Good afternoon, Pastor John. 

I have been thinking about when I first came this way in Louisville.  Before I knew anything, I knew I had to render my tithes and offerings to God.*  I remember the first time I brought them, I wondered how I would ever make ends meet, but I paid them – first.  I made out just fine.  I was in a downsizing at work and ended up with a better job instead of no job.  Then, 20 years later, when I came back out of the wilderness, again a financial mess, I actually wrote you a letter about only having $1 left for any unexpected expenses after paying them.  I do not remember you ever remarking about it.  But I paid them anyway – first.  Now, three years later, I have no problem bringing my tithes and offerings; actually, I rejoice in it.  I have been blessed ten-fold, actually more, than what I have paid, in raises, experiences, and relief from the flesh.  When I look back, all I can think is “only God can do this,” and rejoice.  Then I look at my whole life, and I have to thank Him for everything – the good,  the bad, and the ugly, for it has all worked together to get me here today!  

I just wanted to share some good thoughts!

Mark  W.

*  https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_books.html?tname=tando

Thank you for your reply. 

When I wrote the e-mail, there was still an unanswered question in my heart, and it was this: WHY is the flesh always looking for a rule? Why does our old nature try to please God by keeping fleshly ordinances?

And as I was spending some time in prayer tonight, I feel like the same question came back up, only worded a bit differently: Why is it that most believers cannot let go of the “Christian way”? Why is it so hard to let go of water baptism, communion services, etc.? 

And I think I got an answer, which was this: It is sin. As long as there is something polluting our conscience, we will always feel that we MUST add something to the work of the Spirit in our lives. As long as there is rebellion and disobedience in our hearts (maybe in one of its more hidden chambers), we won’t feel free to just let Jesus love us and live his life through us, without giving at least some credit to the flesh. 

May God grant the grace to all of us to live our lives perfectly freely in the Spirit. That there would be nothing polluting our communion with Jesus and the Father.

Zoli

Good morning and happy New Year from KY.

I have had a thought that keeps replaying in my head.  I feel I am supposed to share it.  

The message is, no one will get into heaven on anyone else’s coattails.  It doesn’t matter how much you loved them, or they loved you.  When we are standing in Judgment, it will be all about what we did, our deeds.  Only the condition of our hearts and our deeds.  No one will ride in on a beloved saint’s coattails, no matter how good that saint was.  No one will ride Preacher Clark’s coattails, Sister Lou’s coattails, Sister Natalie’s coattails, or anyone else’s.  That will not matter.  Standing in Judgment, there will be no ,”Yeah, but”, no objections, no defense.  Just you, the condition of your heart and your deeds, period.  In the Catholic Church, I was taught to pray for the dead and that you could help their condition.   That is a huge lie.  Once you are dead, your judgment is set.  

I had another lesson this weekend.   I have been on call since Christmas.  I have been blessed with very few calls.  This weekend I got called in twice, and I was unable to fix either issue.  I became very despondent about this, doubting if I even belonged in this job.  This morning I read Thought for the Morning: Fasting and Feasting (January 1)*, a letter from a Brother Jim.  I found such relief from that thought!  But even more was how often the answer will present itself if you continue in the Lord.  It may take a little time, but keep doing your study, praying, and spending time with the Lord and the answer will come.

I thank God for Jesus.  I thank Jesus for His sacrifice.  I thank you all for being such examples.  And I am thankful God pulled me out of my filth and led me to a place where the truth is taught and loved.

Well, break time is over, and I have to get back to work now.  Oh yeah, I thank God for this job He gave me.  I guess I have a mouthful of “thank you” this morning!

Mark W.

*  https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_thoughts.html?tname=tfm01-01

Pastor John,

This morning I was reading the Thought for the Morning (January 2)*, and it was a letter from a brother who asked you why sometimes Jesus told the people he healed to go tell everyone what God had done for them, and why at other times he forbade them to spread the news of their healing. Your answer was simple (and I’m paraphrasing): At times, the Father would lead Jesus to say one thing, and at other times, He would lead him to say something else, depending on the circumstances.

After I finished reading, I started thinking how I, too, used to get confused (and I still do at times) whenever I find something in Jesus’ words or deeds that seems contradictory.  And as I was pondering over this, suddenly a thought came to me “out of the blue”, and it was this: 

“It’s because in our carnal minds, we’re always looking for a rule.”

And it dawned on me: When we read the Bible, what our carnal mind does is, it looks for a rule or a set of rules that God might want us to go by.  And the reason why sometimes (or often times) we get confused by the ministry and the teachings of Jesus is because he never followed a rule (or rules) given to him by the Father.  He was always led by the Spirit, and as Paul said, “A natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot comprehend them because they are spiritually discerned”.

It felt good because I felt like God had just revealed something to me, and it was not even over yet.

I wanted to do some Bible reading in the morning, and I started reading Galatians, but thoughts about the way our fleshly nature tries to please God just kept flooding in, and I felt that I needed to close the book so that I could pay attention to the Spirit.  And this is some of what I got:

When we read the Bible but we’re not filled with and governed by the Spirit of God, what we’re really doing is looking for a belief system that our human minds can comprehend, and our natural man can live by. And that is exactly what Satan has offered to the fallen human race through the religion of Christianity: A belief system that sinful humans can follow (thinking that they’re pleasing God by doing so) without having to die to self. 

In other words, Christianity is THE BEST THING the carnal mind was able to come up with.  Baptism with water is the best baptism people can administer without God. Communion with bread and wine is the closest thing to real communion with Jesus that sinful man is able to produce.  Living a life as righteous and pure as humanly possible is the closest thing to holy living people can achieve.  And it’s all filthy rags in God’s sight!  As David said, “Every man at his best state is altogether vanity.”

I feel like the Spirit has just summed up Christianity for me:

“Christianity is filthy rags institutionalized.”

I’ve heard you, Pastor John, many times before, talking about “rites and rules” (in relation to the kingdom of God) with such disdain, in so negative a context, that sometimes I felt like you were going over the top.  I understood that rites and rules are not what following Jesus is about, but I also thought that they couldn’t possibly be as bad as you’re making it sound like. I feel like after today’s experience, I understand more than I ever have where you’re coming from.

Zoli

=========

Hi Zoli.

We see this in the Old Testament.  God told Moses to strike a rock on Mount Sinai, but punished him severely for striking a rock later when God had told him only to speak to it.  What such Old Testament stories tell us is that God has always been alive, doing all things “after the counsel of His own will.”   And to be led by the Spirit means to know what God wants us to do RIGHT NOW, regardless of what He wanted yesterday, or even an hour ago.

May God grant us the grace to be led by the Spirit.  Otherwise, we cannot even guess what we should do.

Thank you for that wonderful testimony.

Pastor John.

* Going to Jesus.com – Why Did Jesus Send Them Away?

Oh, Pastor John!

How did you get so much truth and gold into one book?

I am amazed.  As we read through this I saw so many things that I experienced and because of those experiences, I know what you wrote in this book is true. Like I know my name, I know it is true.

It breaks my heart that I know this because I walked contrary to God.  I know what wrong decisions and wrong choices lead to, AND I know what a loving, compassionate and merciful God we have, too.  I am overwhelmed by the truth in this book. 

How easy it is to ask Jesus to keep every young heart in that room from anything contrary to him and to etch this wisdom on all our hearts.

The truth in the last paragraph of page 78 took my breath.  That is my testimony.  That is what decades of sin led to.  That is exactly where I was when in desperation, I asked Jesus to end my pain and get me out of this world.  I used to lie in bed and cry because the sun would be coming up soon and I couldn’t face another day.  Dawn was a dreaded event. 

And God does heal the broken heart.  That is my testimony.  I am living proof He does.

I can’t say it enough, that I am overwhelmed by the truth in this book.  Jesus wrote this book.  Some things young hearts can’t take in, and I don’t want them to know or hear about that old dead girl, and yet, how can I not talk of the goodness and truth in this?  I decided to take it out on you! 

What wonderful instruction for every one of God’s children!

Beth D.

* Going to Jesus.com –

Hi, Pastor John.

I am working today and thinking about how wonderful it felt Sunday, to be able to be down on my knees and to tell Jesus how thankful I am.  Actually, I think Jesus told me how wonderful that is!

As I am over here feeling all these sweet feelings, and inspecting cars, I just had the thought that what is even worse than not being able to get down on your knees to Jesus when you feel him, is never feeling him like that at all.

I spent years in a hard pew, not moving, and reciting whatever they put before me and only one time did I feel something.  When I did, a tear ran down my cheek and I immediately went to the restroom to avoid the suspicious stares I would receive for crying.  That breaks my heart for all the other hearts that could be feeling Jesus pull them to their knees, or fill them with so much love that they can’t stand, or that tears fall.

I loved Michelle’s email today. Her heart matches my heart. I believe it matches Jesus’ heart. (See post: God’s Children 12/20/2023.)

Beth D.