Gary & Linda Brownlow
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Translations:
Your Cheating Heart Will Tell On You While the words “Your Cheating Heart Will Tell on You,” is the title to an old country song by Hank Williams, they parallel a chilling biblical truth. Everything with God is a matter of the heart. God sent the prophet Samuel to the house of Jesse to anoint a new king that God Himself had selected. 1st Samuel 16: 6-7 records this; Then it came about when they entered, that he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him: for God sees not as man sees , for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” This is not just “Old Testament” stuff that has no relevance in the 21st century. In Revelation 2:23, Jesus says, “I Am He who searches the minds and hearts and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.” It is no secret that there is a war against the gospel, and particularly against the deity of Christ. This attack is no longer veiled or hidden, but is in your face. The church wastes a lot of time on theological debates, establishing doctrine and setting agendas based on the opinions and traditions of men, rather than just believing God, and then doing what He says. It has been said that true discernment is separating that which is “right” from that which is “almost right.” In his book, “Truth or Consequences”, Prophet Ira Milligan writes, “As a wise Christian historian once observed, every major heresy began as a minor deviation from the truth. But we must ask the question, what caused the deviation? And, what is its eventual consequence? Though the consequence of doctrinal error may seem minor in its beginning, its true ability to blind and bind is only revealed when it is magnified by time and sustained by tradition.” While most churches today seek to be politically correct and non-controversial, most of America is getting its theology from politicians and celebrities. When a presidential candidate can stand up and say he supports homosexuality because Jesus supports it in the Beatitudes given in The Sermon on the Mount, and he believes that is more important than some “obscure passage in Romans”, and the pulpits act deaf and dumb while people are deceived, then judgment is at the gate! The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 do not specifically address homosexuality, and Romans chapter one is anything but vague and obscure. Recently, and to their credit, some women walked out of the studio when a mega celebrity said on her television program, “What’s the big deal? I mean what’s in a name? What difference does it make if you call it God, or self awareness, or enlightenment, as long as it works for you, and you believe it. Besides, there has to be more than one way.” This is a direct assault on the divinity of Christ by a person who calls herself a Christian. How is one to navigate this maze of darkness and chaos? How are we to know the real from the counterfeit? Is there any way to evaluate people? Jesus gives a road map in Matthew 12:33-37- “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree rotten, and its fruit rotten; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words, you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” A clear line has been drawn in the sand. Jesus is separating the wheat and the tares. In Revelation 3:15-16, Jesus says, “I know your deeds; that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” The hot are getting hotter, the cold are now frozen, and the lukewarm are beginning to disappear. And, according to the Apostle John in 1st John 3:3, anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ, and is from God, is motivated and controlled by the spirit of the antichrist. Again, with God, it’s always about the heart. Proverbs 4: 23-27(Amplified), Keep your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. Put away from you false and dishonest speech, and willful and contrary talk put far from you. Let your eyes look right on [with fixed purpose], and let your gaze be straight before you. Consider well the path of your feet, and let all of your ways be established and ordered aright. Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left; remove your feet from evil. Maybe Hank Williams spoke prophetically with “Your Cheating Heart Will Tell on You”, and maybe not. But one thing is certain. We had all better become very familiar with both the fruit of the flesh, and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 19-23. These are the two kinds of fruits that fill the heart and flow from the mouth, identifying, without fail, the tree. And you and I are the trees of the field. Gary Brownlow Fire and Rain Ministries |
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