It’s better to be divided by truth than to be united in error.”
Adrian Rogers
With Love, Cindy
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It matters enormously if I alienate anyone from the truth.
C.S. Lewis
With Love, Cindy
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Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 NIV Read full chapter
With Love, Cindy
Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?
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What you believe will dramatically affect your life forever and those around you, too. As human beings, we like to go along with the crowd and just get along with everyone. We tend to believe what the people around us believe and that can be good, or bad.
Take, for example, a student who is surrounded by highly intelligent professors who are atheists. He might become an atheist, too. Why? Because intelligence is impressive and subconsciously he thinks that to believe in God would make him look less intelligent, so he doesn’t even search out the truth. Instead, he believes what is most comfortable.
In the same way, Christians might believe what those around them believe, even when it isn’t Biblically correct.
Why? Because religious beliefs that conform to cultural norms make life easier. In the Apostle Paul’s day, Judaism pressured Christians to conform to the law. Today, political correctness pressures us to conform to secular thought.
For example, some say, “I believe people of all faiths worship the same God.”
That sounds nice, and is very ecumenical, but it isn’t true. And truth is important because people’s eternity depends on it.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
Another example is abortion. Being pro-life is unpopular in many circles. (Just ask a politician.) To say, “I think it’s a woman’s choice” may get you off the hook. It’s the easy way out. But is it true? If we don’t do it, but we condone it, are we still innocent?
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. Psalm 139:13&15 NLT
There are preachers today who teach false doctrines and many people follow them. The Bible warns us over and over about it. (If you don’t believe me, search the Scriptures for yourself.) My intention is not to tell you what is false and what is true, but to highlight the need to carefully and prayerfully examine what we hear to see if it’s true.
The Apostle Paul chided the Church at Corinth:
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.” 2 Corinthians 11:3-6
Paul insinuates that these false teachers were trained speakers. (Probably very entertaining and popular!) Are we drawn to a preacher by his charisma and personality?
Loving the truth is vital to living a life that brings glory to God. Therefore the importance of studying God’s Word and knowing it well cannot be overstated. If we serve a “Jesus” that we have designed to fit our wants and needs, one who serves our purposes and selfish ambitions, that is idolatry. That is another “Jesus”, not the one who said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”
“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11
If a “Jesus” was preached that appealed to human greed, would I blindly accept it?
If a “Jesus” was preached that appealed to my pride and self-interests, would I blindly accept it?
If a “Jesus” was preached that appealed to my fleshly desires, would I blindly accept it?
Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:13-15
The more I study God’s Word, the more I understand that this life is but a whisper. It’s not about me, it’s about the Savior. My purpose is to bring glory to God. The message is simple. It’s not about new revelations and hidden symbolic meanings to make our life here on Earth free of trials and hardships. Jesus sumed up the message of God’s Word like this:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (and) Love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:28-31
Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you, today. Comments are always welcomed and appreciated.
All Scriptures are NIV unless otherwise noted.
With Love,
Cindy
My Journey Unscripted
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Today, Christians sometimes mix New Age practices with their faith in Christ. This is exactly what the Israelites did after their miraculous deliverance from slavery in Egypt.
We can learn a lot from the Scriptures about Moses, Aaron, and the Golden Calf. Aaron’s bull was a mixture of the true God and the pagan methods of worship that were borrowed from the people around them.
“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” Exodus 32:1 NIV
The people don’t like waiting, so they demand an idol who will fit their selfish desires. Aaron is pressured into giving the people the kind of god they want.
2 “Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,[b] Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” Exodus 32:2-4 NIV
5 “When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward, they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.” Exodus 32:5-6 NIV
Aaron calls this idol “the Lord”. Why? Because he isn’t giving them a new god. He is making God fit the image of God they want. This corruption leads to revelry.
“The Hebrew word rendered indulge in revelry … can refer to words that have sexual implications. Here it implies sexual acts done in the worship of pagan gods. Immorality often accompanies idolatry, even today.” David Jeremiah
“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.” Romans 1:22-24 NIV
7 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’” Exodus 32:7-8 NIV
Do we mold God into who we want Him to be, rather than seeking out who He truly is through His Word?
When God’s people create an image of God to fit what they want Him to be, (but still call that image “God”, even “Jesus”), are they worshipping the true Jesus, or a counterfeit Jesus? Paul warned Christians concerning false apostles who would preach about a Jesus who is not the real Jesus of the Bible.
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” 2 Corinthians 11:3-4
“For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold” 2 Timothy 4:3 AMP
Not everything being taught in Christian circles today is “sound doctrine”. There is only one way to recognize false teaching when you hear it, and it is this: You must read and study the Bible for yourself. That means reading the Word of God every day. It means reading the Word of God more than you read books about the Word of God.
When you read a popular Christian author more than you read the Bible, you begin to interpret the Bible through their “lens”. If it is false, it can take years to “unlearn” what you have been taught. On the other hand, if you read and study the Bible for yourself, you will immediately recognize false teaching.
I know this to be true from experience. Having once been deceived myself by the Word of Faith teachers, it took many years for me to recover. Many of the Word of Faith teachings are rooted in New Age beliefs. I could refer you to numerous Bible teachers who can expound on this, but I would rather you recognize false teaching for yourself. That is the most powerful kind of discernment.
When listening to a Bible teacher, do you ever think, “Where is that in the Bible?” or even more importantly, “That’s not what the Bible says!”
Sometimes new Christians, in their excitement of knowing Christ as their Savior, read many books about the Bible. I believe the devil takes advantage of their hunger for God to lead them astray through false, yet entertaining, books that are so widely available today. This is what happened to me.
Lest you think, “I could never be deceived”, think about this:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:21-23 NIV
The only real protection against this is to read and study the Bible for yourself, love the Truth, and follow Jesus. Jesus said,
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 NIV (Emphasis mine)
With Love, Cindy
Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?
realchristianwomen.blog
“The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18 NIV
With Love,
Cindy
My Journey Unscripted
Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?
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“Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
so that I may honor you.” Psalm 86:11 NLT
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?
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Today’s post isn’t for everyone. If you grew up in church and lived life on the straight and narrow, this post may not interest you. But if you made major detours from the right path like I did, this is for you. Or if you know someone who thinks their sin is too great for God to forgive, pass this on.
In your past, did you commit a sin that haunts you? You may have asked Jesus to forgive you, but you can’t forgive yourself. I’m not talking about some little thing. I’m talking about something big, something that you can’t believe you were capable of.
Let God’s Words speak to your heart today:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love… he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; Psalm 103:8-13
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18
All of us are capable of doing things that we would like to forget (usually done to save ourselves from pain or trouble). We justify our behavior in our mind. “I had to do it. There was no other way. I needed this.”
King David committed adultery and murder. Yes, a man “after God’s own heart” did this! In Psalm 51:14-17 David wrote,
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
A Prayer
Dear Lord, I stand in awe of your great love. You forgive my sins and remember them no more. Great is your love, O God. Who can understand your great mercy? Without it surely I would die in anguish, but your forgiveness and mercy washed over me and made me clean.
“He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.” Ephesians 1:7 NLT
No matter how great your sin, God will forgive you. God isn’t waiting to judge you. He isn’t waiting to condemn you. He wants to receive you – with mercy, with love, with open arms.
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?
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“Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.” Psalm 25:5 NLT
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?
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“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
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Real Christian Women 