I feel like I finally get the verse 1 Corinthians 11:10 For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. (NKJV) !!!! I have been asking about this verse for years. Of course there are probably layers upon layers of truth in this one verse, but the part, because of the angels, always puzzled me, so I can’t wait to share with you what I learned in my next post on Monday.
by Rachel 4 Comments
Why outside the church system? Because it has become something other than what it was intended to be. Starting out with a pure motive and purpose, two thousand years later the church has grown into a host of things that it wasn’t meant to be like it did with the Pharisees when Jesus walked this earth. At the core, it has become man’s trusted haven instead of God. It is depended upon to nourish the soul, comfort the spirit, provide truth, and protect the soul among other things. Yet beneath the smiles, hugs, and jovial community, in general it has become a business that feeds on the souls of those who enter its doors, which I think many leaders are blind to. Those inside are spiritually starving, hurting, sick and depraved. Isaiah 1:6-9, Jeremiah 8:10-11, Jeremiah 5. With hearts deceptively wicked we have an incredible ability to justify and rationalize what is going on. Jeremiah 17:9 It is hard to see clearly when you are in the midst of the fog.
As I read the Old and New Testament, one thing is clear; God does not tolerate idolatry, putting our trust in something other than Him. No one perfectly trusts God, but as His children we should be moving toward trusting Him alone. Faith without works is dead. If we want to trust Him then our actions will be; abiding in His pure truth, making time in His Word a top priority, putting His Word above others, and relying on Him as our teacher not man – all the actions that take us to our goal. Our actions reveal where our faith is, in man or God. It isn’t about having all the right answers, but about putting God first. Only God and His Word is pure unadulterated truth. The rest of us are mere men trying to figure it all out. I want to rely on the One who knows, how about you?
Psalm 9:10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Our trust comes from knowing Him and knowing comes from abiding and drawing near to God.
When it comes down to it, what most people in the church believe is based on some man’s philosophy and interpretation of the Word. This is exactly what I did and I knew many just like me. We didn’t fully agree with any one leader but we combine a host of them together and that formed our truth. Having been solely in the Word now for several years the difference is clear. I use to rely on others to tell me what I believed, which they supported by a couple of verses. I wasn’t abiding in the Word so there was no way to test what they said, as the Word instructs us. I trusted what I felt my deceptively wicked heart resonated with. Let me tell you, it was off on many accounts. It matters what comes first, the Word of God or the word of man.
I thought I trusted God, but when I honestly examined what I believed and why, I found most of it originated with man. But I was doing what the masses did and believed so it must be true, right? How about the masses that killed Christ? Masses are known for being deceived and easily misled. With the numerous warnings from Christ and Paul about false prophets, teachers, angels of light, and that many will be lead astray we are in a dire situation if we are relying on any man. Where are the priests, prophets, teachers and ministers? In the churches. It is interesting how the Word is available to just about all nations when we need it the most because deception increases with time. God always provides. He has given us everything we need, His Spirit, His Truth, and Him. We are called to trust Him above all others.
Having once trusted man, I see where that road leads and it isn’t good. I grew up in the church. According to each preacher I heard I was living the life of a Christian. The only thing that mattered is that I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. But one problem, He wasn’t Lord I was. Jesus can’t be divided. If He was my Lord, I would have put my trust in Him. As a result, for years I lived in lack, not experiencing abundant life, trapped in afflictions, without God, without power, yet with all that I never questioned my walk. After all, my life looked like everyone else’s. The church provided me with a false comfort. It led me to believe I had life when I didn’t. Therefore, it stole my life. Isaiah 5:7, Jeremiah 6:6 With the church and man’s words as the foundation of my truth, my house was built on the sand.
As a whole the church system has brought distance between the believer and God rather than closeness. And because most tie the church to God they don’t see what is happening nor question it. My heart pains me because I see many on the road that I once was on. They are living in depravity when the fountain of life is right before their eyes. Their trust is in the wrong place.
We need to take an honest look at ourselves and not be afraid of what we might see because that is the first step to finding the truth.
This post and the next one are longer than most, but I wanted to share with you part of my journey that got me where I am today.
Several years ago, something in my husband’s spirit and mine wasn’t resonating with the church we were attending. After volleying back and forth about what we were feeling, we decided to take break. We needed to see clearly. We resolved to dwell in God’s pure truth away from the doctrines of man, his opinions, philosophies and cares and explore what we were sensing.
In the quiet away from the opinions of man we probed God’s heart . . .what is going on? Why are we feeling this way? We had been deeply integrated into the church; participating in Bible studies, home groups, and helping out at the church. We had built friendships and had become a part of their lives as they had ours. Over the next couple of months, God moved things more into focus. After we were gone for a couple of months, we decided to return to see if the Spirit would confirm once more what we felt. How patient He is with us. It was clear, leave. The break ended up being an exodus from the church system.
In the following months, the questioning looks and tone of disapproval from my previous pew pals revealed what was in their thoughts, I had fallen to the wayside. And rightly so, many who leave the church leave God too. They think the two are one, which is a grave travesty. It was difficult knowing the opposite was true. It felt strange to be the odd man out, but I knew I was doing what God wanted and that is what mattered most.
With no one else to depend on, the Spirit became my trusted teacher. With the Bible and a piece of paper, I poured out my heart and began to listen for the first time. I wrote down my thoughts, fears, prayers, and questions. I read, sought, asked, and waited on the answers. God started to unfold the truth before my eyes. My trust in Him was tested, refined and strengthen and in time my relationship with Him grew into something I had never imagined, something wonderful, real, powerful and amazing. He taught me percept upon percept and started to put together His truths into a perfect puzzle of understanding. It was like someone had lifted the veil from His Word and the truth started pouring out.
As for the church, I continued to seek for understanding to why God didn’t want me in the church. When I say church I am speaking of the Institutional church, the church system, not the true body of believers who hold the spirit of God. They are two different things. Churches are full of believers and not. I wondered if other believers where experiencing a similar thing. After some searching around, I found other believers were feeling a similar thing. One in particular that resonated with how I felt was Len Hjalmarson. Then I thought something is going on and I dug deeper.
At dubious moments, I wondered if I had heard God correctly. Is the church that far off that I shouldn’t be there? The church has always had major flaws, it is made up of humans after all. And I haven’t met a perfect one yet. Those flaws are what kept Paul so busy as he tried to keep things straight. So what is the difference now? But every time I asked, the answer was the same. Piece by piece the answers started to come and He is still putting the pieces together.
To get a better perspective of any situation you have to pull back to get a bird’s eye view. Having been out of the system for about four years now, I see a change happening. In general, the church is moving further away from its original purpose, it has become corrupt and overgrown with weeds of lies. Lies that steal life instead of give it. What is good has become profane, a cherished relationship has become a set of rules for moral living, and freedom is traded for bondage.
As a result of what is occurring in the church, a shift is happening. God is moving and becoming our sanctuary, not a system corrupted by man’s doctrine. Just as He said He would in Ezekiel. (Chapter 34) The church is no longer the one to feed, nourish, provide and protect His people. He is calling His people to Himself to be their Rock. With the wide spread availability of the Word and the Spirit residing in the souls of His people, God has moved in as the Good Shepherd, Teacher, Provider, and Protector. He is opening up the scriptures to laymen, like me, and is revealing Himself in mighty ways, outside of the church system.
To be continued . . .
by Rachel 5 Comments
I am glad you came. My purpose in writing this blog is to dive into the truths of God and encourage others to do the same, what I call stirring the deep. We are on this earth to learn about God, His truth, and His love with the ultimate purpose of being one with Him in heart, soul and mind. John 17:23 We only know in part with much to learn, but I believe it is our work to seek out the truth. John 6:29 What we believe affects everything else. This journey can entail facing issues that are hard, but to find truth we have to be willing to go wherever God leads.
God has instilled in me a strong desire to search out His truth. I have so much to learn but I have tasted the freedom it brings and it is beyond amazing. I see tremendous bondage in and outside the Christian community and my passion is to compel others to dive into His truth because that is the only way to true freedom. When we live in truth we live free. John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Living Light