Hi all,
First, we’d like to thank you for praying for Brian during his back surgery to fuse his vertebrae. He is doing better day by day but will have very limited activity for the next month. He is, by nature, very active, so going slow and letting his body heal can be difficult.
I’ve received many emails asking when our next Zoom meetings will be. Once Brian is sufficiently recovered we will announce them on the headers of the Weekly Thoughts and Newsletters – thanks for your patience!
I often receive emails asking about Chris and Barb, and I thank you for that. He is doing well, though he gets frustrated and angry if our normal schedule of picking him up Friday morning for his Friday/Saturday home visit is disrupted, which has happened recently. We again have travel in April, May, and June, so this is a major concern. Please pray he will have a good attitude at his group home.
CWOWI’s App is now listed in more App Stores;
With continual updates more nations have included the CWOWI App in their App Store – Australia for instance is the most recently added. If you were unable to find it before, please check the App Store again.
Believe and know.
Paul told the Philippians he didn’t count himself as having attained, but one thing he did was press on to ‘know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.’ (Philippians 3:10-14) Even then, the cry of Paul’s heart was ‘to know Him’.
When born again, we believe in Jesus. But we don’t know Him yet. That is a life-long journey, as in any long-term relationship. Has someone ever claimed something about a person you know, and you replied: “That doesn’t sound like them.”? You say that because you know the person they are talking about. If what was claimed doesn’t sound like them, you measure the claim against what you know of that person.
It is the same with perceiving wrong teaching about Jesus. When we go beyond merely believing to know Him, when we hear error, we will say: “That doesn’t sound like Him.”, and reject the error.
The apostle John writes specifically about this measuring teaching against what we know of the Father and Lord in I John 2: 24-27:
“…he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. For you; see that which was in you at the start (balanced teaching) remains in you, and if it does, you will remain in the Father and Son. And this is His promise: eternal life. I am writing these things (to protect you) from those who want to seduce you (cause you to wander away), for the anointing you have abides in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you (about truth/error); the same anointing teaches you everything and is the truth and real, and not a lie, it will teach you to remain in Him.”
The greatest protection against unbalanced teaching is knowing the Father and Son and being sensitive to the anointing (the presence of God) in our spirit. We measure one against the other. All that is not truth is immediately noticed.
Many believe in the Lord, but they don’t yet know Him. Many go through their whole lives believing but never really knowing. There are many so-called teachers who believe but don’t know the Father or Lord well. If they did, they would not twist scripture like they do. They wouldn’t get focused on 1 teaching and build up their whole lives around it. When we know the Lord, He addresses many issues in our lives, bringing us into balance. We don’t just eat steak every day; when you know Him, He will make sure we eat our vegetables too – a balanced spiritual diet.
In our personal lives and in-house church
We learn to reject any teaching that does not sound like Him, so that means we reject any teaching that does not directly lead us to know Him better. Think about that. Are there ‘Christian’ websites you visit that do not lead you directly into knowing the Father and Lord better? In II Timothy 4: 3-4 Paul writes:
” The time will come when they will reject sound teaching (Gk: healthy, balanced), but will gather to themselves teachers (to listen to) because they have itching ears, and they will turn away (Gk: defect to another side) their ears away from the truth to listen to fanciful stories.” (Gk: mythos, stories, fables meant to entertain)
We must each develop a discipline to reject any teaching that distracts us from better knowing the Lord.
Not knowing ABOUT Him, but knowing Him. Many people go to churches in which the sermon is always ABOUT the Lord, but not what the Lord has done in that pastor’s life that indicates they know Him. Listen to teachers – do they claim God talks to them, has talked to them, has shown them things personally? Or do they only talk about the Lord? Believe or know? Believing should lead to knowing.
This is why in house church we leave controversial topics at the door – they aren’t allowed to be discussed in house church. House church gatherings are about what Jesus is doing in our lives right now, today, and that only comes by knowing Him. In I Corinthians 14:26 Paul says: “How is it brethren (men and women), when you come together one has a Psalm (includes worship), a teaching (something God taught you this week), a revelation (something God showed you this week), or tongues and interpretation. Let everything be done decently and in order.”
His instructions in the following verses about a house church meeting are all about knowing Him: Take turns, defer to another, if you have a word from God but no opportunity to share it, keep quiet and just between you and God, don’t dominate the conversation and anything you say will be judged, maybe accepted may be rejected. All these are about knowing the Lord and what He wants to do in their midst.
When a person who brings in their favorite controversial topic to house church, they stand out like a sore thumb, for all will recognize it is controversial that only divides. That is not what house church is about. If a person present believes the earth is flat, keep it to themselves. It isn’t appropriate for the gathering of the saints who are caught up in what God is doing in their lives now, today.
No one cares, and no one wants to hear if someone has rejected Hebrews 4:16 and many other verses to come boldly and directly to the Father’s throne to get mercy and grace to help in a time of need, believing instead we must go through a heavenly court system. Nor is it wise and balanced to discuss the latest ‘prophetic words’ about the timing of the rapture or return of Jesus, nor do politics enter the conversation during a meeting. A house church meeting is about discipleship, and that means knowing the Father, Lord, and what they are doing in our lives now and today. It is about what we KNOW God is doing in our lives. Knowing Him and His works in us. Not about some theory or off-balance teaching that only stirs controversy and is unhealthy.
Because we first individually set up a guard for our eyes and ears to reject teaching that isn’t directly connected to knowing Jesus and the Father better, when someone in a house church meeting brings up such a controversial subject, they are shut down, redirected, sometimes even taken privately so they can learn our focus is on how is God making you Christ-like in life.
Some of these teachings won’t just be of error but are actually teachings of demons: I Timothy 4: 1-2
“The Holy Spirit directly says that in the last days, some will leave the faith to listen to seducing spirits and teachings of demons.” The Greek word translated ‘seducing’ is ‘planos’, from which we get the word for ‘planets’. It means to wander, in this case, wandering around in teachings to lead others astray. It’s often used to describe false teachers and people in grave error.
The same word (planao) is used in the above I John 2: 24-27 where John taught them that knowing and abiding in the Father and Son, with the anointing that abides in us, is great protection ‘against those who are trying to seduce you’ (with erroneous teaching).
Many think, “If I could just know the Word well enough” orrstood Jewish culture or first-century culture better,” I would have a built- “If I just undein protection against error. Those are all good, but I John 2: 24-27 states the greatest protection against those trying to seduce us with bad teachings, is knowing the anointing (presence) of the Spirit of Truth and the Father and Son within us. If you know God, when someone says scripture says thus and so and it is not what you know of the Father or Lord, you will recognize that warning in your spirit by the Spirit.
This brings us full circle:
If you know the Father and Son, you will recognize by the Spirit of truth in you, when a teaching is trying to lead you astray. You will know when it is a distraction when a website is a distraction from knowing the Father and Son better. If you make knowing the Father and Lord better you will build a relentless momentum that guides your whole life, with a zeal that actively protects that fellowship you sense in your spirit.
I write these things not to put the reader on the defensive but rather to encourage each one of us to do as Paul did: “Brethren, I don’t count myself as having attained; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, I press on to win the prize of heaven to which God the Father is in Christ calling us upward. Let those of us who are mature (and want to mature) hold these convictions. And if you are otherwise minded, God the Father will reveal that to you. And let us walk in that to which we have already attained.” Philippians 3: 13-16
If you are one who is recovering from ‘seducing spirits and teachings of demons’, go back to the point you last remember balanced teaching, and start afresh. If you are tempted by teachings who you know in your heart tickle your ears, serve as a time filling distraction, then repent and take steps to never visit those sites again.
James 3: 14-17 contrasts the wisdom of the world system with God’s wisdom.
He states the wisdom of the world brings strife, confusion, even envy, while the wisdom of God is ‘pure, peaceful, reasonable, gentle, full of mercy seeking your best without partiality in sincerity.
Follow peace. Look for peace in your spirit. When you know Him, you recognize that which is not truth. Therefore, focus on knowing the Father and Lord. Thank the Father for that sunrise and sunset you see. For the good timing of this or that in your day. Of hearing from an old friend, for the opportunity to pray for someone – just find reasons throughout your day to thank the Father, to ask His opinion about something you hear or read. Like any relationship in which each is getting to know the other, talk to Him. Talk to the Father, the Lord, and then sense in your spirit the presence of the Holy Spirit. Learn to shift your attention to get His opinion, the Spirit of Truth, when you hear something someone is teaching.
If it has peace, it is worth pursuing. If it isn’t logical, or different from what you have believed, and yet there is a resonance in your spirit that draws you in peace to find out more – that is Him. Be led by peace, the anointing you have in Him remains in you, as you get to know the Father and Son, as I John 2: 24-27 says.
My prayer for you is that you won’t be distracted by all the voices calling for our attention, but will press on to know the Father, to know the Lord Jesus, better and more fully each day. The greatest adventure in life we could ever have, is to walk with the Father God and the Lord Jesus!
Thank you for being in our lives,
John and Barb, Brian and Amy
