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We are the Sum of Our Beliefs

We are the Sum of Our Beliefs

 

We all believe a conglomeration of statements that make up our lives. We are the sum of our beliefs. We think and act certain ways because of them. Change our beliefs and our lives will change with them. Because our beliefs underscore all we do and who we are, God wants to instill His truths in every recess of our souls; truths that bring true life. He asks only that we abide in His Word, the Bible, to allow an opportunity for those truths to come in. When we do then He will work His truths in our lives and we will begin to experience true life.

The inter-working of His Word, Spirit and our lives is what implodes His truth into our souls. You can read a passage or verse a hundred times but then one day it is unveiled to you. For the first time you understand spiritually what it is saying and the truth becomes your own. What changed? The Word remains sealed until the Spirit unveils it to us and we are ready to experience its truth in our lives. What makes us ready for our beliefs to be altered? I can think of at least three things; a surrendered life, a prepared mind, and an accurate viewpoint.

First is surrender. If we hold on to our beliefs, we will miss out on the truth. We have to be willing to give them up because many are full of lies that hinder God’s truth from making its home in us. If we believe one thing we won’t believe another. That is the whole idea of a belief. Once we dive into God’s Word with a willingness to put our ideas aside and learn from Him then we will start to unlearn all the lies we held and His truth will replace them. And there isn’t one aspect of our lives His truth won’t cover.

Second is preparation. We learn His truth one layer at a time, precept upon precept, and it is orchestrated with the events in our lives. God determines what and when we learn His truths. Only He can unseal the Word while at the same time orchestrating our circumstances for those truths to move in. Our part is to prepare our minds by abiding in His truth, if we don’t then we are keeping the door closed to His truth penetrating and changing our lives. Abiding means we are in the Word on a daily basis with a will to believe.

Third is an accurate viewpoint. If we believe the Bible is just a text book full of stories and parables to instruct us how to live and who Jesus is we miss the point and it is no different than any other book written by man. But if we believe that is a living Spirit, that abiding in it is more like a relationship than reading a book, and that its words have power to penetrate our lives then this faith enables it to pierce our souls.

For lack a surrendered soul, insufficient preparation, and faulty viewpoint, people can be well versed in the Word, like the Pharisees, and yet miss it altogether. All they will see is the physical layer and the deep spiritual truths that bring power, freedom, and true life remain hidden. Our lives are the sum of our beliefs.

Pursue your God in His Word; believe in the Spirit’s ability to teach you; and surrender your soul to discover Him and true life.


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Do We Have Free Will?

Do We Have Free Will?

 

Lately, free will has been brought up in several conversations carrying the assumption that we have free will and it got me to thinking . . . how much free will do we really have?

Let’s look at what we didn’t choose in our physical life; to be born, where, when and to whom we were born, where we grew up, who we grew up around, our family, our genetic make up, our IQ, our body type, our race, our gender, our personality, generational weaknesses and strengths.

Given all these restrictions, how much free will do you think we have? Our will is constricted to certain things, whether we like it or not.

Those things pertain to our physical life, what about the spiritual life?

I believe it is very similar, because throughout the Word, this earth, our lives, the physical parallels the spiritual. First, I believe we don’t chose salvation. We didn’t choose our physical birth and we didn’t choose our spiritual birth. How can a dead life choose life? It is dead. It can’t comprehend the things of God. It can’t understand the spirit life to choose the spirit. It is in rebellion against God, not wanting to draw near. Isaiah 53:6

God saves, God calls, God chooses. We don’t think that is fair? What about the ones who didn’t have a choice where they were born and were given horrible circumstances, in slums, in drug addictions, in a place where human life isn’t valued, and no love? Is that fair? How much choice did they have?

Romans 9:11-23, John 6:44, Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 22:14, 1 Peter 2:9

Second, like our physical life, we live within defined limits in our spiritual life. God saves us and gives us new life. He determines the grace we have, the spiritual gifts we possess, and our spiritual growth. Romans 12:3 1 Corinthians 12:11 Ephesians 2:10 Philippians 2:13 Our will comes into play in seeking Him, drawing near and abiding in His truth. Matthew 7:33, Hebrews 11:6 If we seek Him, then He has promised to do all sorts of wonderful, powerful and amazing things in our lives. Our will, what we say happens or doesn’t happen and the choices we have, is limited.

Acts 17:26-28 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

There are two faulty beliefs that cause us to think that God being in control of our salvation isn’t fair and therefore couldn’t be.

1. The beliefs about hell.
2. The beliefs about God’s complete plan of salvation.

I don’t profess to completely understand either though I am seeking, but from what I read I am not convinced of an eternal torment as most churches teach or that we fully understand God’s plan of salvation and the roles we each play. Romans 9:22 We don’t know His thoughts, and I believe there is more to this life than we know. God is not like us, He is much bigger and we tend to forget that truth. We each try to fit Him and His ways into what we can understand right now.

To try to make God’s Word fit our ideas of justice and fairness is not seeking The Truth but trying to establish our own. We need to be okay with what we read, keep questioning, asking, learning, admitting we don’t know, and acknowledging there is more to learn. The entire Word fits together like a puzzle if certain pieces don’t fit we don’t have all the pieces yet. Only with all the pieces can we understand His Truth. We need to remove our church filters telling us what to believe and read His Truth to know and not to convince ourselves of what we currently believe. Only then do we have teachable hearts. God doesn’t want us to assume we know all or throw up our hands and say how can we know? He wants us each one of us to seek, grope, and ask for truth because that creates intimacy with Him.

Our will only comes into play in certain things. God holds the reigns. After all, He is God we are men. Psalm 9:20 We need to stop trying to make His truth fit ours and seek His.


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The Power of Confession

 The Power of Confession

 

A while ago, my mom and I had a heart to heart discussing some of our deepest wounds. It wasn’t meant to be a confession, though that is exactly what it was. We were simply being honest and open about issues we face and how they impacted each other and sometimes still do.

Recently, my husband and I had a similar conversation. Again, it wasn’t meant to be a confession, we were just being transparent about pains and weaknesses and how they affect each other. Like the conversation with my mom, our talk was liberating on many levels. We had confessed our shortcomings to God many times, and told each other sorry for things we had done, but when we exposed the depths of our souls and our own pain that caused pain in each other; it took healing to a new level and brought us closer. Through our words, love abounded and pain receded.

The freedom and restoration I experienced from these two encounters got me thinking about the power of confession. Both conversations encompassed deep wounds and I am discovering the deeper the pain the more restorative the confession. Usually we are scratching the surface when we tell someone we are sorry, but when we pour out our souls to another in love it is truly powerful.

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

When and why is confession between two people so powerful that it heals years of pain? When it is grounded and flows from love. As for the why, there are many reasons it is powerful, but here are three.

1. Vulnerability in confession communicates the extent of our love for someone. A heart of confession is open, honest, contrite, humble, and doesn’t care just about itself but also others. When we are willing to be naked, vulnerable, weak and to set our pride aside it reveals our love for the other person. If we didn’t love them we wouldn’t be willing to be so open and exposed. Our willingness to unveil our souls is powerful because it infuses truth and love into the relationship

2. Words have power. Created in God’s image our words have tremendous power. They can heal or damage. Openly stating that we have caused hurt, though often unintentionally, frees and heals the hearer. Confessions are words of love, which are more potent than words of pain.

3. Truth manifests love. The more we see and know about ourselves and others in the light of God’s truth, the more we can truly love. Knowledge brings understanding which fosters love, which sets us free.

We are made to love and for that reason most of what we do involves others including our healing and theirs. Philippians 2:4 Confession is just as much about the other person as it is about us. God may know, we may know but they don’t know our heart until we speak it. When we put our pride aside, acknowledge the pain we feel and caused we love. The reward is two-fold; we are more fully freed and healed from our brokenness and so are they. Even if others aren’t ready to confess their part in creating pain, the love we show will help heal their brokenness and put them on a path of being able to face their own pain and the pain they caused.

Confession doesn’t promise something similar won’t happen again. It expresses our hearts that we don’t desire to hurt. We are human and putting off our old self and living in the new life is a process. Letting others see into our hearts to know that we desire to give love not pain covers a multitude of sins.


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Space Suit: In God’s Presence

Space Suit: In God’s Presence

 

Have you ever had the feeling of being consumed by the presence of God? A while ago I got a strange but clarifying image that it is like being in a space suit. In a suit your life is preserved, protected, you see the world a little differently, and it goes wherever you do. Wearing it changes how you interact with your environment. If provides oxygen, the breath of life. If you take it off you lose life.

Before this unusual analogy, God’s presence seemed ethereal and hard to touch. But this image helped me to grasp how real it is and it established the solidarity of His presence in my life. It seemed a strange image but it worked. It helped me to see what it means to dwell in God’s presence, and what it means for our lives. In His presence we have protection, provision, love, mercy, grace, counsel, comfort, truth, favor, and life, everything we need. All He is surrounds us and fills us. When God consumes us, our role becomes one of rest. He does the work through us and our focus shifts from doing to being. We don’t push through life, but let God flow and work through us.

These verses give a peek into what it is like to dwell in His presence, in this space suit:

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Abiding in His presence is beyond amazing, wouldn’t you agree? Who wouldn’t want this life?

How do we put on this space suit and keep it on? By staying connected to the source. We stay connected by trusting and acting on our knowledge of Him, which is faith.

It all starts with what we know. We bring all that we are to our relationships. Now, a friend may not know a certain side of us, but that is just a lack of knowledge. It is the same with God. He is always there, but our experience of the various aspects of Him comes from knowing Him. This is why abiding in His Word is the foundation of experiencing His presence.

If we don’t know God, His promises and His ways then how do we know what to trust in? Without knowledge we end up trusting in our own image of Him, a false image, that is powerless, or we trust in ourselves that is just as helpless.

Abiding in the truth not only gives us knowledge but cultivates trust in that knowledge. Trust, acting on our knowledge, is how we dwell in the space suit.

How many times do we read in the Word, trust and such and such will happen? Trust manifests His presence in our lives. It makes what we learn about Him a reality. Without trust the knowledge we have would be lifeless.

We come to know and trust God like other relationships. We spend time talking, listening, learning, asking, seeking and experiencing and in the process we know and trust, trust and know. God made this dynamic to be a process that requires time and experiences that give us a deep understanding of Him, therefore His truth always coincides with mercy for His kids.

As we approach the next phase of manifesting His presence in our lives, increasing trust, it is critical to embrace this truth – ALL His paths are truth and mercy. Psalm 25:10 We are on the path of knowing and trusting we aren’t there yet. Our experience of Him isn’t dependent only on our trust, but also on His mercy. We know that we should trust, but we don’t. But as long as we are seeking Him, His mercy is more than enough to cover our lack.

Finally, to increase our trust, God brings events into our lives to test and strengthen it. God knows trusting Him is a struggle that is why He places challenges before us, to push us into deeper union with Him, otherwise we would remain at the surface of His presence instead of consumed by every part of it. If we remain as we are we miss out on experiencing all He has to give us. The purpose of these struggles is to become united to Him. 1 Peter 1:6-7

Consequently, these are the situations in which it is hardest to trust. We are experiencing the sovereign hand of God heavy upon us. Not against us though that is how it may feel, but to draw us near. Like Jacob did to become Israel, we wrestle with God through these times to become who we were created to be. These times push us into Him. We cry out to Him from the depth of our soul, ask Him to help with our unbelief and through the process we draw near to Him, our ultimate purpose. John 17:21 He expects us to doubt, struggle, and question through these times. But He wants us to keep Him by our side throughout the process. We are the caterpillar struggling to become a butterfly.

These trials are difficult to the point of breaking us, but their intensity is essential to obtain the trust we need to experience more of Him. We have to set our expectations aside of how we think things should be going, focus on abiding in His truth and trust Him that He is working everything for the purpose of being united to Him. He will give us exactly what we need to get us into a conscious awareness of that space suit, because that gives Him glory.

The secret to abiding in His presence, in the space suit, is knowing Him, so we can trust Him, then working through those tests of trust and when we do we will move deeper into His presence, the fountain of life.


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Babylon the Great – The Church System

Babylon the Great – The Church System

 

Could it be? Is it possible that the church, the institutional system, is an aspect of Babylon the Great spoken of in Revelations? This idea is a hard truth to swallow, but our spirits live on truth because it establishes our beliefs and thus our faith. Galatians 3:11 Faith isn’t worth much if it is in the wrong truth, therefore our duty is to seek out the truth.

1. Babylon the Great is the Mother of Harlots

Revelation 17:5 MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

Babylon symbolizes a woman who played the harlot against God. The only ones who can play the harlot are those who profess to be united to God in the first place. You can’t cheat if you aren’t in a relationship.

Throughout the Word, God calls His people a harlot when they break their covenant with Him; they have left Him in their heats to follow other gods, other gospels, other Jesus’, other truths, while still carrying His name. He abolished the old covenant and established a new. Because Revelations talks about a time in the future, then the harlotry must be in regards to the new covenant, the only active one that means anything.

2. This woman is also referred to as the great city.

The great city is Jerusalem. Jerusalem symbolizes where God’s people reside. Matt 23:37

Revelation 17:18 And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.

Revelation 11:8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

We begin to see that this woman is headed toward a downfall so much so that she will become like Egypt and Sodom and God will deal with her as He dealt with them.

3. The woman is drunk with the blood of the saints.

Revelation 17:6 I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement.

Those who drink the blood of the saints are of the church.

We have this example in the Pharisees. They called themselves children of Abraham; Jesus called them children of the devil. Talk about a mistaken identity. What happened with people in the church in Jesus’ day is happening today. The church started out in accordance to God’s ways, but then went its own way. Even to murdering the prophets, sound familiar? Matthew 23:31, 35, 37 John 8: 44 We can kill someone physically, but another way to kill them is the truth they stood for. We kill it by twisting it and not heeding it making it void and meaningless.

John marveled with great amazement, this truth is indeed shocking.

4. Babylon the Great has become a dwelling place of every foul thing.

Revelation 18:2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird.

The great city, the woman, played the harlot and turned symbolically into Babylon. Her downfall is so severe that she becomes a dwelling place of demons, where no good thing dwells.

1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

Babylon can’t be the world. The world has always been full of demons and lies because it is under the devil’s control. Only God’s people are separated out. So the world couldn’t become a dwelling place, it already is one. Therefore what has become inhabited is somewhere that wasn’t before – where God’s people dwell, church system. Furthermore, He is telling us to come out of something. We can come out of the church system.

Church system (institution of God’s people) = Jerusalem = the great city = Harlot = Babylon the Great

Now what?

Because of what the church system becomes God is going to destroy it. He warns His people who can still hear His voice to get out while they can. If you look at the church, it isn’t headed in a good direction. There is a disconnect between the Word and what we see in the churches. We like to rationalize and justify the downward spiral of the church, but the Word foretells its future and the Word stands forever.

Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues

It has grown so corrupt with deception and lies that even the elect are going to have trouble standing firm on the truth. Matthew 24:24 Think about how deceptive that must be? Churches are incredibly persuasive. Religious leaders have a power over people because people trust them. Just ask the lobbyists. They led the masses to crucify Jesus who days before they were praising. They led the people of Lystra who were worshiping Paul and Silas to turn to stone them leaving them for dead. Acts 14 Never underestimate the persuasion they have. God knows their influence and who is behind them that is why He tells us to get out. It isn’t safe. We have to trust Him, putting aside our justifications.

Psalm 74:3-4 Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations. The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary. Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place; They set up their banners for signs.

Right before this verse the writer talks about Mount Zion which is a name to describe God’s people in the future. Hebrews 12:22-23. The sanctuary, the meeting place of God’s people is going to suffer perpetual desolation. A New Jerusalem will take its place. Revelation 21:2 It seems that time is upon us. He wants His people out of the old so they don’t receive her plagues

You may think now is not the time, but when? Who will you listen to tell you to get out? If you don’t and decide to stay a little longer, I pray your teacher is God and you can clearly hear His voice above all the others. Deception and lies are only going to continue to grow worse. 2 Timothy 3:13. Many are going to go astray. Things aren’t going to get better. If we think we or our church is above deception then we are most deceived. The church served a purpose for a time, but like most man-made institutions it has gone sideways. Ezekiel 8

Where do we go? To Him, to His Word. He will be our Shepherd, He will write His truths on our heart, He will teach us, guide us, and protect us. He has given us all we need, His Word, Himself, and when you get there you will find others.

People are leaving the church because they feel something is amiss. Could it be that they have heard His call in their hearts? Those that know their Shepherd’s voice will follow Him.

There is much to say on this topic but I pray this encourages you to search out His truth from His pure Word.


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Listening to the Spirit

Listening to the Spirit

 

To stop and listen to the rhythms of life beneath all the noise is a lost art in our modern world. The voice of our inner spirit is suppressed by busyness, television, books, magazines, cell phones, pagers, email, competition, idle chatter and all we do to make ourselves feel worthy. Underneath the distractions is our spirit trying to be heard. The ramifications of silencing our guide is broken homes, dysfunctional children, physical aliments, depression, monotonous living, robotic spirituality, addictions, and spiritual blindness to name a few.

This truth has recently come to my attention. I am dealing with the consequences of not listening through various physical aliments. They are minor but it is clear to me the source is years of suppressing my spirit’s voice. I didn’t take time to listen but bulldozed through the years trusting medications and doctors instead of seeking inner counsel. Doctors can’t know the complexity of your emotions, your past experiences and everything that create your current physical state. Our body and soul are connected but yet we often act like they aren’t. God gave us a guide to build truth in the deepest part of our soul if we will listen. Truth that sets us free.

Lately I have been opening my ears and what He is telling me is incredible, I had no idea.

If we could go on the counsel and guidance of others then why would we need the Holy Spirit who was sent to teach us all things? We need to be listening to Him above all others and yet we have forgotten how to listen. Instead of listening to our spirit as our counselor we listen to others. We no longer make our own decisions, take time for inward reflection, and think for ourselves but rely on others to do these for us. Those in our circle of influence; media, family, co-workers, church leaders; tell us what to believe, to think, to trust, to do. These people are ill-equipped to guide anyone because they are just like us.

Matthew 23:8 “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.”

When we tune into our spirit we tune into Him as well. Our impatience is driving us into the arms of some “Joe’s” philosophies. I don’t care how many initials are after his name or how nice he appears; he isn’t equipped to guide us as the Spirit is. It is the Spirit’s role and no one can fulfill it but Him. God constructed this world, the physical and spiritual elements, to work a certain way. Either we get clued in and do it His way or we miss out altogether and stay bound, blind, and dumb (in hearing and insight).

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

God uses other people to encourage and help us. But our ears need to be in tune with the Spirit so we can discern what we hear, if it is truth or not and if it applies to us or not. If not, any good is mixed in with the bad and we are still seeing foggy. People are human, they make mistakes and they are learning just like we are. Like a doctor misdiagnosing a patient, others can give us the wrong diagnosis and remedy. We need a stronghold to test what we hear against whether it pertains to doctrine, health, work, relationships or whatever. That stronghold is the Spirit. I have gained more truth from listening to the Spirit than I ever have listening to man. Others add a little here and there crossing a t or dotting an i, but He opens up volumes of truth.

With modernization came isolation from our inner voice. We need to reorient our lives to create an atmosphere so we can hear. We need to be still, abide, and listen to what the Spirit is saying to each one of us. It is a conversation between you and Him, are you listening?


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Abiding in God’s Presence

 Abiding in God’s Presence

 

I often mention that reading God’s Word, the Bible, is essential to our spirits’ lives. But what makes all the difference is how we read. Most people read the Bible like they would another book; a text book, a historical book, or a guide for good living and miss the whole point.

God tells us He is our husband, so that is how we are supposed to relate to Him. He desires not that we know about Him, but that we intimately know Him. To talk to Him like a spouse, to spend time with Him one-on-one on a regular basis, to listen to His words, and to put our focus on Him. He created the Bible to foster this intimacy with us.

For years, I read the Bible like a book. I believed they were His words, but I didn’t understand what I want to share with you today – that it is about a fostering a relationship not reading a book. Because of my lack of understanding, I couldn’t stay focused or disciplined in my reading. It would often be dry, I wouldn’t get much out of it, most of it didn’t seem to relate to me and parts were boring and confusing. So, I rarely read, read in spurts, and preferred listening to someone else talk about Him instead of going to Him. I knew I should read, but just couldn’t seem to fly solo.

After hitting yet another low point in my life, I made a commitment to read a chapter a day regardless of how I felt (that was key to getting started). After that commitment, God showed me how I was approaching it wrong in three main ways; my motive, our relationship and His role. From then on everything changed; I mean everything – my entire existence because I started to abide in His presence.

  1. My motive.  Every time I sat down to read, it had always been about me; what I got out of it, if I felt encouraged, inspired, connected to God, if He answered my questions and prayers to be healed, restored, and feel His presence.

God told me – what if you treated your husband that way? What if it was always about you? What kind of intimacy would you have? Intimacy takes two. Your motive when you come to My Word should be to learn about Me, to get to know Me. That fosters intimacy. Stop making it about you. Make it about Me and I will take care of you.

He started to reveal Himself to me in ways I had never known despite the years I spent in church and Bible studies.

  1. Our relationship. I use to approach reading the Bible like reading a book, after all it is a book, right?

God told me – You say you love Me, but you don’t spend time with me like you love Me.  I am no longer a flesh man, the flesh is gone. I am Spirit and that is how you are to know Me. 2 Corin. 5: 16 My Spirit is in the Bible like it was in the flesh man, Jesus. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1:14 If Jesus, the flesh body, was here what would you do? Would you spend time with Him? Would you want to talk to Him one-on-one?  He is here.

I was no longer sitting down to read a guide for good living, I was sitting down with my God and talking with Him, listening to Him, hearing His heart, will, and desires. I was cultivating a relationship.

  1. His role. I had depended on others to teach me about God. I thought I couldn’t glean what they could from the Word, so I didn’t. I figured it wasn’t my gift. It was easier listening to others’ words, ideas, and interpretations than weeding through all those chapters by myself.  I thought it was one in the same.

God told me – What if you always went to your husband’s friends and family to learn about him? They may repeat things he said, talk about things he had done, but how well would you know him? What kind of intimacy would you have with him? This is how you are acting toward Me when you rely on others to teach you about Me. I gave you My Spirit so you can understand all I have to tell you. 1 John 2:27, Hebrews 5:12  Teachers are to teach others to teach themselves, not spoon-feed them. 2 Timothy 2:24  I want you to come directly to Me because that requires a seeking heart, trust and dependency on Me and those things foster the depth of intimacy I desire with you. I will teach you about Me, trust Me. If you continue to rely on others there is only so close we can be.

My mind being renewed in these three ways altered my time with God. My relationship with Him started to become what I always desired thus true life followed. I won’t mislead you, knowing Him takes time, years, just like it does in other relationships. It was years of spending time before I felt true intimacy with Him, where I felt I was abiding in His presence. But God gave us His Word and His Spirit so we could know Him, be one with Him in will, purpose, and desire and abide in true love and truth. If we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.


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Church Social Clubs

Church Social Clubs

 

Most of us are familiar with the social club mentality of many churches; extravagant entertainment, feel-good programs, focus on busyness, and messages that are a self-improvement book covered in Christian lingo.

Our knee jerk reaction is that being a glorified social club is wrong. However, with some further thought, I think what we all need to realize, especially if we are in a church, is that all churches are social clubs.  It is a healthier and safer viewpoint because that is the extent of what they provide; encouragement, support, connections, activities, and stimulating conversations. The problem is that people want and look to them as a source of truth, to enhance their relationship with God, to bind their wounds, to give them freedom, to bring peace, hope and rest to their lives; all the things that only truly come from cultivating intimacy with God in His truth, His Word.

However, churches appear to be gladly taking on this other role, which is outside the scope of their abilities, because when people are dependent on you it is good for business.  Even with good intentions, trying to be what they can’t misleads people and destroys souls. I was such a soul.  Our souls starve because we mistakenly rely on the wrong one for true life.  God and His Word is the fountain of truth which brings true life. Churches are a reservoir of people’s interpretations, doctrines, rules and regulations with some truth sprinkled in.  Many people end up worse off than when they started because they don’t realize they are hanging out at the wrong watering hole and thinking they have arrived at truth they stopped looking.

The majority of Christians are not living the abundant life that Jesus Christ came to give because they are relying on other broken people when they need to rely on God. People try to get out of teachers, pastors, leaders, programs, and ministries what they should be seeking from God and churches reinforce their warped dependency in what they don’t say, in what they praise and what they encourage.

As I read the New Testament, it seems clear that truth and an intimate relationship with God which brings abundant life come from time with Him in the Holy Scriptures being taught by the Spirit. (John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 2:12-13, 1 Corinthians 15:34, 1 John 2:27, 2 Timothy 2:15, 7, 2 Timothy 3: 14-15.) Yet this truth is often overlooked and people continue to give fallible humans, who are trying to figure it out just as they are, God’s role.

Churches are playing a role that they weren’t meant to play.  If we openly acknowledge and call church what it is, a social club, then maybe we will start heading in the right direction; looking to our God not man for truth and life. Even then we need to be very careful and aware of churches’ influence over our thinking, beliefs and lives.

 


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Feeling Christ Jesus’ Heart

Feeling Christ Jesus’ Heart

 

Most of us at some point have had a boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse who acted in a manner toward the opposite sex that was only appropriate for us. When it happens the pain cuts deep. Looking back on my past experiences, I couldn’t understand logically why it hurt so much?

I asked God about these experiences and this is what He told me.

It isn’t just your pain you feel but a taste of mine that is why it is so intense.

I have taught you how the relationship between a man and a woman is symbolic of my relationship with you. It is only a shadow pointing to something much deeper. I am your husband and you are my bride. I use your relationships to show you how I feel. Becoming one with me means feeling what I feel.

When you feel the pain of a loved one giving affections to another that was meant for you it is similar to how I feel when my people look to others, trust them, go to them for truth, rely on them and not me.

And in these days my people are breaking my heart.

They trust in their pastors, teachers and leaders and look to them for truth and not me. Their priorities are upside down and as a result they are being led away from me. They go to them and not my Word as I have instructed them. They seek first the voice of man instead of my voice. They don’t believe me because they don’t follow me.  They follow their man made rules and codes of Christian behavior and all the while ignore me when all I want is to be with them. I want them to come to me, know me, talk with me, put me first, trust me, rely on me, and love me above all others like they would a husband. I desire a relationship not man-made religion. They have fooled themselves to thinking they are aligned with my will with their “good works”, but I see into their hearts, and I am not first. And that is what matters. Matthew 7:22-23

I have called them to love me as they would a husband, but most have turned their eyes to other concerns. They have left their first love. Revelation 2:3-4 I am a God who feels, cares and loves, but I will not let this situation continue on. The time is short. Judgment is upon my people. Today is the day to decide who they will follow; me and my truth or someone else’s interpretation of it. They are relying on the wrong thing, man instead of Me, and it will be their downfall.


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Church Sedation

 Church Sedation

 

The other morning I was thinking . .  how many times do we hear from fellow believers or out of our own mouths wasn’t that a great teaching or a good sermon? But was it truth?  It may have been entertaining and made us feel good, but was it truth? They may have read a passage from the Bible, but their opinions, philosophies, interpretations of the scripture, but was it truth?  We are instructed to test all things preached, taught, or spoken of but now many of us honestly do that? If we do test what are actually testing it by; our intuition, gut, or someone else’s teaching?  True testing is done by the Word so that means we have to be consistently in the Word and put it above all others. The Bible is our foundation and not man’s words because it is the source of pure unadulterated truth.

1 Corinthians 14:29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world

 Before I spent one-on-one time with God, just His Word and me, I relied on my own discernment, not a good idea. But when I started to spend that time, layer by layer He started to unveil the real truth. I was amazed by all the lies I believed that I learned in a religious institution or setting. How could I have been so mislead? There are lots of reasons, but one stood out – the power of feeling good.

Sedating my guilt, putting my time in with God for the week, looking good to those around me, feeling like a good person, people accepting and liking me were a lot of the reasons why I went to church – when I am brutally honest with myself. Who doesn’t like to feel good about themselves? But all those are the wrong reasons first because no one is good, so why was I trying to prove I was and second focusing on these blinded me to the truth. My motives got in the way of taking time to be in God’s word and testing what I heard. Ultimately I was focusing on me instead of getting to know my God. Many things are good, until they are used or done for the wrong reasons. Then what was intended for good can become damaging.

Luke 18:19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God

The other day, I read an article on the power of praise.  Praise of others and others making us feel good are very powerful and they can blind us if we aren’t careful. That’s why love can be so blinding. Nothing and no one is perfect but God and His Word, He is the source of truth and of our beliefs.  I think it is good practice to carefully examine our motives now and then so we stay clear headed to be discerning as we are called to be. Now, I often ask, why am I really doing this?

Proverbs 14:15 The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps

John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”