Keeping things simple, and in childlike faith, I am spiritually an eternal pragmatist - so based on His track record, if Jesus says something it’s worth counting that as truth and believing it.
Jesus said that He would come back; that the government is on His shoulders; the new earth will have no more brokenness, pain, suffering, pride, guilt, heartache - the list of goodness is endless!
Yes, I want Jesus to come back, in person, because while we’ve been doing church things
people have been enslaved in human trafficking, drugs, terrorism, child sex slavery, coercion, manipulation - the list of brokenness is endless.
Things have to be changed by Him, because even in my pursuit of Godliness, and even being filled by His Spirit, and even in His grace, my humanity is still broken and my life still manifests it, and that won’t change until He restores me to my original condition.
So I want Jesus to come back, the One whom the woman met at the well, because, like her, we’ve been looking for love in all the wrong places, and this beautiful but broken world needs Him.
At His return, in the blink of an eye, we will be like Him; still us, but unbroken.
He Never Surrendered
Right now, though, there is a battle between powers and principalities in the spirit realm, and the battleground is earth, where money, (wealth, possession, and greediness) is the root of this evil.
It’s evident that satan still thinks that he has full authority on earth. Remember his words to Jesus, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”? But the truth is, the only thing he has is what he gained when he deceived man.
But God never gave up even one iota of His ownership of earth - He still holds all authority in heaven and on earth, and therefore, in Him, the earth is still our inheritance.
And satan will never have earth as his own, because, unlike man, Jesus never surrendered to his influence - but, instead, He established this:
“Yet you will be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.
Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the one who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,
Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed it’s cities, Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’”
Yes, it is true, that one day some will see the pittance of a being who fathered all lies and deceived nations, and had the audacity to confront and challenge his own Creator; and in his failures, attempt to destroy creation, and you and I.
Average People: And Sometimes I Sing
I’m not going to persist on the topic of worship any longer, I think the point is clear. So the questions now are; What do I do with it? And, What does all that even look like practically, anyway?
Well, I can’t define that. I’m sorry! I have no misconceptions, nor presumptions, of what your life should look like, but I can share what it looks like for me, and what it looked like for another man in history. And, hopefully that will encourage you to see a pattern in the lives of many others in our history book, and surrender to your own journey. He is our God, too.
After my revelations of God being my Dad and of intimacy with His Spirit, the revelation of the absoluteness of Jesus completely established my heart, and this, after a lifetime of pursing Him. I finally felt that I was born again - you know the phrase we use so often, in faith!?
Grace and freedom replaced works and religion, and their influence in me was so great that I could no longer keep doing the things that I did before. And as my messages began to reflect my newfound freedom, numbers dwindled, people stormed out of the meetings with slanders of my heresy, and very soon what was once a vibrant and growing church community, was no longer that. But was this failure or success?
Because I finally understand grace, I think both.
Looking back I could have done things differently, maybe? I’d ever walked a road of such freedom before, and all I could think to do was take our group of people with me on the exploration.
Firstly, I wasn’t really capable of sharing this newfound spiritual freedom with my limited human words; and secondly, they, weren’t ready to hear something which, at first glance, appeared to be contradictory to everything that they had been taught and practiced. It’s understandable why they got upset and found more comfortable pastures.
So now I won’t make the same mistake again, by telling you what the next steps should look like, or what you must do.
I’ve also learned that Holy Spirit is better at it than I am, and if He did it for my open heart, He will do it for yours, too - and this is exactly what He is here for.
On the other side of the coin, the success in all of this was that I not only discovered that I could love Darrin - the love yourself part of the second greatest commandment - but, importantly, I gave myself permission to love me, even in all of my brokenness.
Now nothing can enhance nor diminish my worship, my love for my Father - I either do or I don’t. Without the fanfares of modern Christianity I’ve lived in a simple, yet powerful, relationship with the One who revealed Himself to me in the dream, when I was a child.
I've returned to my first love, that which was seeded deep inside of me many years ago. I acknowledged it, gave it place, and fully embraced it.
I’m just an average guy, with no title and no platform, but with an established heart, and my love for my Father is unshakeable and secure. I love Him with all of my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength, and I can love others as much as I now love myself.
"And sometimes I sing.
And sometimes fix cars.
Sometimes I paint houses.
And sometimes I make art.
And sometimes do nothing, and my heart is at rest.
But I love Him in everything, that's what He loves best."
Average People: Be Like Steve
He was also an average man, with a normal job, and a normal life. He was a man of faith and filled with Holy Spirit, and lived every day at the dining table with God.
As Stephen went about his life amazing things would happen, so much so that a group of men, ironically from The Synagogue of Freedmen, became offended by him. So they called him in for questioning.
But the men became infuriated by Stephen's wisdom, and the Spirit by which He spoke. His words of truth cut deeply to their hearts, that they shouted aloud to drown his voice, put their hands over their ears to smother his voice, and then they all rushed at him at once to drag him out for stoning.
Stephen’s already established love for his God, and his intimacy with Holy Spirit, is what
caused him to be uncontrollably different - so different that he would say, “God, do not charge them with this act of brokenness.” And then he fell asleep.
They never did get to kill Stephen, all they could do was throw rocks at an empty tomb, because his spirit was already with the One whom he loved.
It’s enough to love God and be average. In fact, that’s what He want’s, because in our weakness His power is made perfect, and it’s here where we discover the sufficiency of His empowering grace.
Religion clutters the space that was deigned for intimacy, and seats idols at the table of dining.
No, I cannot tell you how to do it, or what to do, and I won’t create yet another denominational brand. But I do know this; that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, lives inside of you, and He will teach you all things.
In Jesus own words: “These things I have spoken to you while with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
“Do not have any other gods but Me” said our Dad, “nor carved images or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth, or that is in the water under the earth - do not bow your hearts to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, your Father, am a jealous of your heart.”
To be average, and completely in love with God, is an adventure which we are all on, and the One who leads us has gone before us - He knows the way, He made the way, and He is the way.
Average People: In the Mean Time
There’s one last thing which I, the pragmatist, need to go back to in New York City and in John’s revelation, where he said that people will worship the dragon and the beast.
This idol, now standing in front of the United Nations headquarters, is nothing more than a brazen display of what satan really wants - for the hearts of humanity to submit to him being their deity. Global “elites” have become to satan what the statue was to Nebuchadnezzar - just the human facade of the greater spiritual war - and to which satan is driving humanities submission.
As Nebuchadnezzar issued decrees of punishment and consequences for those who did not bow down, in eerily familiar scenes today, decrees are broadcast loud and far.
John, further into his revelation, records; “For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.”
The word for great men; megistan - grandees, magnates, nobles, chief men, elites.
The word for sorcery; pharmakeia - the use or the administering of drugs.
Sound familiar?
But Paul’s words are also true. “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” Sudden destruction will soon and suddenly come upon those who operate this evil.
But in the mean time, they will find in you and me - just average people - what they found in Stephen.
There is only One God whom I worship, and He’s the only One whom I love - and His name is YHWH.
Written from the heart. The love of the Father surrounds you in all that you do and say. Appreciate you my friend.
Insightful, thank you Darrin 💕