainly another pointer to the fact that “false brethren have indeed crept in unawares”. Interestingly, these liars actually think that the fact that they have reasons for telling those lies about others is enough reason but is this acceptable to God and can anyone sincerely love another and yet lie so much about them? What manner of love is that? Is this the most excellent way that the bible talks about? Even the unbelievers will be amazed at the level of hate, envy and dishonesty that exist amongst “brothers and sisters in Christ.’ The truth is, much as we may hate to admit this, we don’t love one another. We actually hate each other.  

 

I John 3: 15 “Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.”

 

1 John 4: 16b “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them

 

Our understanding of love is definitely warped. It is impossible to tell a lie about a person you love and especially not destructive lies. It is strange to claim to be born again and yet have the capacity to hate anyone and if you didn’t know it, backstabbing, envy, lying and all the other ugly things hint at hatred. Sadly, the one thing which we ought to hate is some of the most attractive things to us. Though we are believers, we love sin and admire sinners for their sin; so what then are we doing pretending to be children of God? Some of us admire unbelievers so much that we make them our mentors or long for them to be. I wonder how one can look up to another who is travelling a path they turned their backs on because they were certain it ends in death and does not please God. How does one claim to behold God and yet behold one whose life is totally contrary at the same time? The word of God says it is impossible. No one can serve two masters; we will either choose to continue to be enslaved to God who purchased us with the blood of Jesus or return to the life of enslavement to the devil which is not God’s plan for us. No excuse in the world makes it okay for a believer to destroy another believer. You don’t know it but you are a murderer; the bible says so. Every time you tell those terribly destructive lies, God is against you because you are attempting to murder His own. Be careful.

 

Proverbs 25: 18 “Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.”

 

I John 2: 9 – 11 “if anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.” 

 

Unfortunately we hardly make progress in life when we are like that. Believers in this state, hate to even look inwards much less admit that they are liars and murderers. Such believers remain in darkness and so do not have clear direction even for their own lives. Hatred is blinding and facilitates bad decisions so that you are ruining your own life by making room for satan to ruin your life but you don’t see it. It is for the same reason that Cain was made a fugitive for life. Many of us hate our fellow believers so much that like Cain killed Abel, we are murdering them and God is calling out for us to do right that He may bless us. God hates this attitude so much that He responded to the cry of Abel’s blood. The pain of the cry of some believers has come up to God who is known to respond to such cries. We have to repent of this behavior and turn around before the judgment of God is poured out even against such “murderers.” Unfortunately, we don’t grasp the meaning of the love that God is. The world’s definition of love has totally warped our understanding of the God kind of love. It is time to stop!

 

1 John 3: 11 – 12NLT “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.”

The Ugliness of Stubbornness

Stubbornness appears to be one of the several wrongs fast becoming acceptable in the midst and lives of believers today. It has become normal and common practice for believers to reject correction because as we often say “I am a stubborn person” so that we reject correction not because such correction is incorrect but because we feel the need to do whatever we desire. Unfortunately, the word of God rejects this positon and makes it clear that it is unacceptable to God. I have heard the phrase “I am stubborn” so many times, and much more frequently in our present times, in the course of counselling with believers so much so that I was getting confused especially because the word can indeed be used in a good way. So I went to my dictionary as you know I often do and I would like to share some of what I found about the word stubborn in which stubbornness takes its root. Amongst several things, I found that stubbornness is being obstinate, unyielding, and resolute and is also characterized by a refusal to change one’s mind. The dictionary also says it could be used to describe one that is difficult to deal with and/or an illness or stain that is resistant to treatment which to my mind suggests that a stubborn person may need treatment to which they would remain resistant. The English dictionary indeed admits that it could be good for example when one is resolute in their pursuit of a good cause. I guess this is stubbornness that the bible says is required for taking the kingdom of God. Every believer knows this kind of stubbornness because we have an enemy who is also very stubborn but in a bad way so that we have to be very resolute in dealing with him to successfully enforce the victory Christ won for us.

 

Mathew 11: 12AMP “And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force (as a precious prize-a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense execution”

 

Stubbornness is often used though, in its negative form and this is the stubbornness I am writing about in this article. This is the one the dictionary refers to as being obstinate making one difficult to deal with. This stubbornness is so ugly that it has the power to actually translate one’s look in the physical making them ugly. This stubbornness is not always very obvious; indeed I would rather deal with those whose stubbornness is really obvious. It can be very salient so that appearing passive, it is in truth very aggressive and that to my mind, is the very worst because it takes a little longer for people who can provide the help one needs to realize that the person indeed has a problem – stubbornness. Unfortunately, many lives are getting ruined today because of this one matter of stubbornness. Interestingly, despite all the harm that it is doing to people, I have found that a number of people think it is cute and some kind of adornment and sadly, this includes even a lot of believers. Such people even happily make declarations about their children or child being stubborn and they laugh with some sort of glee looking like it is wonderful. This stubbornness is eating into the very fiber of the lives of several believers and slowly destroying them but unfortunately, they don’t realize.

 

1 Samuel 15” 23a “Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as worshipping idols.”

Proverbs 28: 14 “Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.”

 

Such believers will not take correction. Insisting on doing what they want to do, they refuse to think through any suggestion to improve their lives; some, even priding themselves in the fact that nothing can cause them to change their minds when it is made up and not even the word of God. Some such people actually say it but those who are a bit more laid back or passive will not say it boldly but express it in their actions and decision making. Such people definitely have not thought enough on the thoughts of God as revealed in His word concerning the matter of stubbornness otherwise, they would be doing all that is necessary to bring about the needed change in their lives. There is no doubt that no thoughtful believer would deliberately continue on that path that leads to destruction. It would be sad if this truth was revealed to them and yet, they continued in the way they have chosen because then, there will be no other remedy. It is time to begin to deal with the enemy within because if we don’t, how can we then deal with the enemy without and this we must do to live fullness of life that is our portion and go forward.

 

Proverbs 14: 12 “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”

 

Proverbs 29: 1 “Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.”

Destroy the Enemies Within So They Don’t Destroy You

I have been thinking about this Russian plane that crashed on Mount Sinai in which everyone died. I have read articles on some of the people who died in the crash and it is obvious that there were kind souls amongst them. One of them was so kind that he even cared to rescue cats in trouble. I can’t but think of the pain their families must be going through but I can’t help but ponder along with several others on the cause of the crash. From listening to the different thoughts on the possible cause, I have learnt a lot including that an aircraft can only be brought down either by forces within or without. Furthermore, at a certain height, it is most unlikely that an external force can bring it down, not even turbulence because at that level, turbulence doesn’t get bad enough to bring down aircrafts. Such was the level at which the Russian aircraft was flying suggesting that whatever brought it down was inside it supporting the suspicions that a bomb must have been placed in it.

 

Psalm 91: 1, 3 - 4 “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty … For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”

 

This entire thing reminds me of spiritual warfare. As we know, the devil is consistently trying to destroy man who is himself fighting by the Spirit of God to live and live the fullness of life which is the promise of God to us. The truth about this warfare is that our “standing” is a great part of it. To be fully equipped for victory, one has to be standing rightly in Christ and the things that go on inside us affect or impact greatly on our standing in Christ. So there is a fight on the inside of every believer: a fight between the Spirit of God and our “fleshly desire.” The desire referred to as fleshly is the longing based on thirst for things that belong in the group referred to by the bible as “worldly.” Many of us manage this battle within. We often do not think that the enemy within us needs to be defeated. We believe that those weaknesses in us and/or longing for things we ought not to long for, can be managed but that is not true hence God tells us to kill the flesh and its desires. They have to die because whichever one we do not kill later becomes a tool in the hands of the devil to destroy us. If we kill the flesh then we have good standing in Christ and fighting the external enemy then becomes easier. If the enemy within continues to live in us, in our very weak moments when are strength is too little to manage him effectively, he would definitely rise against us. The devil is one being that never misses an opportunity to wreak havoc. I have heard people say “when you dine with the devil, use a long spoon. My question is this; why even dine with him? The devil is not stupid as some of us like to believe and that is why we are called to a life of vigilance as believers.

 

1 Peter 5: 8 – 9 “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”

Romans 8: 12 - 13 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But of through the power of the Holy Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”

 

Now what I find interesting is this, just like aircrafts, there is a certain level one gets to in their walk with God where the devil is unable to get them and that is what is referred to as God’s secret place. It’s that place where God fully becomes one’s shepherd. Interestingly, no one is compelled or dragged there, it is a place one enters willingly and can step out of it willingly also. Entrance into this place is facilitated by a very deep relationship. The more one’s love commitment to God is, the higher one goes in the realm of the spirit, entering into the holiest of all wherein God’s manifest presence is fully revealed. Satan cannot dare to come that high into that presence. It is the very presence of a God whose eyes will not behold iniquity. At that point there may be turbulence, but not enough to bring one down but only to ensure that one’s standing in Christ is maintained and God will not allow it to be so much it destroys the person. You can go to sleep when you get there and just be on cruise control. The only person that can bring you down when you get here is you and the only way that can happen is if the enemies within rise up against and defeat you. We often underestimate the power of these little things inside us to impact on our ultimate success in life. The sad thing is, as with the plane, if these things defeat and destroy us, many other people who are watching us also get destroyed. When the enemy takes down one believer, He takes down a number of people with Him so we must learn to be one another’s keeper and we have to accept that we need help to maintain our standing in Christ. A believer is definitely a light “set on a hill” and all whose sight is facilitated by your light may remain in darkness forever if your light goes out.