Why is it important to distinguish between
the Word from God and the Word of God? Aren’t they one and the same? If Jesus
is the word of God and in Hebrews 4: 12, it says the word of
God is alive and active…that means He is still communicating
with His followers through the Holy Spirit. That is extremely
important to realize so that you listen to the Spirit and not
man.
The word of God is your weapon, the sword of
the Spirit, as it says in Ephesians 6: 17, against satan and
the flesh. Is it wrong to listen to a fellow believer? Heavens
no! But the final voice you should hear and obey is the Holy
Spirit. Can’t God talk through His people and let other
believers know what He wants for their lives? Sadly that
is what it has come to. We do not feel worthy enough to think
God will speak to us. Only His appointed leaders hear from God.
The word we overlook pertaining to our relationship with God
is the word CHOSEN. Remember He said He chose us! If you were
deemed good enough or Chosen to spend eternity with God when
you die, why wouldn’t
you think you are worthy now to hear His voice?
Paul received
from the Holy Spirit and he wrote it down, mostly in letters
to someone or some place, to let them know what he had been hearing
from God. The same was happening with the other believers all
over the known world. God was speaking and they were writing.
Why do we hold these writings in higher regard than a book or
letter from one that is a Spirit lead believer today?
I believe
that it is all in how we have been taught. Today many go to church
because they believe that is the only place to hear a Word from
God. You must remember that you are His church and that you can
hear directly from God for yourself. We have not been taught
to listen for the voice of God, but to let a pastor who is qualified,
listen for you and then tell you what He has to say. You can
easily see how this system has worked perfectly for generations…I
guess God had something to say differently to one church group,
than He did to another church group, and to another church group
etc. etc.
That explains why there are so many different
denominations all professing that they are hearing a different
message from the same God.
Trust me on this one…there is one God
and one message. It won’t vary from group to group. So
why are there all the different denominations professing God
as their savior? Maybe they are not listening to God, but following
a set of rules that man established long ago as to what is right
and what is wrong for hearing God.
But, what if a doctrine is
found in the bible that one church interprets one way and another
church interprets their way? Shouldn’t
we follow it? Which one is right if both can defend their position?
I read only one commandment that my Savior said He wanted me
to follow. “…that you love one another just as I
have loved you”, John 15:12. I find it very difficult to
understand how one commandment could possibly divide God’s
church into so many different denominations.
I can remember a
time that a black man and his family would not even be allowed
in a white man’s church. I guess the leaders
of that church had heard from God and were told that they shouldn’t
be permitted in their service. I guess the one commandment that
He ask of us, had been cancelled! I hope you are getting my point!
Why are we making it so hard for God to be our God! One commandment,
only one… and then He gave us the Holy Spirit to help
us to do it. We want to concentrate on everything but hearing
the Holy Spirit. If we would listen, we wouldn’t be divided.
Why I think we make it hard is that we think
that the things Jesus did were what we are suppose to be
doing. When we are not able to walk the Jesus walk, we get disgusted
with ourselves and feel that we are not worthy of a relation
with God. Is it possible to walk the Jesus walk? In the flesh…no
way. By His spirit…Yes. Remember He said I am the
way, the truth and the life. (John 14:12) Also remember He walked
in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Can we do what Jesus did?
The bible says you can and that even greater things we will be
able to do than Jesus, (John 14:12). Could that be possible????
Is it more important to God to see you at least
trying to walk the walk or watch you create your own walk. In
the letter to Laodicea, in Revelation 3: 15, God said that he
would wish that you would either be hot or cold but not lukewarm
about your relationship with Him. Would doing it your own way
and not caring to try it God’s way, be considered luke
warm? I believe God expects us to walk His walk.
The reason I
am critical of the big “C”, the corporate
church, is that it gives the believer an excuse not to walk His
walk. Like I have said, I believe the bible is the word from
God and the words written in the bible were directed to the church
which is YOU and ME. Today because we call ourselves Baptist,
Methodist, Pentecostal, whatever. A denominational title allows
us to hide from the responsibilities of the believer. Today we
read the bible as if it is addressing a denomination rather than
Us. Feed the poor, visit the sick, take care of the widows, visit
the orphans, be my disciples, spread the gospel. We think because
I attend a church, big “C”, that is doing these things,
I am OK. I write a check that goes to those ministries, so I
am doing what God is commanding me to do.
Could this be walking
the walk you have decided is right? The word from God is to You,
not a building with a cross on top of it.
You cannot hide in your religion. When you stand
before Jesus for judgment, it won’t be with a group. You’ll
be all by yourself...alone with your sins and decisions you have
made. All of us will stand in that place before Jesus and
I would rather say I tried the best I could to hear the Holy
Spirit and walk the walk you ask of me, than say I was a member
of this big “C” and I trusted them to get it right
for me.
You basically have put your trust, no your salvation,
into someone else’s hands other than the Holy Spirit. I
have no idea why anyone would do this--based on what? Because
that is how it has always been? Well that is not how it has always
been. The big “C” has only been around for about
400+ years, with the beginning of the protestant church in the
late 1,500, early 1,600’s. Jesus died over 2,000
years ago.
Do you think it took God 1,600 hundred years
to get it right or 1,600 years for man to get it wrong?
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