Words from the Lord are in red italics.
After Christ's ascension, He spoke to the disciples through the Holy Spirit and guided their lives long before New Testament Bibles existed.
Christ is spirit, so why do we seek Him on those pages?
THE BIBLE (THE “BOOK”)
What need of books when the Fruit of Wisdom is in your midst? Seek Me fervently in all things.
What knowledge do you need to live a life in Christ?
With Christ in you, will He not reveal the knowledge you need as He guides your life daily in spirit and truth?
Christ is your master from Whom all things were created; He is the Fruit of Wisdom.
If you seek Him fervently and persevere, He will equip you with the knowledge and wisdom you need to make your way in life.
Persevere in Me. There is no amount of perseverance on earthly matters that comes near to the bounty of setting your mind on Me. I am the way, the truth, and the life. Live in Me and all will be given to you. Set your mind on Me to know Me more, and you will receive more.
The Book instructs you to seek Me with all of you and to deny your flesh so that you are able, not hindered in purpose of fulfillment of My love towards you. No book can contain knowledge of Me aside from seeking me with your whole heart. The Book is about what you must do to know Me. The knowledge in the Book is so that you may believe and set course for Me. Wisdom comes when you seek Me. Look to Me to show you the way; this is done in communion with Me. Look to the Book to remind you of My commandments.
Know that the Bible (the “Book”) doesn’t contain Him but speaks of Him.
If the universe can not contain Me, how can a book contain Me?
Therefore, do not be engrossed in studying the bible; that’s not what He commands you to do.
Instead, gather His commands from the Book and seek Him earnestly.
Glory everlasting awaits for those who search for Me and find Me. For I am not found in the scriptures, but in spirit as I am spirit.
If He is not in the Bible, then where do you seek Him?
Christ is spirit; therefore, you must seek Him internally from within your heart if you are to find Him.
You are to set your mind on Christ with an undivided heart and be in communion (communication) with Him as the act of “seeking” Him.
Seeking Him, Focusing on Him, Looking to Him... all starts with listening to Him.
All should establish a relationship with Me first before they approach the gospels. Men were never meant to read and interpret but to live unto Me, wholly unto Me, or perish.
Why do you seek Him?
You need to establish a one-on-one relationship with Him.
Spend your time with Him. Converse with Him.
Change your life according to how His truth renews your mind; live unto Him.
THE CHURCH
O’ Church, how far you have strayed. Tend to the newborn so I can make them My children. Prepare their hearts and I will transform them into disciples. I am their teacher. Through Me, they will gain wisdom, knowledge, and understanding – thus sayeth the Lord.
They must know to take up their cross, deny themselves, separate from this world unto Me, take My hand in spirit, and I will shape their world. I will pull them out of perdition. I am their light and fortress. Teach them to be taught by Me; there is no other way.
The church organization has grossly misconstrued its purpose and lost its way, the way of Christ.
Christ’s church was not intended to teach people the Bible, and Christian fellowship was not intended to be Bible studies.
And hear this: you were not intended to live a life of church services, bible studies, and "Christian" social events.
However, you were intended to live as Christ commanded: give up your life for Him, continually seek Him, and let Him guide your life in spirit.
Build up a mighty people, a new church for Christ, risen in the ashes of its former glory to serve and obey the Lord. Give credence to no man but unto the Lord in all hope and faith.
Today’s church organizations are not far from the order of the Pharisees, set in their doctrines and interpretations of the bible text.
Christ's message to churches:
First things first. What of their inner needs? What of peace, the prosperity within? Turn their hearts toward me then do community outreach. There is no lesson to prepare, just the hearts of My people. I will provide for those who are called to action and obey. Do not panhandle, do not be corrupt but set apart in My name. Take nothing, own nothing; that is My way.
Where are His disciples being created?
Who is actually winning souls for the Kingdom?
Ministers could speak to hundreds of thousands of people each month in their ministries and not create one disciple of Christ, not one soul for the Kingdom.
Millions could confess His name, be baptized, and frequent the doors of a bible-based church, but not one could see eternal life without truly knowing Christ.
The blind are leading the blind, babes are teaching babes, and Christ’s people have become spiritually dormant.
This is a wake-up call!
The church is the body of Christ, consisting of people who act as one mind, purpose, and soul for Christ.
Christ is the center of the church and we are to have the single mind of Christ.
To do this, Christ must be our teacher.
We must make Him our daily bread and commune with Him in spirit as He is spirit.
Those who seek to follow Christ must go beyond the Book and the pulpit and be taught directly by Christ through the Holy Spirit.
Those who seek entrance into heaven must walk with Christ in righteousness.
They must become disciples of Christ, and only those who are disciples of Christ belong to the Church of God.
Therefore, in order to understand what a church ministry should do, consider its functions in two parts concerning the phases of a Christian’s life: Pre-disciples (newborns) and Disciples (listeners and obeyers of His word).
Church is like nourishment for babies, newborns in Christ. When we are young, we use training tools like blocks to gain understanding and develop skills, to be taught in a nurtured environment. As we grow, we abandon those devices and learn from the Word as we know how to read and hear wisdom from the Lord. Such is the way of the church, a fertile ground of beginning to teach the foundation of understanding: the fear of the Lord and to prepare the heart to seek the Lord and be its sole desire. Understanding of the Word comes from the Lord. Seek Him and His understanding as your fruit. The spirit must yield fruit or wither away and be pruned, thus sayeth the Lord.
Therefore, we do not gather idly to remain as newborns but seek the Lord with all of our hearts, all of our souls, and all of our minds as one mind, one soul, and one purpose as the body of Christ: to listen and obey His word.
O’ church, prepare their hearts and I will transform them into disciples. I am their teacher. Through Me, they will gain wisdom, knowledge, and understanding – thus sayeth the Lord.
The “Pre-disciple” part of church organizations should prepare people to become disciples of Christ; this is the pathway to winning souls for the Kingdom.
When people repent and pray to commit their lives to Christ, this is only the starting moment for them and does not constitute winning souls.
They must be taught to fear the Lord, and their hearts must be conditioned to seek the Lord.
A church building is where those listening to Christ gather and share. Others join, be saved, get filled with the Holy Spirit, then practice and prophesy as a disciple as well.
The part for “Disciples” should provide a facility for people who listen to Him in spirit and obey His word.
These people are of one mind, one soul, and one purpose as the body of Christ.
It is for those people to exhort each other in the way of Christ and to share words and worship together in spirit and truth.
PRE-DISCIPLE PHASE
This spectrum of people ranges from those who have not accepted Christ as their savior to those who are not yet actively hearing from Christ.
It's realistic that the cumulative duration of time that a person would spend at this phase could be days, not weeks.
Certainly not week after week and year after year!
This phase is about preparation to be taught by Christ as soon as possible.
To paraphrase Christ, it would be like graduating from preschool.
What happens after “graduation”? I am the follow-up care.
Exhorting them? Yes.
Encouraging them? Yes.
Sharing experiences of Christ with each other? Yes
Continuing to try to teach them bible text? No.
When people get connected to Christ in spirit, do not hold them back.
A list of goals for people in this phase may look like this:
Accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior over sin.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Fear the Lord
Listen to wisdom being spoken by leadership.
Understand that salvation, hearing Him in spirit, and walking in obedience to His will are prerequisites to entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
Desire the Lord above all else and seek His pleasure and glory above all else.
Discipline to live daily in Christ in the supernatural: take up the cross, deny the flesh, separate from this world, and walk with Christ in spirit. Understand that paths in life are shaped by Christ while walking in Christ.
Hear the words of the Lord through the Holy Spirit.
Act on the words of the Lord in obedience.
Understand how to create disciples according to Christ's way.
In addition to instructing these goals, leaders (bona fide disciples) should create an environment of peace and be committed to warring with the enemy.
Leaders should command peace so the enemy has no foothold, instill glory to put down the tares of sin, and command the enemy to flee in the name of Jesus.
Leaders should feed people wisdom from the Lord to help shape their minds so their hearts are fertile for the instruction of the Lord.
In being crucified in Christ, they will need to be steadfast in preparation during that time to rise up as a follower of Christ. Three days to a life of salvation, hope, and purpose in the kingdom of the Lord. The discipline is the training program you must put forth to save these souls so they know the glory. Three days of morning fasting, of early to bed and early rise to partake in the word, to be fed Christ and hear wisdom. For the Holy Spirit to do the work necessary in them and for their path to be prepared. Great and mighty is the way of the Lord.
DISCIPLE PHASE
Those who have fulfilled the goals of the Pre-disciple stage, however they arrived, can gather and share the words they received from the Lord.
These are those who eat His flesh and drink His blood in hunger for the Word.
Here, they can worship in spirit, together as a body of Christ, with words provided by the Lord in spirit.
Words from the heart that celebrate, honor, and bring glory to the name of the Lord. In this worship, the altar of the Lord is front and center, not the musicians.
In Him, we live, and move, and have our being, much as it is with worship in spirit.
Lead the church into the way of the sword and away from the misdealing of the organization they call church. Arise unto Me o’ church lest you remain fallen. Conquer in My name; now is the time. Preachers be silent; all must go to battle or suffer defeat, thus sayeth the Lord.
Churches are meant to be a nurtured environment for “newborns.”
Leaders in Christ are expected to be vocal in battling the enemy so would-be disciples can be developed without spiritual obstruction.
This is the way of the sword, the way of Christ.
The church is intended to create disciples and exhort each other according to His ways; otherwise, there can be no victory.
Next up: Part 11: Heal the Soul