Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24, KJ2000)
And the Father himself, who has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. And you have not his word abiding in you: for whom he has sent, him you believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And you will not come to me, that you might have life. (John 5:37-40, KJ2000)
“And the Father himself, who has sent me, has borne witness of me. You have neither [not] heard his voice at any time.” What an indictment! Jesus was saying to these devout Jews that as far as God was concerned, they were stone deaf! Have you ever thought that these words of Jesus could apply to us who believe in Him?
Recently, I had a conversation over breakfast with a dear brother who loves God and is quite knowledgeable in the scriptures. Over the years God has used him to lead others to Christ and he has become a prolific writer about scriptural things. I have not personally known anyone like him for having insight into the deeper meanings of scriptural teachings. Yet, he confessed to me that he was having to be purged of all the interpretations of his former Bible teachers and things about the scriptures he has read so he can hear what the Spirit wishes to say to him as he reads the Bible. He found that as he reads a verse he hears the voice of these human teachers and their spin on each verse. I have not had any formal Bible school training as this brother has, but I still know what he means. As I read certain passages in the Bible, what my own teachers said about those scriptures either in their writings or personally, pops up in my mind.
So the question came to me as I was pondering this problem, “Do I hear HIS words to me when I read the ‘Word of God’ or do I hear the words of human teachers and preachers and what they said about these scriptures?” Jesus made it clear that after He was to die on the cross, we would not be left alone but that He would come again. The Holy Spirit would be our Teacher and lead us into all truth (See John 14: 18-20 & 26). Yet, how many of us have filled our minds with the teachings of men and their traditions that make the commandments and leadings of God of no effect (see Matt. 15:6)? Even our adherence to the Bible itself can get in the way of obeying God as it did with Peter (See Acts 10:9-16). Isn’t this what Jesus was telling the Jews who wanted to kill Him because He healed a lame man on the Sabbath?
He that HEARS my words and believes shall have everlasting life. We search the scriptures as did these learned Jews, but do we come to Him in the process and listen for His voice? Or do we look for and unconsciously hear the voices of our Christian teachers as their teachings bounce around between our ears with each verse?
When the Spirit teaches us, there is life in His words. When we do not hear His voice, even as we study the Bible, it is nothing but a dead letter. The letter of the Bible kills, but the Spirit who desires to teach us gives life! Like Peter said after most of the disciples had turned away from Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…” (John 6:68, ESV2011).
Paul the Pharisee had been taught by the best Jewish scholars in Jerusalem, but when the living Christ confronted Him for the first time in his life he had to ask, “Who are you, Lord?” He knew the words of God, but he still had not met THE Word of God or heard Him as his Teacher! His life would be radically changed as Christ went on to teach him by His Spirit. When we wait on the Spirit to teach us, we have His words of life taking up an abode in our hearts. When we read the scriptures and hear the words of our human teachers or rely on them to tickle our ears with new things, death remains in us. We are no better than Paul who persecuted Christ by killing those who believed in Him thinking he was doing God a service. This radically changed Paul would go on to write,
For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been his counselor?… For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Rom 11:34-36, KJ2000)
God desires to un-teach us so that we can once again become as children desiring to hear our Father’s voice or as Peter put it,
As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby: If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. (1Pet 2:2-3, KJ2000)
This process of His stripping might take us out into a dark season of wilderness where we are even removed from Bible reading and teaching until we can hear HIS voice once again. Oswald Chambers wrote,
“At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of God’s hand until we learn to hear Him…Watch where God puts you into darkness, and when you are there keep your mouth shut. Are you in the dark just now in your circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet…” (February 14th– My Utmost for His Highest)
Dear Father, help us to see our need to hear your Spirit as we read the scriptures and blot out of our minds all the voices of our human teachers that we have heaped upon ourselves over the years so we can hear Your voice clearly once again, Amen.
A Wilderness Voice 
Thank you for the blog, including the prayer.
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You are welcome, Pat. Good to hear from you again. You are in my prayers.
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Michael, I could not agree more with your deliberations on hearing THE WORD Himself 🕎 instead of religious blah ⛪💬 or even false interpretations of the Bible. ⭐⭐⭐
Just today I was struggling with an anxiety attack that tried to overwhelm me. I withdrew and tried to pray “it away.” Yet it was a real demonic attack and the devil did not give up after I had found some rest in Christ’s presence. Yet all of a sudden I heard my phone buzzing. Checking it, it was not the notification I was waiting for. Instead, it was a ‘Biblical emergency call list’ including 32 verses you should read when you’re clueless, in sorrow, feeling forsaken, having sinned etc. This list was sent to me by a very young believer in a moment where I needed God’s help. Nonetheless, the more instructions I read, the ‘deader’ this whole thing felt. 🏴
Yes, Michael, if God does not make Scripture alive to us, it can be like reading a phone book. What we need in the New Covenant is always only Jesus Christ who said,
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28 ESV)
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Oh, Susanne, how true. Jesus can speak to us through scriptures if He wills, but He is not bound by them. We must come to HIM that we might have life. One time I had saved hundreds of letters that I had received from my wife while I served in the Vietnam War, but once I got home from the war and we were able to live together, these letters no longer had any meaning because we could then talk face to face. This very reason is why the early Church did not need personal copies of the scriptures as is so common today. John wrote to them, “You have received an unction and HE teaches you all things.” It was not until many decades later after the apostles were all dead that their letters and gospels were gather up together in an official canon and reproduced and it was many centuries later that believers had copies of these texts called “Bibles” in their own common languages. Hearing the Living Word was never meant to be replaced by reading two dimensional printed words on a page of paper. .
How apropos this verse you shared is for us today, “Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Praying for you, dear sister. I know what it is like to suffer anxiety attacks.
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Thank you so much for your prayers, Michael! Will keep praying for you as well.
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Patricia wrote:
Thank you Michael for such a special teaching. A few years ago when the Lord took me out of the religious camp, the first thing he said was that I was going to burn all the garbage I had learned there. And so far God has been faithful and he has done it.
There are times when I hear the Voice of the Lord to my life and He teaches me something by his Spirit and suddenly I read something from you or from Susan (Susanne) or another brother and I am surprised to see that it was exactly what the Lord was teaching me in the secret from my heart. That is wonderful.
The only thing that prevents us from hearing His voice are the idols of our heart, when the Lord destroys all idols and removes all obstacles in our hearts we can hear them. Our life is not Biblio centric is Christ centric, He is the anointing that teaches us, He is the Living Word that penetrates to split the soul and the spirit. It is the Lord Jesus, alive and reigning, who speaks to us in a personal and novel way every day.
Thanks Michael, a fraternal hug. I hope that you pray for me too, I have also been with anxiety attacks and with insomnia, but the Lord has been faithful.
In the love of Christ, your Colombian sister Patricia
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Gracias Michael por tan especial enseñanza. Hace unos años cuando el Señor me llevó a salir fuera del campamento de la religión lo primero que me dijo fue que iba a quemar de mi vida toda la basura aprendida allí. Y hasta el momento Dios ha sido fiel y lo ha hecho.
Hay momentos cuando escucho la Voz del Señor a mi vida y Él me enseña algo por su Espíritu y de pronto leo algo tuyo o de Susan o de otro hermano y me sorprendo al ver que fue exactamente lo que el Señor me estuvo enseñando en el secreto de mi corazón. Eso es maravilloso.
Lo único que nos impide escuchar Su voz son los ídolos de nuestro corazón, cuando el Señor arrasa con todos los ídolos y quita todo obstáculo de nuestro corazón podemos escucharlo. Nuestra vida no es Biblio céntrica es Cristo céntrica, Él es la Unción que nos enseña, Él es la Palabra Viva que penetra hasta partir el alma y el espíritu. Es el señor Jesús, vivo y reinante, que nos habla de una manera personal y novedosa cada día.
Gracias Michael, un abrazo fraternal. Espero que ores por mi también, he estado también con ataques de ansiedad y con insomnio, pero el Señor ha sido fiel.
En el amor de Cristo, tu hermana colombiana Patricia
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Thank you, Patricia. It is always encouraging to hear that something we share is a second witness to what the Spirit has been saying to one of His saints. The way I see it, true spiritual teaching is nothing more than putting into words what the Spirit (our TRUE TEACHER) is already saying to the ekklesia. Like Jesus said, “I only speak the words I hear my Father saying.” All other teaching is false and there is a lot of it these days. Like you point out, an impure heart is wide open to the lies of false teachers and the deceptions of the enemy.
I will continue to pray for you, dear sister. Thank you for your prayers as well,
Michael
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“The way I see it, true spiritual teaching is nothing more than putting into words what the Spirit (our TRUE TEACHER) is already saying to the ekklesia. Like Jesus said, “I only speak the words I hear my Father saying.” All other teaching is false and there is a lot of it these days. Like you point out, an impure heart is wide open to the lies of false teachers and the deceptions of the enemy.”
Now I understand, I was still a bit lost but this clears everything up.
Thank you
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Good to hear this, Fred.
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Wow, gracias Susanne por tu testimonio. Hace unos días tuve también un ataque de ansiedad y no podía dormir. En la tercera noche sin dormir fue como si Dios me dijera: Calla y escucha. Fue una noche hermosa escuchando en silencio a mi Señor y descansando en Su regazo.
A veces la gente te abruma enviando versículos a tu vida para que tú los hagas efectivo en ti y los declares como si la Biblia fuera una especie de “Mantra”. Y yo no me siento cómoda con eso, porque solo el Señor puede hacerme ver Sus Escrituras y aplicarlas a mi vida a la manera de Él y en su momento. Es como Job escuchando a sus tales amigos, con palabras sin la guía del Espíritu. Ellos querían aplicar su supuesta “sabiduría” a la fuerza, sin la intervención de Dios.
Un abrazo querida Susanne
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You are very welcome as to my sharing here, dear Patricia. ❤
I was sorry to hear that you are acquainted with anxiety attacks, too.
But oh, how wonderful that God comforted you in these three sleepless nights instead! 🙂
And wow, I really loved your remarks about people sending you Bible verses, thinking God led them to do so, suggesting to us we should use these verses like a 'MANTRA'! Ugh! Indeed, that reminds me strongly of the Word of Faith movement (Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Oral Roberts and numerous others) … or in other words, of Pentecostal brain washing!
Un abrazo gigante para ti, también, querida hermana
XOXO
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Yes, indeed. Thank you for saying so.
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You are welcome, Louise.
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I have felt this way about the many plans for reading the Bible in a year. While regular, disciplined reading of the Word is advantageous, too many of these plans are mechanistic — coupling together unrelated Old and New Testament verses, while at times interrupting the thoughts expressed in Scripture midstream.
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Well said, Anna! Any time we mechanize or institutionalize something that should be organic and relational in nature we strip the life out of it. All too much of what is called “Christian” today has done just that. Keep seeking His face, dear sister.
Michael
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I know what you mean although my experence is a bit different. For me I have so many conflicting teachings in my head that I have no choice but to turn to GOD to find out the truth. I have done this a few times. Although probably not as much as I should. I know at times I tried and failed to only focus on the word of GOD instead of all these other books, you tube videos and blogs and other places. I even got rid of several books. I know not long ago the idea came up to get rid of ever book but the bible and I did keep some now I am thinking about doing it again. I may still keep John bunyan’s books and oswald chambers books and the ones that are just testemonies. I am not sure yet what I am going to do.
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Fred, you wrote, “For me I have so many conflicting teachings in my head that I have no choice but to turn to GOD to find out the truth.” Turning to the Spirit of Christ as your Teacher is the only way to exclude all that is false. This is what 1 John ch. 2 is all about — the Holy Spirit vs. the antichrist spirit. As for all those teachers you have books by and have listened to, remember Paul’s warning to the early church,
“I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:29-32, ESV2011)
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Ya and that reminds me of somting Jesus him self said.
King James Bible John 5:53
I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
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Woe! So true, Fred. How quickly we receive church teachers that come in their own names and ignore THE Teacher that Jesus HAS given us from the Father!
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Fred,
Nobody but God can help you here. As for me, I sense when something becomes a burden for me, I must get rid of it, even if nobody else understands. A few days ago I broke with my almost daily routine to first read Sparks and afterwards Chambers right after midnight as the newest devotionals are published. That day as I felt “I had to” read Chambers after TAS, I saw that there was no freedom on my side involved and I deleted the Oswald Chambers app from my phone. Afterwards I felt better!
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I have to remind my self on a daily basis that I don’t have to do this or that for GOD. I don’t read as much Oswald chambers as you or TAS. I get TAS’s news letter for a while then it stopped. I suspect I accidently unsubscribed at some point. Used to read them in the morning. I dont’ get any daily devotionals but do get a daily bible verse.
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Thanks Mike for the good reminder–I just moved to a new town and started a new job and I am by myself–But now more than ever I am needing for Father to talk to me and keep me on His path
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You are welcome, Ken. I agree. Did you move very far? What kind of work are you doing, now?
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I moved to Davis,OK–about 60 miles south of Oklahoma City and I am working in a nursing home as a CNA
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[…] Do We Seek Christ as Our Teacher? […]
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Thanks for the ping-back, Fred.
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Hello. As you know, the scriptures tell us that Jesus will come TO US through the ministry of the Spirit in us that leads us into all truth. We are to be the grace of God ourselves. Our witness is really to be God’s Grace. IF we walk in that path we will hear the true spiritual meaning of the words of the letter of scripture. Jesus’ witness was of the “unchanging” grace and patience of God.
There is no anger or hate or greed or envy or bitterness or unforgiveness, etc. in God. That is Jesus’ witness. If we will be perfect {mature In Christ and one with the father} we are to pick up our own cross at some time, and follow Jesus. Be the grace of God and anything that is not that grace put off or resist. This is a solitary walk in the world, while being taught by God as our father.
John talks about children, young men, and fathers. The fathers in the earth are just now beginning to be formed and to appear. As Romans 8 tells us, the manifestation of God takes place within us. As it says, the glory that shall be revealed {to us} IN US, We too must be “perfected” with God who will and does put ALL THINGS under OUR FEET {lifestyle of Jesus in the world} when we are taught By Him alone. This is that day. God bless in the love of Christ. Ken Sheck. {the day of the hidden manna and a new name}
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Wow! Michael! That was very powerful and I have often wondered that for myself. Am I hearing HIM or others? My goodness you described a major period of darkness that I went through prior to me meeting you and Susanne. I hate to say it but I “used” you two to heal me spiritually as I was so dead! I write this right now with tears trying to flow as I remember that awful time of dead silence. It was horrible!
And yes I remember when I first read those words that the Holy Spirit shall teach me all things! It jumped out at me when I read them. I was saturating myself with the Word and I put Jesus’s voice behind those words. The Holy Spirit was indeed my teacher. Now I struggle to hear His voice.
This has got to be exactly what I needed to read this morning. Thank You so much. God Bless you!
Love much, Stacey
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Stacey,
Thanks for sharing your life experience regarding God’s way of purging and teaching us what HE wants us to receive. These dark periods in our lives after coming to Christ can be very unnerving for sure. We wonder if Jesus has gone against His promise and has forsaken and left us. It sure seems like it at the time… yet He promised that He would not! I can look back now and see that those darkest times I went through were when Daddy had me covered under the shadow of His wings. It was during one of those dark times that He showed me this passage in Psalms,
“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” (Ps 139:11-12, ESV2011)
I grew up with a father who was a school teacher in Idaho and we were very poor. He would take on extra jobs to supplement our income and one of those jobs was to be the school janitor where he taught. I was enlisted to help him in this task and I remember erasing and cleaning the chalk boards first with an eraser and then a clean damp cloth so that they were not only erased, but turned back into black slate once again for the next day. Once in a while there would be an assignment or something like a formula that the teacher did not want to have erased up in one corner in a box that would say, “Save!”
Well, God is like that. He teaches us many things, but sometimes He “erases” some of it so that He can go on teaching us something much deeper and sometimes He saves what was taught us for a longer period of time. Like a good teacher He is always building upon what was taught earlier in His ever expanding “lesson plan” for our lives as we are being conformed into the image of Christ. He uses different things and teachings and even people at different times and then moves us on so that He can go deeper than these former things could allow if we clung to them. Like John wrote,
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1John 3:2-3, ESV2011)
Can’t you see my story of the chalkboard in these verses? 🙂
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Thank you for the response Michael. And yes that Psalm 139 was very fitting.
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
I had to remind myself of that time and again. And to walk by faith and not by sight. I don’t always understand His Ways, and even wonder why I even deserve the Goodness He bestows upon me even now after such a dark period. He knows my rising up and sitting down. All of Psalm 139 is very true of my ordeal.
My living situation has most certainly changed. I now live and work at the same place. I never thought that I would ever live in this house as I had seen this house in pictures on my cousin’s timeline over a year ago. This is wild to be honest. I wasn’t even looking to live here. It just happened. Far better than I could ever imagine. Father Knows Best. Amen!
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I am glad that you are seeing and experiencing Father’s hand on your life, Stacey. He loves you very much.
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This is so true. Someone once said, you can take the man out of the church but you can’t take the church out of the man. This is basically what this article says. The teachings of men and organized religion are hard to forget even after you have left the religious system. Focus on hearing the voice of the Spirit of God which is within you.
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This is true, Ken, if you mean by “church” that inorganic institution that poses as the body of Christ, but more closely resembles the tree of the knowledge of good and evil than it does the Tree of Life. Yet, what is impossible for man is possible with God. Many of us are a living examples of that. Though it may hurt us in our natural man, He is persistent in His purging from us all that is not of the image of His Son as we go through the process and many of these are things we once thought of as “good.”. Praise Him for that!
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Hey Michael, this is Mike from Ohio. Yes, that was what I meant by the church. Thanks for the reply.
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Sorry about my name confusion, Mike. It gets worse as I get older.😏
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lol, I know the feeling
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Hello everybody. Great post and comments as always. I just love how these posts of Michael’s serve as seeds that bloom into a fuller picture of Christ as we share here the unity we have in Him.
I think most of us here would agree that the reason God’s people are such a mess these days is almost exclusively do to our individual failure (past or present) to have sought God for ourselves. It’s almost as if we go looking for reasons not to do that (whether it be laziness, distrust or allowing ourselves to be deceived through man’s traditions; men as mediators or false doctrines; an emphasis upon the Bible alone when it comes to hearing His voice. Add to this our fear of making mistakes and we allow ourselves to be crippled in the very thing Jesus died for us to possess: a real living and intimate relationship with Him.
Now obviously there are people out there that are steering believers to other voices which are not of God. This is a real concern- a concern like most others that would hardly have gotten a foothold if God’s people would have simply stayed where God planted them or desired to plant them- within the confines of a small intimate assembly of people who seek the Lord individually (for personal encouragement and edification for others) and corporately in discerning the work He might call us to for His name’s sake.
Seriously, how do people get rich in a small assembly? How does one build their own religious empire with a few poor and humble saints? Who’s boast can drown out the counsel of the assembly at large? Who would dare usurp the place of Christ or drag their earthly imaginations and inventions into a holy assembly where the cross is taught and embraced from person to person? Could a single sinful and selfish individual be able to even endure such a holy fire about them? Would not they run as fast as they could away from that which pricks their conscience and disturbs their earthly peace and their pursuit of earthly prosperity?
And herein we find;
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Romans 11:33)
A friend recently quipped about how professing Christians have this false notion that we are obligated to give up everything for God. Yes, I’ve read the verses like you, and I’m certainly not encouraging anyone to place anything before our love for God in Jesus Christ. But here is the point that he was desiring to make.
So often we have this idea that in order to be faithful we have to do something. And yes, we are called to obey God, to deny ourselves and pick up our crosses and follow Him. Can I ask though, do we do this out of a sense of obligation, do I do this out of fear, or some other reason- OR, do I do this because I’m seeing beyond the temporal- to something far more lasting, far more satisfying and far more fulfilling. Am I really giving up anything at all when I come to see and understand that in Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3) and that He Himself became and provided the better way in Himself;
“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands as if He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,
that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist……Acts 17:24-28.
Friends, their is hardly a sacrifice to be made when one considers the vast difference between what is temporal and vain and what is eternal and blessed. My friend calls it, “trading up” verses so many wrong thoughts to the contrary. Even the living sacrifice of our bodies in service to Him, serves also as the means whereby we are able to hear, and know what our Father is speaking to us. Contrary to what we have been taught by men, this is the path where His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
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Thanks, my brother. This whole mindset of “giving up things for Jesus” only shows the shallowness of the commitment and the pride that still is hanging on as if there was anything good in us to give up. I think that all true conversions that are real come after a crisis in which we finally conclude that we CANNOT save ourselves from ourselves and that we are our own worst enemy in this life. We finally agree with God that in ourselves dwells no good thing by proving it to ourselves as we see just how miserable, poor, blind and naked we are outside of Christ.
What a difference it makes when we finally start to listen to the Spirit instead of men. What a shock it is when we finally ask Him how He sees us and are ready to receive His answer. This was what happened to Paul and it was the beginning of Christ placing HIS life and wisdom in a mere man who forsook all that he was and counted it dung.
“Who are you Lord?
“I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you persecute!”
“Oops!”
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I cannot possibly begin to understand the gravity of the grief of Paul recognizing the error of his ways in having done the exact opposite will of the One he only claimed to know.
I do however understand first hand how he considered himself the least of these and the chief of sinners, having spent years teaching other men what I only thought was Chistianity.
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Never was this more true than with Catholicism; they recycle the same scriptures year after year, reinforcing church doctrine instead of the truth. But perhaps the most diabolical aspect of this has to do with scripture they DON’T share. As with the main stream media, it’s what they leave out that hurts. For example: you’ll never hear this verse in a catholism service: Call no man on earth Father.
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I have been both Catholic and Protestant during my life time. After experiencing both I have found that the nut did not fall far from the tree. For instance, Protestant leadership loves to garner the title “Reverend” to themselves. Isn’t this a bit arrogant, especially when the title is only found once in the Bible as one of the descriptors and names of our Father in heaven?
“He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.” (Ps 111:9, KJV)
The humility of our Lord is what seems to be lacking all through Christendom.
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I have a question that has been on my mind. Why did Paul teach if only GOD can teach us? This question is causing me a bit of a confusion.
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I am sorry I should not have asked. I think I know the answer though. It is the same reason you, Sussane and Astin sparks and John Bunyan and brother Yun and others teach.
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We teach that all you need is found in Christ, not human teachers!
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Fred, this Scripture just came to mind. Paul said,
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20 ESV)
If this is true of other Christians, too, what they say comes from the Holy Spirit, always. If it is not true, we must discern the truth from the lies/or flesh as the anointing inside us shows (through confirmation or warning).
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Fred, you are a great example of what happens when we heap to ourselves many human teachers with all their pet doctrines… CONFUSION. This is exactly why John wrote to the church what he did!
Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist [Grk. antichristos – can mean either “against Christ” or “instead of Christ,”] is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (1John 2:18, ESV2011)
I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. (1John 2:26-27, ESV2011)
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace… (1Cor 14:33, ESV2011)
“LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever.” (Ps 131:1-3, KJV)
You are in my prayers.
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Well, now I feel worse. My goal is to point people to Jesus too. I think I am doing it wrong though. It was always the point of the site. I know that no man should rule over any other man. we are all brothers and sisters if we are truly born again believers. I know I am bothered by those who try and rule over others or have lots of pride. To rule over another is what Jesus hates according to revelation. I know I am the worst Christian ever and I am confused by another point to my site to sort all that out. I have dropped that point though. Again I am sorry.
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Susanne,
That is a good verse shame pastors use it to guilt people though. That is the verse used by teachers and pastors that say things like ” if you are mad at me you are mad at GOD” because they say GOD is speaking through them. Even used to make you think you committed the sin that can not be forgiven by speaking against them or what they say. I know we need to be careful who we speak against as some may be actually GOD speaking through them as that verse says. There is an early church teaching that talks about testing or tempting a man that GOD is talking through.
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didache
11:7 And ye shall not tempt or dispute with any prophet who speaketh in the spirit; for every sin shall be forgiven, but this sin shall not be forgiven.
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Scared me when I first ran accross that document.
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Fred,
These pastors you described are cult leaders, actually. As for this didache thing, I found another source with an additional commentary on these verses where something made me grin. Did 11:9 says,
“But if he asks for money, he is a false prophet.”
http://www.orthodox.cn/patristics/apostolicfathers/didache_en.htm
Sooo…. what about pastors, tithes, and donations? 🤔
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Exactly, Susanne. Paul made this very clear…
“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:32-35, KJV)
He was among them as a brother and part of the family of God, meeting their needs where he could, not over them sucking them for all he could get. Yup! False Prophets.
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The best example, for me, of being taught by the Holy Spirit is this: Almost every ‘churched’ person who finds out I don’t go to a building on Sunday mornings throws the same verse at me, the one that says not to forsake the gathering together of the brethren. Well…….I sought the Lord about this, and He told me, “Sue, a better translation of that verse would be, ‘Do not forsake the gathering IN of the brethren….'” Those two ideas are diametrically opposed; we are to go OUT and gather IN the brethren, not go in and get our ears tickled. Amen and amen.
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Christ is our teacher ..he sent the Holy Spirit to teach us in all things, yet he has also given gifts to his body…one being the teacher. However humans get the wrong notion about teaching and filter these things through their perception. The big guy standing at the podium lecturing the “students”…that is the human conception. Jesus set the example of teaching not TO the people but AMONG the people. In demonstration and in power, He came to the people and they learned Him. He also calls us to do the same… Make disciples…world wide. hard to do that locked up in a building once a week. It is LIFE in CHRIST that instructs. Good, thought-provoking, spirit-convicting material.
Blessings
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Very good response, Becky. You describe the very thing that has destroyed the church.. professionalism. It has ceased to be a family, but rather an organization. Jesus came to introduce us to God not as an officer in an organization, but as our loving Father and Himself as our Brother. To and At vs. Among. It is good to hear from you again.
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Good discussion topic..
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I agree that Christ is “the Teacher”.
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There are people who have gift of teaching.
TAS is one. I appreciate his books.
But I try to discern when I read his teaching on certain subject.
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We have enough teachings/teachers.. maybe too many?
Blessings,
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I agree, Dan, we have way too many teachers in Christendom today. Like I told Patricia L. it is an impure heart that makes room for false teachings. Or as Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”
Good to hear from you again.
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