Where, God?

Have you done the "depart, depart" and "come out from among them, oh My people"?

At this point, you may be confused, afraid,  or overwhelmed.  Like a lot of us were.

Or you may be attending a church, really wanting to please God but you know something is missing or wrong and you cannot put your finger on it.  .

You have gone along with the "visions", the programs, the fundraisers, the classes, the 40 Days of the latest whiz-bang church growth "Move of God" promoted by your church leadership. You have gone through the motions of the worship service,  gone to the "altar" in an attempt to find and please God, "sown seed" of tithes and offerings, followed your leader or pastor, sought for "destiny" and "the next level",  but still you feel empty and lacking.

You have "obeyed them that have the rule over you" and have "forsaken not the assembling of yourselves.." in a traditional setting  for anywhere from a few weeks or 30 years, and you are out of steam.  You have begun to question the routine, powerlessness, and maybe some institutional hypocrisy as you have seen a lot of inconsistency with your church and what is in the Bible.

Jesus taught about becoming a "new wineskin". Would you like to become one?  Here is the secret to doing so. Lay down everything you think you believe about God and His word.  All of your doctrines, creeds, statements of faith, traditions, church habits, self-efforts, pastor-idolatry, Denominational Manuals, and even fellowship, must be laid down at the cross of Christ.  ALL OF IT. -Everything and anything that feeds your ego, or makes you think you are superior because of your knowledge, your spirituality, or your "standards".. Then  read and study God's Word with prayer for TRUTH, you WILL find the Lord becoming your teacher and you will begin to see truths you never knew before.

It is still true.  SEEK HIM.  Turn off the TV, radio, or whatever gets in the way of spending close time with the Lord.   Ask Him for this grace. 

• Ask God for a clean heart and repent as He grants you the gift of DEEP repentance. FORGIVE everyone who has hurt, failed, disappointed, or wronged you. This is absolutely needed.
    
• Pray for truth about church. What if your church or pastor is seriously wrong? Are you willing to leave your tradition when God shows you truth?
  
• Ask God to draw you to Himself and give you a new love for His Word. "In the day when you SEEK ME you SHALL find Me". 
  Most of us were way too busy with materialism and church "stuff". Jesus called it the "cares of this world". 
  
• The prosperity preachers will lead you to hell, not heaven. Paul warned about the wolves INSIDE the church. 

• You will better off not going to a church because we have lost the true meaning of what the church is.
  -Stay home, PRAY, and READ YOUR BIBLE. I know this may sound like heresy but you can find God for yourself and you are capable of hearing from God for yourself.  You would not be reading this if something was not wrong with what you have been doing.
  The sky will not fall, the world will not end, lightning will not strike you dead if don't walk through the doors of "church" for a few weeks or months. 
  TAKE A BREAK and see if God does not speak to you.  He wants to speak with you but can't because we are too busy listening to the pulpiteers and life's cares.
•   
  "I found God again while on my face in our living room without a preacher, choir, or offering plate. "

 FELLOWSHIP?   Pray for fellowship according to God's Will, not yours. If God does not gather you with others, then don't force it.
  People are leaving the institutional church in flocks and are meeting in homes and other places.  Some of the links will connect you with others who have come out of the church world. The truth is that you and I had much, much, more "leaven" (i.e. man's teaching and tradition) inside of our hearts and minds than we ever dreamed.  It was way easier for God to get His people out of Egypt that it was to get Egypt out of them.  You and I are no different.

Taking in God's Word through personal, prayerful study is FAR more important than 90 minutes sitting in church.

• You don't need me or a preacher to help you read the Bible, JUST DO IT. God promised to be your teacher and He knows what His Word means better than any human.  and "ye need not that any one teach you; but as his anointing teacheth you; concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in him." (1 John 2:27)  
• Simplify your life: sell, give, downsize and ask God to break the hold of the idol of materialism and covetousness. Learn to meet the needs of others rather than the comforts of a church building and hired ministers.

 

If you have never been filled with the Holy Spirit baptism like the disciples, ask God to fill you! You did not automatically receive the Spirit of God Baptism when you "accepted Christ",  went forward, or "asked Jesus into your heart".  Read Acts 19:2-6 and see if your experience matches that of the role models from scripture.

Would you like to read some more on this?  Here