Steve

Make Orwell Fiction Again

[Mrs. Dr. Publius @MrsDrPublius]

Good Morning!

You are welcome to join me for a daily scripture break.  Please read this very slowly. It’s long, very long.  I divided the post into three sections so you can absorb the “meat” of the message and feel free to read the post over the next couple of days.

Proverbs 16:2:

“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.”

Section 1.

A reliable ability to honestly assess ourselves eludes most of us.  Let’s take the time and seriously consider if we are actually capable of honestly assessing ourselves.  In this passage it accurately describes our tendency to be very compassionate towards ourselves - letting ourselves off the hook when we deserve judgment. However, here's the jaw dropping reality - in the end, we can almost convince ourselves of just about anything but the Lord will weigh (examine and judge) our motives.  Interestingly, this verse didn’t highlight our evil deeds, our vast knowledge of Him, how long we've practiced our faith, what a good person we are, etc.  No, it is the motive (whether good or evil) found in our hearts that the Lord that will assess to decide our fate - our consequences. Well that’s sobering.  Our secret motives (when we are jealous or envious of a brother or sister in Christ) are completely obscured from every other human being if we choose to hide them. No one can read your mind or heart and the false outward appearance we project to others often conceals the treachery in our hearts.   I know I have often quoted “...you will know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:16-20) However, we are all capable of concealing our motives even if only but for a time.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines motive as “ something (such as a need or desire) that causes a person to act.”  The Cambridge Dictionary defines motive as “a reason for doing something.”  I think if these definitions are combined then we can fully comprehend how motives function in our lives.  In Lamentations 3:40, it says,  “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.” That’s great advice. Only God can help us render our heart with pure intentions.

In Psalms 139:23-24, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Fervently asking the Lord to examine us takes a great confidence and love for God - “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me….”  Wow!  Pause for a moment - are you really prepared at this very moment to ask God to answer this prayer?

Here are few scriptures that decipher for us the importance of pruning our hearts:

1.  I Chronicles 28:9, “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and thought.”

2.  Matthew 15:18-19, “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts - murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander."

Section 2.

Why does the Lord relegate the responsibility to judge our hearts only for Himself?

We find the answer in I Samuel 16:7, it says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." To give you some context - God has rejected Saul as the King of Israel. God wanted David anointed as King by Samuel. This verse also reveals a limitation of our legal system.  We can never ascertain a person’s true motives without their admission - we can infer from circumstances or physical actions but not with absolute certainty, and we can only judge with a reasonableness standard.  Some may disagree but only God is capable of discerning the true condition of our hearts.
Here are a few scriptures elucidating God’s right to judge our hearts:
1.  Isaiah 29:13, “The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.’”  I've periodically ask myself, am I practicing a form of religion?

2.  Luke 6:45 says, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

3.  Jeremiah 17:10, “I, the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” When the Lord performs His examination He rewards what He finds good or bad.

Section 3.

This is what is so important about keeping your heart pure before God.  In Proverbs 4:23, it says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” THIS is the salient scripture with no ambiguity why a pure heart is so vital.  The phrase, “above all else” gives you a red flag to slow down and pay attention closely.

Psalms 24:4-5, “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god, they will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior.”

This passage hints at the condition by which you will receive “blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior” and that is a believer must abandon any “idol” or “swear by a false god”.  What is an idol? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “idol” as “ an object of extreme devotion; a representation or symbol of an object of worship”.  In the biblical sense - an idol is anything or anyone that usurps God’s primacy in your life.  Remember the first three of the Ten Commandments?

So our job is to roll up our sleeves and shine a bright spotlight on our hearts. Our goal is to cleanse our hearts of any evil; thus aligning our hearts with God’s Word.

1.  In Matthew 5:8, it says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

2.  James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

3.  I John 3:3, “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.”

Do you ever wonder why people can be so utterly distasteful.  Well, these passages above explain it.  Sometimes, I’m truly bewildered by the abhorrent uncivil behavior of people - vehemently demeaning people they are engaging without remorse or pause on social media. It's fine to disagree - just be aware.

Recall Matthew 12:34, it says, “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good?  For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”    To remind you of the context, in this chapter of Matthew, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees regarding the demon-possessed man.  They were testing Jesus and Jesus was extremely angry at the evil embedded in their hearts.  In verse 34, Jesus reveals a priceless nugget of wisdom - “out of the mouth the heart speaks.”  When someone berates your character and competence mercilessly on social media because you have challenged their narrative remember this passage.  It isn’t just true for Pharisees.

Alas, this is a sobering message. Do you trust yourself to be completely honest with yourself? Don’t give Satan a foothold.  Cultivating a pure heart takes honesty, determination, consistency, and commitment to the Lord. We can’t honestly to do this without the assistance of the Holy Spirit.  Many Christians gloss over this one and give themselves a break.  Don’t take the easy road.  This is one of the reasons the path to heaven is through a narrow gate. I pray God helps all of us to be teachable, humble, and grateful.

Peace and be prepared.

[Vice President JD Vance @VP]

WATCH: Vice President JD Vance's Rededicate 250 message:

“I always ask people to pray for wisdom and for courage for their leadership. Pray for wisdom that we know the path God wants us to walk. Pray for courage that we have the ability to walk that path.”

[Reverend Jordan Wells @WellsJorda89710]

🚨 BREAKING: President Donald J. Trump Just Did Something NO Sitting President Has Ever Done
In a powerful moment, President Trump opened the Bible and read 2 Chronicles 7:11-22 aloud — word for word.
Here’s what he read:

“If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

He didn’t just quote the famous verse 14 — he read the full powerful passage, from Solomon finishing the Temple to God’s solemn warning and promise.
We have NEVER had a sitting President do this.
Not like this. Not with this clarity. Not pointing America straight back to the God who founded her.
This isn’t politics.

This is a leader calling a nation to repentance, humility, and revival.
When was the last time you saw a President open the Scriptures and declare that God can still heal our land — if we turn back to Him?
Share this if you believe America needs this message now more than ever.

God bless President Trump.
God bless the United States of America. 🙏🇺🇸
#TrumpReadsTheBible #2Chronicles714 #AmericaTurnBackToGod

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@Yael4Hanover And @DataRepublican

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@PattyMurray You actually believe what you read in The New York Times and Politico. 🤣😂🤣🤪

[Mrs. Dr. Publius @MrsDrPublius]

Good Morning!

You are cordially invited to join me for a daily scripture break.

I Thessalonians 5:12-13:

"Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.”

As I was reading this chapter, it struck me how successfully our culture has replaced our true heroes. Today's culture as a whole admires celebrities, sports figures, some politicians, leaders of industry, the ultra wealthy, and so on.  Do you notice who isn’t on the list? Each of us should examine ourselves and ask, who do I admire in our culture/history?

The decadent world around us also works relentlessly to scandalize the Church leadership to the Body of Christ and the world. Now, I'm not defending anyone serving in the Body of Christ who has committed grave sin against the Kingdom of God in any form.  As a matter of fact, many Church leaders across all denominations of Christianity have reverted to teaching heresy to the Body of Christ.  To be blunt, I think many Church leaders seek approval from our culture and they've abandoned sound teachings for false sayings that the world accepts. (II Tim 4:3)

I highlighted these verses, I Thessalonians 5:12-13 because it’s imperative Christians should roll up their sleeves and carefully strive to do exactly what these passages instruct us to do.

1. Acknowledge those Church leaders who work hard amongst us.  (This implies we as the Body of Christ are involved in our communities - look around you and identify those who are making a difference in accordance with biblical teaching.) Don't forget to look to the past as well - the Word of God doesn’t change.

2. Acknowledge faithful Church leaders who care for us in the Lord - How will we identify these faithful leaders? (You will know them by their fruits). Who is living their lives aligned with the Word of God?

3. Support, encourage and BE GRATEFUL for those Church leaders who fearlessly speak biblical truth and admonish the Body of Christ; it's for our benefit.

People nowadays don’t want to be corrected in their lives. They create "their own truths".  These faithful Church leaders are the people who should be our heroes - and they may not be famous!  While there are people who've performed heroic acts to save others from harm and that should be recognized; I would argue there's nothing more important than eternal salvation, not even death.

If you have a moment, please read I Thessalonians 5:11-26.  These passages provide a succinct foundational blueprint of true Christian living - it's a good place to start for those who are new believers.

Much of the wayward living of our culture has infiltrated the Body of Christ. Christians have much work to do to upright this ship. Begin simply by being doers of the word and not hearers only. (James 1:22)

Peace and be prepared.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@DataRepublican @RepMattShea @AsraNomani What they mean by “our democracy” is really their bureaucracy.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@ProudDemocrat0 @nicksortor 😂🤣😂 you can’t be serious.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@MarioNawfal Yes, she obviously was talking about verbal jabs. Anyone interpreting it any other way is a moron.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@flounder_MA That’s not what he said.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@DataRepublican When they say our democracy, they mean their bureaucracy.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@BrandiKruse @FoxNews @KYRRadio A communist attempt to stifle free speech.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@thehoffather lol…what a nitwhit.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@BrandiKruse The Color Revolution is in full force. Sadly, most people are unaware.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@OhioShermanTank @DataRepublican You can for an Assembly of a Civil Body Politic with like minded people in the county which you live to hold politicians accountable. Every county in every state should have one.

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@TheDemocrats

[Buzz Patterson @BuzzPatterson]

It’s time, finally, for our government to address the manning of FAA controllers nationwide. This is an accident that’s been waiting to happen for years. Years! Our government can’t kick the can any longer. There’s no way that one guy should ever be responsible for both the ground and tower functions. This controller did the best he could. He was overwhelmed.

Hire qualified applicants and dump DEI. ASAP!

[Steve @Steve_Bachman]

@AAGDhillon @rachstew13 @CivilRights Remember Dino Rossi for governor in Washington State? How many times were the ballots counted while the democrats were checking ballot boxes only in districts where Christine was strong, AFTER THE ELECTION!

[Clandestine @WarClandestine]

As it turns out, pushing 10+ years of violent and hateful propaganda, has consequences.

Now we have millions of brainwashed left-wing lunatics, who actually believe Trump is Hitler and his supporters are Nazis, and they have been encouraged to harm us…

Orwell was right.