Come along!!! Join me for a muti-part thought provoking series.
Do any of you have a pit in your gut that something is not right with the church in general or even your own church? Do you walk out feeling the same or see no change in family or friends who attend a local church? Have you thought about leaving or bravely taking a peek behind the curtain of your own church? Do you constantly hear the words from "that crazy friend or family member" continue to ring in your head? Or how about your friend who says the church just wants your money. Have you ever thought your church may just want your money??? Does anyone ever encourage you to read the bible? Have you ever thought this lack of encouragement to read it for yourself may be to hide it from you in plain sight? If those are your thoughts as well as others which may be troubling you, my hope is that this awakens you to the fact that you are not crazy, out of line or need to continue pray or discuss this with anyone but God. If you understand the spiritual realm, you will be on high alert for that to influence people you wish to consult with. ISV Ephesions 6:12 For our struggle is not against human opponents, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us, and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm. The conflict you may feel may very well be God dealing with you directly. If this is you or you are curious, it is time for you to face this, should you be up for the challenge. Many are weary and do not wish to. Please, accept this push to come along, gain some strength, insight and confirmation. If this is all new to you, this will still be relatable.
First of all, know this is all said with the most sincere agape love and absolutely no judgment here. Pretend this is a conversation between you and I. Pausing as you answer my questions as well as your own. I share this knowledge from my own very personal experiences as well as amazing, old school preachers whom opened my own eyes. As a result of my journey, I have been very troubled over the lost souls resulting from the church and it's behavior, not to mention my own over the years. Hopefully this will help those whom have struggled for years between family, church and God's will for you.
Ultimately this information and what you do with it is between you and God. I am merely the vessel being used to warn his people. To expose the lies and share the truth in a very complex unforgiving society.
This article is not to shake your faith in Jesus, but, it is meant to shake you and your faith in man and the church he has created.
In fact here is a pearl of wisdom for you. Religion is man's ideas about what Gods wants, sometimes.
Please seriously contemplate these things before moving forward. What you read cannot be unlearned or forgotten. We are all called to the truth. The question is, can you handle it? This is where your faith takes over. Once you gain this knowledge, you will be relying on your faith more than ever. Before proceeding, may I ask you some personal questions first? Are you teachable? Do you have critical thinking skills? Are you seeking the truth? Can you separate your emotions from fact? Are you open to what the holy spirit may have for you? If so, come along for an informative, thought provoking read.
How do we know what Jesus and the Father expect of us as followers? Do you know? What about those that lead us, teach us? What is expected of them? How do we know they are right? How do we know we are not being misled?
Folks!!! We are talking about the most valuable piece of real estate on earth. You!!! One day, regardless of your beliefs, it will be you and God. What will that look like for you? Have you ever thought about these things? Time is short and YOU my friend are in the right place to bring new life into your spirit! Can we agree we are living in the last days? Look around. These confirming events are not on your local news. Sadly the people presenting the daily news are merely there to program your mind, will and emotions to their truth, not THE TRUTH. This is your first hard lesson. I will stop here for a moment and share this with you. There were many things I heard that I immediately rejected because of my own belief system. When I would think about walking away from it, the holy spirit would whisper, hang in there and give it a chance. Those little bits of encouragement were huge in my developement. It was everything!!! Five years ago, I would argue with my current self. I would have no part in it. That is how fast things are moving these days. At some point, the pain of being stuck out weighs the pain of change. The difference between the few of us and you (if you are thinking this) is the disatisfaction of our current state of mind. Knowing we have only scratched the surface. We tire of being led by people who refuse to grow. This pushes us outside the box, freeing us from the weight of being told what to think. There is another world outside of those controlled realms. One must also be able to handle the good with the evil being exposed. Even though this turns into an emotional rollercoaster ride during the discovery process, life is so much more fulfilling and challenging. Before we tackle any of this, first we must arm ourselves. Listen carefully, When you have any battle to fight, do you go in unprepared? Of course not!!! Then why do we go through life like we do? It is because we are ignorant to the truth. We are programmed to live and believe a certain way and that is that!!! The number one problem with people in general, they have come to believe the word of God is something other than what it is. The truth, your solution to every problem facing humanity is inside that book!!! Yet one is suppose to trust that giving 1% of ones life to another human (preacher) provides all the skills needed in order to live a great life, raise great children and live in a community with order and harmony, wholesome living etc. Did you catch that? Think about it, if one wants to become a doctor, they walk, live and breathe their training. Would you want a 1-2% educated surgeon or doctor? What makes anyone think they can be a christian with 1% effort? Yet, we are sold this lie and we have bought this lie. Is the problem becoming clear?
One of the first bible studies anyone should do is after salvation (more on that later) is Ephesians 6:10-17. How? Go online to bible hub. Pray and ask God to show you his word in way you can understand it. Find this and then read it in different translations. Listen to what he says to you, where he gives you impressions to click on links or to look up words in the dictionary, strongs concordance, greek lexicon, etc. Start clicking and reading. Journal what you find. Ephesians 6: The Armor of God 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
As you grow, the truth will resonate with your spirit. You will KNOW because the holy spirit walks along side you and inside you once every step of the way as long as you walk along side him, Jesus. It is about relationship. That is his assignment once you choose to follow Jesus. Mathew 16:24 NLT Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.
This is from Elliotts comentary for English readers and a great little bible study about this verse. It shows one how badly the majority of "Christians" miss the mark and are in danger of eternity without Jesus. Then said Jesus unto his disciples.--St. Mark adds that He "called the multitude with the disciples," and St. Luke's "he said unto all "implies something of the same kind. The teaching as to the unworldliness of His kingdom which the disciples so much needed was to be generalised in its widest possible extent. Those who were following Him, as many did, in idle wonder, or with the desire of earthly greatness, must do so knowing its conditions. If any man will come after me.--The "will" is more than a mere auxiliary; "willeth," "desireth" to come after. Let him deny himself, and take up his cross.--Our common thoughts of "self-denial," i.e., the denial to ourselves of some pleasure or profit, fall far short of the meaning of the Greek. The man is to deny his whole self, all his natural motives and impulses, so far as they come into conflict with the claims of Christ. If he does not so deny himself, he is in danger, as Peter was (it is significant that the same word is used in both instances), of denying his Lord. The self-denial here commanded has, accordingly, its highest type and pattern in the act by which the Son of God, in becoming man, "emptied Himself (see Note on Philippians 2:7 ) of all that constituted, if we may so speak, the "self" of His divine nature. The words "take up his cross," which the disciples had heard before (see Note on Matthew 10:38 ), were now clothed with a new and more distinct meaning, by the words that spoke so clearly of the death of which the cross was to be the instrument.
Follow Jesus whether you attend a church or not. He will direct you to the right place. Be open, it may not be where you think.
End of part 1
