Some hard sayings by Dave Howe

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:12-13 KJV).

We should love and lay down our lives for each other just as Christ lay down his life for us.

We should not be ignoring, being rude, rejecting, and pushing others away because they don’t fit with our ways or with our group/church/theology/teaching/agendas.

We should not be trying to convert others to our ways/groups, thinking we are better than others, also thinking we have some (higher truth) and are above/better than others (and lording it over each other with nice important titles).

Could it be that we are just religious having lost our first love and our relationship with Christ has grown cold, or that we never had a real relationship with Christ in the first place.

We see in part and prophesy in part (also preach in part) – the words we give are colored by how we see things, by our politics, how we were brought up, by our feelings, our earthly and personal view points, culture, where and how we live. By our agendas both known and unknown, how we see ourselves and others, our relationships, how we think and want others to live or should live, our standards, our likes and dislikes, what’s happened to us in this world and much more.

Much of which is built in and we cannot see, that’s why our words need to be tested and judged by our brothers and sisters with the word of God.

Which is why we are a body, the body of Christ with Christ as our head and not a man.

Which is why Christ made it that way in his wisdom, for he knows what we are like with our many weaknesses (many of which we are blind to).

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Sometimes when someone says “that does not witness in my spirit” they really mean that it does not fit their theology/teaching or they don’t like it or it does not fit in with what they want to do or/and they are being convicted by the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, the devil said to him “if you will bow down and worship me I will give you the kingdoms of this world”.

Today many have in the church have been tempted and have bowed down to the systems of this world, to the ways of the world.

Using the apparently successful ways of the world to build what are seen as successful ministries, Building them in what they/we think is the name of Christ.

But in doing this there will be a heavy price to pay in the end when the devil comes to collect payment from them.

For he came as an angel of light to them, but all that will be left is darkness unless their eyes are opened and they repent before it’s too late.

Remember Christ said that we must worship only the Lord Thy God. That man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Sometimes when someone is using their discernment to say “you are wrong, what you say is not of the Lord”.

It’s just a cleaver religious way of saying “I don’t like you and/or what you say”.

Why is it with two people in the same room that one can say “yes that’s of the Lord” and the other “no that’s not of the Lord”?

(This is due hidden pride). But those that do not boast have the best discernment due to their humility in Christ.