When I was a young Christian, I tried ever so hard to follow the rules... However, I came to realise, in time, through walking with God, that in my desire to follow the rules, with my fears and inferiority complex I was mainly looking to man for the 'rules' and not to God.
If someone was older than me, been a believer longer than me, had higher education, was a leader, pastor and so on, and they didn't accept, or brushed aside, that which I believed God had placed on my heart, I would figure they got it right, I got it wrong, and who was I to believe I could hear from God, and I would then do as they did and brush aside what I believed God had told me. I also spent time trying to be like 'them'; to live as they did, to have their habits and way of praying, doing Bible study and so on...until, one morning - one very early morning - I was struggling to 'rise at 4, pray for an hour and read Bible for an hour' (as 'that person' was doing on 'that Christian tv show', while getting next to no sleep and while trying to help put together two broken families so they could live as one, and feeding three newborns in three years) when, in my weariness, God impressed upon my heart, "You cannot live by somebody else's revelation." Oh, how freeing that was.
Admittedly, I still had a lot to learn about heeding God's voice over man's, but that was the start of a journey towards greater freedom that I so needed and still praise God for.
The reason I share this now - long before filling in previous "letters" in this section (and loooong after I wrote the last one), is because it's playing heavily on my heart. You cannot live by my revelations. I can share them with you, yes, but these are things God placed on my heart at a time I needed them - when I needed healing, and to lead me into greater understanding as to where I was at, where I am going, my relationship with Him, and so on. Can you get a personal revelation out of anything I share? Yes, of course, if the Holy Spirit quickens it to your heart - and, once He has, it's planted in your heart and you are now responsible for it. But, please, don't ever follow me. Don't ever follow 'man'. Only Jesus. Only God. Only the Holy Spirit.
I don't know you - or if I do, I don't know you well. I don't know all you've been through, the present state of your heart, or what revelation/truth/word of God will help set you free. I can't tell you what you need to do. I can't tell you how to live. And not for one minute do I believe I can teach you (or anyone else, for that matter) the things of God. I simply pass on what I've experienced. All I can do is say 'this is where I've been, who I am, and where I believe God is leading me to,' and that with the hope of letting 'you' know you're not alone on this journey we call life. I believe it's God who gives you the power to know His truth - I just happen to be one little voice offering hope, is all.
I hope and trust God will quicken something to your heart through what I write, but that's not me enlightening you - it's the Holy Spirit.
Again, you can't live by my revelations unless God has birthed them in you. I may water a seed, or God may plant one while you're here, He may even use my experience to help turn a light on for you, but, in the end, you have to trust the Holy Spirit to lead you, to speak to you, to help and heal you, without thinking you have to become like me in any way. My words are just words swishing around in your head, but the word of God comes to life in your heart. His is the living word.
If someone was older than me, been a believer longer than me, had higher education, was a leader, pastor and so on, and they didn't accept, or brushed aside, that which I believed God had placed on my heart, I would figure they got it right, I got it wrong, and who was I to believe I could hear from God, and I would then do as they did and brush aside what I believed God had told me. I also spent time trying to be like 'them'; to live as they did, to have their habits and way of praying, doing Bible study and so on...until, one morning - one very early morning - I was struggling to 'rise at 4, pray for an hour and read Bible for an hour' (as 'that person' was doing on 'that Christian tv show', while getting next to no sleep and while trying to help put together two broken families so they could live as one, and feeding three newborns in three years) when, in my weariness, God impressed upon my heart, "You cannot live by somebody else's revelation." Oh, how freeing that was.
Admittedly, I still had a lot to learn about heeding God's voice over man's, but that was the start of a journey towards greater freedom that I so needed and still praise God for.
The reason I share this now - long before filling in previous "letters" in this section (and loooong after I wrote the last one), is because it's playing heavily on my heart. You cannot live by my revelations. I can share them with you, yes, but these are things God placed on my heart at a time I needed them - when I needed healing, and to lead me into greater understanding as to where I was at, where I am going, my relationship with Him, and so on. Can you get a personal revelation out of anything I share? Yes, of course, if the Holy Spirit quickens it to your heart - and, once He has, it's planted in your heart and you are now responsible for it. But, please, don't ever follow me. Don't ever follow 'man'. Only Jesus. Only God. Only the Holy Spirit.
I don't know you - or if I do, I don't know you well. I don't know all you've been through, the present state of your heart, or what revelation/truth/word of God will help set you free. I can't tell you what you need to do. I can't tell you how to live. And not for one minute do I believe I can teach you (or anyone else, for that matter) the things of God. I simply pass on what I've experienced. All I can do is say 'this is where I've been, who I am, and where I believe God is leading me to,' and that with the hope of letting 'you' know you're not alone on this journey we call life. I believe it's God who gives you the power to know His truth - I just happen to be one little voice offering hope, is all.
I hope and trust God will quicken something to your heart through what I write, but that's not me enlightening you - it's the Holy Spirit.
Again, you can't live by my revelations unless God has birthed them in you. I may water a seed, or God may plant one while you're here, He may even use my experience to help turn a light on for you, but, in the end, you have to trust the Holy Spirit to lead you, to speak to you, to help and heal you, without thinking you have to become like me in any way. My words are just words swishing around in your head, but the word of God comes to life in your heart. His is the living word.
PS. I'm not saying run out and reinvent the wheel, or disobey wisdom or run a muck until God convicts you, or any such thing. I'm simply saying as you read or listen to or witness another believer's revelation, don't think you're nobody until you're like them, but, rather, simply open your heart to what GOD is trying to show and teach YOU, knowing He loves you and wants you healed, whole and free even more than you do.
And, at the same time, I feel the need to add, while the 'light' hasn't gone on for you as yet - in something another believer has said, or you've read (even in the Bible), it doesn't mean God didn't speak a truth to set 'that person' free in one way or another.
Either way, keep your heart open to God's Holy Spirit, know that Jesus leads you on a path to greater enlightenment, and 'that revelation' will come to see you free sooner or later...
Be blessed... and I'll see you later. :) xxx
And, at the same time, I feel the need to add, while the 'light' hasn't gone on for you as yet - in something another believer has said, or you've read (even in the Bible), it doesn't mean God didn't speak a truth to set 'that person' free in one way or another.
Either way, keep your heart open to God's Holy Spirit, know that Jesus leads you on a path to greater enlightenment, and 'that revelation' will come to see you free sooner or later...
Be blessed... and I'll see you later. :) xxx