Think of this - God never knew pain until He created us. He never knew loss, yet, His love for us is so great He created us anyway - knowing how much pain we would end up causing Him.

        Yes, He experienced Satan's rebellion, but Satan wasn't created to be his eternal bride - we alone have that honor. We therefore also have the dubious honor of being the only ones with the ability to break His heart "O JERUSALEM, JERUSALEM!" How often do we see God crying out to us in scripture in obvious pain and distress! How many scriptures deal with His anguish? Yes, we have the ability to hurt Him - no other created being can claim that ( Satan can hurt Him only indirectly by hurting us, he cannot hurt Him directly like we can).

        The scriptures declare "He was wounded" - really? How could anyone or anything possibly wound our invincible, mighty God? We did it. Men. People. Human beings. He gave us the power, the ability, to hurt Him, and so we do. Why did He do this? He did this because to truly love someone means allowing ourselves to become vulnerable. We give the one we love the ability to hurt us when we open ourselves to them. This is the joy of being deeply in love with someone - we give them the ability to wound us, and instead they choose to love us in return, to echo our love, to bless and not curse. It's a risk/reward situation - no reward without risk, but when our love and trust in another is reciprocated  it's a much more profound love, much deeper because we give them the ability to hurt us and daily they choose not to.

        Yes, we must daily strive to not hurt our God, our heart's eternal lover, because every day He hurts, He grieves. He once said the saddest thing I've ever heard, and it grieves me that He'll soon say it again  - "it repented The Lord that He had made man on the earth, AND IT GRIEVED HIM AT HIS HEART" and He grieves this deeply todaym even more because He's left us His Spirit to help us not to hurt Him, because His Spirit reveals His words and His ways to us. Our generation is truly without excuse. Because now He is with us in Spirit, meaning He can personally love and guide each of us simultaneously. Yet, as in the days of Noah, most of mankind chooses to reject Him and in their heart of hearts, despise Him.

        Every soul that denies Him access, that rejects His companionship, every heart that turns away from Him, causes Him pain. He loves each soul personally. It is not His will that any should perish. So, let's each do our part to bring Him joy. Let's each cause Him to delight in us. Let's  put a smile on His face every day we're alive. May our love for Him be the wine that makes His heart glad, and may His love for us daily gladden our hearts.

        As His covenant people, let's stop grieving Him by our incessant bickering and arguing with each other about doctrine or any other excuse we make to withdraw our love from each other, completely ignoring His commandment to "love one another". We must leave our denominational strongholds and become what we're meant to be - fellow citizens of that great city, the New Jerusalem. Though we being many, we are one Body, in Christ. As such, let's follow Him alone, for indeed, we have but one king. Let's allow His mighty Spirit to unite us, oh how this pleases Him! 

        Let's look for the three witnesses in each other - the water, the Spirit and the blood. The Father, The Son and the Spirit. "And they continued in the Apostles doctrine" as should we. Apostles and Prophets can express His mind and will like no one else. Let's embrace the house church movement. Visit Find A House Church dotcom.

It's time to flee Babylon my people! Come out and be ye separate, saith the Lord!

 A word about performance oriented Christianity. All the world may be a stage but we are not of this world. We should not model our gatherings after the world's way of meeting together. Instead of all focusing on one, we should invite The One to focus on all. To start with - do away with stages and microphones. Stop taking offerings, instead let people give them, as God instructs them to. Do not give attention to any one man but give attention to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Ministry is never a performance. Pressure comes from trying to please and impress people. When He is the One ministering through us - the result is entirely between Him and His people. We simply speak when and what He says to, and shut up when He says to. We want to please the Father, not the people. We are not nearly as important as the souls we serve. Selah.

 Intellectual Christianity, still eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, presents truths as if they are something they have accomplished- as if they are wise enough, through their wisdom and understanding, to grasp it, as if it's an achievement of theirs - something to take pride in. They proudly display their "statement of beliefs"  for all to see - proving to all that they have wisdom.  Yet their "statement of beliefs" are merely words on paper. They mean nothing if the people are not allowing God to write them on their hearts - letting the Holy Spirit make them "living epistles" . All truth is a gift from the Holy Spirit to our spirits. It is grasped spiritually first, in our hearts, then with our minds. God adds knowledge to our understanding when it's Him we're seeking, not just knowledge in and of itself. 

Truth does not originate with us. It is graced to us by God who is fully capable of sending a "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie". We in no way earn the right to know the truth, neither is there something special about us that makes us deserve it above others. There is nothing in us, our intelligence for example, that makes us wiser than anyone else, except a willing heart, a humble heart, that will enthrone the truth and bow to him. The Holy Spirit reveals truth (Jesus) to us and He continues to reveal Him throughout our lives. He whispers in our ears "this is the way, walk ye in it." He first chooses us and His Spirit will always be our source of truth - not our own wisdom or understanding or any other man's. "God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth". 

Who is your source of truth? Is it your pastor? A book or TV program? This blog? Is man or God teaching you? How do you know if what you're being taught is truth or error? Only the Holy Spirit knows the difference. Do you rely on logic? Does it have to make sense to you? Are you leaning on your understanding, which God warns us not to do? Be very careful you do not mix God's wisdom with the wisdom of this fallen world, wisdom designed to glorify man rather than God. 

Jesus is our sound doctrine.  Spend your life in pursuit of him, not just knowledge about him, or even from him. Wisdom is a byproduct of knowing and following him. Find people that are seeking his face together,  whose fellowship is with him whenever they gather together.  I entrust you now, as always, into his gracious love and concern for you. God bless you and preserve you blameless till the day of his coming.

An Inconvenient Truth

 

Truth does not always fit into our comfort zone. Truth will, on occasion, make us very uncomfortable. Truth does not conform to our understanding- rather, our understanding must conform to the Truth.

A while back Al Gore put out a film titled "An Inconvenient Truth". Now I don't know if climate change is real or not, though I suspect it might be. Spiritually it makes sense because God has decreed He will judge the earth the second time by fire and the whole world but for a select few is going to Hell - where it's much hotter than it is here, so I can easily see the planet getting hotter as a prophetic sign of the times. Regardless if it's true or not, I love that title - "An Inconvenient Truth". 

The fact Satan has disguised his kingdom as "Christian" is an inconvenient truth. The fact that denominations are founded by and more easily influenced by Satan than God is an inconvenient truth. The fact that most churches are submitted to and operate in the flesh and not God's Spirit is an inconvenient truth.  How often in scripture is the voice of the prophet, God's voice, a lonely voice crying in the wilderness? In the wilderness, the prophet is not distracted by man's voice and can fully focus on God's voice, besides which - they are not welcome in the places (cities) where men who are united in their desire to not hear God's voice gather "Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience".

How many heard and took heed to the voice of the prophet in their day? Very few. Yet still God spoke, still He judged, still He saved the few He could reach; still His heart broke over His people's stubborn refusal to hear and obey His voice. Still He grieved over His people's penchant for whoring after other gods, gods that cater to the whims and lusts of the flesh, gods born of the carnal minds of men, in communion with Satan and his followers. 

And the churches of today have committed every sin ever committed by Israel. In fact - Israel in the Old Testament is a perfect picture in the natural realm of the Church in the realm of the Spirit. In great detail, God describes the history and future of the Church through the history of Israel. Even as Israel ended up doing what every man thought was right in his own eyes; so has the Church through denominations. The story of Israel is the story of the Church with one important difference - Israel's judgments were temporal while the Church's are eternal. God blinded Israel so the Church could come to be, which means there's hope. A remnant never did bow the knee to Baal, choosing instead to suffer afflictions at the hand of their brethren and likewise today a remnant has never bowed their hearts to the gods of Babylon. They've remained free of it's insidious influence to exalt man above God and replace God with men in the lives of the people. 

In the modern day fallacy i call the "cult of the pastor", where pastors are exalted above due measure, truth is the one thing often claimed but rarely known. Oh sure, they know some doctrinal truths but they don't know the Spirit of Truth "he turned and rebuked them, and said, you know not what manner of spirit you are of". God never ordained or desired pastors to to be the sole leaders of local congregations. An Inconvenient truth? Yes, but a truth none-the-less. And one that must be known and accepted for our churches to become healthy. 

The key to real, lasting maturity and freedom is to welcome the Holy Spirit's presence- and then to submit to him. His will must be done. We must learn his ways, hear his thoughts, and act on them. He has the blueprint for every local fellowship.  "Now the Lord is that Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" but will they be made whole? Will "him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understands and knows me? saith The Lord". Will God's people today allow Him to restore their souls? Will they allow Him to MAKE THEM, LEAD THEM, AND RESTORE THEM? "He MAKETH me to lie down.....He LEADETH me beside the still waters, He RESTORERH my soul". Will they continue to trust in "lying words, saying (of their churches) the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these"? Will they hear the voice of the Lord at this very moment, saying "Amend your ways and your doings"? "Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit." Will they love Truth even if it does not fit into their doctrines or understanding? Even if it leads them outside the camp? Even if their own brethren choose to hate the truth they love? Will they allow the truth to pierce them so deeply it shakes the very foundation upon which their souls stand before God? Will they allow all they've believed to be brought into the light of truth? 

Truth will not bow to you. Truth will not compromise it's integrity to keep you coming to it's fellowship. Truth would rather lose your soul than compromise itself with lies and hypocrisy.  Truth loves you even if you do not love it. Truth wants your heart and mind but will not force itself upon you. Truth will ever remain pure - a clarion call from the Spirit of Truth in these last days to all who will hear it, receive it and conform to it, not desire it to conform to them. Truth is calling out to those who will serve the truth - not force the truth to serve them and use the truth to validate their fleshly,  carnal lives where money, possessions, influence and fame are their heart's pursuits, where men's names are equated with God's, where God's word is used for man's glory. 

Does this pierce your heart like a double-edged sword? Like an arrow sent from Heaven? Is it painful? Is it changing you? Is truth changing your perspective? Your traditions? Your lifestyle? Your life? Truth crucifies our flesh. Truth hastens the death of every last vestige of our wills. Truth tears apart, rips wide open the veil separating us from His will, His very presence in our hearts, but once He takes His proper place on the throne of our hearts, our souls must bow in humble adoration and service of his glory and powee, for his glorious light shines brightest where (His) truth is revered and lies are despised. 

After killing us, blessedly, truth resurrects us in it's own image, for truth polishes our souls till we become mirrors reflecting truth for all to see. We become images of God like we were at the dawn of creation. Our fellowship with God is restored, as it was in Eden, so that we may once again walk and talk with God in tender intimacy, in wondrous, everlasting union. "I love you, my dove, my undefiled. I am my beloved's and his desire is towards me. Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits." 

Oh beloved, lay down your pet false doctrines and your traditions of men. "Why do you transgress the commandment of God by your tradition"? "In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men!" No, do not lay them down, someone else may pick them up - smash them to powder than drink it so you will know by getting a taste of how bitter your end will be if you continue to worship and follow them instead of God. Every teaching and tradition (words and ways) you cling to that is false - is a slap in God's face for they're saying to God "we know better than you" . He only ever desires our good, the falsehoods you love declare to Him, our will, our understanding, are preferable to yours. We would rather spend our lives following flesh, then You, O Lord. We may, some of us, desire Your presence, but not for how we may please You but for how You may serve and please us. Many of us want what You can give to us in the natural, not what You can impart to us by Your Spirit.  Some of us accept spiritual blessings as long as they don't require sacrifice on our part. We love that you sacrificed yourself for us but we draw the line at sacrificing for you (ok, we will get up at 5am for an Easter sunrise service). We will follow You as long as You're feeding us and comforting us but when Your footsteps turn towards the Cross - we will abandon You and follow man instead. We will only meet with You publicly if our pastor is present or he approves, for apart from our pastors we can do nothing. We can do all things through our pastors who strengthen us. 

You may think I'm exaggerating, but sadly far too many are depending on their pastors for what they should be receiving from the Holy Spirit. If these truths are inconveniencing you now, keep in mind lies will inconvenience you much more later on when you endvup in hell because of them. Better to humble yourself now than have God do it later. Just as he cast Satan out of Heaven so shall he cast all who follow Satan off the earth.  Jer:7:14

 Everyone is trying so hard to live up to the image someone else told them they are. Homosexuals are desperately trying to be sodomites because someone told them they're gay. It may have been a demob, but someone convinced them they're gay. Black Americans are desperately trying to look and sound "black", whatever they've been taught that is. White, southern, Red Necks have an image they feel they must maintain- what to wear, what music to listen to, even what to drive. Democrats and Republicans both have clear cut philosophies they must agree to, that become they're identities. Every denomination has a look and feel that must be adhered to. They all have doctrines that must be believed. All of them want to become your identity, all want you to identify yourself as a (fill in the blank - white, southern, Presbyterian Republican, for example.)

My point is - all this is of the flesh. People have a deep rooted need to belong to a group, be it Italian, Korean or American. But when we are born of God, when we are born of his Spirit,  our fleshly identities fade away and our spiritual identity takes over. We are no longer who we were in the flesh. We are now made in the image of God, as we were originally meant to be. Our fleshly identity is no longer of any concern to us except as a means to reach lost souls. We no longer live our lives based on our flesh or anyone else's. Man looks on the outward appearance,  in other words, man looks at the flesh and bases everything on that, but God looks at the heart, in other words,  what spirit are you of? We too should look only at what spirit someone is walking in, not their flesh. Amen.