Knowing God

‘Have we become institutionalised?

On a social level, a person becomes institutionalised when certain freedoms are taken away or controlled, such as food and waking times. The day from beginning to end is structured. This structure eventually becomes normal, especially for those who are placed in institutions such as the military, prisons, schools, and care homes and even religious communities. The person who is found in any of these sees routine, regimentation and aspects of personality taken away. One way that we see this immediately is in the uniformed look of individuals. ‘But where would we be, how would we function if there was not order?'

Dependency on hierarchy and the response to authority become normal, rigid and immovable. Many people who have come out of such regimes find it difficult to adjust to the new order of things. Long-term prisoners and military service men also find transitional times difficult; prisoners reoffend, and the militarily trained often seek jobs that offer institutional norms, even if they are low paid.

Without formal rehabilitation into the civilian stream, life can become very difficult to adjust to. The new ways to an alien social structure and response need adaptation, and some simply can’t make it.But what about the institutionalisation of the church? The early church operated in a very charismatic way, but it was unlike the hyper-charismatic movement we find today.

The first-century church lived by offering up individual possessions and personal desires; they lived as a single community amidst persecution and veered away from the social institutions. There was a vibrancy and the tangible manifestation of the Spirit.

We read in John 4:22 - 24 inc..the designated areas of worship will not remain…worship will be done in a new way, the way of  Spirit and Truth’..

In order for the individual to worship in Spirit and truth, they must yiled to and be directed by the Holy Spirit. An intense realtionship must exist because Holy Spirit teaches us to kow God; this is the will of God.

Because the early church knew they were now in Christ, they also knew that they were not of the world, and as such, were strangers in a foreign land.

How many in the church today still have their feet in two camps?

How many of us have not made the transition into the lifestyle God wants for us, and how many of us have truly know that in order for us to be born again we must die to the flesh.

The recent census tells us that the UK is officially a secular society. Though a small number of the populous may see themselves as Christians, either because they were brought up in a Christian country, the fact is that most do not attend church or are a part of a fellowship, and despite believing that Jesus is the Son of God, do not adhere to the scriptural teachings of Christ, and therefore do not align with what Jesus taught, and neither do they qualify as being a true Christian. In other words, they cannot be defined as one because they have not been born again.

God works through structure and order. He deals with things from the top, and thus when it came to His judgments and blessings upon His nation, He dealt through Kings, priests and the people. The people erred because those above had done so. That is why we are admonished to pray for our leaders.

'Godly leadership makes a Godly nation'.

We ask God to be led by those who know Him and will deal justly and in righteousness over us. However, we get the leaders we ask for because of our sin. It’s a circle.

So why do we see the Church and the nation in crisis?

DEUT 28 THE PASSAGE OF BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS BEGINS:

‘NOW IT SHALL BE, IF YOU DILIGENTLY OBEY THE LORD YOUR GOD,  BEING CAREFUL TO DO ALL HIS COMMANDMENTS , WHICH I COMMAND YOU TODAY,

‘I WILL’……

What follows the 'I will' are the blessings we will receive, however, let us the conditional clause be emphasised.

YHVH gives us another conditional clause in 2 Chronicles 7:14. We forget that this is God’s response to the prayer of King Solomon. The deal was that if the people repented through their various trials and turned to God, God would respond by healing the nation.

If we admit that we have conformed to a religious structure under an institutionalised hierarchical system, then we are un-conformed to the order and rule of God. In other words, if religion is a form of bondage, then we are not free. The word ‘religion’ comes from the Latin ‘religio’, which means to ‘consider carefully’, bind or reconnect.

We can hold philosophical views of religion that align with this meaning. We can consider, reconsider, and adapt our thoughts and processes to our way of thinking; we can change our minds and connect with aspects that align with our own institutionalised theology. We all have this structure built in us through education and in the mechanisms of our cultures.

This may help us live a kind of normality and maintain some kind of social cohesion, but is it truly freedom? God has given us the choice to choose Him or the world; His original structure and order of things, or man-made institutions.

The pursuit of signs

Psalm 144 ends, ‘ blessed are the people whose God is YHVH',

Is this not the greatest testimony of all?

Is it not enough that YHWH has chosen us to be His people or indeed that He has made Himself our God? If it is, then surely that alone is something to testify about and that we have been saved for Him -- 'THE GOD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, ALL THAT IS IN IT AND IS WORSHIPPED AND ADORED BY ANGELS'chooses to be our God!

Wow! The freedom that Christ brought demolished the human connection and gave us the ability to ‘reconnect’ with Him.

However, believers continue to rush to the displays of charismatic manifestations in some of the contemporary styles of Protestant churches. These signs, however, do not mean that the Spirit of God is in operation, but neither does it mean that He is not present. As long as we keep seeking God for personal things, desiring the spirit of the Lord so that we can present ourselves to others as powerful in the spirit, we risk being like Simon Magus, who tried to purchase the Holy Spirit gifts to bolster up his own works.

It is time for leaders to look at disciplining their flocks, and to stop spoon feeding them like little lambs.

Psalm 144 begins, ‘ Praise be to the Lord, My Rock , who trains my hands for war’.

David writes the psalm and reflects his trust in God, who will deliver him personal threat. However, it also asks God to manifest His power in nature by debilitating the enemy. David knows God and decalres that He is hisshield and deliverer; YHVH is the one who subdues the people and puts them under the king’s authority.

If we want to win battles, then we must first win the battle between the soul and the spirit. The Holy Spirit does not respond to the way we think; He is not pigeon-holed to times slots, sabbaths and meetings, even to our daily meditations. Those things occur because of Him, not because we make them. He is not limited to events and special occasions; He is limitless and at work constantly.

David declares that the acts of God will bless the people and the land. Solomon’s prayer in 2 Chronicles 7 reflects this petition for God’s benevolence. David recognises that if He can rule well, then the nation will be well.

So, are we teaching the flock of Christ to echo these words of David, or are we keeping them dependent on unsound doctrine and minimal training?

if we are to be institutionalised at all, it must be to be trained in fath and conformed to the image of Christ, and that can only be achievedalso obedieince, but it must also have foundation in the new birth experience.

Our transformation is the greatest miracle, and when others see it, it becomes a sign to the unregenerate world.

The war for our salvation began before we were placed in the womb, and we forget that life is a series of battles, the boot camp of the spirit that readies us for the final conflict. It’s like a man who trains himself for military service before he enters the training. His true service and calling do not begin until he becomes recognised as part of the squad.

We are taught that we must be trained to bring down unholy institutions and kingdoms. That is the authority given to us by Christ and is the manifestation of the work of the Holy Spirit in all who believe. David acknowledged that God would save him, and Jesus said, that whoever calls upon His name shall be saved.

As long as we keep approaching God in prayer, with a shopping list of personal items and wishes, we remain childish and are untrained in the warfare in which all believers are recruited to participate.

We have forgotten that every believer must know God and His work through the Word who became flesh. Yet, the knowledge of God lacks because we forget that we are children of the Most High, the God of God’s, the creator of heaven and earth, to whom glory is given by angels, and who can snuff us out without warning.

We enter our church meetings with no reverence, no preparation, idle chit chat, and no fear of God. We have all week to talk about the matters of life, and still those matters consume us and invade the conversations we should be having with Jesus..

I’m talking to myself, too.

There is a fellowship I attend that has a tradition to ask for tesimonies at the beginning if the meeting. Despite the passing of two weeks and a house full of people, one or two might share. Applause and gratitutde is given in recognition for answered prayer, but if we are basing our experience with the Holy Spirit on this type of experience we can be as wicked as the generastion that asks for sign.

I am not negating the power of God's kindeness and grace, His deeds must be recognised and glory given to Him alone, but if we base our worship on testimony, we are failing to recognise the whole point of worship. Worship is given to God because it is due and that He is God. He does not have to prove anything to us.

The scripture says in Psalm 150:6  says this: ‘Let everything that has breath, Praise the Lord! The word for 'breath' in Hebrew is ’n’same.’

We find it in these passages as well as many others.

Isa 42:5 KJV - 5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

The same word: n’sama

Gen 2:7

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Gen 7:21. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

Gen 7:22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

The root word ’n’sham’ means ‘to pant, as in labour’, bring forth… and even to destroy.

God is the King of the Kingdom we are supposed to seek. We forget that in doing so, we are obeying His command. The seeking of God’s Kingdom is a command -- its not a suggestion. If we want to know Him we must also be born again, and that, my friends, was niot a suggestion either.

Does that sink in? Yet, we are still seeking personal gain and answers to prayers that have another motive. Why? Because we are self-centred and not God-centred.

We pray with the wrong spirit.

James 4:1 What leads to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members?

2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask.

3 [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures. AMP ( Classic)

Friends, God desires that we live in His abundant provision. If we grow up and seek His purposes and will, our prayers will be answered. An adult learns that they can’t always have what they want and that sometimes certain things are simply unattainable. However, adulthood does not mean maturity. We can still make silly, childish, selfish mistakes and ask for the wrong things.

Knowing God

Jeremiah 10 says…

Hear the word Adonai speaks to you,house of Isra’el!

2 Here is what Adonai says:“Don’t learn the way of the Goyim,don’t be frightened by astrological signs,even if the Goyim are afraid of them;

3 for the customs of the peoples are nothing…

…v6 There is no one like you, Adonai!You are great, and your name is great and mighty.

7  Who would not fear you, king of the nations?For it is your due! —since among all the wise of the nationsand among all their royalty,there is no one like you.

ATTAIN WISDOM  - KNOW GOD.

Proverbs 1 says:

1 The proverbs of Shlomo the son of David,king of Isra’el,

2 are for learning about wisdom and discipline;for understanding words expressing deep insight;

3 for gaining an intelligently disciplined life,doing what is right, just and fair;

4 for endowing with caution those who don’t thinkand the young person with knowledge and discretion.

5 Someone who is already wisewill hear and learn still more;someone who already understandswill gain the ability to counsel well;

6 he will understand proverbs, obscure expressions,the sayings and riddles of the wise.

7 The fear of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge,but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Jeremiah 10..8 

One and all they are boorish and stupid;the teaching of their nothings is a piece of wood!

9 Silver is beaten into plates,then imported from Tarshish.Gold from Ufaz is worked by a craftsmanand shaped by the hands of a goldsmith.They are clothed in blue and purple,all the work of skillful men.

10 But Adonai, God, is the true God,the living God, the everlasting king.At his anger, the earth trembles;the nations cannot endure his fury.

…12 God made the earth by his power,established the world by his wisdomspread out the sky by his understanding.

13 When he thunders, the waters in heaven roar,he raises clouds from the ends of the earth,he makes the lightning flash in the rainand brings the wind out from his storehouses.

14 At this, everyone is proved stupid, ignorant,every goldsmith put to shame by his idol!The figures he casts are a fraud;there is no breath in them;….

…21 

The shepherds have become stupid,they have not consulted Adonai.This is why they have not prospered,and all their flocks are scattered………

THEY DONT KNOW YHVH!

Jeremiah 8:4-7

…4 If a person falls, doesn’t he get up again?If someone goes astray, doesn’t he turn back?

5 Why do these people keep backsliding?Why is their backsliding so persistent?They cling to deceit and refuse to return!

6 I listened attentively but they spoke nothing right.No one repents of his wickedness,saying, “What have I done!”Each runs off in his own direction,like a horse plunging headlong into battle.

7 Storks in the sky know their seasons;doves, swallows and cranes their migration times;but my people do not know the rulings of Adonai!

Jeremiah 9: 23-25/22 

(23) Here is what Adonai says:

“The wise man should not boast of his wisdom, the powerful should not boast of his power, the wealthy should not boast of his wealth;

23 (24) instead, let the boaster boast about this:that he understands and knows me —that I am Adonai, practising grace, justice and righteousness in the land; for in these things I take pleasure,” says Adonai.,

I believe that the time has come to grow up and be serious about things of the kingdom of God, to be serious about knowing God.

What sort of relationship are we seeking?

ARE WE FOCUSED ON PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OR UPON THE SALVATION OF THE NATION TO WHICH WE BELONG?

THE LORD SAYS, 'LEARN FROM THE ANT!'

If we want to heal our towns and nation, then we have to pray, putting aside personal concerns. WE FIGHT TO MAKE TIME FOR PRAYER, and make the demolition of kingdoms and principalities a priority

God is saying , 'RETURN TO ME! ’Make ME a priority, make ME your passion and first love; I WANT YOU TO KNOW ME!’

Every aspect of the war in which we are called to fight,must become personal.

We talk and sing about Jesus in our services, and we talk about going to the streets, to shout His praises from the mountains. This kind of action doesn’t happen in the four walls of congregational buildings; it happens when people take things seriously and go out in the authority of the Holy Spirit; they don't need to be given what they already have.

One foreign religion sees it fit to block the streets and fill public spaces of our nation with their corporate prayer. Do you know how they can do this? It is because they are united in institution, religion and purpose. The freedom and liberalism of the Christian religion have caused us to be divided, the watchmen are on lunch break, and thus the foundations of our city walls are crumbling, and the gates have been removed.

Ezra and Nehemiah, revitalised a slave nation into returning to God and the covenant and to rebuild the city wall and restore the kingdom. Please note, the dedication was on the feast of ‘Tabernacle’…which is the prophetic feast of restoration and God dwelling with man.

LEARN FROM THE ANTS.

I have a problem with ants at the moment. They are moving in battalions into the house. What they do in establishing a route to their store of food is to send out scouts who lay pathways of pheromones to direct the rest of the troop.

You can’t stop this invasion. Because when you eliminate a pheromone path, they create another. If you block the path, the scouts will find a new one, and if they get trapped, they will make bridges out of themselves for other ants to cross over. The only way to eliminate the invasion is to destroy the colony, and that's not as easy as you think.

WE HAVE NOT LEARNED FROM THE ANTS…

NO, we have not done that. Religious liberalism and governmental wokeism has not eliminated the invasion it has not blocked paths of entry. And thus we are in dire straits.

New paths have simply been established, and these remedies don’t happen overnight, so it’s not surprising that our nation is being overtaken by the enemies of the faith through radicalism and by stealth.

What is wrong with us?

Certain groups act when they are threatened and upset, and they do this violently and en masse. There is solidarity among them, and when you attack one, you attack them all!

The Christians pray and hope for change, but the church is not radical, as Jesus was. It’s afraid, silent, paralysed and powerless. And the Jews, they don’t react either. They leave it up to discourse and to other people. I can understand this; who wouldnt they want peace and safety!

But the Lord says, there is no peace for the wicked. Isaiah 48:17-22

Deut 28

43 "Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours.

44 They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers.

45 "All these disasters will come on you, and they will be with you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the Lord your God and keep all the laws that he gave you.

46 They will be the evidence of God's judgment on you and your descendants forever.

47 The Lord blessed you in every way, but you would not serve him with glad and joyful hearts.

48 So then, you will serve the enemies that the Lord is going to send against you. You will be hungry, thirsty, and naked - in need of everything. The Lord will oppress you harshly until you are destroyed…..

…62 You will be left few in number, whereas you were once as numerous as the stars in the sky -because you did not pay attention to the voice of ADONAI your God.

63 "Thus it will come about that just as once ADONAI took joy in seeking to do you good and increase your numbers, so now ADONAI will take joy in causing you to perish and be destroyed, and you will be plucked off the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.

64 ADONAI will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will serve other gods, made of wood and stone, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.

65 Among these nations you will not find repose, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; rather ADONAI will give you there anguish of heart, dimness of eyes and apathy of spirit.

66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be afraid night and day and have no assurance that you will stay alive

Isaiah 48:..17..Thus says the LORD your Redeemer,

the Holy One of Israel:

“I am the LORD your God,

who teaches you for your benefit,

who directs you in the way you should go.

18If only you had paid attention to My commandments,

your peace would have been like a river,

and your righteousness like waves of the sea.

19Your descendants would have been as countless as the sand,

and your offspring as numerous as its grains;

their name would never be cut off

or eliminated from My presence.”

20 Leave Babylon!

Flee from the Chaldeans!

Declare it with a shout of joy,

proclaim it,

let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying,

“The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”

21They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts;

He made water flow for them from the rock;

He split the rock, and water gushed out.

22“There is no peace,” says the LORD,

“for the wicked.

God has given His precepts to us.

Do you know what a precept is?

‘A precept is a rule that brings change. It regulates behaviour.’

It can be for good or for bad. It can restrict or release.

God has also given us the authority to bind and lose! In Hebraic understanding, it meant that the religious authority could determine what was forbidden or allowed.

So to put this in context, if we know God, His laws, His precepts and determinations, then we can justly and righteously apply the concept of binding and loosing with force and with the full power of the law. MAY THE HOLY SPIRIT TEACH US THIS!

Jesus transferred this authority to His apostles. Matthew 18:18 It signifies that apostolic authority was empowered to declare God’s will, with the promise that such declarations are aligned with heaven's decisions. It applies to the authority enshrined in teaching and discipline. (it is erroneous to apply the rule to the binding of demons…)

GET SERIOUS AND CARRY YOUR CROSS

Can we get serious about all of this and do what is necessary despite the cost or is the carrying of our cross too much of a painful price to pay?

EXPECTATIONS : Are you expecting big things from the Lord?

Is your mouth full of big things, big sayings - of the big thing you will do for the Lord…

Thinking big and doing big things is impossible if you have never done the small things.

Some men speak of brave things but cower when they are asked to step up to do them. THE CHURCHES ARE FULL OF THESE MEN.

Responsibility in the  small things

We must settle and accept these things which we consider small. ‘ surely God, there is something better than this for me! We say.

That is the spirit of pride. Some people are good at telling and pushing others to put their hands to the plough, but they are reluctant to assist in the pulling.

God never gave us a cross as big or as weighty or as bloody as that which was carried by Christ.  He never gave us one as big as those given to Peter or Paul. He made us to be us and to carry that which we can bear. But the simple joining of our two sticks are twigs compared to the heavy beam of the cross which our Christ was crucified upon.

We don’t want a heavy burden, a splintered beam upon our shoulders  —It tears our shiny suits .

Jesus said His burden is light . The burden of Christ is light and His yoke easy. Matt 11:28

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus never said, ‘Come to Me all who are strong and are not in need of rest.!

Walking with Christ

We can’t want to go in the way of Christ, if every day we wake up to another list of to-do's.

We don’t have time for such an attachment. We forget how we made that list. It is full of ministry details, programmes and events that prevent us from spending too much time at the feet of Jesus. There are things that can only be attended to when we sit at Jesus’ feet - when we are in proximity to his voice and the beat of His heart.

We fail to succeed in many things, including the bearing of fruit, because we are never taught the terms and conditions of covenant living, the precepts that are to govern the souls born of Christ.

We speak of the life of the first apostolic church and desire some semblance of it, but we are not prepared to pay the price they paid. We boast of our spirit-filled meetings and yet forget each other when the doors of the church close for the day.

The early life of the church was concerned with the well-being of the whole community and each man was interested in the life of others. Jesus taught us the ‘Way’ and that way was to be a shepherd like Him. This precept allows us to know Him.

The trail of our ancestors are etched in the rock of the earth, and if we are prepared to plough the fields, we will excavate their footprints.

So remember the ants, my friends.

Proverbs 6:6

We have a lesson to learn from the ants.

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!

7 It has no commander,  no overseer or ruler,

8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

9 How long will you lie there, you sluggard?    When will you get up from your sleep?

10 A little sleep, a little slumber,    a little folding of the hands to rest—

11 and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.So finally,

We acknowledge how the gospel was taken to the nations from this Kingdom of Britain… but it’s becoming glib. The message should never have stopped in the first place.

We were given it to invest and to gather the returns.

Do you know Jesus?

That is not the question, in truth.

It is : ‘Does Jesus know you’

We must be moved by what is possibly the most scariest verse in the Bible.

Matt 7:23….’Jesus said, I never knew you…….

Let that sink in !

There is a paralysis, a toxic anaesthetic that makes us into the servant who hid his talent. Matt 25

His excuse was that he saw his master as a hard man..

The remark of the master in the parable was not an agreement with the servant words; it was a rebuff, because the servant did not know the master and feared him for the wrong reasons.

Jeremiah 31:34

No longer will each man teach his neighbour or his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”

We have not because we do not ask, so let us pray the desire of the Lord.

John 17:3

Now this is eternal life, that they may' know You', the only true God, and 'Jesus Christ',

whom You have sent.

Shalom

Grant