1 Peter 1:22 KJV “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:” 

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An exclusive relationship; “Just me and God,” may sound good but is that what the Bible teaches? Do we have a relationship only with God? The passage above tells us to love one another with a pure heart FERVENTLY. Is that the kind of love we have for one another? Is our love for each other on fire and intense? Or is it mild or cold? Some sadly believe they can disregard what is written and have an exclusive relationship with God and exclude loving relationships with fellow believers. This is a doctrine from hell:

1 John 4:20 KJV “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

1 John 3:10 KJV “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”

1 John 3:14-15 KJV “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. [15] Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

Scripture says no loving relationships with fellow believers equals no relationship with God, period. Don’t let anyone trick you into believing otherwise. Anyone who teaches contrary to this true doctrine is a false teacher. You cannot have God and exclude the brethren. How can anyone read the passages above and say, “I love God,” knowing they have resentment in their hearts towards fellow Christians? Sadly many can.😥 They have been deceived by the darkness: 

1 John 2:9-11 KJV “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. [10] He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. [11] But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”

1 John 4:12 KJV “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.”

There it is again: proof that God dwells ONLY in those who love the brethren. They have a true relationship with God. You cannot separate God and fellow believers. They are inseparable. The church is the bride of Christ. Do you really think you can have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and hate members of his bride? Would you accept someone who shows contempt for your spouse? No.🤔

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Jesus ain’t playin when it comes to His bride.😳

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There are no exclusive relationships with God, period. If we exclude members of Christ’s body; His bride, for whatever reason, we are really excluding ourselves from the head which is Christ:

1 Corinthians 12:21,25 KJV “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. [25] That there should be no schism [a split or gap a separation] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.”

There are some among the church who teach it’s ok to have heresies or be a heretick (Titus 3:10-11) and still have God’s favor. Disunion is not of God. It’s of the Devil. REPENT!

2 Peter 2:1 KJV “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”

Those who teach it’s ok to create factions, divisions, separations in the church are denying the Lord Jesus that bought them. The Greek word for “denying” in 2 Peter 2:1 means to contradict. How sad that some have been deceived into thinking that divisions in the church are ok. How blind to think that Jesus is on our side when we’re contradicting him by causing divisions, disunion, separations, splits, heresies among God’s people.😪 This is serious! Please repent if you have been doing this. Causing disunity in the body of Christ isn’t worth going to hell FOREVER. You have to really really hate someone to be willing to throw it all away and hold on to that hatred. REPENT! Please don’t be stupid! Repent! Jesus ain’t playin when it comes to His bride.😳 He expects and commands unity among his members. 

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2 Corinthians 7:10 KJV “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.”

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We have a saying, “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” But according to scripture it is better to be safe AND sorry. Because godly sorrow brings about repentance. And repentance brings salvation.😊 Worldly sorrow leads to death and eternal torment. Some folks are only sorry they got caught doing something wrong. That’s worldly sorrow. But Godly sorrow is different and makes us feel uncomfortable to the point of repenting of our wrongs. 

CONVICTION NOT CONDEMNATION 

The Holy Spirit convicts us hoping we will repent. Then we have a choice to either ignore the Holy Spirit or repent:

Proverbs 1:32-33 KJV “For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. [33] But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell SAFELY, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.”

When we make the right choice-to follow the Spirit that is-we feel a whole lot better!😊 But sorrow had to come first in order to let us know that something was wrong. If a person can not feel sorrow about his/her sins and misdeeds how sad. They cannot repent and are on the broad road that leads straight to utter, eternal destruction which is hell.🔥😳 (Matthew 7:13-14) In light of this HOW BLESSED ARE WE if the Holy Spirit prods us about our sins and misconduct.😊 He doesn’t want us to go to hell! He wants us to repent and be with God forever!😃

“I’M SORRY”

How about when you know you’ve wronged someone? Do you apologize? Do you say, “I’m sorry?” Ask yourself, when is the last time you’ve said, “I’m sorry,” to someone. Has it been that long? Has your conduct been so good for all that time? You never said or did anything wrong or offensive to anyone?🤔 Or maybe we failed to show compassion by apologizing? When the Holy Spirit pricks us letting us know we have offended a brother or sister (or anyone) we should be humble enough to tell them, “I’m sorry,” with no excuses. Wouldn’t that please God?😊 Isn’t this the loving thing to do? 

Those two words, “I’m sorry,” when heartfelt can squash many problems. Satan doesn’t want us to show kindness to one another. He doesn’t want us to feel sorry about anything let alone say it. His job is to make sure that our love grows cold:

Matthew 24:10, 12 NIV “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,”😢

How is the Devil doing with you in this area? How is he doing with me? Has our love grown cold? Do we find ourselves wanting to be separate from our brethren instead of together in unity as God says? (Psalm 133:1-3) If this is you if this is me, do you not see what Satan is doing to you? Once the lion isolates his prey from the pack that’s when he devours it:

1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 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.”

I hope we meditate on what we’ve been discussing here. Something seemingly so small as saying, “I’m sorry,” when heartfelt does a world of good. It’s really huge! This shows that you have love, and it keeps us safe in the Lord.😊 

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Matthew 16:21-23 NET “From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.””

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Jesus’ reaction to Peter rebuking Him shows who is sometimes behind our words and thoughts. The Devil can literally speak through us though our intentions be good and we wouldn’t even know it. Peter thought he was doing the right thing yet Satan was talking right through Him. So much for, “The Devil has no power.”🤔This behooves us to ask, “How many times has Satan spoken through me and I didn’t know it?”🤔

Considering this it makes more sense why Jesus says to forgive one another. WE ALL sometimes do and say things we’re not aware of. The evil one plants thoughts in our minds that we sometimes act on thinking it’s God’s will just like Peter did.

THE HEART IS DECEITFUL

Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? [10] I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”

God says our hearts are so deceitful that we can’t know just how wicked it is.😳 Only He knows the human heart and can judge it perfectly. If you and I are aware of this fact; that many things we feel deeply about are sometimes not right or true or in our best interest, we are ahead of the game.😊 The Bible says our own hearts; our deepest thoughts, feelings, and emotions betray us. “The heart is deceitful ABOVE ALL THINGS,” God says. How we view ourselves, how we view others can all be a figment of our imaginations. Our hearts pretend to always know what’s going on but it doesn’t. Often we misjudge people and situations. This is why we cannot trust our hearts. Our own feelings betray us. What a battle we have within ourselves!😞

Proverbs 28:26 KJV “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.”

THERE IS HOPE

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 KJV “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) [5] CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

If we study God’s word (not just read it but study it), and we are a person of prayer, God will show us our hearts. He will show us when our thoughts are pleasing to Him and when they are not. Once we see that our feelings and imaginations do not line up with God’s word The Holy Spirit helps us cast them down (reject)! As we do this throughout our walk with God Satan cannot build new strongholds in our minds, and we destroy and tear down old ones. We bring our own thoughts and feelings into captivity making them obedient to Christ.

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If Jesus asked the Father to forgive people who were killing Him and torturing Him while making fun of Him, shouldn’t we be able to forgive our brethren?😊

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WHY MANY ARE FALLING AWAY

One of the reasons why so many are turning away from the faith in these last days is because of what we are talking about. (Matthew 24:10) Many are listening to their hearts; their feelings and emotions, above the word of God. How dangerous because as we’ve learned Satan can make us feel things too.🤔 Many are not willing to take their thoughts into captivity and make them obedient to Christ. They are not willing to crucify the flesh and deny themselves as Jesus says we must do (Luke 9:23). Schisms; divisions in the church, are the result.

Proverbs 19:11 KJV “The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.”

This one verse we just read if followed solves a whole lot of problems.😊 As we’ve established sometimes folks do and say things they’re not even aware of like Peter did when he rebuked Jesus. Though Jesus corrected Peter he also forgave Him. That’s what we should do instead of letting feelings of anger rule us. To pass over transgression means to cover it. Imagine placing a cover over something, you can’t see it anymore. If we do that with each other’s sins, faults, annoyances, etcetera, what a healthy church we will have.😊 The person who does this obeys God and has self-control. Remember, our own hearts are the most deceitful thing God says. Our feelings often betray us. It makes more sense to simply forgive people in light of this.😊

And lastly, while Jesus was being tortured on a cross he said a prayer for his persecutors:

Luke 23:34 KJV “Then said Jesus, Father, FORGIVE THEM; for they know not what they do.”

Is this not proof of everything we’ve been talking about? People can sometimes do hideous things without even knowing it? If Jesus asked the Father to forgive people who were killing Him and torturing Him while making fun of Him, shouldn’t we be able to forgive our brethren?😊

Colossians 3:13-14 NIV “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Obeying God’s command to forgive destroys the deceitful heart. Jesus is indeed all powerful. He is the King Of Kings And Lord Of Lords.😊

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