Confusion
John 15:1-5 "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
We live in an hour that is very intense. Tribulation is touching a large portion of the Body of Jesus, as we can see in the news many of our brothers and sisters giving their lives in loyalty to Jesus and the spread of the Gospel. The areas of persecution are growing, not getting smaller, for the Church. What began in Egypt, and then spread to Libya and Syria is now inflaming Iraq and northern Africa, not to mention parts of Asia. Jesus warned His disciples what would come along with this spreading tribulation:
Matthew 24:9-13 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Many think that as the events of Jesus’ return progress, that they will get more clarity in what hour it really is, teachers will get better at telling us what is really going on, and, at some point they will “enter in” to an end time reality they have imagined. Many are waiting for that moment when there is a great consensus that “this is it.” This idea flies right in the face of everything Jesus taught. Clarity is not what is increasing, confusion is what is increasing, and it WILL get much more intense. Many are beginning to wake up, but the longer they wait the more it will be like waking up in an emergency. If you wake up in the middle of a fire and the fireman is knocking down your door, you will react in ways that are different than if you were awake and saw the fire early. Confusion always accompanies sudden awakening, especially in times of intensity. Time is very important. You really want to start CONTENDING for end time understanding right now.
Every time Jesus spoke of His return he said either watch, pray, or be ready. Jesus told saved people to be ready. Being saved is not the same as being ready. All ready people are saved, but not all saved people are ready. If you are ready, you are watching and praying, and preparing your heart to declare the truth about what is happening to others in a way that brings in the harvest. There is a great harvest before the Church, and in order to harvest it, you need to follow the plans of the owner of the harvest. This involves feeding other people truth at the right times. Timing REALLY matters, and your understanding of where we are at and WHEN we are in the whole process is super important:
Matthew 24:44-47 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
This is Jesus’ plan to guard His people from the rising up of false teachers, which is happening. This is a very important word for 2014. Lots of teachers can be false teachers. False teachers can repent and become good teachers, and good teachers can get lazy and become false teachers. That is why it is so important for each one of us to Watch, Pray, and Be Ready. Before you can do any of those three things, you have to know: 1. Watch to watch for, 2. What to pray for, and 3. What to be ready for. This is a commandment to each person INDIVIDUALLY.
What I hear the Lord highlighting today is the importance of receiving from teachers WHILE ABIDING in Jesus. We all REALLY need to be in a conversation with Jesus about what He is doing right now. Teaching is necessary….really important. We want good and Biblically sound teaching, but that will never take the place of an individual abiding…and individual conversation with Jesus moment by moment. If you abide in a teacher, you will bear the fruit of that teacher. There is only one teacher whose fruit you want to begin bearing:
Matthew 23:9-13 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. 13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Now, we need to take the whole counsel of the Bible when considering how to guard our hearts from the false. We have ONE teacher, but He uses willing people to speak, as well. Paul said teachers are an important part of the five-fold ministry of the Church to equip the saints for the time leading up to the return of Jesus:
1 Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
The appropriate way to learn from a human teacher is to recognize the truth of the cooperation between God and His people. God sees everything, people see a less. It is most simply said right in 1 Corinthians 13:
1 Corinthians 13:8-12 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
It is very important to take what a teacher says, and not assume it is true, but to use the ideas of God’s teachers…those whose lives seem to bear the fruit of wholehearted love for Jesus and a desire to follow Jesus in the narrow way…to grow in holiness…and then use those ideas from good trees to begin your own conversation with God. “God, this rings true in my heart, but what do YOU say? Show me for myself in Your Word.” Don’t believe anything you can’t see in your own Bible resulting from your own conversation with Jesus…Bible open on your lap. This should be what we do with any information we feel moving our heart. This is part of abiding. If you don’t abide in Jesus this way, the fruit you bear will not be of His kingdom. Confusion and false teaching is heading for an all time high, according to Jesus in Matthew 24. He has warned us so we will guard our hearts and minds.
Because we see dimly, no one is immune to error. A good friend pointed out to me a month, or so, ago that I was teaching on the Tower of Babel in an extra-Biblical way, but making it sound Biblical. She was absolutely right. If she hadn’t been faithful to point out something to me that she felt the Lord was highlighting as false, I would have blindly continued on that road. I had taken something I had learned from a book written by an author I really respect, and began teaching it myself. I began, in a small way, bearing the fruit of a teaching, rather than the fruit of abiding in Jesus. I forgot to abide first. Neither the teacher I learned from, nor I, had any bad intentions…I simply didn’t bring it to Jesus for evaluation. After my friend lovingly pointed this out to me, I heard the Lord highlighting how easy it is to fall into this sort of thing.
The conversation with Jesus is the most important thing He is doing right now. It is easier to hear what people say than it is to settle your heart and listen for the still small voice of God, but only one of those voices knows everything. If you have a hard time hearing Jesus, it should be priority number one to begin talking to Him about. Hearing God is THE primary thing to be contending for in this hour. Hearing God is safety in the time of trouble. If you can’t settle down and train your heart on Him now…what will you do as confusion and intensity increase?
Knowing what a teacher thinks might move your heart for a minute, but it will not sustain your heart when the truth is tested. Knowing what God thinks will move your heart and sustain it in profound ways.
Please, don’t take my word for anything. If something I say makes sense to you and moves you in a small way, please take the next step and begin talking to Jesus about it and ask Him to show it to you in His Word. If it is true, it will stand that test and much more.
2 Timothy 3:12-17 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We live in an hour that is very intense. Tribulation is touching a large portion of the Body of Jesus, as we can see in the news many of our brothers and sisters giving their lives in loyalty to Jesus and the spread of the Gospel. The areas of persecution are growing, not getting smaller, for the Church. What began in Egypt, and then spread to Libya and Syria is now inflaming Iraq and northern Africa, not to mention parts of Asia. Jesus warned His disciples what would come along with this spreading tribulation:
Matthew 24:9-13 "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Many think that as the events of Jesus’ return progress, that they will get more clarity in what hour it really is, teachers will get better at telling us what is really going on, and, at some point they will “enter in” to an end time reality they have imagined. Many are waiting for that moment when there is a great consensus that “this is it.” This idea flies right in the face of everything Jesus taught. Clarity is not what is increasing, confusion is what is increasing, and it WILL get much more intense. Many are beginning to wake up, but the longer they wait the more it will be like waking up in an emergency. If you wake up in the middle of a fire and the fireman is knocking down your door, you will react in ways that are different than if you were awake and saw the fire early. Confusion always accompanies sudden awakening, especially in times of intensity. Time is very important. You really want to start CONTENDING for end time understanding right now.
Every time Jesus spoke of His return he said either watch, pray, or be ready. Jesus told saved people to be ready. Being saved is not the same as being ready. All ready people are saved, but not all saved people are ready. If you are ready, you are watching and praying, and preparing your heart to declare the truth about what is happening to others in a way that brings in the harvest. There is a great harvest before the Church, and in order to harvest it, you need to follow the plans of the owner of the harvest. This involves feeding other people truth at the right times. Timing REALLY matters, and your understanding of where we are at and WHEN we are in the whole process is super important:
Matthew 24:44-47 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. 47 Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods.
This is Jesus’ plan to guard His people from the rising up of false teachers, which is happening. This is a very important word for 2014. Lots of teachers can be false teachers. False teachers can repent and become good teachers, and good teachers can get lazy and become false teachers. That is why it is so important for each one of us to Watch, Pray, and Be Ready. Before you can do any of those three things, you have to know: 1. Watch to watch for, 2. What to pray for, and 3. What to be ready for. This is a commandment to each person INDIVIDUALLY.
What I hear the Lord highlighting today is the importance of receiving from teachers WHILE ABIDING in Jesus. We all REALLY need to be in a conversation with Jesus about what He is doing right now. Teaching is necessary….really important. We want good and Biblically sound teaching, but that will never take the place of an individual abiding…and individual conversation with Jesus moment by moment. If you abide in a teacher, you will bear the fruit of that teacher. There is only one teacher whose fruit you want to begin bearing:
Matthew 23:9-13 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. 13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
Now, we need to take the whole counsel of the Bible when considering how to guard our hearts from the false. We have ONE teacher, but He uses willing people to speak, as well. Paul said teachers are an important part of the five-fold ministry of the Church to equip the saints for the time leading up to the return of Jesus:
1 Corinthians 12:28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.
The appropriate way to learn from a human teacher is to recognize the truth of the cooperation between God and His people. God sees everything, people see a less. It is most simply said right in 1 Corinthians 13:
1 Corinthians 13:8-12 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
It is very important to take what a teacher says, and not assume it is true, but to use the ideas of God’s teachers…those whose lives seem to bear the fruit of wholehearted love for Jesus and a desire to follow Jesus in the narrow way…to grow in holiness…and then use those ideas from good trees to begin your own conversation with God. “God, this rings true in my heart, but what do YOU say? Show me for myself in Your Word.” Don’t believe anything you can’t see in your own Bible resulting from your own conversation with Jesus…Bible open on your lap. This should be what we do with any information we feel moving our heart. This is part of abiding. If you don’t abide in Jesus this way, the fruit you bear will not be of His kingdom. Confusion and false teaching is heading for an all time high, according to Jesus in Matthew 24. He has warned us so we will guard our hearts and minds.
Because we see dimly, no one is immune to error. A good friend pointed out to me a month, or so, ago that I was teaching on the Tower of Babel in an extra-Biblical way, but making it sound Biblical. She was absolutely right. If she hadn’t been faithful to point out something to me that she felt the Lord was highlighting as false, I would have blindly continued on that road. I had taken something I had learned from a book written by an author I really respect, and began teaching it myself. I began, in a small way, bearing the fruit of a teaching, rather than the fruit of abiding in Jesus. I forgot to abide first. Neither the teacher I learned from, nor I, had any bad intentions…I simply didn’t bring it to Jesus for evaluation. After my friend lovingly pointed this out to me, I heard the Lord highlighting how easy it is to fall into this sort of thing.
The conversation with Jesus is the most important thing He is doing right now. It is easier to hear what people say than it is to settle your heart and listen for the still small voice of God, but only one of those voices knows everything. If you have a hard time hearing Jesus, it should be priority number one to begin talking to Him about. Hearing God is THE primary thing to be contending for in this hour. Hearing God is safety in the time of trouble. If you can’t settle down and train your heart on Him now…what will you do as confusion and intensity increase?
Knowing what a teacher thinks might move your heart for a minute, but it will not sustain your heart when the truth is tested. Knowing what God thinks will move your heart and sustain it in profound ways.
Please, don’t take my word for anything. If something I say makes sense to you and moves you in a small way, please take the next step and begin talking to Jesus about it and ask Him to show it to you in His Word. If it is true, it will stand that test and much more.
2 Timothy 3:12-17 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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