The Narrow Gate

Think about how Abraham handled difficult situations. Abraham had complete trust in God. When God told him to go to a place that he would show him he went and did not concern himself about it.

It is amazing how God took care of Abraham. He will do the same for us as long as we keep our hearts right before Him. This is the foundation of our salvation it allows our Father to shape us into useful vessels for His use. We see this done throughout out scripture with all those that kept their hearts clean.

We need to be very aware of what we need to learn in our every day lives because God is working with us and our steps are ordered by Him.

Psalms 37:23-24 (NIV) 23 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; 24 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

Psalms 34:19 (NIV) 19 The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

1 John 2:27 (NIV) 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Psalms 1:6 (NIV) 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

In every adverse situation we encounter there is something we can learn because our Father is shaping us into what He wants us to be.

1 Peter 5:10 (NIV) 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

Isaiah 64:8 (NIV) 8 Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay; you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

So we need to be aware that He is watching and welcome any correction, seek the way He has for us and walk in it. We should constantly be aware of what we are thinking and ask ourselves are we being carnal if we are,  then we need to resist and correct our behaviour, in this way God can help us to change.

Philippians 4:12-14 (NIV) 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Proverbs 4:10-13 (NIV) 10 Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. 11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. 12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV) 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Abraham listened and did what God told Him do. He was willing to sacrifice his only son to keep God’s commands and that is why he was so blessed. Because Abraham obeyed God all nations on earth became blessed through his offspring.

Genesis 18:19 (NIV) 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.

Many people are caught up in prophecy and don’t pay enough attention to their personal growth and renewing of their minds. Yes, Jesus said to watch. For the most part when Jesus said to watch it was to watch not to be deceived, watch for false prophets, watch to be on guard against all kinds of greed. Watch that you do not cause any one to stumble.

The scriptures are full of instructions of how we need to live our lives and that is a full time job because our carnal nature is totally against this way of life it is a daily battle to overcome it. The carnal nature is where Satan works we must strive not to be carnal by constantly asking our Father to help us to guard our hearts and quickly show us when we are being carnal.

1 Peter 5:8-10 (NIV) 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Luke 16:13 (NIV) 13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

(2 Peter 1:3-8 NIV) 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self- control; and to self- control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I believe that we need to be aware of what is going on in the world and watch prophecy unfold however we need to be very careful not to ignore our personal growth.

Jesus said watch not to be deceived and He said it many times. There are many ways we can be deceived that is why we need to have our hearts right and we need our Fathers help to do this and the help of our brothers and sisters. Deception can come from those among us.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (NIV) 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Jude 1:4-5 (NIV) 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

One of the ways that Jesus can be denied is when His commands are not followed, for example these leaders who “lord it” over the brethren are denying his command and living example to not “lord it” over each other, because those that do so are acting contrary to Jesus’s word and example which is in fact “antichrist”. These false teachers try to distract the brethren by pointing the finger at Sunday keeping churches to get the attention off of themselves. We know that Sunday keepers are deceived and are blinded to the truth and they will eventually be brought to the truth when the Father calls them to his understanding, just as he has done for ourselves. Some of these so called leaders in the churches of God today really should know better, but their deeds and actions are contrary to Christ’s example because they have not allowed the Holy Spirit to change their hearts and as a result of frustrating the holy spirit they now resort to carnal distractions, control, abuse and vain pursuits all at the expense of the brethren and they continue refusing to change or be accountable to others.

Titus 1:16 (NIV) “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and their consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.”

2 Peter 2:1-2 (NIV) “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.”

The Sabbath keeping churches of today are constantly referred to as “cults” by many in the public including some of the Sunday keeping churches and just like Peter said “MANY will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.” There are thousands of reports down through the many years, of control, abuse and fear tactics which were used against the brethren who eventually have fallen away because of these false teachers. This is a very sad and evil thing that has happened in a lot of the Churches of God and it has to stop. Here at God Seekers Church of God we are preparing a place for those who have been disillusioned by the immoral and unbiblical actions of these modern day Pharisees and Sadducees. In this body of believers everyone is accountable, everyone needs to contribute and everyone is required to not be idle and to use the talents God has given them to uplift, encourage, edify and most of all learn to love one another which has been commanded by Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) ” Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

Romans 12:4-6 (NIV) ” For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each one of us.”

Luke 6:38 (NIV) ” Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

John 13:34-35 (NIV) “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you MUST love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 4:7-8 (NIV) ” Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love DOES NOT KNOW GOD, because God IS LOVE.”

Matthew 16:6 (KJV) 6 Then Jesus said unto them, take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

This very same spirit and attitude that the Pharisees and the Sadducees displayed is still around and unfortunately it can be seen in the Churches of God today.

These false teachers are suppressing the body of Christ so it cannot function, it has been put to sleep, and the brethren are not using their talents that have been given to them by God through his Holy Spirit. Every Sabbath they shuffle in and out of each service and they do not contact or fellowship with their brothers and sisters during the week. How can anyone fulfill the commandment to love your brother if they do not know him? Why do they not have any desire to communicate with their brothers and sisters outside of the weekly Sabbath services?

Recently I experienced this kind of deception from those that call themselves ministers of God. I trusted them and even learned from their teaching. However, when some questionable doctrines and opinions were spoken by an elder to the brethren which were very concerning specifically because these views contradicted the scriptures and he was subtly twisting the words of Christ especially in his one on one conversations with the brethren. I and another brother challenged him on what he was doing and we used scripture to back up what we were saying. That is when the elder and the other minister’s true motives came out and subsequently a very ugly spirit was revealed in all of them. The deception was very strong and very convincing, however this spirit will not and cannot adhere to God’s word. This was the only way I was able to discern what this so called minister (who had assigned himself to “deal” with the situation on the elder’s behalf) was trying to do. He told me that I was on the road to perdition because I and my brother wanted accountability and answers based on Gods word instead of this man’s hyperbole. That is all he had just fear mongering mixed with intimidation and control tactics no scriptures to back up anything he said he only had his word and according to his attitude his word instead of scripture was more than sufficient.

When there is a problem in the church there is a procedure, that Jesus Himself commanded us to use, this Christ ordained requirement was not followed. These so called ministers who are supposed to be serving the brethren and not lording it over them did not allow this matter to be heard as the commanded procedure from Jesus Christ requires. They went out of their way to speak against us to the brethren with no witnesses and they would not allow us to defend our position. They deceitfully conspired together to meet at a different location to achieve the aim of bringing me and my wife to compliance by intimidation and putting my brother out of the church. The brethren in this case were willingly deceived by this satanic process and some feared being put out of the church. The brethren who were already used to being idle did not adhere to God’s word, they did not want to be awakened from their lazy state of weekend worship and they did not guard their hearts by confirming everything using the word of God. DO NOT let this happen to you.

Matt.18:15-18 (NIV) 15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.