And to be honest, for some of us being told YOU WILL BE ALONE, or you are an AWFUL person because you stand alone, those can be messages that slam like rocks against our heads. But let me be frank,
The world really does hate the Christian.
As Christians we should love unbelievers as we witness to them, love those who may be in a different place then we are having understanding for baby Christians, the innocently ignorant, and being mindful of our own lost places before in life and that no human being is perfect. Keeping those things in mind, we will suffer for standing on the truth, this will mean lost companions, lost friendships, and even lost family members. The gentle approach works with some and the direct with others, that must be discerned with God. However this world will have IMMENSE hardship and disappointment.
Right now in America, we are blessed, but I have thought of those sitting alone in prison cells worldwide and during the Inquisitons, who very well, could have been totally ON THEIR OWN save for Christ, with families, friends, and others all rejecting them, telling them they are wrong, and telling them they are "MAD".
As things get worse and worse, one thing I want to extort Christians here to ask themselves, is...
COULD YOU STAND ALONE? If it was YOU, and NO ONE else SAVE FOR GOD? Even if your whole family told you that you were crazy, or if everyone in the world had turned their back on you? This is a question we should all ask ourselves. There are end time senarios that could happen, such as when they demand you take the mark if the Lord does not tarry this could happen in even some of our lifetimes.
This power will come via the Holy Spirit, and God will meet your needs. God has sent me new Christian friends all the time. Am blessed to have Christian friends here.
One of the greatest temptations, is to BACK DOWN in face of group pressure. To be honest, even I was tempted not to ask questions about certain ministers, fearing it would lead to me to lose some present fellowship, but the things I found out could not be ignored, would have been a Hypocrite, to apply certain things to one crowd and not to another. Even I have been tempted to remain silent, not to upset people or "rock the boat". Even dealing with one pastor recently who told me DISCERNMENT MINISTRIES are EVIL, and YOU NEED TO STAY AWAY from them, was one of those moments. At the time I did not have the heart to tell him, that is what I have done online MYSELF, for a long time, SHARING the LINKS and NEWS of those so called DISCERNMENT ministries he hates.
There will be a lot of heartache, many of us will care even about those who reject what we stand for or what we believe in. Right now I am facing the fact of having so many people in my life, I love, who simply do not accept the Christian gospel. But this can happen even with Christians, with churches, as things are radically changing.
Hope this link can help some of you understand what I am driving at...
Standing alone with God
My Goal is God Himself. . .
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
"Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their master, . . . so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God. " Psalm 123:2.
"This verse is a description of entire reliance upon God. ... Spiritual leakage begins when we cease to lift up our eyes unto Him. The leakage comes not so much through trouble on the outside as in the imagination, when we begin to say-'I expect I have been stretching myself a bit too much, standing on tiptoe and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person.' We have to realize that no effort can be too high....
"Your rational friends come and say-'Don't be a fool, we knew when you talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, you can't keep up the strain, God does not expect you to.' And you say- 'Well, I suppose I was expecting too much.' It sounds humble to say it, but it means that reliance on God has gone and reliance on worldly opinion has come in.... Recognize that something has been coming between you and God, and get it readjusted at once."My utmost for his highest: November 24
"We all with open face beholding . . . the glory of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18.
"A servant of God must stand so much alone that he never knows he is alone. In the first phases of Christian life disheartenments come, people who used to be lights flicker out, and those who used to stand with us pass away. We have to get so used to it that we never know we are standing alone. "All men forsook me: . . . notwithstanding the Lord stood with me" (2 Tim. 4:16-17). We must build our faith, not on the fading light, but on the light that never fails. ...
"A Christian worker is one who perpetually looks in the face of God and then goes forth to talk to the people. ... The secret of the worker's life is that he keeps in tune with God all the time."
My utmost for his highest: April 22
"Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." 2 Cor. 2:14
"The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, viz., to be captives in the train of Christ's triumphs. We are not in God's showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing-the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are-'I am standing alone battling for Jesus'; 'I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him.' Paul says-'I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph.' ...
"Paul's secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive, and now that is all he is here for."
My utmost for his highest : October 24
"Perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 2 Cor. 7:1
"...am I realizing that my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, or have I a habit of body that plainly will not bear the light of God on it? By sanctification the Son of God is formed in me, then I have to transform my natural life into a spiritual life by obedience to Him. God educates us down to the scruple. When He begins to check, do not confer with flesh and blood, cleanse yourself at once....
"Am I forming the mind of Christ, Who never spoke from His right to Himself, but maintained an inner watchfulness whereby He continually submitted His spirit to His Father?"My utmost for his highest: March 18
"Behold, the hour cometh . . . that ye shall be scattered." John 16:32
"After we have been perfectly related to God in sanctification, our faith has to be worked out in actualities. We shall be scattered, not into work, but into inner desolations and made to know what internal death to God's blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is not that we choose it, but that God engineers our circumstances so that we are brought there. ...
'". . . and shall leave Me alone.' Have we left Jesus alone by the scattering of His providence?... Are we prepared to let God do as He likes with us-prepared to be separated from conscious blessings?... God is never in a hurry; if we wait, we shall see that God is pointing out that we have not been interested in Himself, but only in His blessings. "My utmost for his highest: April 4
"That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us." John 17:21
"If you are going through a solitary way, read John 17, it will explain exactly why you are where you are-Jesus has prayed that you may be one with the Father as He is. Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or have you some other end for your life? "
My utmost for his highest: May 22
"And he saw him no more." 2 Kings 2:12
"It is not wrong to depend upon Elijah as long as God gives him to you, but remember the time will come when he will have to go; when he stands no more to you as your guide and leader, because God does not intend he should. You say-'I cannot go on without Elijah.' God says you must.
"Alone at your Jordan. v. 14. Jordan is the type of separation where there is no fellowship with anyone else, and where no one can take the responsibility for you. ... If you want to know whether God is the God you have faith to believe Him to be, then go through your Jordan alone.... Determine to trust in God and do not look for Elijah any more."My utmost for his highest: August 11
"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself." Acts 20:24
"It is easier to serve God without a vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment. ...
"What do I really count dear? If I have not been gripped by Jesus Christ, I will count service dear, time given to God dear, my life dear unto myself. Paul says he counted his life dear only in order that he might fulfill the ministry he had received; he refused to use his energy for any other thing...."Practical work may be a competitor against abandonment to God, because practical work is based on this argument-'Remember how useful you are here,' or-'Think how much value you would be in that particular type of work.' That attitude does not put Jesus Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgment as to where we are of most use. Never consider whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own but His."
My utmost for his highest: March 4
