If you follow Him, you will suffer like Him
As I walk with God and yield to His Spirit, I find that I relate more and more (in a very small way) to the sufferings Jesus Himself had during His lifetime. While my life hardly compares to His, I do enter into and taste some of what it must have been like for Him. Truly Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”
Jesus came to His own and His own received Him not. Christ was the promised Messiah and everything in the Jewish religion should have prepared His people to receive Him. Yet, as we read in scripture, those who should have rejoiced at His coming, ended up rejecting and crucifying Him.
Less and less like the church
As I yield to Gods Spirit and simply allow Him to lead me, I find that I am less and less like those of the “Christian Church.” Though I share some of the fundamental beliefs of mainline Christian denominations, my views on many things are greatly expanded and also lead me to different conclusions than the leaders of these religious institutions. Many times, people rejoice to have me attend their meetings because they sense the Spirit of God in me so strongly. However, as the Holy Spirit speaks through me and challenges their erroneous beliefs and actions, they quickly shun or outright reject me. It seems they simply do not have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit is speaking to His people.
Feeling a little like Jesus
I realize, through dealing with people who say they are of God yet reject Him in me, a little of what it must have felt like to be Jesus. I feel drawn to His people, yet these are the very ones who turn on me so viciously when I don’t line up with their particular doctrinal view. It is tragic that people who claim to be of God can so quickly act like the devil when what they believe is threatened.
I understand from scripture that if they have hated my master, they will also hate me. I understand that the way of the cross is to deny yourself and, if need be, enter into the sufferings of His Son. Yet, on an emotional and mental level, this is difficult. God in me continually yearns for His body to be one yet they continually fight the very One in me they claim to serve.
If the salt has lost its savor
As a consequence of this type of schizophrenic behavior, many of the most spiritually minded people hesitate to step foot in churches for fear of rejection and persecution. The people that are most needed to salt God’s house are often times cast out for His name’s sake. This should not be so and we should work together in humility knowing that we need each other in order to succeed.
Preachers warn that we are in the “end times” yet they seem surprised when things begin to change. What do they expect? Do they think everything will continue as it has been since the time of our forefathers while the Antichrist takes over the world? If the Devil is going to move so powerfully, do not they believe that God will also move in dramatically different ways too? If the leadership really believes that God is going to do a new thing, why aren’t they willing to take part in it?
I am part of a new move of God because I am a Tabernacle Christian. I am part of the next step in God’s plan to mature and energize His church in preparation for the close of the Gentile church age. I ask you, must we always persecute what God does? For once could we just allow Him to change us without a fight?
I know I am not alone
I am not alone. There are others like me hidden here and there throughout the world. Unfortunately, many of those who are experiencing Tabernacles are in third world and/or persecuted countries because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by yielding to all that God wishes to give them. God desires to do the same with us if we will make the sacrifices necessary to embrace Him fully.
There is always a remnant who truly want God and will do anything to have Him. If you are one of these people I want you to know that you are not alone and you are not crazy for believing in the voice of God when others doubt. You are simply a forerunner and that is why you feel alone even when you are with fellow believers. Someone has to be among the first but rest assured that more will come to where you are and then you will find fellowship and acceptance that has eluded you for so long.
