"Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise." -Sam Pascoe
What I would share with you in this post is extremely important. You will have to be patient for a moment, slow your racing mind down, and focus intently upon the words I am writing. Some concepts are so foreign to the religiously trained mind that they are at first difficult to grasp. If you have spent any significant length of time in the Christian religious system, in denominational, or non-denominational churches, then your mind has been influenced subtly, yet powerfully, in ways you may not have contemplated.
Have you ever considered that the entire system of what passes for Christianity today is a perverse corruption of Yahweh’s plan for His people? I am not speaking merely of the many doctrines of demons that have entered into the church, such as that which is called “prosperity doctrine.” No, I am referring to the overall system of getting people saved so they can join a church, get involved in its programs, and devote their lives to a corporate entity that is proclaimed to be the body of Christ.
Recently, a brother in Christ forwarded to me the speech given by an 18 year old girl in upstate New York. Erica Goldson was the valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School, and was given the opportunity to address all those gathered at her 2010 class graduation ceremony. What she shared is remarkable in its insight for one so young.
Erica chose to talk about the education system in America. Following is the major portion of her speech. As you read it, please consider how these words spoken of the American education system relate to the Christian Religious System, for they are very similar in purpose and practice.
Here I Stand
Erica Goldson
(Valedictorian Speech 2010 - Delivered Wednesday, July 7, 2010 to the students, parents and faculty gathered at Coxsackie-Athens High School.)
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years..." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast - How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States. (Gatto)
To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritical thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation...
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!
[Source: http://americaviaerica.blogspot.com/2010/07/coxsackie-athens-valedictorian-speech.html]
I (Joseph Herrin) attended the public education system for 12 years, graduating from High School, and later going on to earn a college degree. It was what I was conditioned to do. The thought never occurred to me while I was in attendance that the system itself could be an evil thing. I never questioned whether it was preparing me to be a godly person, or considered if the goals of my education were those God would choose. The American education system was training me to be a good corporate citizen. I was a member of the greatest consumer nation on earth, and I was being groomed for a life devoted to consumption.
While in school, the merits of excelling in the system were made known to me. With better grades came the promise of higher pay, and more money being available to spend on my pursuit of “The American Dream.” Little did I realize that I was being indoctrinated in the art of consumption. I was fed dreams of materialism, and my pursuit of materialism served the ends of the global corporations. My money would end up in their pockets. My life’s labor would further their empire.
II Peter 2:3
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you...
American society promotes covetousness. Advertisements are inescapable. If you watch television, or even go to the movies, you will have to abide a barrage of commercials that are aimed at creating a desire for some company’s product. If you drive down the road you will be met with billboards intended to produce a desire for some service or product. You cannot read a magazine, or listen to the radio, without the constant drone of corporate consumerism invading your mind through sounds and images.
How many Americans ever question whether the endless drive to attain material possessions, and to enjoy one pleasure after another, is actually righteous? How many have considered what type of life God would lead them to if there were not the constant and pervasive influence of society telling them what they should be pursuing? The American education and cultural system has made slaves of an entire population. The citizens of the nation live to acquire material possessions, and then spend the balance of their lives trying to hold onto what they have gained. Is this the will of God?
Luke 12:15
And He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."
This article is not about the American system of materialism, however. It is about the Christian Religious System. The same blindness that affects the citizens of America, also holds sway in the church.
Isaiah 42:19
“Who is blind but My servant, or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, or so blind as the servant of Yahweh?”
I want to entreat you to consider the goals and practices of the Christian Religious System, particularly in Western nations. Going to church is what people are conditioned to do. Participating in the stereotypical programs of the various denominations is considered both right and proper. A focus on church attendance, supporting the church financially, and living a church-centric life is accepted without any critical thinking as being the right thing to do.
How many Christians have stopped to question whether the goals and practices of the church are in synch with the desires of God? Christians are conditioned to not ask such questions. They are herded along with everyone else, directed through endlessly repeated sermons that proclaim the virtues of attendance, program participation, and tithing. Being a good corporate citizen of the church is equated with spirituality.
What is Yahweh’s desire for His sons and daughters? As I have been sharing everywhere I go, He desires sons (male and female). He wants sons in His image. He is seeking sons who are conformed to the image of Christ so they can rule and reign with Him in the ages to come.
Are the churches producing sons in the image of Christ? Absolutely not! Rather, they are aborting every son that begins to show marks of maturity.
To be conformed to Christ’s image, one must be led of the Spirit, not led of man.
Romans 8:14
For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Christ did not lead a life centered on the synagogue. He did not live to fulfill the programs and plans of the synagogue’s leaders. Christ never equated participation in the life of the local synagogue with spiritual life. He lived to do the will of His Father. This will was not made known to Him by men, but by the Spirit who was given to indwell Him. Those who have been born of the Spirit of Christ have received the same Spirit to guide them.
I Corinthians 2:10-13
For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit...
The Christian Religious System is antithetical to the purposes of God. The system has indoctrinated Christians to believe that they must come to the church building weekly to hear the word of God spoken to them by an appointed minister. The minister will perhaps give them a 15-30 minute message, often including admonitions on attendance, participation in programs, and tithing. Before and after the message of the minister there will be announcements that serve as commercials for all the events, programs and services of the corporation called the church.
The saint is trained to be a good corporate citizen, and his continuance as a good corporate citizen is assumed to last as long as life is in him. Do the programs of the church lead to conformity to Christ? The instrument Yahweh uses to conform sons to the image of Christ is the cross. There is an afflicted path to be walked. There are difficult experiences to be endured. There are trials to be passed through, all the while the saint is to be crucifying the flesh that the Spirit of Christ within him might arise.
The church does not offer this path to conformity to Christ. They are more likely to offer baseball, softball, golf, and excursions to the mall than they are to lead the saints to affliction. The church stands in the way of the believer, for it will not permit any to be led of the Spirit. Being led of the Spirit will interfere with being led of the church leadership. One cannot fulfill the goals of the corporation while being led of the Spirit. The church leaders are all too willing to usurp the role of the Spirit, telling the saints what the will of God is for their lives. The end is always self-serving, fostering a dependence upon the church leaders, and resulting in a continuance of the church as a corporate entity.
Eighty years ago, a wise Christian minister named T. Austin Sparks wrote the following words:
We realize with intense sorrow of heart that all is not well with that which ostensibly represents the Lord here, and that there is a state of things widely prevailing which does not truly accord with the revealed desire of God.
"We live in a time of more than usual dearth spiritually - the state of things may well remind us of Ezekiel's valley of dry bones - we have not merely to cope with evils which have characterized bygone ages, but also with the matured corruption of a time wherein the varied evils of the Gentile world have become connected with, and covered by the cloak of Christian profession; and when we turn to the state of those whose knowledge of truth and high profession might naturally encourage the expectation of more healthy and vigorous Christian action, we find, alas! in many - yes, in the majority of cases - that the knowledge is but cold and uninfluential theory, and the profession but superficial."
Christianity has become so largely a matter of doctrine and creed. The test of Christian life is very much a matter of subscribing thereto. Christian experience has become largely limited to a matter of being saved, without the great Eternal and universal relative factors and issues. Christian service is resolved far too much into a matter of enthusiasm in a great enterprise apart from an adequate apprehension of what the Lord is really after and the indispensable energy and equipment of the Holy Ghost. The Christian "church" is very largely reduced to earthly institutions, societies, denominations, buildings, activities and orders, and the spiritual revelation and apprehension of "the One Body" and "One Spirit" is for by far the most part lacking. Christian teaching has very largely become - at best - a matter of giving addresses and preaching sermons with a presentation of "the letter of the Word," a giving forth of truth as truth, but lacking in "revelation in the knowledge of Him" (Eph. 1:17); that true inwardness of meaning which reaches the heart and meets the deepest spiritual need of the hungry.
The result of all this is that the impact of that which stands for God upon the world, and particularly upon "the world rulers of this darkness" is almost nil, or a minus quantity...
As we get nearer the close of this age the contact with and impact of the forces of Satan is going to be such that only those who know the full testimony of Jesus and stand experimentally in it will be able to go through without being paralyzed. The aspect of things is fast changing. The past twenty years has seen a movement into a realm where the old methods and means no longer prove effectual. We shall soon find a tremendous pressing down of the powers of darkness upon this earth, using the world-powers to such a degree and in such ways as to eclipse anything which has hitherto been. This is in full accord with the Word of God. There will be one, and only one hope for God's people, and that is their knowledge of Him in Christ and the power of His resurrection as a present spiritual reality. Not their activities, enthusiasms, organizations, enterprises, creeds, "churches," orthodoxy, and so on, but HIMSELF. That time, which is now coming upon us - though imperceptible to so many who are preoccupied with plans and programs - will make manifest the principle of the "One Body..."
[Source: "A Witness and A Testimony" magazine, Sep-Oct 1930 Vol. 8-5]
It is no wonder that so many are hearing the Spirit calling to “come out of her, My people, lest you participate in her sins and partake of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4). The church has become a place of confusion (Babylon). Not only are her doctrines leavened, but the very system stands in the way of the saints attaining to “the fulness of the stature which belongs to Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
It is time for all saints to examine the system itself. Does the system of religion promote a Spirit directed life? Have you been brought to a complete abandonment to go wherever Christ would lead you, and to do whatever He would instruct you to do? Are you comfortable in the church because it assures you that Yahweh is well pleased with those who participate in its programs, while not requiring you to give up everything?
Luke 14:33
“So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all he possesses.”
There is a reason that the Christian Religious System is not under attack by the masses of Christians. There is a reason there is no wide call for reform. The church as a man-made institution is comfortable for those who do not wish to be disturbed. To be led of the Spirit will cost a man or woman everything. Nothing can be held back. Yet the corporate religious system will permit a man or woman to hold onto a significant portion of their property and their life.
People of God, the hour is late. It is time for all believers to question the Christian Religious System in the same way that Erica Goldson has questioned the American educational system. The religious system permits men and women to continue to walk after the desires of the flesh. The Spirit of Christ will not. Do not allow yourself to follow blind guides. There is One who is appointed to lead you. That is the Spirit of Christ who indwells all the saints.
Galatians 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063
Mr. Herrin,
ReplyDeleteThis was a powerful writing. I agree with so much of it. Twenty years ago, shortly afer I was 'saved' and started going to protestant churhes, I realized that all churches were catholic. And I too, felt that there was a kind of 'spiritual abortion' taking place in these churches. I sure didn't hear/see any repentance! And whenever the Spirit did move my husband and I to some truth, we were shot down: "you're too young to know anything, just abide by the system, well that just sounds too charismatic..."
I have had people ("christians") actually get mad at me because I "claim" one can hear the voice of the LORD.
I've said this a lot to my husband: We came out of the school system to homeschool and found our kids actually do learn and can think. We came out of the church system and found that we can indeed grow in the LORD. Now we need to come out of the financial system and allow the LORD to provide for us. (not that I am against work at all, but the 'rat race' that my husband runs in will probably kill him and it takes him away from the LORD and from us).
Yes, pretty much everything you said, is what I have said and thought for many, many years.
Peace,
Deirdre
Dear Brother Joseph,
ReplyDeleteYou are speaking from the hearts of many Saints outside the camp. We love you and thank our Father for giving you the gift to relate this message to His people at this very late hour. Many of us who have been called out of the religious system pray for the brothers and sisters who are still in it.
This message cannot be ignored any longer, we are all, without any exception, a disciple of somebody. From the day we are born into this world we learn from somebody, we accumulate teachers and guides through our lives and most of us have grown up being taught wrong. It is by the grace of your Lord who calls His people to come to the ONE and ONLY TEACHER, Yahshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ. To become HIS disciple is a truly crucifying walk, to throw out all what we have collected as truth and considered valuable. To move away from a conglomerate of individualities who come together for a service on Sunday, or Saturdays and grow into a corporate body of true believers takes a tremendous amount of “ flesh cutting”. The egocentricity in Christianity is what produced all these divisions and continues to do so, there is no true humility found in today’s churches at large. I’m sure there are pockets of true worship and fellowship to be found here and there, but the vast majority of today’s denominational and non-denominational congregations are on the broad way of destruction.
John 3:33 He that hath received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.
John 17:17 Sanctify them in the Truth, thy word is Truth
Brother, may the Lord bless you to continue to bring forth HIS message at this hour
Joe
Amen! Seven years ago Yahweh brought us out of the church and we stopped keeping the traditional holidays. He directed us to homeschool our children from the start with many of the same thoughts that this young lady spoke and because of Deuteronomy 6:4-9. And a year ago he instructed us to get out of the world's financial system as much as possible....we sold our house and completely got out of debt.
ReplyDeleteI pray that we are listening to HIS voice and ready and willing to adjust according to his leading.
An exert from an email from myself to Joseph....
ReplyDeleteFor the last few years, the Lord has shown me also, issues with the church as we know it and my thoughts are very similar to the 3 comments (so far) to your blog. What I want to share if your interested is the scriptural things He has shown me in this walk. I forget the order He brought the understanding in but I will list them (mostly) in the order they appear in our bibles today. I believe these are not comprehensive to either what He has shown me or to what is in the Word to be seen and obeyed.
1. Exodus 20v19 And they said to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die.(AMP)
In 1 Samuel 8, the people again reject God and His voice of authority, demanding a King. Yahweh relents to show them their sin. He could have given them David first because of the parable that unfolds but he let man's way fail first to teach them, and us, that our ways are not His ways. Saul came first as a sign of the natural.
1 Cor 15 shows the pattern, "sown in the flesh...raised in the spirit... first the natural, then the spiritual". I can’t find it now, but I know somewhere it is said "first the blood, then the oil."
Little wonder the church today does not believe we can hear from the Lord ourselves. We don't want to.
2. There are too many passages to list on the layout, purpose and "running" of both the Tabernacle and the Temple, incorporated into and through "the Law". But what I've learnt is that we know that Christ came to fulfil the Law and the Law was never going to save us. The Law was death.
The Old Testament, with Hebrews in the New, explain at length how the people come to Levites with their offerings for sin, worship, etc., who pass to the High Priest who goes to God.
Heb 9:22 under the Law, almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin.... and merited punishment for sins.(AMP)
Romans 7:7 "if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known it's meaning."
The Promised Lamb of God came to fulfil that "system" as it was never designed to work as the final answer but a stage in the producing of Sons.
Exodus 17:1 All the congregation of the Israelites moved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and encamped at Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
A study of Rephidim in your concordance, (along with the root words) is interesting.
"Sin", the word in this context, they say, is not related to sinfulness, but everyone thinks it straight away, the concordance says "desert of clay" and both that explanation and our English understand both point to a parable of sinfulness in the wilderness.
We now have one High Priest to replace the system that was designed to show us sin, to bring judgement on that sin and to set the fire for the Refiner to come to produce Sons.
Heb 4:14 Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has (already) ascended and passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession (of faith in Him).
The clergy system should have been placed under the blood of Christ at the Cross, and been left to die, not resurrected in rebellion against God.
Continued....
cont...
ReplyDeleteHeb 9:22 under the Law, almost everything is purified by means of blood, and without the shedding of blood there is neither release from sin.... and merited punishment for sins.(AMP)
Romans 7:7 "if it had not been for the Law, I should not have recognized sin or have known it's meaning."
The Promised Lamb of God came to fulfil that "system" as it was never designed to work as the final answer but a stage in the producing of Sons.
Exodus 17:1 All the congregation of the Israelites moved on from the Wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and encamped at Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink.
A study of Rephidim in your concordance, (along with the root words) is interesting.
"Sin", the word in this context, they say, is not related to sinfulness, but everyone thinks it straight away, the concordance says "desert of clay" and both that explanation and our English understand both point to a parable of sinfulness in the wilderness.
We now have one High Priest to replace the system that was designed to show us sin, to bring judgement on that sin and to set the fire for the Refiner to come to produce Sons.
Heb 4:14 Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has (already) ascended and passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession (of faith in Him).
The clergy system should have been placed under the blood of Christ at the Cross, and been left to die, not resurrected in rebellion against God.
3. Rev 2:6,15 The Nicolaitan error. Many believe it is a following of Nicholas, (who doesnt appear anywhere else or his error explained. Jezebel is mentioned and has a pre-existing example to see) or a city of people called Nicolaitans. But I found when looking up this word in the Strong's Concordance that it is made of two words, 3529 nike (with a tick above the e) meaning "victory", and the word 2992 laos meaning "people, crowd; often denotes the people of God (either Israel or, by extension, the Christian Church).
While Strongs 3531 Nikolaites calls them "followers of Nicholas", the following word 3532 Nikolaos gives the definition of the name Nicholas from the same route words as above but means "victory over the people." So it doesn't matter if they followed "Nicholas" or the word stands alone (and I think it does), they conquered the people in that Church which the letter is written to. Remember King James told the translators never to go against doctrine of the Church so I think we know how that word got confusing. Further study of all words in Strong's from 3529 to 3534 will back this up. The word "follower" by the way is 3402 mimetes "imitator, an example" and I think we can see it is not part of the above word in Greek.
4. Rev 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; anyone who hears and listens and heeds my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he (will eat) with me.
Yahshua finishes his letters to the churches this way so as to speak I believe to all of them. He wouldn't be knocking on the door and wanting to come in if He was inside. He is not inside the church system. The eating we don't have, is the understanding of what He feeds us because we don't seek His voice. (See point one, top of page).
cont...
cont...
ReplyDeleteWhile Strongs 3531 Nikolaites calls them "followers of Nicholas", the following word 3532 Nikolaos gives the definition of the name Nicholas from the same route words as above but means "victory over the people." So it doesn't matter if they followed "Nicholas" or the word stands alone (and I think it does), they conquered the people in that Church which the letter is written to. Remember King James told the translators never to go against doctrine of the Church so I think we know how that word got confusing. Further study of all words in Strong's from 3529 to 3534 will back this up. The word "follower" by the way is 3402 mimetes "imitator, an example" and I think we can see it is not part of the above word in Greek.
4. Rev 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; anyone who hears and listens and heeds my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he (will eat) with me.
Yahshua finishes his letters to the churches this way so as to speak I believe to all of them. He wouldn't be knocking on the door and wanting to come in if He was inside. He is not inside the church system. The eating we don't have, is the understanding of what He feeds us because we don't seek His voice. (See point one, top of page).
Why are people so scared? They say they are Christian but they don't want to hear from God. My fear of God's wrath for me has fallen away since I heard Him speak His words to me and showed me the love, oh what love I cant explain, that feels wasted on me.
Hallelujah!
Praise be to Yahweh and His Son
Simon in Tassie
No wonder so many people feel conflicted about their Christianity. We believe we have committed to Christ based upon what we have been told by our pastors and teachers, but find that that alone does not satisfy the longing deep within us to know the one true God, His son, Jesus
ReplyDeleteChrist and the Holy Spirit. Thank God that He has touched me through the ministry of his messengers on line, and I am working out my salvation with fear and trembling on my own. I guess it isn't surprising then, that I feel so much more connected to my brothers and sisters on line than I do to the ones I have in the church I attend is it? I am still hoping that when you get back to the midwest, Joseph, you will hold a session of teachings in my home here in SW Ohio. Thank you for this Word. My, that young girl was wise, wasn't she?
Kim
Out of one system and into another. It's not the system it is the participants. Anyone can leave a bad situation (hide their light under a bushel), but it is a special breed that lead by example and let their light shine in the dark places. However, thankfully like Gideon, He can find us wherever we might be hiding. There are plenty of churches experiencing true spiritual growth and direction. No church will be perfect, just as none of us will administer a perfect home. It is so easy to be critical and so hard to be see things through to completion. Dont discount the local church however institutionalized, today she is eating donkey heads, tomorrow in her uncleanliness she is feasting on the spoils of war, won by a good, long-sufferring God
ReplyDeleteDear (Beard),
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
"It's not the system it is the participants."
Sometimes it is both. If the churches are leading people down a broad path that leads to destruction, then there is great reason to "come out of her, My people."
You speak of seeing things through to completion, but if the end of the harlot church system is that she will experience the plagues and judgments of Yahweh, then I do not believe any would be well advised to see things through to completion. When Yahweh says to come out of Babylon, then those who remain will suffer the consequences.
Revelation 18:4-8
"Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.' For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong."
You stated:
"Anyone can leave a bad situation (hide their light under a bushel), but it is a special breed that lead by example and let their light shine in the dark places."
Seeing that you are writing of the church, and are describing it as "a bad situation" and "dark places," the admonition of the apostles should be considered regarding fellowship with darkness.
1 Corinthians 5:11-12
But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler-- not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?
II Corinthians 6:14-15
What partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial...?
When the Spirit declares the organized church to be Babylon, and a harlot, and then calls His people to come out of her, then they must obey.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Hi Joseph
ReplyDeleteIn your last sentence to Beard you write..
"When the Spirit declares the organized church to be Babylon, and a harlot, and then calls His people to come out of her, then they must obey."
By this do you mean that this is a corporate call to all his children to come out immediately?, and if they don't they are in disobedience? If this is your contention, the organized church has been around for nigh on 2000 years. At what point in that 2000 year history did it become mandatory for all to come out. Did it become mandatory after the publication of John's revelatory letter to the churches? or has it become mandatory only during this time of the great apostasy? At what point was Abraham required to dismiss Hagar and Ishmael? Immediately on the birth of Isaac, or at the point that Ishmael started mocking the chosen seed? Were you in disobedience when you attended a carnal church? or was God using that time that you spent in that institution to lead you to maturity. The Holy Spirit is dealing with His children at different stages in their growth to maturity.
Dear Anonymous?
ReplyDeleteThat which I have consistently taught is that each saints needs to be led of the Spirit in all things. I would agree with you that the Spirit deals with the sons of God at different times and in different ways.
In the book "The Road from Babylon to Zion" I have written specifically about the questions you have raised. I would refer you to the following link:
http://www.heart4god.ws/id278.htm
If we look at the type presented in the Old Testament, we find that it was the will of Yahweh that His people dwell in Babylon for a season. They were instructed to build houses, work faithfully, and seek to prosper in the land. A time came, however, when Yahweh called His people to depart from Babylon and return to Zion.
Of all those who entered Babylon, and were born there, only a remnant heeded the call to depart. Babylon was a place of material prosperity. Zion lay in material ruin. The journey was hazardous. The life ahead of those returning would require sacrifice and endurance.
It is little wonder that so many chose to remain in Babylon. Yet, when Yahweh poured out His plagues of judgment upon Babylon, all those who remained became partakers of those judgments.
We are seeing the same pattern fulfilled in this hour. The Spirit is calling Yahweh's people to come out of the mixture, confusion and idolatry of Babylon. Many will not heed the call, for the very same reasons that the Jews did not heed the call. Those who remain in the Great Harlot will become partakers of the cup of judgment presented to her.
Each individual will be accountable for their response when the Spirit declares to them to depart Babylon. They will hear this call at different times, and in different ways. Many will persuade themselves that it is not God's will for them to depart. A great many will wait too long and they will pay a great cost for their lack of obedience.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
I apologize for any redundancy but I just need a little clarification. Are you really implying that every organized church on all of the street corners in America and around the world are operating under the spirit of Babylon?
ReplyDeleteDear (Beard),
ReplyDeleteYou asked:
"Are you really implying that every organized church on all of the street corners in America and around the world are operating under the spirit of Babylon?"
No! However, the vast majority are. John writes the following concerning spiritual Babylon.
Revelation 17:4-6
And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled greatly.
Some have identified spiritual Babylon as the Roman Catholic Church. They have identified her offspring (harlots) as the denominations. I find a lot of merit in this interpretation.
Alexander Hislop has done a wonderful job of revealing the Babylonian roots of the Roman Catholic Church in his book "The Two Babylons." He traces back the madonna worship to Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod, and her son as Tammuz. Tammuz is even mentioned in the Old Testament. You can find a writing I have posted on this subject here:
http://www.heart4god.ws/id585.htm
When God confused the languages and scattered the people at the tower of Babel, they took this profane idolatrous worship with them. The pagan trinity of Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz became known by many different names in the nations, but the core traditions, rituals and beliefs remained clearly identifiable.
In Egypt these three became known as Isis, Horus and Seb. You may be familiar with the letters IHS that are displayed prominently throughout Catholicism. These three entities are what the initials stand for, though the common people are given a different explanation, a practice common in Mystery religions and groups such as Freemasonry.
Continued...
Dear (Beard), Continued...
ReplyDeleteThe Bible identifies Nimrod as Baal in numerous instances, and Semiramis as Astarte, and Ashtoreth, who was worshiped among the people of Canaan, and surrounding nations. This name has come down to us through Germany as Eostre. We know it in English as Ishtar and Easter. This is the same pagan deity named in Scripture as Astarte and Ashtoreth.
One way to discern the influence of Babylon is to see which "Christian" churches have embraced the worship, rites and practices of this Babylonian fertility cult. It is not just the Catholics that celebrate Easter. The Protestant daughters of the harlot also celebrate Easter with all its pagan symbols of fertility including colored eggs, bunny rabbits, grass, flowers,and sunrise services.
Christmas is also derived from the original Babylonian worship of the Sun (Nimrod) and Moon (Semiramis). These pagan holy days (holidays) are determined by the position of the sun, occurring at solstices, equinoxes, and by the phase of the moon.
It matters not whether Christians realize the origin of these practices they are celebrating, or even recognize the name of the goddess they are proclaiming every time they say the word Easter. Satan knows, and so does Yahweh.
These things reveal the Babylonian influence upon the churches, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. Many doctrines and practices (including Sunday worship, rather than the Biblical Sabbath) reveal a deep and pervasive influence of Babylon.
Yet, Babylon at its heart is not identified merely by practices. It is a spiritual principle where the soul of man leads rather than the Spirit of God. That the soul of man is leading in the majority of churches throughout the land is easily observed.
Paul testified that in the last days "men would be lovers of money, lovers of pleasure, lovers of self, rather than lovers of God." This describes the doctrines and activities of the churches. They are focused upon entertainment, material prosperity and ease and comfort.
Babylon was a land noted for materialism, trade, and idolatry. Its idolatry was one of great mixture. They embraced many gods, and even allowed the Jews to worship Yahweh, but they mixed in the worship of other deities as well. The Jews were given into the hand of Babylon for setting the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole right next to the altar of Yahweh.
The majority of churches have done the same today. They have even replaced the Biblical feast of Passover with the pagan holiday of Easter, merging the two into an abominable corruption of the holy and profane.
Babylon means "confusion/mixture." With this information, you should be able to identify which churches are marked by a spirit of Babylon.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Dear Joseph
ReplyDeleteYou encouraged me to reread your book; "The road from Babylon to Zion". I love your writings, they are clear, well researched and the majority of your writings witness with my spirit. In the first chapter you write...
"Zion is to live out the words of Paul:
Galatians 2:20
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
I know some would like to have a rule of thumb to be able to tell Babylon apart from Zion. Such rules are hard to come by, but one indicator I will give. Zion is a people of faith, while Babylon walks by sight and reason."
Amen!
But in your reply to Beard you state that one of the ways of identifying a Babylonian church is to see which ones are celebrating Easter (the death and resurrection of Jesus) and Christmas (the birth of Jesus). These controversies of days are not new. Paul wrote in
Romans 14
4Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
5One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.
Paul wrote in Colossians 2
16Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Dear (Anonymous)?,
ReplyDeleteYou wrote:
"in your reply to Beard you state that one of the ways of identifying a Babylonian church is to see which ones are celebrating Easter (the death and resurrection of Jesus) and Christmas (the birth of Jesus). These controversies of days are not new. Paul wrote in
Romans 14
4Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
5One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
6He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.
Paul wrote in Colossians 2
16Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."
[End Quote]
I believe it would be error to apply this Scripture as you have to the churches. Note that Paul is clearly speaking about judging an individual. He is not speaking about judging the apostasy of the church. It is also a stretch for you to replace the word "festival" with "holyday." Paul certainly had in mind the Feast Days of Yahweh, but by making the change you have included the pagan feast days that were established to worship false gods.
Do you really believe Paul intended to tell the church that it was Ok to participate in pagan festivals, and to join in the celebrations of false gods? There are much better passages of Scripture that should have been considered when seeking to arrive at understanding of the Father's mind for these things. Following are a couple passages that come to mind.
I Corinthians 10:20-22
No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?
II Corinthians 6:14-17
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. "And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you."
What a brother chooses to observe regarding the Sabbath, or the beginning of the month (new moon), of a feast day of Yahweh, is a matter of conscience. But we must be clear that Paul is speaking of days ordained by Yahweh in the Law delivered to Moses. He was not suggesting that it was okay to participate in the practices of idolatry that the pagans delight in. From these things we are to abstain.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Dear (Anonymous)?
ReplyDeleteI will add an additional thought on correctly applying the passage you cited from Paul. It ends with the following words:
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a festival, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ."
Note that Paul is referring to ordinances given in the Law of Yahweh. It is not pagan holidays that "are a shadow of things to come." Paul is referring here to the types and shadows of the Law.
It would be a failure to rightly divide the word of God to apply this passage as you have to pagan festivals such as Christmas and Easter.
Even those outside the church know the origin of these holidays was pagan, and not Christian. Just look them up in Encyclopedia Britannica, or some other scholarly work.
If you have not yet read the presentation I provided a link unto, I would encourage you to do so. The presentation titled "Removing the High Places" can be found here:
http://www.heart4god.ws/id585.htm
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Brother Joseph
ReplyDeleteSo, if I follow the overall message, for those of us who wish to follow Christ we must 1) Come out of the world; and 2) Come out of the Church.
Two brilliant ideas; two very difficult tasks. But are they really what Christ wants?
I have two children and a wife that depend on me to provide a living. I grant you, Christ is more important, but I am not sure how by quitting my job and becoming somewhat destitute is helping anything when our family is already focused on Christ, His prophesy, and the times in which we are living.
Insofar as the Church goes, yes, I am certain that teaching in many Churches is actually harmful; Lakewood Church in Houston would be a prime example. However, many Churches are doing no service and no harm by serving the bland pronouncement of truth that put followers to sleep. Others, I am sure you will agree, are actually living and growing on the Word of Truth.
My point is this; those who are going to Church may be blind but they are least seeking. Are we to abandon those who might hear the Word from us, if not from the Pastor?
Running from the world and the Church does not seem like the strong Christian thing to do. We are to be witnesses to ourselves and to others until the end; are we not?
My fantasy would be to sell everything and run the road as you do; but, I also know that, while I hope that the time is near I also have to live in this world and provide for my family until, well, I don't.
Given your view, those of us who would count ourselves disciples are actually apostate for having a job and belonging to a church. Millions of us are on the path to hell even though we pray, kneel and put everything we have into Him, it is still not enough? Has forgiveness been withdrawn? Has salvation for the faithful been made void?
No, it hasn’t. I am not saying that believing on Sunday and sinning on the other days of the week is a good idea. It's not. But I know there are many of us who simply want to live our lives while at the same time focused on Him. These are not mutually exclusive.
I very much appreciate your study and teaching. But I also believe that Christ, who lived with whores, tax collectors, fishermen and workaday people, understood what it takes to live here in the wicked world. His message is to live in it but not be of it is what I have committed myself and my family to follow. I hope you can understand that too.
Yours In Christ.
Dennis
Dear Dennis,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to write. I encourage you to patience in considering those things I am sharing. Knowing that we will have to give an account of every idle word spoken, I always desire to be restrained in speech, and to not enter into exaggeration or an unjust characterization of another person’s point of view. The fulfillment of the Law is to treat others in the way we desire to be treated, and I certainly would like people to communicate with me in a patient and honest manner, so I strive to do the same with others.
You have ascribed some things to me here which I have not said. My life and teachings are pretty much an open book, as my writings are freely available to be examined by all. In none of my writings have I told the saints that they must quit their jobs and trust God for all their provision. I invite you to examine my teachings, being confident that you will not find such an admonition anywhere.
You are replying to a writing in which the topic was the corporate church, and the ideology that would equate church attendance and participation with Christian discipleship. What was shared in the article is that Christ is our pattern, and He ever lived to do the will of the Father. He went where the Father said go, and He did what the Father instructed Him to do. He did not live a synagogue centered life where attendance and participation in the programs of the organization are equated with obedience to the Father.
I invite you to consider the foundation of the things I am teaching here. They are laid out clearly in the book titled “Sabbath.” As Christians we are exhorted in the strongest terms to “fear, lest any should fall short of entering God’s rest.” This rest is defined by the apostle Paul in the following manner:
Hebrews 4:10
The one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.
Christ was given as the example and pattern of one who had entered this rest. He said repeatedly, “I never do anything of My own initiative. I only do the will of the Father.” He testified that the Father showed Him all things that He wanted Him to do, and Christ was careful to do those things precisely as the Father revealed them to Him. He ever lived to do the Father’s will.
This is the pattern for all who would become mature sons of God. We must cease doing those works that arise from our soul and begin to be led of the Spirit in all things. This is Sabbath rest. This is why Christ said no man can be My disciple unless he hates his own soul. We must die to those things our soul would choose, and submit to the leadership of another.
Dennis, this Sabbath rest is antithetical to the life you have described. You wrote:
“I know there are many of us who simply want to live our lives while at the same time focused on Him. These are not mutually exclusive.”
There are many Christians who are living self-directed lives while seeking to acknowledge God in their lives. These are to a degree “focused on Him.” However, having a focus on God is not the same as being subject to His lordship. Dying to our own soul’s leadership, and yielding to be led of the Spirit in all things, is the cost of Christian discipleship. We cannot be led by our soul and be led of the Spirit of Christ at the same time. One must yield that the other might lead.
continued...
ReplyDeleteThis is the real point of what the Father has directed me to proclaim to His people. Many are seeking to choose a path that is comfortable to their soul, while offering to God a measured portion of their time, resources, and life. Christ, however, gave everything to the Father. He never once sought His own way. He never once made a life decision based upon a desire of His own soul. He ever lived to do the will of the Father.
We know that even when the Father revealed to His Son that it was His will to crush Him, putting Him to open shame and death on a cross, Yahshua yielded to the rule of His Father. He said, “Not My will, but Your will be done.”
Dennis, this is what Christians are avoiding today. By giving God only a measure of their life and obedience, and persuading themselves that it is acceptable to God that they join a church and participate in its programs, they have adopted a path that is not from the Father. He wants His sons to surrender everything to Him, not merely to commit to church participation.
I know that if you will patiently consider what I am saying that you will realize that the cost of discipleship as patterned and taught by Christ is not what is taught in the churches today. How then can one conclude that it is not harmful to attend a church? You wrote:
“many Churches are doing no service and no harm by serving the bland pronouncement of truth that put followers to sleep.”
Dennis, can you not see the great harm of this? If the churches are not leading the saints to the narrow (afflicted) path that leads to life, then where are they leading them? There is only one other path, and it leads to destruction.
If we do not surrender ourselves as living sacrifices now, we will become the mandatory sacrifice in the lake of fire later. All those who fail to find the narrow path, and walk it, will indeed suffer great loss.
There is a reason that Christ said, “The path is afflicted that leads to life, and few there are who find it.” Do you really believe that the vast masses of people who are attending church services weekly are on the narrow path that leads to life that few find? Are they taking up their cross daily to follow Christ, denying their own soul that they might follow the leading of the Spirit? I know they are not.
I would be doing a disservice to the body of Christ to not proclaim the narrowness of this path. Are you not troubled that God is asking you for a greater surrender than you have yet given to Him? Is this not the cause of your discomfort and criticism. Truly, my surrender to be led of the Spirit has cost me all things, relationships, material possessions, and a comfortable life. Yet I have gained far more and can reckon a Paul that “these are but momentary, light afflictions, not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed in us.”
Dennis, Yahweh is asking you for everything. Are you willing to give all? I do not say that you must quit your job and give away all possessions and forsake all earthly relations. However, you must give all into the Father’s hands, and permit Him to do with all of them as He chooses. There will be loss. There will be surrender. There will be suffering. This is why it is compared to the cross.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Pastor Herrin, thank you for another very powerful writing from Father. I have a several questions about the discussion between you and D Randall. You said, "In none of my writings have I told the saints that they must quit their jobs and trust God for all their provision. I invite you to examine my teachings, being confident that you will not find such an admonition anywhere". Why is it wrong to depend on Father for all of our provision? If you have the faith as you did the Lord will provide. Surely you know there will come a time when no man will be able to work. I ask these questions respectfully not to sow discord. How can you walk the afflicted narrow path as Christ did living in the suburbs and being a wage slave? Some of us have given up everything to walk this path yet you meet at peoples homes. How about those who have given up their homes and live in tents, at rest stops and have no place to lay their heads. I'm sure you know how hard the narrow path is you have lived it. Others merely talk about following the path, there are those that do more than talk. When Yashua returns will He find faith on the earth?
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYou asked:
"Why is it wrong to depend on Father for all of our provision? If you have the faith as you did the Lord will provide."
Discipleship to Christ must be walked according to His pattern. Christ never chose homelessness, or an itinerant traveling ministry for Himself. He never did anything of His own initiative. He only did the will of the Father. It was the Father who directed Christ to the life He lived described as "the fixes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head."
We too must be submitted to the will of the Father. You referred to the faith I had to leave my job and to trust Yahweh for all my provision as I followed Him. I have oftentimes defined what true Biblical faith is.
The scriptures say, "Faith comes out of (literal translation) hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The foundation of true faith is ALWAYS Yahweh's word spoken to us. When He speaks something, then we have something for our faith to rest on and arise out of.
In 1999 I heard the Father instruct me to quit my job, to begin a ministry of teaching His word, and to look to Him for all the needs of my family. Because I heard a word, I then had the foundation for true faith.
If I had chosen for myself to quit the secular world of employment and to look to God to support my family and I, this would not have been faith. It would have been presumption.
In your comments you have given an argument for quitting a job and trusting God. In doing this you are permitting human reasoning to be your guide, not the Spirit of Christ. We are not to lean on our own understanding. We are to be dependent upon the Father to guide us in all things.
Has He told all His sons and daughters to quit their jobs? No! Has He told all of them to remain in the occupation and home they are in? No. In both cases, the people are walking in presumption, being self-directed, if they are following the counsel of their own soul rather than the counsel of the Spirit of Christ.
Discipleship begins with a surrender to be led of the Spirit. We must accept whatever path He chooses for us.
Do I believe that many will be brought to trust Yahweh for all things in coming days? Absolutely. But I do not counsel any to make life changes apart from being led of the Spirit. The only way to stand when we are tested is to know the Father is the one directing our path.
I have just read all the comments for
ReplyDeletethis article and I came away from it
with what I have known for a long
time - we MUST learn to discern the
voice of God within us and only THEN
move. Over the years, the Lord has
spoken to me several times in a way
that I KNEW it was Him speaking and
then I was able to move out knowing
I was in His will. At other times,
I'm not so sure - is it my soue
speaking or His Spirit? If I am not
sure - I pray and wait, pray and
wait, pray and wait. Sometimes the
waiting is long and wearisome but
I don't want to move out until I
am sure who spoke to me and that
I am not listening to my own self -
or that I don't have heart idols
that God is speaking to me thru -
(see Eze 14. It takes patience to
wait on the Lord (Ps 37)but it is
very rewarding when I am able to
do what I know God has spoken to
me to do. I hope this is helpful.
Anonymous (July 30 - 2:09 PM)
ReplyDeleteVery helpful! That's my main obstacle, hearing and KNOWING it's Him.
Thank you.
Joe