Have you ever been to a once thriving town that has been deserted? You can see where life once happened and thrived, vacant stores, auto garages, government buildings, and homes are everywhere except the people who once lived there. It’s a deserted town. There is much evidence that it was alive and thriving, but now the overwhelming truth is it’s dead, it’s deserted. The apostle Paul, who once walked among the thriving church of Galatia, who knew it’s streets, stores, auto garages, and marketplaces, if you would, now tells them “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all.” Galatians 1:6
This is sad because they once walked with Jesus, but now they have deserted Him for another. Paul writes, “Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Galatians 1:7) These same individuals, held captive by Satan to lead God’s people astray, not only turned the Galatian people away from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ but did so by established a perverted version of the pure Gospel.
If You Can’t Stop the Truth, Drown It!
Today, there are so many ways to communicate which is awesome for those who are speaking the true Gospel, but tragic also for us because of those who are teaching another perverted gospel of Christ. If you can’t stop the truth, you can drown it out. We’re told that in the last days there will be an increase in knowledge and that knowledge makes a person prideful, less reliant or not reliant upon God at all. There was a day where there were very few Bibles, then very few versions of the Bible, then more versions of the Bible keeping up, we presume, with the cultures method of communication at the time. Yet, today, we’re overwhelmed with versions of the Bible and teachers who are teaching from potentially some of these versions, or now because there are so many, there is so much doubt. Now many are not teaching from the Bible at all leading believers to be shaky and unstable in their faith and to being led astray.
A double-minded person receives nothing from God, and having to choose among 10, 15, or more versions of the same verse or chapter can lead someone to be double-minded about a verse, a chapter, or an entire book in the Bible. Faith is about being sure and certain, not double-minded. What is more important than another version of the Bible is for you to believe and firmly adhere to the version the Lord has revealed to you, comparing it with the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic languages in which it was written. This comparison is straightforward when you use a concordance or a lexicon, which analyzes every word in the Bible and traces it back to its original text and the meaning of that text. Therefore, it is advisable to select a version of the Bible that has been proven over time, rather than the most recent, modern, culturally relevant version available today. Remember, knowing God’s word, scripture, helps you know when someone is twisting or perverting it. Many have twisted and perverted the Gospel forcing it to bend to their will instead of them bending their will to it which is leading people to desert the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Faith
Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Galatians 3:6
Faith is about being sure and certain. In fact, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, and without it, it is impossible to please God. But how can one be certain when there is no “certain word”? How can there be surety without a sure Gospel? Without certainty or surety, how can there be hope? Indeed, this seems to describe many today who profess to be believers, followers of Jesus Christ, Christians. They appear to have lost hope and deserted the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They’ve turned to “another gospel,” which is no gospel at all and possesses no power to save. They live in the “maybe,” not in the certainty that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They live between the “yes” and the “no” which is a dark place ran by the evil one. Remember God has always been, will always be and is the I AM, not the maybe. He is our ever-present help in times of trouble. He is not our possible hope when we’re facing trouble.
“Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this [the maybe’s] comes from the evil one.” Matthew 5:37
My Body My Choice
We hear it being shouted in the streets, marketplaces, and media in our nation “My body, my choice.” The question is “Did this false belief begin within what is known as “the church”? Have we been teaching people that it’s about their body, and their choice?
This “other gospel” advocates for becoming a friendly part of the world, even though God’s word clearly labels those who do as “an adulterous people” and “enemies of God.” This “other gospel” concentrates on body ministry, focusing on making a person’s body— their flesh—comfortable in this life, including their marriage and family. However, Jesus specifically calls us to “pick up our cross” to address our bodily desires once and for all, and to “deny ourselves” to follow Him. Jesus clearly states that He is not here to please our bodies. He calls us to circumcise our heart, which is to repent from our sins. This means to leave our life of sin, and begin to live in “The Way”, the new way, following Jesus Christ as our Lord, learning all His teachings, in view of his grace and mercy obeying them, becoming His disciple. Although He will heal our bodies, He does not change His stance on us denying them. Jesus came to save our souls. We are spirits that have bodies and possess a soul. Your soul is the essence of who you are, encompassing what you think, want, and feel.
Your Soul
Not only did Jesus not come to please our bodies, our flesh, but He also saved us so that we can “renew our souls”—change our minds and exchange our thoughts for His. He has called us, by His grace, through the empowerment of His Spirit, to allow our minds to undergo a metamorphosis a transformation. This is achieved by renewing our minds through studying His Word, Scripture, allowing it to wash over our minds, our souls. He has called us to take thoughts in our soul, that are not His, captive and to force them to align with His thoughts. He is preparing us to rule and reign with Him, while being seated with Him in the heavenly realms. This true Gospel is far removed from the “other gospel” many are hearing, which is causing them to desert their faith.
This Other Gospel
There are those who teach, in the name of God, that we no longer need to speak about Jesus being crucified on the cross, claiming it’s too much of a tragic message. Others argue that we should no longer mention the blood of Jesus, as it’s deemed too graphic and purportedly hampers efforts to “build their churches.” Some advocate that the traditional model of God’s chosen shepherd leadership for the church is outdated, proposing instead the need for executives, boards, committees, church growth programs, and digital marketing. There are teachings suggesting that the gifts of God are no longer bestowed, and that allowing them in “your church” could alienate the rest of “your congregation.” Some claim that prayer is optional, advocating for political action as the means to achieve God’s will, placing politics above prayer. Others misuse God’s grace as a license to sin, offering a perverse interpretation of the very tragedy that led Jesus to the cross, essentially giving followers a blank check to allegedly evade the consequences of sin as if they could. Additional teachings invert the traditional roles within marriages and families, suggesting wives should lead husbands and children should govern parents. Now, they also teach that a man does not need a wife but can have a husband, and a woman can have a wife. These false teachers preach “another Jesus” as they masquerade as servants of righteousness. Yet, if they don’t know the truth and have been taught an alternative “truth” or another gospel, how will they recognize that it is incorrect, and understand that following it could alter their eternity? For it is the truth that sets us all free. Not knowing the truth leaves a person in captivity! Good news is that Jesus came for this very reason, to set the captives free!
It Matters
You may ask, “What does it matter?” It matters because these individuals are obstructing people from knowing the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are deceived and, in turn, are deceiving many as captives of Satan. They are holding people captive in this dark world, under gross darkness, casting a shadow over the people. They, through doctrines of demons, mislead people to fall away from their faith. Then to assure their eternal doom in darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, as Jesus describes hell, they utter another doctrine of demons telling them “you can never fall away.”
“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [the Lord returns] will not come unless the falling away comes first…” 2 Thessalonians 2:3 NKJV
Shockingly, this issue is seldom spoken about. They are misleading God’s people and causing many to desert the Gospel of Jesus, and Jesus Himself. This has always happened, but as the end draws near, we are told that a great number of Christians, believers, will desert Jesus; they will fall away from their faith. How will this happen? By the same evil that Paul confronts in Galatia: through false teachers who preach about another Jesus and another gospel—a gospel that cannot save and will not keep a person out of hell.
“Curse These Teachers!”
Paul exclaims. He declares, “Let them [those teaching you a false Gospel] be under God’s curse!” (Galatians 1:8-9). We need to take seriously the words we accept as those being from “a teacher” in “God’s church.” They are not trivial matters; they are weapons. They are either weapons of righteousness or weapons of darkness, representing either life or death.
“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1
“I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants…” Jesus Revelation 2:20
Realize, in my experience, there is no one that wants to “teach” more than those who are false teachers who’s teachings lead God’s people astray. Being someone who teaches God’s word to other is a fearful reality. The fear of the Lord grips their hearts knowing that their frailty and dependency on the Lord for their very existence and revelation of God’s word is ever before them. They know that they are and will be held to higher standards than those who do not teach. They know a misunderstanding or a false statement about God’s word could potentially lead one or a million people astray. There was a day when a teacher would teach to their local church family of fifty to a hundred members. Yes, they could, and many did, lead some astray, but today, one message that a teacher teaches can and often goes around the world, because of the internet, giving one teaching, or one social media post the potential to mislead millions of people away from God. Yes, the alternative is true, as truth can set a million people free and lead them to Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Yet, the dangerous reality of misleading God’s people is ever before those who fear the Lord and desire to do His will by helping His people know Him and follow Him. Hebrews 6:10 Jesus tells us, “It would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea if we cause one of His followers, those who believe, to stumble.” Matthew 18:6 Knowing this, why would anyone want to teach God’s word to another, if they were not called to do so?
“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” James 3:1
This is not to excuse you from teaching someone God’s word that has been revealed and taught to you. It is to help you position your heart and mind under the Lord’s leadership before you utter the first word.
Despise not the days of small beginnings.
Moses’ first attempt at deliverance did not end well. He ended up killing a man and having to run for his life to the backside of the desert. Yet, it was on the backside of the desert he became “the must humble man on the face of the earth” which God could use to deliver millions of people for and to Himself. Moses was so humble that God called Moses His friend and spoke to Moses “face to face.”
There is wisdom in starting small, because, like Moses, if you mess up, the impact you have on harming someone is much smaller and it is easier and more possible for you to repent to “the one” or to the “small beginnings” that it is for millions that, like a feather blowing in the wind, heard your teaching where you got it wrong and which could possibly mislead millions.
So, It Is with Your Words
A wise person once taught a valuable lesson about the power of words. He handed a bag filled with feathers to an individual and instructed them to place a feather on the doorstep of each house in the village. After the task was completed, the wise person then told the individual to go back and collect all the feathers and put them back into the bag.
However, when the individual went to retrieve the feathers, they found that the wind had blown them all away, making it impossible to collect them all. Upon returning to the wise person empty-handed, they explained that the wind had taken the feathers, and they could not be retrieved.
The wise person then shared the moral of the story: “So it is with your words. Once they are spoken, they cannot be taken back. They spread far and wide, like the feathers carried by the wind, and cannot be retrieved.” Always speak in the fear of the Lord because words, once spoken, can never be taken back, if wrong, they can only be repented for.
Teachings are words, once spoken, they are caught by the wind, blown here and there and are impossible to fully reclaim. Jesus said, the flesh counts for nothing, My words are Spirit.” So, it is with us, therefore we need to be assured that we teach God’s word by His Spirit.
Jesus said, “I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37
Words are so important that God Himself will judge every idol word we have spoken. Now imagine for a moment having to answer at the judgement seat of Christ for misleading teaching which led His people away from Him?
“Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52
Just like Jesus, the Son of God, begin first by being a student, before you become a teacher. If this was Jesus’ path, only a prideful, deceived, captive could consider that they could become a teacher without ‘growing in the wisdom and stature, and in favor with GOD AND MAN.’ Then realize a student is not above his Teacher and that Jesus is the plumbline for all teachings. Then, under guidance, with instruction, begin to speak into the life of one, one on one. Carry this one with as much compassion as you would a million people. Teaching them God’s Word. Teach them how to abide. Share with them your testimony and your need for a Savior. Let them see you under a shepherd leader allowing your example to be their greatest teacher. Then once you are faithful in the small things, the Lord will place you over more.
“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:31
Moses, though humble, and though he responded to the call to be a shepherd leader of God’s people, he had yet to circumcise his own family. Between the backside and the frontside of his journey, backside being tending a small flock of sheep, and the frontside being facing big governmental leaders, Pharoh, he found his friend, God, hands wrapped around his throat choking him out. Many people at this point, if they live through it would run from the call upon their lives, instead, Zipporah, Moses’s wife grabs a knife and circumcised their sons and throws their foreskin at the feet of Moses while God’s hands were around his throat, and she declares “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” Exodus 4:15
“The time is coming when I will not abide [with] those who seek to be counted with My people who do not circumcise their hearts [repent of their sins]. You must warn them of My wrath.” The Lord told Rick Joyner, which he writes about in his book The Call, Pg 146
Be open always to dealing with things in your life that the lord reveals to you. Know that though He has called you does not mean He has prepared you. God prepares the willing, so your first step is to be willing. Like Moses, you will need to say “yes” here I am, send me” to the call. It is then the Lord will begin to prepare you by taking the coals from His altar and touching your lips so that the words you speak are clean, pure and of Him. As you go, He will reveal. Remember, He reveals to heal so if you listen and obey, repent, He will forgive, restore, and continue to use you for His purposes.
There is no perfect person, just humble one’s that love Jesus with pure worship and serve Him with a passion to love Him, love others and lead others to do the same.
Cursed is everyone who…
“For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Galatians 3:10-14 NIV
True Shepherds
It is time to return to faith in Jesus Christ, the Shepherd of His people, Who will lead us into all truth by His Spirit and His shepherd leaders.
The Lord said to Rick Joyner, which he writes about in The Call, Pg 146, “All of My shepherds are like King David. They are not hirelings who seek their own place or position, but they will lay down their lives for My people. They are also fearless in warfare against My enemies and pure in their worship of Me. I am about to send these shepherds forth.”
Related:
Demons Shot Out from the Podium
In a dream, the Lord took me to what, in America, could be called a “Mega Church” featuring a beautiful building, comfortable seats, and a stage from which the “pastor” (the teacher) spoke from behind a podium. As he released words from his mouth—words that were spirit—they flowed over the congregation. When he spoke, demon spirits would shoot out from the podium behind which he stood and taught. These demon spirits would hover over the congregation. Then, the congregation would say, “Amen” which meant they agreed with the lie and the demon spirits would return to the podium. This cycle repeated itself: when the lie was released by the false teacher, it spread over the people. When they said, “Amen,” signifying their agreement, the lie returned to the podium. This process continued, with him speaking lies and them agreeing with those lies. Any one of these individuals could have easily stood up and left, refusing to agree with such demonic lies, but none of them did.
Doctrines Of Demons
Doctrines of demons are being taught in what many profess to be “the church” today by individuals many consider to be “pastors” or “teachers.” However, Rick Joyner describes, when sharing the dreams and visions he says he was given by the Lord in his book The Call, these places are actually ‘prisons of darkness, their congregants’ prisoners of darkness, and their leaders wardens of darkness all captures of satan. When one of these prisoners attempt to escape the false teachers, who patrol the prison by standing on its wall attack them preventing them from escaping.’
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 1 Corinthians 10:21-22
Where you Go, Who You Hear?
“You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes, and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the Lord your God, YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES SHALL EAT AND SHALL REJOICE IN EVERYTHING YOU HAVE PUT YOUR HAND TO, because the Lord your God has blessed you.” Deuteronomy 12:4-7
Related:
There is A Place for you!
There is a place the Lord has called you to, and it is there that you and your family are meant to be. This place, where God has called you, should be the central focus of your decision-making processes, including where you live and work; all other decisions should consider this place as their core. It is your flock, your shepherd leaders, your spiritual family, your church family.
Individuals who prioritize themselves, their jobs or careers, their desires, or the desires of others above God’s call for them to be in the place He has designated often end up deeply disappointed. While the prospect of earning more money or relocating to a new city might initially be appealing, this excitement eventually fades when, despite perhaps securing the desired job, they find themselves without their marriage or family. This loss renders their achievements meaningless. They come to understand that gaining the whole world at the expense of their soul is not worth it. They realize the value of remaining in the place the Lord called them to, understanding that, although they might have less materially, they still have God, their marriage, family, and church community. If we abide in The Place God has called us to be we’ll discover over time That Place is the greatest thing we’ll ever have in this life, for it is where God dwells with you.
Why are they all leaving?
While working in law enforcement, I noticed that those who frequented the bars in the town where I worked, eager to be part of ‘the party’ and in search of companionship, would often leave all alone. Their drive home, undertaken in the early hours around 2:00 AM, was one of the loneliest sights imaginable. I could almost sense their depression as they pulled out of the parking lots, realizing that despite all their efforts at “the party” they were still alone. As I write this I can see in my mind’s eye see them pulling out of the parking lots, dew on the windows, taking a turn onto the highway to make that long ride home. Was ‘the party’ worth it for them? They were they looking for what they desired in the wrong places?
Parties vs. Families
Yes, we’re told about the great falling away and yes, that includes those in leadership as much as it does those who are following. But, is everyone one falling away, or are some of them leaving what is, to live in The Place the Lord has called them all along to be? Yes, the large parties once or twice a week were exciting, but in the end, when you leave the party all alone as strangers, was the parties a fair trade for the life that God has called you to have in The Place He has call you to be? Was the mega parties worth the family-less life? Was the parties worth they sacrifice of true meaningful authentic relationships with a few other believers that you live your life in Christ with? Even the biggest party person, as they age, lose their desire to go to the parties and those who continue to party at their older age, others look at and say, you are beyond “the party” age.
Heritage in the Lord
One of the things we have when we are in our tribe, The Place, the Lord has called us, it’s a place of family heritage. We are able to see how we all connect and continue on beyond ourselves. We know each other and celebrate our heritage in the Lord.
When you are in the party, though exciting, there is not personally connective family heritage. It’s nice what happens, but your spirit, your soul, doesn’t relate to them as family, as your heritage. It’s more like a business building new offices, or expanding their operation, hiring a new employee, creating new products and services, or opening in new markets. It’s not family, which is organic, it’s an organization.
The Facts
Forty million American stopped attending church in the last 25 years, that is something like 20% of the population and church attendance is down by 20% since the pandemic of 2020. In 2020 4,000 churches closed and 20,000 pastors left the ministry. 6,000 to 10,000 churches close the doors of their meeting places each year. One in five churches are expected to be closed in the next 18 months, Barna Group reports. In what is known by “The Great Resignation” 38% of pastors have thought about quitting ministry.
It’s not man’s buildings that we should be concerned about which are being closed, but the people inside those buildings, which are “the building of God” if they are true believers. We can look at this occurrence in two ways: first that God’s church is closing down and will no longer be relevant, or God is allowing a mass shift in His church, the people, to move away from their deserted prisons that only have small muddy puddles of waters, as Rick Joyner describes in The Call, to a land that is flowing with milk and honey, where the river of His truth runs freely with shepherd pastors He has raised up to look over His people and lead them to and in the Gospel of Jesus Christ as their Great Shepherd.
God Sees and with Deal with False Shepherds, False Teachers
“The word of the Lord came to me: ‘Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.
‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, so they will no longer be food for them.'” Ezekiel 34:1-10 (NIV)
They Were Running Out of the Buildings
The Lord revealed to me a time would come when God’s people, like sheep driven by their hunger for God, would suddenly flee the structures built by man—places filled with programs where “another gospel” is preached. Their departure would not be aimless but a purposeful flight towards “the place” where the Lord truly resides. Driven by a desperate hunger for more of God, they will reject the superficial criteria they once used to determine where God wanted them to be—judging by size, beauty, and the abundance of programs. Upon realizing these places house nothing but “dead men’s bones” behind their facades, they will earnestly seek to be with Jesus, for His presence is where they truly desire to be. No longer swayed by external appearances—whether of a person, church, or ministry—they will seek the evidence of fruit and God’s presence. For where His presence is, there is fullness of joy.
It’s better to go somewhere, than nowhere!
Really? Are you serious? Do you know what you are talking about? What does the “church” mean to you? Who are shepherd pastors to you? Who established the church? Who assigned shepherd leaders over the church? Who clearly stated that there will be many false shepherd leaders and prophets? Who said that many people performing signs, miracles, prophecies, and deliverances in Jesus’ name are going to hell? Who said these false leaders are teaching another Gospel, and another Jesus?
Convenience
Choosing a church or church family to join simply because it is convenient to your house is akin to selecting a surgeon because they live next door. Both decisions carry life-and-death consequences. At least with the surgeon, the consequences pertain to this life. However, choosing a place that preaches “another gospel” and “another Jesus” carries eternal consequences.
The church is people, called out from the world, by Jesus, who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and are or have become His disciple, who Jesus is sending out into the world. Paul writes, they are the building of God, which Jesus is the chief cornerstone of.
It is Jesus who assigned shepherd leaders over the church for the purpose of protecting, training, relating, helping to tightly fight the people together in unified love for God, each other and the lost.
It was Jesus Who said that there will be many false shepherd leaders who look out for themselves, yet perform signs, wonders, miracles, prophesy, and cast out demons who He did not place over His church. Though they claimed to be apostle, prophets, pastors, teachings and evangelist, Jesus didn’t call them or assign them to be over you, Jesus doesn’t know them and when He sees them He will send them to hell where there is eternal damnation, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Knowing this, do you really believe it’s better to go to ‘a church’ somewhere than nowhere? Isn’t it better to go where the Lord has called you and to stay planted there with your family? Isn’t it preferable to wait upon the Lord, seeking His guidance for the place He wants you to go before you make a hasty decision?
Doesn’t God want to meet with you right where you are, in your own home? Have you considered that you and your family could gather at a set time, on a designated day, and dedicate yourselves to seeking the Lord, studying God’s word together, and praying for His direction? Today, you and your family can join ‘the place’ God has called you to be virtually if it’s currently too far for you to travel, at this set time and place, as you seek Him.
Did you know that Israel faced consequences for establishing another place, in place of where God wanted them to be, because they felt it was “too far away” and too inconvenient? When it comes to “the place” God wants you to be, it’s never about convenience; it’s about the call.
When someone attends a certain church out of “convenience,” it’s not about God at all, but about them. The very meaning of the word ‘convenience’ means it is convenient for the person it serves. There used to be one place where people would buy their food—the supermarket—but soon a niche was established to make it more convenient for the shopper, leading to the establishment of convenience stores on every street corner. There is something nice about a convenience store, it’s convenient, but it doesn’t have everything you will need. Are you willing to trade off everything God has for you in the place He has called you for convenience?
Church is About Jesus, Not You
The one who seeks convenience rarely considers that God might have plans for them, as they are often preoccupied with their own. Perhaps God intends for you to be an integral part of a community of believers—a body He plans to use for various purposes such as missions, support, and growth—where you can contribute and be mutually encouraged. Could it be that the Lord knows you are precisely five years, two months, seven hours, and thirty-three seconds away from facing a divorce, with your family scattered across the globe, mirroring the fate of the majority of marriages and families today, including many within the church? Perhaps He is aware that the best chance for your marriage and family’s survival lies in the place He has called you to be. Perhaps He foresees that your marriage might struggle—as half of those in the church do—and has prepared a place for you where, even if your spouse leaves, you will never be abandoned by God.
Maybe He sees your child, who is sweet and respectful today, being caught up in the wrong crowd, drawn into dark sin, held captive by drug or sexual addiction, and deserting not only their family but the Lord Himself if you do not move to the place He has established for you. Or maybe He sees this is going to happen with your child and He wants you to be in the place He has called you to support, encourage and heal your heart from being crushed when this happens. It’s God Who keeps us together personally, relationally, spiritually, and emotionally. Marriage and family are His idea and design, not ours. How could we think it will work out if we pull it away from Him?
Work is what He has called us to do, and it is He Who blesses the work of our hands. How can we ignore Him in this reality and think our work will succeed? For the man or woman who plucks your family from “the place” God has called you and your family to be for a higher paying job, opportunity, or something different, how are you going to feel when all you have is the job, the opportunity, and something different, but no marriage, no family, and no relationship with the Lord? Yes, you gained the world, but ended up losing your marriage, family, and soul.
How can convenience offer any solace to someone experiencing such trials? The challenges we face as individuals, in marriage, family, work, health, and personal growth with God, are vast. Yet, we are not meant to face them alone. This is why God will reveal “the place” He wants you to be. It’s there you can establish deep roots, build your life upon the Rock—Jesus—and become tightly knit with the body of Christ. So, when the day of evil comes, when destructive winds blow and floods rise, because you are in the place God called you to be and have taken the time to strengthen your relationship with the Lord and His family He has called you to relate with, you will be able to withstand the tests of time and the storms that come your way.
Getting Fit
Have you ever tried on a pair of pants that were too big or too small? Or, for the ladies, have you tried on a dress that did not fit right? Or a suit that just hung wrong on your body? It was not enough to just get a pair of pants, a dress, or a suit; they needed to fit well. With a suit, as with any piece of clothing, you can go for a fitting where a knowledgeable person, who knows how to fit you in that piece of clothing, or better said, fit that clothing to your body, by hemming, tucking, sewing a little here, a little there, and before you know it, your clothes fit perfectly. You and your clothes are in perfect harmony, or tightly fit.
‘From Jesus the whole body is fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, may increase the body unto the edifying of itself in love.’ Ephesians 4:16 KJV
When we get tightly fitted into the place, the part of the Lord’s body, the church, He has called us, like the natural body, we become fully supplied with the life’s blood we need to survive and thrive. Every person in that place, if they are in the place the Lord has called them and who are functioning as the Lord gifted them, in love, is supplying you and you them. It is like blood flowing to all parts of your body and you are becoming fully oxygenated, i.e., you are getting what you need to be healthy and strong, giving you the ability to endure, even in difficult circumstances.
Unfit Ramifications
Now think of “being tightly fit into the place God has for you” while considering this scenario, though you do not know this today, it is going to be five years, two months, seven hours, and thirty-three seconds away from facing a divorce if you didn’t get fit into the place the Lord had called you, but now that you have, you and your spouse and family have five years, two months, seven hours, and thirty-three seconds to be strengthened in your relationship with God and each other so that day of divorce is less likely if at all to come, because you both have grown in the place the Lord has called you in the knowledge, the unity of Jesus Christ, and are both being supplied what you need to survive and thrive from your being fit into the body of Christ.
Trouble
In this life, you will face troubles that impact both you and those you love. However, we are encouraged to take heart because Jesus, our Lord, has overcome this world. Although the trouble of divorce is specifically mentioned above, it is just one of many troubles that could strike those who love the Lord. We can find solace if we are in the place the Lord has called us to be. However, if we choose not to make the effort to fit in or to find our fit at all, the storms will still arrive. But without this connection, we must endure them alone. Being alone, especially during a storm, multiplies the harm trouble can cause.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Eliminate tomorrow’s regrets today, by getting fit, fit into the place the Lord has called you to be, His Church body, your church family, today.
Less is More
I remember when my family was young and I was working to provide for my family. I had an older child who had gotten into trouble at the public school and had to put her in a christian private school because her safety was being threatened. This increase the pressure even more having to provide for the family and one of our children in private Christian School as a law enforcement officer. Hard work, but not well paid. I was working ten hour shifts, going to court for my cases, and working side jobs to be able to keep things going. It was then I began to look for higher paying law enforcement jobs thinking the only way this was going to work was move from Pensacola, Florida either to Dallas, Texas or Pinellas County, Florida. I was all set to make this move with my family then two things happened the shifted everything. See, I was in the right place, the body, the church, the Lord had called me to be in, and I was about to leave it to go for what I assumed had to be “the place” where I had to work to provide for my family. Then, out of nowhere, one day when I was off from work, a man from the church, the place, I was called to be, called me and spoke to be about the importance of me being a part of the church. He had no idea what I had planned to do, but God did. I was shocked and paused in what I was planning. It was then that I met with my Lieutenant at the sheriff’s office where I worked, who had become a close friend of mine, and explained to him the difficulty I had been having to provide for my family. As he was about to speak in response to my well laid out dilemma, I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for wisdom that was going to come from him about what I should do. I was sure he was going to say that I’d have to go to the new city to get the pay I need to take care of my family, but he said something that totally shifted everything. He said, “Looks like you are going to have to spend less.”
I know that that sounds simple, but at the time, that never crossed my mind. I thought it cost what it cost and didn’t explore what I thought was even a possibility which was we could lower our expense and spend less, sacrifice on the consumption side of things.
It was then I decided not to leave the place, the church, the Lord had called me, or the job the Lord had given me.
The Lord had plans in His mind that He was going to call me into ministry, to minister along side of Pastor John Kilpatrick at Brownsville Assembly of God, and that He was going to pour our a revival, knowns as one of America’s great revival, the Brownsville Revival on Father’s Day 1995. Yes, I would have missed many things including these things if I had moved from the place the Lord has called me to be. What I found out is “less is more” when it comes to God. It is worth giving everything up for God which includes sticking, staying, and standing in the place He has called you to. By God’s grace my wife and I are stilled married, we have a blessed family and thirteen grandchildren/great grandchildren, and the Lord has never forsaken us. We have a nice home, still serving Him in ministry, always working to be “the place” where He can bless and call others to join to help them to not only survive, but to thrive.
Many are the plans in your heart, but it is the Lord Who orders your steps. The eyes of the Lord go throughout the world looking at our hearts to find out if we will follow Him, His leadership in our lives, and yes, if we’ll go to the place, to the church family He has chosen for us, and get up under His shepherd leadership He planned for us to be under. Not to just “be there” but to be trained up in the knowledge of Jesus Christ to be able to function in your life as He predestined you to function. We don’t just “go to church” for we are “the church” if we are believers, followers of Christ. We’ve been saved to Jesus Christ and become the church because He has called us out of the world and sent us out. We are drawn, by the Lord’s leadership in our lives, to go to “the place” He has called us to go. It is in this place, the place He has chosen for us and our families, where He will speak to us, encourage us, love us, and yes, train us for works of service. It is there we’re to be tightly fit, as in a body, to function as one, united with Christ, as He is unified with the Father, Him in us, us in them, as one, so that the world will know the love God has for them that it is as much love as He has for His very own Son, Jesus.
How to protect yourself and your family?
It’s an open book test, you just need to open it and read it. Not just read it, but study the book, this book is the Bible. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God a may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints, and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12, ‘Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that does not have to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.’ 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV
Study To Show Yourself Approved
It matters who you place yourself under and why? What teachings. Don’t just go google the next teaching you’d like to hear, get up under someone who is proven to be God’s chosen person for you and your family are to be under and stay there. Stick, stay, and stand there, in that place, through thick and thin, dedicated to the love of God and each other. This is the way you take care of your family.
It’s Not Complicated
What I’ve discovered in my life is that those who say ‘it’s complicated’ are often up to no good. They scheme and rarely speak with simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. They leave their conversations, commitments, and the meanings of their words open to the next wind that blows, directing their lives wherever they wish to go. They argue over words and constantly cause division among God’s people. It’s not complicated, despite what these captives of darkness, who live in the grey of every situation, tell you.
I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. Romans 16:17 NIV
If None Go with Me, I Still Will Follow
In closing, a hymn comes to my mind, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, by S. Sundar Singh.
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.
My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
My cross I’ll carry, till I see Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
No turning back, no turning back.
You have to decide, though none go with you, you will not desert the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Though none go with you, you will not desert the Lord. Though none go with you, you will not desert The Place, the Lord has called you and your family to be, to worship Him, and to give your offerings.
God has a place for you and your family. It is there that He will bless you and teach you His ways. It is there you’ll learn to love and be loved. It is there you’ll have a family — a church family, the family of God — where you can survive and thrive.
Commit before God and your church family that you will not desert them or the Lord, your faith. Commit to learning the teaching of Jesus directly from Scripture, knowing that it is life to those who have ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart to understand. Commit to following the teachings of Jesus as His follower, disciple. If the place you are in doesn’t meet the biblical criteria of the place God has called you to, begin to pray and ask God to lead you to that place. Until then, become a place where the Lord is glorified, His word is taught, and your passion is to love God, love others, and lead others to do the same all while abiding with Jesus, for apart of abiding in Him we can do nothing, iAbide.org.