A Pound of Flesh
Good morning Sisters!
(Edited to add: This post has caused much controversy since being brought up by someone in a forum on the internet. My words have been twisted and true discernment has not been used on our websites to 'clearly' see what we teach is from God's word.')
(Edited to add: This post has caused much controversy since being brought up by someone in a forum on the internet. My words have been twisted and true discernment has not been used on our websites to 'clearly' see what we teach is from God's word.')
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17-18
Israel went through some trying times (because of their sins of course) yet those who were truly of God within them, held on and praised Him. Let us do the same!
You might wonder what my title means by 'a pound of flesh'. Some of you from other countries or those of you who are younger, might not have heard that expression....it means that someone got a little bit of you, got the best of you, got just what they wanted from you. Let me explain a couple examples how that happened to me.
Back when I was first born again (12 yrs ago) I did what most newborn babes in Christ do....I told everyone that I was going to follow Jesus and that they must be born again etc. Well of course nobody wanted to hear it and the Word did what it's supposed to do as Jesus said in Matthew 10. It divided!
What I saw was 3 classes of people.
* Those who wanted nothing to do with the things of God and made it very clear they didn't want to hear about it.
* Those who were oblivious (neutral), they didn't claim anyhing, weren't sure what they believed and allowed you to be who you are and it all seemed to sort of bounce right off them (or maybe seeds were planed who knows?)
* Those who are 'religious' and got their own thing / faith going on (sinful itchy eared man made religious types).
After the first round of witnessing most everyone fit in the first and last category leaving only about 2 people in the neutral one. But I had a couple thorns that wouldn't leave me alone. They would keep popping up and taking up my time, trying to pull me from the truth into sin and 'getting a pound of flesh'.
* Those who wanted nothing to do with the things of God and made it very clear they didn't want to hear about it.
* Those who were oblivious (neutral), they didn't claim anyhing, weren't sure what they believed and allowed you to be who you are and it all seemed to sort of bounce right off them (or maybe seeds were planed who knows?)
* Those who are 'religious' and got their own thing / faith going on (sinful itchy eared man made religious types).
After the first round of witnessing most everyone fit in the first and last category leaving only about 2 people in the neutral one. But I had a couple thorns that wouldn't leave me alone. They would keep popping up and taking up my time, trying to pull me from the truth into sin and 'getting a pound of flesh'.
So the first one was my cousin. Her and I were super close, closer than sisters back in my sinful, pre-born again life and she claims nothing in the way of faith. We used to spend hours together every day either on the phone or out partying and up to no good. After my conversion and the first round of telling her about it she just ignored it and would keep calling me, talking smack about things I shouldn't be listening to and I knew it, but when I'd try to change the subject she would skip over, change the subject to something else or all of a sudden get off the phone. This went on for about a week or so and my Spirit was grieved so I wrote her a letter and explained again how I'm not the old person and I went on to tell her the gospel about being born again etc, then I ignored her phone calls for a few days until I knew the letter made it to her. Then I text her and asked if she got the letter and sisters....the profanity and hatred that came at me was awful. (My brother did that to me a couple times also, called and screamed profanities at me and about God.)
I cut that short and didn't hear from her ever again. The burden of stress was gone with having to deal with the situation. I love her, I was sad for her but couldn't allow her to get that pound of flesh from me.
The other one was my mother. She's a 'professed believer' and 'goes to church' often. (My dad does too in a way but he mainly just follows my mom... feminism.) Keep in mind as you read this that God's word commands us to separate from anyone claiming to be a believer but does not repent if their sins and strive after Holiness. (2 Thessalonians 3, Romans 16:17, 1 Timothy 5, Matthew 18 and more).
In the beginning of me telling mom about my new life I asked her why she never told me these things in the bible (of course I didn't realize she had no clue not being born again) and we had some email conversations back and forth over this and all she did was protect her sin etc. She never wanted to read God's word with me but instead defended her sin. I tried for years to show her the truth in God's word but she continued to protect her sins and not repent. Finally, lest I be in sin myself, I put an end to it and gave her lots of scripture showing her eternal fate if she didn't repent, told her I loved her and we were here for her and dad if they ever wanted the truth but for now I was moving on. But she wasn't. She would send an email out of the blue with one of those religious 'e cards' about love. (You know the verses that all the worldly people use to make themselves feel loved by God.)
In the beginning of me telling mom about my new life I asked her why she never told me these things in the bible (of course I didn't realize she had no clue not being born again) and we had some email conversations back and forth over this and all she did was protect her sin etc. She never wanted to read God's word with me but instead defended her sin. I tried for years to show her the truth in God's word but she continued to protect her sins and not repent. Finally, lest I be in sin myself, I put an end to it and gave her lots of scripture showing her eternal fate if she didn't repent, told her I loved her and we were here for her and dad if they ever wanted the truth but for now I was moving on. But she wasn't. She would send an email out of the blue with one of those religious 'e cards' about love. (You know the verses that all the worldly people use to make themselves feel loved by God.)
I would send her back an email talking about what real godly love was etc and she would disappear again. This went on every few months for a few years until one day brother Jim and I were out roadside selling for our business. (We would set up our goods alongside the road and people would come buy benches, signs etc that we made). My mom and dad happened to be going through that area and stopped by. It shocked me because I hadn't seen them in years and all of a sudden there they were, but sisters, I was already strong of heart and I had no anger and I thought I had to be a good Christian witness so I gave them the hug they were looking for, Jim gave them the gospel again of which they didn't want and they left very shortly after.
That night I was grieved. The next day it was worse and by the third day I was in full righteous anger! How dare I let them get a pound of flesh from me again! Part of the punishment of being disobedient to God's Word, when claiming His name, is separation from those who are His. Jesus said in Matthew 10 that He came to divide mother from daughter father from son and those who are not His do not get any of those who are. What has light to do with darkness (2 Corinthians 6) and we are to not associate with those who claim the name of Christ but are in sin. So I decided to call my mom and beforehand I prayed and said I trust He will give me the right words because I had no clue what to say but the driving force was so strong I just picked up the phone and rang my mom. When she answered I said 'mom do you know why we are separated?'
She said 'Because you have your beliefs and I have mine and you keep wanting to change mine etc.....on and on and on she went.
I finally cut in and gently tried to explain that they are claiming the name of Christ but are in full disobedient sin (my parents raised me in a ton of vile sins) but her voice kept getting louder talking over me and then she yelled at me:
HOW DARE YOU SEND THOSE LETTERS TO YOUR BROTHER WHEN HE WAS DYING?!?!?
(Let me explain: my brother was 49 and dying of cancer when one of my family members actually told me he was dying. So I sent my dying brother a couple letters asking him to allow us to come and share the truth with him, that the man made religious system lied to us, we must repent and be born again to enter into heaven but we never received a response. He died.)
Anyway during all that I tried to tell her that God's word says we cannot have any association with those who claim the name of Christ but won't repent. Finally I had to raise my voice super loud and tell my mother "You are claiming the name of Christ yet are in sin, don't call me again unless you repent!" And I hung up.
I was sad for her but my spirit was joyous because I was obedient to His Word and stood for truth. I cut her off from continuously getting a pound of flesh from me and trying to bring me back to my old sinful self. Making herself feel good because she could get a little bit of Deb here and there to ease her sadness because she lost her daughter because she chooses sin. My parents have suffered but they still have cold hard hearts! The lost a daughter at the age of 2, they lost my brother at the age of 49, they don't have me in their lives and only have 2 sons left alive. Cold hard hearts against the truth of God: I love them but I want nothing to do with anyone who has a heart like that against God and I won't allow them to have a piece of me any longer. I'm simply being obedient to God's Word.
So as we are working on our house here getting ready to leave this place behind brother Jim mentioned that incident from several years ago, said how they are getting old (upper 70's) and did I want to reach out to them one more time before we leave the state and are not here much anymore so I did, and wrote a simple letter saying if they want to see me to bring their bible and we will show them why we are who we are now. (They hate brother Jim.) Then I sent the letter and this is what I received....
My mom sent me a card with a sad puppy on it saying she thinks about me every day BUT she cannot talk to me because the pain is so bad since I told her 'don't contact me again'.
You see what happened? Lies.
(Brother Jim did this for me.)
Typical lies of those who hate the things of God. She never finished the sentence. "Don't contact me again... unless you repent."
I share all this sisters because I know there are some of you going through this yourself. You have people in your life that are getting a pound of flesh from you to make themselves feel better but you feel worse. You know you are to separate from them for the glory of God (His Word commands it) but you are hesitating. I used to be torn about having a kind loving witness but we need to follow God's Word and cut off people who are causing issues, bringing strife, confusing and confounding us, trying to make us the sinful people we used to be...those are who our Savior came to divide us from.
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26
He doesn't mean hate them, we can certainly hate the sin they are in and the troubles they cause, but it means to love Him so much that they pale in comparison like hate.
We are not to be mean or hateful to others, we are to be kind and loving BUT we don't change the message, just the tone of voice and actions. For example: I was very soft and kind to my family and everyone I witnessed to. I may have had a lot of zeal and energy while telling them but they all knew that was my personality anyway and only when they turned against the Word of God did I have to be stronger and bolder about the Word and there were only a few people in my life that I had to be loud and righteously angry with. (After being long suffering for many years.) Not angry at them, but righteously angry that they claim the name of God but are blaspheming Him with their life actions of sin.
I love those who have chosen the ways of the world but I also love the fact that I'm set free from their bondage. They no longer can get a pound of flesh out of me by turning my world upside down, casting doubt, trying to bring in guilt, causing confusion, stumbling my walk, blasting and beating me with nasty emails, phone calls or text etc. Our Savior came to set us free:
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
We love them but we love God more! We have turned everyone over into the hands of God and we are marching on. They are not allowed to be by us as God is dealing with them and if they don't repent then they have chosen that fate by the hardness of their hearts, but in the meantime we are free, without their hindrance, to spread the truth to those who will listen!
Sisters, you need to examine your life and see if you still have people like that in your life and cut them off, lest you be in sin yourself for enabling them to do so. (People who claim the name of Christ but live disobediently after being shown the truth. Romans 16:17) The loving and biblical thing is to turn them away into their choice and allow God to work with them while you move on.
Stand strong and keep moving forward because what did our Saviour say in Luke 9:62 (a verse I repeat to myself often.)
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Amen. Set your mind on things above (Colossians 3:2) and know that there are others struggling through this life, enduring in the faith until the Lord brings us all home!
I also made a video that explains some of it as well. FYI we send videos into youtube in hopes that it will help people come out of that vile place and point them in the right direction. Like brother Jim says, we use it like a billboard in a bad neighborhood. We never tell anyone to go there but we put the truth there in hopes that it will point people in the right direction.
I hope this will encourage you to be biblically obedient in this area.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
Ps...soon I will write about how our Father protected His daughter (me) from my parents at a very weak time in my life.
The biblical gospel...
https://www.dontperish.com/the-gospel.html
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26
He doesn't mean hate them, we can certainly hate the sin they are in and the troubles they cause, but it means to love Him so much that they pale in comparison like hate.
We are not to be mean or hateful to others, we are to be kind and loving BUT we don't change the message, just the tone of voice and actions. For example: I was very soft and kind to my family and everyone I witnessed to. I may have had a lot of zeal and energy while telling them but they all knew that was my personality anyway and only when they turned against the Word of God did I have to be stronger and bolder about the Word and there were only a few people in my life that I had to be loud and righteously angry with. (After being long suffering for many years.) Not angry at them, but righteously angry that they claim the name of God but are blaspheming Him with their life actions of sin.
I love those who have chosen the ways of the world but I also love the fact that I'm set free from their bondage. They no longer can get a pound of flesh out of me by turning my world upside down, casting doubt, trying to bring in guilt, causing confusion, stumbling my walk, blasting and beating me with nasty emails, phone calls or text etc. Our Savior came to set us free:
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32
We love them but we love God more! We have turned everyone over into the hands of God and we are marching on. They are not allowed to be by us as God is dealing with them and if they don't repent then they have chosen that fate by the hardness of their hearts, but in the meantime we are free, without their hindrance, to spread the truth to those who will listen!
Sisters, you need to examine your life and see if you still have people like that in your life and cut them off, lest you be in sin yourself for enabling them to do so. (People who claim the name of Christ but live disobediently after being shown the truth. Romans 16:17) The loving and biblical thing is to turn them away into their choice and allow God to work with them while you move on.
Stand strong and keep moving forward because what did our Saviour say in Luke 9:62 (a verse I repeat to myself often.)
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Amen. Set your mind on things above (Colossians 3:2) and know that there are others struggling through this life, enduring in the faith until the Lord brings us all home!
I also made a video that explains some of it as well. FYI we send videos into youtube in hopes that it will help people come out of that vile place and point them in the right direction. Like brother Jim says, we use it like a billboard in a bad neighborhood. We never tell anyone to go there but we put the truth there in hopes that it will point people in the right direction.
I hope this will encourage you to be biblically obedient in this area.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
Ps...soon I will write about how our Father protected His daughter (me) from my parents at a very weak time in my life.
The biblical gospel...
https://www.dontperish.com/the-gospel.html