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Christian Walk

No one is perfect and no one has a perfect flawless understanding of everything on every subject, therefore don't judge others immediately and don't mark them als false teachers just because someone has a different understanding or came to a different conclusion through their studies. Yes, there are many false teachers and false prophets in this world but many are also simply studying and want to learn and grow in God. They share their studies and findings and are open to discuss it and may change positions or stances at one point, since everyone is on a different point in their walk with God.  There is a difference between knowingly deceiving people (what false teachers and prophets do) and having a wrong understanding (that can happen to any follower of Christ). Therefore pray for discernment on everything and use this material for your own studies, encouragement and gathering together with fellow believers.

Please don't read any of this on this page as a holier than thou thing. I have stepped in 'dung' many times and I am (and will be until the end) a work in progress in my own walk with God. Being on the autism spectrum my social skills are lackluster and my tone of speaking/ writing can be 'off' sometimes, so please see/ look through it if things written are too harsh or direct, if I repeat things too often, if I jump from one thing to another abruptly. Please try to see/ look through it and forgive me for that and pray for me regarding that. Most of these pages get edited alot of times either because, for example, I made progress in my walk and understanding or because I need to correct my tone of writing. Also I am not a native English speaker so if chosen words, spelling, grammar and sentences are a bit 'off', or wrong or weirdly constructed, I will do my best to edit and correct it. I can only pray and hope that all the times I have stepped in 'dung', the sins I have commited and the training and corrections that I have had, can be of use for your own personal walk with God. I am not without issues, I am not without struggles, I am not without wrong understandings, I am not without sin, but I can atleast share that which God gave me (and worked in me) forward again.

In the end it's all about God and our walk with Him. Try to listen and follow after God and His spirit and try to yield to His training and corrections in your life. For example don't let false teachers trick you into thinking that just because you have issues (myself for example lifetime autism, social anxiety and depression), that you, according to them, are not a christian or not a 'good' one because these things are in your life. No one is without hardships and no one is without tribulation in their life. Everyone has something and instead of making our lives about either having issues or not having issues, make it instead about glorifying God and use those things to show faith to God when these tribulations and hardships show up. It's not, what some false teachers say, that you are not a christian (or a bad one) because you have these tribulations and hardships, in fact, it can be things God placed specifically in your life so you can grow and grow closer to Him. And you can use it to show faith (and be faithful) to God and glorify Him with and through it.

In short, the combination of my social anxiety, depression and autism led to social isolation which was the very thing God used to call me and led to me finding and accepting Christ in 2011, God using it for good and resulting in it being a blessing. And for a while I was doubting my salvation because for all the years after, I still had social anxiety, depression and autism. False teachers teaching that because I still had it, and God not taking it away, I must not have been truly saved, which is very wrong but for a while I did fall into that trap believing them and their teachings until God opened my eyes. On top of that I made the mistake (and sinned) of looking to other Christians and comparing myself to them. Seeing their (atleast) outwardly appearance of everything being great, everything seemingly going easy for others without much trouble. Fiancially, physically, mentally, it all looked like many had it under control and going well as their lives seemed to be filled with fun and good things happening, and being able to fit in with each other while I felt like an outcast not being able to connect with anyone. For some years I allowed it to turn me into a bitter and resentful person (inside my heart and mind) and that only made me doubt myself and my salvation even more as everything for me seemed to go the opposite direction in all aspects.

Not through a single moment but over time, God corrected me in not looking and comparing myself to others, to not look at outwardly appearances, to not be busy myself with putting up a show of good outwardly appearances, to not seek belonging in the world but to simply rest in belonging to Christ, and that I am not alone in having hardships but that everyone has them (of course everyone has them, but I was blinded to that simple fact for a while). After some time and after letting go of false teachings, letting go of looking and comparing myself to others, letting go of my bitterness and resentfulness, I finally had peace and understood that I am saved, I am justified, I am sealed, all thanks to Christ and His finished work. And all things that are in this world and in my life are opportunities for me to be faithful to God and glorify Him. That hardships are a blessing as I found the Lord in them, I grew in the Lord through them, and will still do that in all future hardships and as a day to day thing. That the focus of my life should not be about comparisons and fighting against worldly things. For example for a moment I was hyper focussed on politics, and looking back I would define it as it becoming an idol. But instead of all that, all my focus and my life should be centered around walking with God and doing my best to (with Gods wisdom and strength, not my own) better and improve myself to walk in faith with God, to be faithful to Him, and to do my best in my stewardship here on earth, to lay it all at His feet in prayer and to then follow His Spirit leading. And sometimes I have victories and sometimes I lose. I confess to God, I ask forgiveness, I ask help, and then get back up again and run this race again, to keep leaning into God, into His Spirit teaching, training and correcting me. It's a tug of war, a fight to fight, a race to run, and God will provide and help. Through and in Him it's possible to reach the finish line standing, not by my own strength but by His.

Own Understandings

We all are wrestling against our sinful nature and some things may come easy to you and are hard for others, while other things are easy to others and are hard for you. Also understand that we are all part of the Body of Christ and that different people may have different tasks layed out before them. Some teach, some evangelize, some encourage, some watch and warn, some focus on prayers, some focus on praising through for example music, and others do a mix of these and other things, so don't judge the hand for not being, and not doing, the same job like a foot and vice versa. However at the same time we must be serious and careful about everything we take in and send out. Be careful when you encounter someone who claims to speak on Gods behalf, speaks prophecies, claims to have dreams and/or visions.

The truth is in Gods word, and everyone should read and study it themselves. Discussing and sharing studies is ok. Being dependent on someone elses dreams, visions or following someone else because they claim to be someone special, claim to speak on God's behalf, having some kind of special information that is not in the Bible or is contradicting what is written, is not ok and can be dangerous. A good rule of thumb is to be VERY careful with people who claim to speak on God's behalf, claim to be a prophet, claim to be a messenger having some kind of special information or is all/ only about visions and dreams. Someone who adds, removes or changes what is written in the Bible should not be listened to. Don't just follow someone but test what they are saying to what is written in the Bible and always check if what they say has come true or not (dreams, visions, prophecies etc).

We all should act like the ancient Bereans did (what they were praised for) to eagerly learn from God’s Word and, no matter who the teacher is, to investigate new teaching in comparison with the Bible. See how the Bereans did not immediately discarded OR followed everything that did not comply with their own understanding, but they tested their own understandings versus the information that came by, they searched the Bible for it, they tested to see if their own understanding was wrong or that the new information was wrong. This requires us to be careful, to study and read ourselves, to not simply discard OR follow something immediately, it requires us to discuss, to debate, to study, to get and be together with fellow believers with love and understanding on different stances and positions, to NOT just attack or condemn each other what happens a lot, especially online.

Also listening and studying the matter does not mean you have to immediately accept it for truth, testing new information is not a personal attack on you or the other person, and being wrong on a subject does not mean that you now have to live in fear that everything you know may be wrong and that you, being saved and justified, is now in danger. Focus on Christ, He is your rock and try to be a Berean regarding teachings and information. For example if a rapture will take place and when that will take place is a lot of fighting about. Instead of studying, debating and sharing studies many are fighting with fellow brothers and sisters. Choosing a 'tribe' of a certain position and then never listen to anything else because it does not comply with their own understanding, calling each other names, calling each other false teachers, calling each other deceivers, these are all serious things and accusations that we should be careful about. Many of us could learn a thing or two from the Bereans, to read, to study, to discuss, to debate, to listen, to learn together, instead of fighting each other, and often times, commiting sin doing this.

Yes there are false prophets and false teachers but not everyone with a different understanding or position is immediately a false prophet or teacher. As stated at the top of this page in bold, there is a difference between knowingly deceiving people (for whatever selfish reason) and being a follower of Christ with a wrong or simply a different understanding. I am not saying no one may ever correct another person. But regarding understandings and doctrines I mean with this that it should happen in a way of explaining, debating and sharing studies using the Bible. This does require of each one of us to be open to other positions instead of just fighting for own understandings and fighting for our own 'tribe' simply because it's our own understanding, meaning that "everything else must be wrong because it does not fit or align with my own understanding" is a dangerous mentality/ state to be in and have.

For example with the doctrines of 7 years tribulation, 7 years of tribulation meaning 7 years of wrath, and there being a rapture for the whole bride. Many people talk(ed) about this and I took it for truth, and I defended it in my mind without fully and truly running it by the Bible, without questioning the doctrine and myself. Many talk(ed) about it and many repeat it, so I just went with it and accepted it because it sounded right and some isolated chapters & verses do seem(ed) to fit the narrative/ doctrine. There were people correcting this doctrine (in for example youtube comments) but I ignored it because it did not line up with my understanding and what many people said what was 'right'. I also waved criticism on these doctrines away under the flag of; I must be doing something right if I get this opposition, if I get these pushbacks on these doctrines, it must be from satan because he doesn't like it, he doesn't like me to have these truths. But that was a dangerous state to be in, and a dangerous mentallity to have, because that way I closed myself off to any corrections. Because all outside corrections are, well, from the outside, and the inside bubble does not correct itself, that just becomes an echo chamber. And it does not make sense, if it is the truth than it will stand on it's own, if it's not (is proven wrong) then why stick with it and not yield to Gods correction, if it's unclear then why take a stance in one of the 'tribes' and conclude anything at all.

But praise God, when I came across Brenda Weltner her youtube channel, God, through Brenda, opened my eyes to my wrong doings of simply standing by my own understandings and to dig in Gods word more, and to let the Bible speak to me, instead of me looking at all external signs, traditions, numbers and information and forcing it on Gods word (an example of my error was taking man-made rabbinical traditions and accepting/ taking them as things of God, which they are NOT). Brenda made valid points about the whole 7 years doctrine and questioned many accepted (and sadly man-made created/ inserted) 'truths'. Through her studies I finally started asking questions and thinking about these doctrines and started questioning my own understandings.

It then still took some months to let go of old understandings as my mind automatically went to my own default understandings instead of what the Bible (especially Revelation) simply tells/ shows (more about all this and these doctrines on 'The End Times' page, about there being only 3.5 tribulation years left for Israel starting at the Abomination of Desolation, not 7 years, about not everything being wrath, about not there being 1 rapture, but 3 in fact, each for a different group that will appear in heaven, the rapture not being about the bride as people still come to Christ after the first rapture and also will be part of the bride, etc). But then I finally started to simply ask questions and truly read and study for myself. Are all my understandings now correct? most likely not, but I atleast now am able to let go of things when proven wrong instead of just standing for my own understandings. Regarding all of this I am still a work in progress and probably will be just that until the end.

So please do study, share, debate, ask questions, confront yourself, confront your own understandings, and be open to put away (old) understandings if they are proven incorrect/ faulty/ in error. It is important to read and study yourself and not just follow the popular doctrines that go round and round and get repeated over and over eventhough they are proven incorrect. The sad thing is, for a while I did not even see that it was proven incorrect, people were (rightfully so) correcting these doctrines but I just sticked with what I knew. For example the doctrine of: Daniel 70th week = 7 years tribulation = 7 years wrath. This is wrong doctrine but gets repeated over and over and over (more on this on the "The End Times" page). Should people who hold on to that doctrine be attacked and be accused of being false teachers? No. Are they unsaved for having wrong doctrine? No. Should I spam them with comments saying 'you're wrong, you're wrong!'? No. I can only hope and pray that someone with for example that '7 years of wrath' doctrine (that I had too) can open their eyes and see that that doctrine is incorrect. And this is only possible by praying FOR others and by sharing studies/ information (in this case of the end times, studies by Brenda Weltner on the "The End Times" Page). 

How can a Christian have confidence on the Day of Judgment?

List of Thirty by Brenda Weltner: 

1. Walk in the Spirit and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
2. Love the brethren
3. Forgive others and do not judge them
4. Persevere and endure to the end
5. Be thankful in all things and for all things
6. Desire Christ’s return and His coming rule
7. Have faith in God and believe His promises
8. Do not grumble, argue or complain
9. Use the gifts God has given you
10. Faithfully discharge whatever stewardship you have been given: job, family,  church fellowship, gifts, spiritual calling, etc 
11. Stay close to Jesus
12. Fellowship with others
13. Read the Word and live the Word
14. Pray
15. Worship
16. Learn to please the Lord
17. Fear the Lord
18. Seek to grow in the knowledge of the Lord
19. Confess your sins to God and one another
20. Rejoice in the Lord
21. Expect persecution and suffering
22. Be humble
23. Do not love the world
24. Do not be covetous
25. Do not use people for personal gain
26. Do not use Christianity for personal gain
27. Do not keep grudges
28. Watch your words
29. Love the truth
30. Know and believe that God loves you

More on this at:
Video Title: How to not be ashamed at the 2nd Coming of Christ! (Good news!)

Faithfulness and Stewardship

Salvation

     
  • Three 'tenses' of Salvation

  • Brenda Weltner
Watch

Sons

     
  • What kind of Son are you? 

  • Brenda Weltner
Watch

The Inheritance

     
  • Obtaining the Inheritance

  • Brenda Weltner
Watch

Bootcamp

     
  • Resurrection Bodies & Sonship

  • Brenda Weltner
Watch

Being faithful is not about being without sin (impossible), it's not about being without error doing everything perfectly, it's not about being the most holier than thou person you can be, it's not about putting up a show for the world/ others/ anyone to see how good and "Christian" you are (neither is it about putting up a show of praising self about how 'low' you are compared to God, as in look at me I am so humble, that's disguised pride too). But being faithful is all about YOU being being faithful to God in YOUR walk WITH Him, it's about knowing/ being aware that you will give an account of yourself to God (Romans 14:12). It's about wanting to please Him and trusting in Him, to listen to the Holy Spirit working in you, to learn from Christ His stewardship and ministry here on earth, to then also be faithful in your walk with God and be faithful with the stewardship that God has given you in your life, it's about how you respond to God, this world and all that happens to you/ your life, it's about your attitudes in your day to day walk with and in Christ.

It's not about doing great works of your own, as you only need to step into the works that God lays in front of you (He prepared them for you). And it's not about being perfect or without error, but it's about being faithful to God, to listen and follow His Holy Spirit. The people losing out on the inheritance of entering the Holy land was not about being sinners or not, or about doing great works or not, it was all about a lack of faith in God, rejecting God and His plans by not trusting in Him. They did not yield to God but instead grumbled against Him, placing bad attributes on God and blaming Him. Their lack of faith resulted in them losing out on their inheritance (not their justification, being saved), having to stay in the wilderness. Even to the point of saying that they were better of as slaves in Egypt and that God only brought them into the wilderness to let them die off, having no faith in God to bring them into the promised land, having no faith in God that He would protect and guide them with/ through whatever temporary obstacle they would encounter.

And it's easy for a believer today to say; that's blasphemous I would never say or do such things. But through our actions and in the things we say, and in our attitudes and and the way we respond to God, we too can be guilty of lack of faith in God. Do we pray FOR someone or against someone? Do we blame God or do we thank and praise Him? Do we accept tribulation/ hardships and all that God places in front of us (including people that oppose Christians) or do we try to fight against it in hopes that it goes away? Do we lay everything at Gods feet and give Him the glory, and trust in Him, in His ways, in His timing? or do we want to do and fix everything ourselves, and (try to) do that on our own accord, on our own timing, the way we want it? Do we accept corrections and training by the Holy Spirit or do we walk away from it? What is our attitude when things are fine? What is our attitude when things go bad? What is our attitude when everything seems to fall apart and seems "impossible"? And being faithful or not is not about being saved or not, as everyone with the Holy Spirit is sealed, saved and justified. A walk of faith, a Christian walk, is about a lifelong sanctification process resulting in possibly obtaining the inheritance or not. It's about every believer who can be a 'son who inherits' (it's not about physical males, and it's not about literally being firstborn in your earthly family, it's a type). It's about heirs who are in bootcamp training here on earth, being trained for future tasks and responsibilities in the future kingdom to come, wanting and trying to be faithful to God. In opposite of faithless believers who lose out on the inheritance because this life, world and self is all that matters, who walk away from God, who have no trust/ faith in God but rely on themselves (or on other things like political leaders to save and help them).

Eventhough faithfulness is not an exact measurement, you could say that for a faithful Christian their mind is set on God >wanting/ trying< to please and serve Him (by faith). Which does NOT mean you are without sin, or without temptations, or without error, or without the strings of the world pulling on you, or without earthly/ fleshly desires, it does not mean your own works are great, and does not mean you have to quit your job and be studying the Bible 24/7 or be in ministry 24/7. One difference is faithless people do not really care about God and what God wants. Often times faithless people do not really like the role of servantship and sonship, which both requires obedience and letting go of self, to be able to receive and accept corrections and training. To some it would then even be a nuisance to be in the process of sanctification by God, because God is then standing in the way of all the things they want, or the things God wants are too much trouble or too difficult in their eyes to then walk away from God and the things He wants. They may have come to Christ at one point in their life but God is just a small part in their lives when it's convenient and/ or when it's easy, and therefore do not yield to His Spirit, to His teachings, His training and His corrections by and through His Spirit.

And again, a walk with God is not about your own great works (for example: look at me and my career!, look at this number that I donated!) and spending time with Him does not mean you have to be reading the Bible all day long or be in ministry 24/7, it's all about following His Holy Spirit, yielding to it and it's teachings, training and corrections, by keeping the faith, not blaming God, not placing bad attributes on Him. If you are faithful you will enter this tug of war "fight" and keep running the race until the end, and when you fall (we all do), you repent and get back up again, staying close to God, and that faithfulness is a day to day thing in all aspects of your life. And this getting back up, running the race again, staying close to God, going back to Him, that is one of the most important parts. God does not want you to walk away, He does not want you to dwell and drown in guilt. He wants you to learn and stick close to Him, so when you do fall, which we all do, you get back up, you confess and repent to God, you stick to God, you keep choosing God, all the way until the end.

Besides being faithful to Gods Spirit (to His teachings/ training/ corrections in/ on you), every person has a stewardship that differs from person to person, so I cannot tell you what God has given you in your life to take good care of. It's not about everyone having to be a pastor, or being in ministry, or being a missionary in a foreign country, or being a street/ online evangelist (these things CAN of course be your calling and be part of your stewardship, and if it is, do yield to it), there are many more things God can give/ has given you to take good care of; people (family, spouse, children, colleagues, classmates, customers, neighbours, etc, can be anyone), pets, (free) time, work/ job, even money (not the love for it, not personal profit of it, but money can/ should be used for good instead of just personal pleasure, Joseph is a good example of a good steward, stewarding Pharaoh's possessions, God can give you wealth to use for good), skills, gifts, spiritual calling(s), wisdom, and so many many more things that you can take good care of, as God has given it to you, as a steward over Gods possession(s) here on earth.

For example: do you take good care of your spouse, of kids, of colleagues, of classmates, of friends, strangers, pets etc. Take good care of everything in your stewardship as Christ did, having Him as your example, being kind, being humble, loving, caring, showing mercy, showing grace, serving, helping out. And it's not about others deserving it or not. And it does not have to be grand things, even things like taking good care of your pets. They all are part of Gods creation and are Gods possession and can be part of your stewardship, as God placed them in your care, in your stewardship. How many parts of Gods creation get treated horribly; animals, pets, children, spouses, family members, colleagues, classmates, literally anyone alive for that matter, and yes including Gods created nature. When for example you love and take good care of your pet(s) and make sure it's needs are fulfilled all the way until the end, to the best of your ability with the resources that are available to you, then you are a good steward regarding this part of your stewardship, and you are taking good care of the possession God entrusted you with. It's not always easy or straightforward but there is caring, trying and coming short. And there is not caring about the things of God because it's all about self and own wants. 

And stewardships can therefore also change over time, people come people go, pets come pets go, different callings can come later on in your life or when you are further in your walk with Chirst. For example, when it is time for a pet to go, maybe after a while you feel the Holy Spirit calling you to take in another pet, it wouldn't be a replacement, but it then becomes a change in (and part of) your stewardship, who then needs your care and is dependent on you to take good care of it. Or maybe you feel the Holy Spirit calling you to another path, to another task, or maybe you feel a call for multiple tasks. Therefore it is important to pray about all things and ask God what He wants from and for you, to ask for His will to be done, and to then listen to His Spirit and step into the 'works' that God lays out in front of you. Sometimes it can take a while before it becomes clear and get an answer. Sometimes God simply wants you to be 'sitting in the waiting room' and be ready 'to go in' when called. For example maybe the pet God wants you to take good care of, and has been appointed by Him to you and your stewardship, simply has not been born yet, or is not ready yet, or has not reached the point yet for you to take over/ step into, or maybe you are the one who is not ready yet for a specific task God wants you to do in the future, maybe God is doing some work on you to prepare and make you ready for a future task. Whatever it is, pray about it and lay it at Gods feet and follow His Spirit, His instructions.

We all are going to give an account of ourselves to God, about how we lived our lives, regarding our faithful walk with God and the stewardship we had (for believers; this is not a judgement about justification or being saved or not, this is about rewards (by faithfulness) and inheritance (by submission to, and sanctification by, the Holy Spirit, yielding to His training and corrections, not walking away from it). And the important thing about this is, God is not looking if you did everything completely right and without any error or mistakes, what matters is the condition of your heart and mind; did you care? did you try? did you care about God and the things He wants? did you try to take good care of the things God gave you? did you try to take good care of the things God entrusted you with? did you try to yield to His Holy Spirit when it trained and corrected you?

And we all come short, we all stumble, we all fall, we all make mistakes, we all can do more, we all can do better, and we all commit sin. But we confess to God, ask forgiveness and help, and then get back up and run the race again. People for example who are just and only sunday Christians and are (for the rest of the week/ days) busy with the cares and pleasures of this world, may actually be saved and be sealed by the Holy Spirit (God only knows). If at one point in their life they came to Christ they will (how lukewarm they may be) still be saved as they are justified thanks to Christ and His work on the cross, but they are in danger of losing out on rewards and/ or inheritance since they are not yielding to God and His sanctification work on them. It can be compared with marriages, as the day of the wedding is not the end all be all what marriage is all about, in fact, the wedding is the start of a lifelong marriage, of a faithful walk with your spouse, a walk whereby everyday you choose and stick with your spouse, same as coming to Christ and being justified/ sealed by Gods Holy Spirit is the start of your faithful walk with God, to then choose God day by day entering this sanctification process by: trusting in Him, sticking with Him, submitting to Him, submitting to His corrections, submitting to His training and teachings.

The lukewarm and faithless can be compared to a human marriage as well, as someone who takes and lives just for him/ herself within a marriage, not giving a thought about their spouse and their marriage, and not living out marriage as an unified couple, but just lives for self and for gain, this person may have said 'yes' at the wedding, and is therefore sealed in marriage, but lives as if the marriage does not exist, maybe on just a few occasions with for example some family/ holiday/ feast days, but this persons heart and mind is not in it, this person has no day to day walk as an unified married couple and does not care about it. Some say these people have never been saved to begin with, but the Bible shows people can walk away from the faith and that people can be faithless, and because of Christ and the Holy Spirit they ARE sealed and will be saved, but these people may lose out on the inheritance. Again, that's different from caring, trying and failing and not doing and not being perfect, so don't judge and 'kick down' your spouse for imperfections or for failings, instead encourage and guide/ help him/ her, and also encourage and help each other in your walk with God.

But for the faithless it's not too late to turn around and take your walk more serious. To take your walk of faithfulness to God and being faithful with your God given stewardship here on earth more serious. And as long as you are living it's never too late to turn to God and say; God, guide and help me in my faithful walk and in my stewardship here on earth. As God will provide, He will give/ guide/ help you in all that you need in order to please Him by faith. In your relationship with God, He will lead, He will guide, He will provide. And you submit to Him, stick to Him, and follow Him, in faith(fulness) and by submitting to your God given stewardship and trying to be a good steward over it.

Prophets, Teachers, Dreams & Visions and The Law

God describes a false prophet as one who “presumes to speak in My name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods” (Deuteronomy 18:20). In Jeremiah 14:14, God says evildoers prophesy lies, offering “false visions, divinations, idolatries, and the delusions of their own minds.” Peter warned about false prophets among the Israelites but also warned that there >WILL< be false teachers, this still is the case for today, these false teachers will have large followings, they are filled with greed, and some will even deny Christ as Christians (or pretending to be one, denying "the Master who bought them" with His blood on the Cross): ESV 2 Peter 2:1-3 "2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep." John warned us to not immediately trust and follow everything but to test the spirits if they truly are from God or not. "For many false prophets have gone out into the world", so it's not just few, John warned there were many (and these warnings still stand today):
ESV 1 John 4:1 "4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world."

Also be aware that many self proclaimed prophets will delete or remove their previous 'prophecies', dreams and visions, that they will also try to twist and turn the narrative to make it seem like it came true (but it didn't), for example; many said God told them Trump would be the next president, they will twist and turn it and say Biden won by cheating so according to them Trump did win, thus they claim their prophecies were true. However, even if Biden did win by cheating (that is not the point, that is not what they claimed their prophecies, dreams and visions were about); Trump is not in office, so he is not the president that many said God showed them that he would have been in the last election of 2020. Saying that God shows you that Trump will be the next president, and to then fall back on; well he did win eventhough he is not the president, is wrong because that is not what many said God showed or told them.

There are people who claim God talks to them and God gave them visions and dreams and prophecies but many things do not come true. God only gives and speaks the truth so be aware of everything you read and hear and many of these things are red flags and should be avoided or atleast not blindly followed and accepted. Again, studying, sharing studies and discussing your or someone elses findings is great and asking questions is something we should do! But simply following people (including yourself) with dreams, visions, prophecies and speaking on Gods behalf is something you REALLY need to be careful with. Now I am not saying ALL claims are false, but I am saying that we all must take it very seriously if someone claims something is from God. And must take it very seriously if it turns out not to be from God like what happened for example in the book of Job.

In this book at one point Job's three friends came to Job to try and comfort him. With full confidence these three people claimed to know God and claimed to know why God allowed certain events happen to Job and started speaking on God's behalf to Job. They we're very wrong however as God responded to them: ESV Job 42:7 "After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." After this the three friends had to offer a burnt offering to God to atone for their sins, since that was the way the system worked before Christ finished the work on the cross. But Gods anger burned for those three people because they spoke wrongly about God. They spoke on Gods behalf and claimed to know it all, but they didn't. Kindling God's anger is something serious, thus we must take it seriously when someone claims something is from God. Prophecies, dreams, visions, speaking on His behalf, you must be careful with this all. And being careful with this all does not mean God does not give dreams, but not all dreams that are claimed to be from God, are from God.

James tells us that teachers will be judged more strictly than non teachers:  ESV James 3:1 "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." At the same time young ones and for example those who are mentally handicapped (who are unable to understand anything regarding the Gospel & Christ) will not be judged to the same standard as everyone else will be. This does not mean however that anyone else (like you and me) can then sit back, do nothing, not invest in their relationship with God and then one day say to God; well it's my pastor or this person on youtube's or website's fault for telling me the wrong thing. No, it's our own responsibility to guard our minds and hearts and make sure that everything we take in is truly from God and His word, the Bible. To do this you need to learn about Him, learn about His character, learn and delve into His word. Run everything by His word and pray to God about it, asking His Holy Spirit to help and guide us. At the same time we all should be careful about everything we send out, careful about everything we say, careful about everything we type etc. Everything must be checked against/ by the word of God. We must be serious about someone claiming something will happen or claims it was from God and turning out to be wrong. This includes our own thoughts, dreams, visions, our own current knowledge, our current stances and positions. We must strive to learn, be open for criticism, be open to different positions on certain subjects, YET at the same time check everything, not following everything that comes by or tickles our ears because it may sound right, not following something because its the new thing, not following someone simply because they claim it's from God. But use discernment in everything, let the Holy Spirit guide you and the Bible is what you check everything by.

Also more often than not dreams are simply just dreams and many people claim to have dreams from God but those dreams did not come true, and God does not give false dreams. I myself had multiple "end times" dreams, even one with a date, and it came to pass and nothing happened. It's not unique to get dreams about something your brain/ mind is occupied with, and sometimes dreams are simply just dreams, I think the most weight should be put on Gods written word rather than on all these external things like dreams, visions, numbers etc. Yes God can absolutely use and give dreams (as shown in the Bible) but be careful with it, pray and use discernment for your own dreams and dreams of other people.

Sadly at this moment the hype for having dreams and visions is big (especially on YouTube), and many times those dreams did not come true or they are very vague and can mean anything. Sadly for many people sharing all those things it's all about themselves (the "me" problem) and for them it's about getting attention, popularity and use it for monetization, they use Christ as a tool to gain something for themselves so for them it's not about Christ, they need to have a dream every day or every week in order for you to stick with them and to listen to them, instead of just focussing on Gods word yourself and focussing on your own direct relationship with Him. This is also the reason why I personally do not name myself here, do not show myself here, and would never ask for money as nothing of this is about me. I have my personal relationship and walk with God and you (hopefully) have yours, and if I can contribute to your walk with Him, by encouragement or any other positive way, then great. But that does not make anything of this about me, it's all about your walk with Him. Not implying or saying that believers gathering together (physical or online) is wrong, quite the opposite, it's very good. And neither am I saying that those who do show themselves are in the wrong, they are not.

But to conclude, yes God can use dreams, visions, prophecies and people and they may not all false or fake, but there are ALOT of them so you need to be very careful with it and filter it. Use the discernment of the Holy Spirit to test the spirits of the things you are hearing, reading, thinking etc. Ask yourself all the time: is this pleasing God? is God the center of this? Is this adding, removing, or wrongly interpreting Gods Word? Check and study for yourself too and pray about it to God. But I have to repeat this over and over; be very careful about everything you take in and be very careful about everything you send out, and above all, read and study the bible for yourself, check everything by the bible, verify everything yourself. And it's ok to not know everything, to not understand everything, after all we are all on a different point in our walk with Christ and we all are a work in progress, in progress of sanctification by God. But keep checking, keep verifying, keep asking questions, keep searching, keep reading and keep studying. This is also part of the tug of war in your life as a follower of Christ. Not everything will be easy or crystal clear but we should always go to God and to His word, and to trust in God and follow His Spirit and His instructions, His wisdom and His plan.

Tithing, Donating, Legalism and the Law

If someone claims to be me, claims to come from this site, or made a copy of this website asking for money it would be a fake. Same for others, there are people making copies of someone else's youtube channel for example to then claim to be them and ask for money. Be aware that there are people who try to misuse and profit off your willingness to help others out and will go far to do just that. Also I am not saying or proclaiming that a teacher or pastor for example is not allowed to earn a living with their work. But in my case, this is not about me, it's all about Christ and His sacrifice for us, I don't want or need to profit from any of this, but I don't want people to get scammed by others seeking to profit so that's why I declare I don't want any profit of this. Donating is something good that God can call you to do, but be aware that there are wolves in sheeps clothing who try to misuse your willingness to donate and try to profit from it even to the point of trying to scam you by copying other people pretending to be them, this is not unique to the "Christian world", but it does absolutely happen in the "Christian world" so just be aware as there are Christians who are being taken advantage of (even by some pastors and churches).

Also be aware of anyone trying to sell you the gospel or any teachings for that matter. People putting teachings behind a paywall, for example needing to buy the DVD collection or needing premium memberships or anything to get the full teachings etc is a big no no. Selling Christ, Christianity or making merchandise of it is very dangerous. Christians who do that won't lose their justification, but may possibly lose out on their inheritance and/ or rewards. However tithing or donating is not wrong itself but as with many things, there is a difference between helping out smaller churches, pastors, teachers, charities, people, missionaries etc needing financial support to actually keep alive and going and doing something good with it < versus > people wanting wealth for themselves, have most money end up in own peoples pockets instead of actually doing something good with it for others. Large charities and institutional churches that swallow up money in the many layers between you and them actually doing something good with it. And some even straight up sell the Gospel of Christ, or sell Gods wisdom, or sell teachings, or make merchandise of Christ and Christianity, which is not good. No one bought their salvation or wisdom from God, no one should sell it forward.

And you are never required to tithe or donate. You are not under any Levite law, not under the law of Moses and not under any temple law. Some people, churches and charities like to guilt trip you into tithing or donating but as a believer, Christ, as the "firstfruit" already bought you on the cross with His blood, so you do not have to pay your "firstfruits" to purchase, keep or maintain your justification. Sure if Gods Spirit is calling you to donate then DO follow His Spirit. Same with things like keeping the sabbath, baptising, fasting etc, for example. For believers in Christ, these things are not required, but if you feel God calling you, for example, to keep the sabbath then do so, and do follow His Spirit.

With the sabbath for example God may use it for you to spend more time with Him, or to have you focus more on the people around you instead of having many side activities and distractions. In the end it's always about Christ, and it's about following Gods Spirit instructions to/ for YOU. And those instructions can differ from one person to another, everyone is at a different point in their walk with Christ, and God may have to teach and correct different things from one person to another. This can be for all things like fasting, water baptising, donating, keeping the sabbath etc. Non of these things are required but can be a calling that God can use, but again, Christ paid the price in full for you, so you have no debt to pay off. The main point is; do things out of faith because Gods calls you to do so, not out of tradition, not out of legalistic reasons etc, so do watch out for legalists and watch out for becoming legalistic towards yourself and others. We can learn from the law, but as believers we are not under it, so when Christ took us out of it, we should not put ourselves under it again.

And things like keeping the sabbath etc is not a yes for all or no to none issue to begin with. It's a matter of: is Gods Spirit calling YOU to keep it yes or no. If yes, then DO follow His instructions. If no, then do not feel guilt tripped into believing that you should keep it too, as some others do keep it, but rest in God and follow His Spirit callings and instructions for YOU, we have Christ as our example. And a side note about this all; the law is not bad, the law was not a mistake, it has many principles that we can learn from as the law came from God (always keeping the context and it's purpose in mind), but again, as a believer you are not required to keep them. Same with donating, I am not calling it bad and I am not calling all churches and charities evil or bad. We should however use Gods wisdom, be faithful and being Spirit led following Gods callings. Not just doing things because of traditions, or because of legalism, or because of guilt tripping by others. And being Spirit led is not about speaking in tongues, not about showing off, putting up a show how spirit filled you are, it's about following Gods instructions, following His corrections, having Christ as our example, living by the fruits of the spirit being: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. It's about how we respond and about our attitudes, that is being Spirit led, that is living by the Spirit, it's not a show to put up to others, it's about your life, your walk with and in Christ, to whom we all will give an account of our lives to.

We should then try to be good stewards over Gods possessions (that He gives us) to take good care of, we should then for example not just throw money around under the habbit of, well it's a church or it's a charity so it must be good, and I did something good so all is fine. But as stewards over Gods possessions we need to make sure it is actually used for good and for example not just fill other peoples pockets who want a personal profit. We all need to use Gods wisdom, be Spirit led and follow His instructions. Because yes, being charitable is good, and there are people (both believers and non-/ unbelievers), churches and charities who do good works in this world with and for Gods creation and possessions (other people, animals etc), but there is also a lot of selfish and "stinky business" going on, churches included, believers included, that we should not be funding simply because it's expected, or because of tradition, or because of guilt tripping, or because we want to pat ourselves on the back for being charitable. We should be wiser as stewards over Gods possessions here on earth and thereforse use Gods wisdom in where and what to fund and spend on. Again, don't live and act out of legalistic reasons, not out of traditions, not out of expectations, not out of guilt tripping and other reasons. Live and act in faith in God because He calls you to do something. If the Lord wants you to do something, He will make it known to you, and then it is up to you to act on it in faith, even if some people are opposed to it. There can however also be cases where God will make it known to you to not do something, while at the same time some people will try to push you to do it. So therefore always pray to God about it, pray about everything good and bad, He is always there to help and guide you. 

Politics and the Systems of this World

A Christians life and walk is not about fighting for example the "evil" socialist and the "evil" communists. A Christian is not a freedom fighter in the way that is going on in the west (for example the Kingdom that Christ will usher in will not have freedom of religion). The worldly meaning of freedom differs from person to person and region to region anyway. It's also not about left vs right, not about capitalism vs any other worldly "ism's", not about this country vs that country, not about this leader vs that leader, not about this political party vs that political party. A Christians life is a tug of war that is not against other people, whom all are created in the image of God, but it is as Ephesians 6:12 states: "12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." It is a tug of war against our sinful nature, a battle against powers that are not from here. It is a battle against satan who wants everyone to rebel against God like he did en does himself. Leading everyone to and into death, in opposite of Christ, who leads to eternal life.

Besides that, the rulling form that Christ will implement at his second coming will be a Kingdom of Kings and Priests, not socialism, not communism, but also not capitalism and not a democracy. It will be a Kingdom with people placed in positions, not by (other) people, but people placed in position by God whom He deems fit to be in those positions. Therefore many things in this life can be seen as training in preparation for what many will be doing in the future. And those that reject Gods corrections, reject Gods training, reject Gods steering and guiding, can lose out on their inheritance and lose their possible future God given position/ "job" during the Milennial Kingdom. But besides believers, Christ will not be going around trying to gather votes in hopes of implementing a new law. The things Christ will implement will not be voted in or out but they simply will be implemented by His will and decree as He will rule with an rod of iron as the King of Kings. 

A Christians heart and mind should be set on Christ, not on a any human created system or anything else in this world. We set our minds on Christ and the Kingdom of God and all the things God will bring and set up. And sure, we can do good things within politics but our lives are about Christ and we should stand for the values God teaches in the Bible. Politics and laws can be used to implement Christian values but in the end laws and politics can only do so much. It's all about Christ and it's a matter of the heart. Politics and laws can be used but they won't change hearts and minds. So they can be used as a means but they are not the solution or the end goal. Politics, politicans, laws and political parties are not what a Christian should put his/ hers trust and hope in. Salvation and Biblical values is a matter of the heart, not of laws, letters and documents that say if you are allowed to do something or not. It's also not a Christians task to fight other humans, to ridicule others, to insult others, to look down on them, instead Christ asked us to pray over and for them. And yes a Christian may call out wrong doings and false prophets etc by using the Bible. But again, laws that uphold Biblical values are good but some (I did too in the past) put way to much emphasis on politics and laws, having to much trust and hope that it will change things, but politics and laws do not solve or change the underlying sin problem of peoples rebellious hearts and minds. 

Besides, no follower of Christ should blindly follow groups, movements, political entities, religious entities, leaders and governments etc. Followers of Christ are ambassadors of Christ in this world, not ambassadors of presidents, not of political parties or movements, not of religious entities, but ambassadors of Christ, again, sure, Christians can do good works within any entity (like within political parties etc) but those works and identifications of those entities may never stand above Christ. For example I would not call myself an European Christian, or a right-wing Christian, or a conservative Christian, I am simply a Christian, a follower of Christ.

For example, are there aspects of conservatism that apply to my christian walk? sure. Are there certain points of Christian political parties in my European country that I stand behind? absolutely. But that is only because those points fit and align with what is written in the Bible, while at the same time, there are also aspects of conservatism and even Christian political parties, that do not line up with Christ's teachings. And even a Christian political party in my country also voted in favor of things that are not Biblical at all. Maybe that's part of the political environment having to give and take when you rule with other parties, but that does not make it right, and it shows that the system and the political party is faulty and should never be blindly followed. And it is also wrong that the wrongdoings of that party should be waved away and ignored, simply because they also have some good points or come closer to Biblical values than other political parties. In fact we should be more critical on ourselves since we should know and do better, not that we will be sinless, but we should try to do our best to be more Christ-like. Again, not that we are perfect, or without sin, or better than others, not at all, but when we know how Christ was and how Christ acted in His life on earth, we should walk more in the Spirit, accept Gods training and corrections therefore growing in Him.

When people see Christians as (many) other things than being a follower of Christ, then maybe we need to look in the mirror and take a critical look at ourselves and see if we're not too busy and caught up in all the worldy affairs instead of living out Christ. Again this does not mean that a Christian can't be part of politics, because that can be a calling and God can put someone in place within a political entity to further His will, but it's all about Christ, we serve Christ, not the means and not the tools. So yes God can use for example a political party, and Christians within that party can do good works, but in the end every Christians affiliation and identity is with and in Christ, not anything of or in this world. Instead of trusting, relying and putting our hope in any other entity than God, we must trust, rely and place our hope and trust in God only: ESV Psalm 146:3-7 "3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. 4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry." 

Context Regarding the Bible

Context is key, always read full chapters/ passages/ verses. Often times certain sentences or verses get isolated so it is good to then read full chapters to get the full context. For example if I post: KJV 2 Timothy 3:2 "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,"
One >could< think that men will be lovers of themselves and that this chapter is about God calling out men for their behaviour. But when the first sentence is included and you look at the greek words used the context is different:
KJV 2 Timothy 3:1-2 "1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,".
If we look at the word 'men', the greek word: anthrōpos, is used. Which is: a human being, whether male or female. In that context it is clear that this chapter (and KJV translation) is not just about calling out men for their behaviour but it's about all humans, not just men. But even that is not the point or core of this verse/ message, it is about giving a sign, about how to identify the last days, and if you read the complete chapter of 2 Timothy 3 instead of only these 2 verses posted above; it is also a warning (what you need to watch out for; human beings who love themselves, thus not loving God), it is also giving hope for those who have faith in Christ Jesus, and it also indirectly calls to action for you to use the scriptures yourself. So DO always read and study yourself.

And it is ok if you don't get or understand everything, take your time, set it aside if you can't verify/ prove or dissprove something, pray to God about it, come back to it another time. But do read and study yourself. And don't forget it is ok to study together with other people be it in real life or online, it is ok to discuss, to share studies, to talk about it and ask questions (in a friendly manner of course, asking questions in a judgemental or accusing manner is not helpful to anyone). If someone wants you to listen to them instead of reading or studying yourself, can't back it up with scripture, or does not want you to ask questions, reacts hostile to you trying to understand and talking about it or when you are asking questions (not talking about people trolling and deliberately trying to trap someone, trying to deliberately make someone stumble, like for example the pharisees tried with their questioning to Christ, they didn't care about getting answers, they just wanted to corner and "outsmart" Christ with their questions), then those are possible red flags of people who may only be in it for themselves. Always remember you have a personal relationship with God, He wants you to get close to Him, He wants you to learn about Him, He delights in those who seek Him. No one has perfect flawless understanding of everything on every subject (not you, not me, not someone else (except God Himself of course)), but if you are a follower of Christ then you will recognize the desire to get closer to Him, to do that we go to God directly in prayer and by delving into His word, the Bible, and walk faithfully with God from day to day.

Last Updated: 23-11-2022
-Through Brenda Weltner I learned about Paul's teachings about Salvation having "3 tenses" (being justification, sanctification & glorification), Updated and expanded some Salvation parts and clarified some parts between being justified and being in the process of sanctification.

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