I am in love with God and the local church. And I am in bondage to God, but I am not in bondage to the local church. I deeply love the local church because the people of God are in the local church, and I relate to them as best I can. But sometimes I can't always relate to them, especially if I feel there is not a real unity in the relationship.
I will work to serve them as best I can, but sometimes that has its limitations. I don't want to step on their toes any more than I want them to step on mine. (Some have called me weak for saying that, but I am not.) And I have found that the same two feet that walked me into that church or fellowship gathering, are the same two feet that can walk me out. It's not about spite. It's about seeing and knowing Him and believing in that.
It's not a pleasant thing when things are not smooth, of course it is not! Not if you are really serving and loving the Lord. You hang in there as best you can. But there is a human bondage implied at times, something that is far more political than Spiritual, and I am not going to be a part of that. The spirit of competition and desire to lord over others with ego or control is still very alive in the earth and in the local church. And sometimes my nose is real trained to the scent of it! Just NOT going there!
As one with a prophetic calling, there are assignments given to you. This is rarely understood in today's time correctly - some people want to worship prophets and some want prophetic worship! It's not about man, and when that is really played out at times, sometimes people don't like it. I can't help it. You may think we haven't tried to make some things work when we have. It’s a prophetic frustration. But we keep pressing in for the good vision!
God does not just work through a pastor. In America, many think He does, but if you really get into the Scriptures, you will find that there is a whole lot more going on with God in His Spirit. He has a five (5) fold ministry, not just a one fold of "the pastor." That means He has a Hand working all its fingers and thumb and He is not oppressing people. It means there is a multi-dimensional situation going on at all times, but many really don't want to go there, because to them that is “politics” and people have their own ways of responding to politics. It's not always pretty. It can look nice on the outside but the inside can be toxic. But overcoming it can be a real victory, if you stay in His Spirit.
Because prophets are forerunners, not in perfection (maturity), but in some understandings and visions, like the pastor, people want to exalt them like they do their pastors. And if pastors and prophets don't understand this, then they can work their positions in a way that makes the world seem to spin around them. If you don't understand God's Heart, then you will fall for the adulation of those who want to make you or someone else a king! It's very flattering, but we are not God.
In the world, it works a certain way and in the enemy's camp it also works a certain way. Most get trained in that without even trying to! The reality is that pastors and prophets and leaders need others in the Body too, in the purity of Jesus. We have to learn how to cover each other or things fail, and when they fail for faithlessness, then others too will fall or suffer. People often do not get how coverings work. Again, it gets political and that is a fail in God. It is really your faith that covers you, because you are in His Spirit!
There is a constant death to self going on, BUT there is also a constant glory that is coming because there is a death to self. The world sometimes thinks it is their job to keep the pastor or leader humble, but God and you can do that just fine, ha ha. With GOD, there is a reward system going on and it’s about the Spirit of His Love! And it is not looking to MAN for that reward! This is where death to self "gets real," sometimes more real than we want. This is where we really have to examine the phrase that “you get what you've prayed for”!
In Jesus, (Romans 8:1), there is NO condemnation. But there is grace, even for others! It is often in that crosshairs that we do die to self, but we find God. He is there in every shadow. He does hide in the "unseen" places. But He is not always asking us to stay "there"; He is also working His reward system for us. We just have to find it and we can. He is faithful, so very faithful.
The only King over us is Him; the rest of the time He is working His Hand, with not only the apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, teacher and pastoral ministry, but working with the rest of the Palm of His Hand as well. That Hole in that Hand always says there is more - more grace and more love. Those hard and challenging times can hear the Voice say, "I Am in this with you, and there is no condemnation."
Some have started out with graven images; some have transferred that "godly" status to man. But there really is only One God and He is there where ever you go or where ever you are, scourged or not. There is a transfer from "where you have been trained" to "where you are going and learning how to navigate that." Oh how we love the restful times, and there is a place where we learn to take our peace and rest with us.
Many considered Jesus weak (and they still do) but He was strong. And Jesus overcame the world. Man didn't make the world, he did not even choose the time, place, gender, color or location of his birth, but God did. And sometimes there is humility in just that. We have human problems. But inside all of us, whether king or poor pawn, there is a spiritual destiny, a desire for more, and this is something that can be very healthy or very dark.
This is where the so called "things of God" can even get very political. This is where we see the side of our soul that even wants to tell God "what to do" or how He "ought" to do it. But God has more going on than our leadership, and that is His. There is a bigger plan than most of us see. Some have been trained all their lives on the kingship of man and without His Spirit, we cannot overcome it. This is why we need to know how to pray! Jesus said, look for the fruit to discern, and that in your own life. You are most often the one who discerns if Christ, the Anointing, is growing in you.
It's not about your influence over men, as "the standard," (the world teaches that), but real Love authority at work. The more you reach and find Him, the more you are touching and influencing others towards Him or against Him. The opportunity in some way or form is always there. It's the fragrance, the one where you are the scent of death or life to others. It is acknowledging the evil that none of us wants to see, in us or in others, and that can be a big battle. It's a time of heart break, but for the real believer, there is REWARD on the other side!
THIS is what we must face and embrace and the brokenness opens us up for more, if we realize the reward is REALLY there. It's not about our control but our allowing His control. It brings on the power of a discernment that we have to call on the Spirit of self control to manage (Galatians 5:22-23). We have to find His sound mind. It is different mindset than the fallen world we live in, there is a new playing field. Because it is new at first, we can question it, but you will find that there are others who are also on this same journey.
You will find that there is an energy, that receives or repels the revelation, and you have to manage that energy! When there is unity in those deeper dimensions, great things are taking place, often unseen to the natural world, but making an influence. How do you think America became great? Just happenstance? No, but because the good will of man was agreed upon and purposed in spirit and Spirit.
The pool we dive in is not another man's glory, but God's. It is the trust of knowing God's good will and those of His. The navigation is the biggest challenge because people and institutions are at different places. Some days they fulfill us, and some days they don't, due to varying places we are in. The only way you can check yourself is to test the fellowship that you have with Him and others in His Spirit. He is “our” Father.
There are those times, those death to self times when it can be excruciating, that life seems hard if not impossible. This, too, shall pass. Sometimes giving is required of us and we don’t want to give, but we need to. But don't give up, hold on, because you really know from past experiences that you can remember some good places, and those can be built upon for even more. And when it is time to give up this life for the next, you will be ready and the friends you make will be your eternal friends, not just convenience people for the moment.
When you really believe that God is who He says He is, you will open up to His Plan at work. You will willingly sign up for duty. It's works when it is working through HIS system, His ministry, His government. You will find that He positions you in strategic places, and you will not want to jump ahead or lag behind. You will find He cares very much for "the least of these" and will also deal with and work with "the great" with seeming power. There are powers He has reserved for His last days glory that will amaze us.
We also need to remember that because violence increased on the earth in Noah's day, (and because of that He chose to destroy the world, save Noah), that He is still not accepting violence today as His way. It is in fact a telltale sign of the battle of the end times. However, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force, which means there is a warfare that we very much need Him for. Our only success is in His power, and we need to know His nature over the world's. Both want to survive. In God, we learn how to discipline and even be disciplined.
We will go as far in God as we want to go. Violence can be done on many levels, within and without, and the health of the soul is in Him. The redemption of our souls is costly and He will invest much to reach us. And being in Him in us allows us to serve and thank Him for that more and more, our never ending God!
You will learn to thank and appreciate God for HIS government. You will see it at work when others don't - because you have chosen to know it and receive it. And you will serve when people don't have a clue what you are doing or are about. You will see that we ARE making a difference as His Light in this world and we look forward to being caught away into His Heavenly Kingdom. You will understand the value of a soul saved and why it is important.
The Bible says with many tribulations you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. These tribulations are not meant to take you out, but to bring many others in. It is our joy and strength to serve Him! We need the local Body of true fellowship and sharing and loving and giving. But we also need to find that place in Him where it is Him and us alone, not for decrease but increase. We will discover the rythms of God and learn how to climb in His ways and methods and embrace the future in His Hope against our hopes.
Be not weary in well doing, for in due season, we will reap if we do not faint. And even if we feel we do faint, we will often find that we are caught in the shelter and love of His everlasting Arms.
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