Imprisoned.

"We are the vine.
Outside of us, there is no you.
You exist only among us, in our meeting.
Apart from us you can do nothing.
God and Christian,
without us you are nothing!"

*****

Art: "Subjugation"

"I Just Want You!"

"My beloved, please do not believe
that you need to pray the right words
in order to get Me to hear and answer you.

"I do not take joy in you because you say
the right words or praise Me the right way.
I take joy in who you are—My child!
I want your heart, not your performance!
I do not want you to tell Me
what you think I want to hear.
Do not be afraid—I love you!

"My beloved, I just want you!
I want to hear your voice.
I want you to share your heart.
Will you give Me who you really are?"

*****

Art: "Most Holy Place"

Choose Your Covenant.

"Look, a choice is set before you:
My word is not the promise of the salvation of 'church';
My word is the promise of the salvation of people.
I am not promising to save your meetings;
I am able to shepherd My people with or without
your building and its weekly services.

"I did not make My gospel dependent
on having a sanctuary and a service—
that was the old covenant temple.
I do not dwell in sacred times or sacred places any longer—
instead, today I dwell in each of My people;
and where two or three gather in My name,
I give to each one a revelation of Myself
which can be shared as you minister to one another.

"I am calling you to choose
which covenant you want to live in:
the old or the new covenant—
Christ or Moses.
If you choose the new covenant,
you must not cling to the articles
of the old covenant for survival.
You must trust Me instead.
As I kept My church in the beginning,
so I will keep you."

*****

Art: "My Place of Rest"

Steadfast Love

"I am the One who calls you to come to Me
with your needs, your griefs, your hopes and your cares.
I know that you worry I will not hear you
if you don't pray 'correctly' or long enough
or with enough feeling in your heart.
My child, I know you want to stay focused on Me
and bring your needs to Me without being distracted.

"I want you to know that I always hear you, My child!
I hear you even before you call!
I know you want to give Me your everything,
but the more you try, the more you see how weak you are.

"Do not be ashamed, My child,
for I gave My everything because I knew you couldn't!
I am not upset or disappointed that you have been unable
to attain perfection in prayer as you think I want you to.
Instead, I am overjoyed and delighted in you, My child,
and I rejoice in any attempt you make to pray.

"I just want to be with you, My child.
When you come to Me in prayer,
I want you to rest in My love for you
and to know that I have already heard you
and am already caring for your needs.
I am strong in your weakness!"

*****

Art: "But He Is Strong"

Afraid to Admit Reality

"My beautiful child,
what are you doing here?

"Why have you been working so hard
to prove you are correct and are special?
Why are you so afraid of recognizing
how poor, blind and naked you are?

"Do not be afraid to recognize
and admit your unrighteousness.
Do not fear the existence of mistakes in your past
and errors in your beliefs.

"You are only hurting yourself by hiding from them.
You don't need to be better, more correct,
or more 'right' than others.
You only need Me!

"Let Me rescue you from prostitution!
Let go of pride and self-justification—
you are only soiling your clothes further!
Let Me wash you instead!"

*****

Art: "Beautiful"

"I Am Your House"

"You are safe in Me.
I am your refuge.
I am your new home.

"You have been told that you were running away from Me
if you did not 'belong to a church,' pay tithe, or 'submit to authority.'
And if you questioned your spiritual parents,
you were told to stop, to conform, and just be good little boys and girls.
You were told that you were orphans without their parenting,
but I tell you that you are Mine.

"You belong to Me.
You are members of My house.
You are My children forever."

*****

Art: "At God's Home"

In Bondage to Knowledge

"Woe! Woe to those who burden My people with useless knowledge!
Woe to those who put obstacles between Me and My people!
Woe to those who declare that salvation is in books!
Woe to those who deny the love I have given you on the Cross!
Woe to you, for all your knowledge
will not bring you out of the desert you live in!

"Every knee will bow before Me and every tongue will confess
that I am the Lord, to the glory of God My Father.
I am a jealous God—jealous for My beloved children!
I am wroth with all that abuses you, My precious children!
I died to give you freedom and everlasting life,
how can I not be angry when loads are placed upon you?

"I am coming! I am coming! I am coming,
and I will repay those who put what is falsely called 'knowledge'
between Me and My children!"

*****

Art link: "Reduced"

Threatened By Children

"Woe! Woe! My children are being abused!
And their abusers deny their wounds:

'Don't criticize leadership...'
'No church is perfect...'
'Don't focus on negatives...'

"When My children see abuses, hypocrisy and errors,
their spiritual parents feel threatened
because they are afraid to see their own inadequacies;
they would rather wound the eyes of My children that can see clearly.

"Spiritual fathers and mothers point the finger at their spiritual children
because they are afraid of losing their status and the praises of men.
They have not found their worth in My unconditional love, and so they seek
to keep their spiritual children from knowing My unconditional love.

"Woe to those who abuse My children and stand between us!
Woe to them, for I am coming to rescue My abused children!"

*****

Art: "Spiritually Abused"

Slavery ("For Your Own Good")

"Many of the pastors, teachers and prophets among My people
are leading My people into prostitution:
They are teaching My people that they must do
the works of the old covenant to please Me
so that I will give them a blessed life.
Many of these leaders know I do not require obedience
to the regulations of the old covenant.
Yet they continue to teach My people the ways of slavery
in order to keep their own place and position.
They put My people in slavery and say it is for their own profit.

"And so many of My people don't know how much I love them!
Many are trying to earn enough 'currency' with Me
to attain what they are taught is 'a blessed life'.
Their teachers have them look for satisfaction
in the ways and means of the world.

"How much longer will I endure this?"

Desiring to Be Known

"My heart! My heart! I have given you My heart! I gave you My Son, taken from My bosom, and I have given you My Spirit—My very own spirit—so that you and I might fellowship with one another. I want you to know My heart, but many of you have not sought to know My heart! Many of you have been too busy with many things to stop what you're doing, ask Me to know My heart and wait on Me to share it with you. You have been living in shadows, sometimes coming within the veil for a time and then leaving to return to your business—which you think is My business. But I want you to seek My heart."

"Call to Me and I will answer you
and tell you great and unsearchable
things you do not know."

- Jeremiah 33:3

Trinitarian Confession

Father, Son, Holy Spirit,

You are worthy of all our praise, and You are high above our limited understanding. We praise You because You have revealed Yourself and that You are love!

Forgive us for rejecting and withholding love and relationship in Your name! Forgive us for shutting out those who did not yet understand You. You graciously gave mankind thousands of years to recognize You, but we have demanded that others confess correctly before they may receive our love. And, we have declared that Your grace can only be received by being among us. Forgive us, Lord!

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we repent.

Amen.

Called Out

"My bride! My bride! Come forth, My bride! It is time for you to leave your shelters from the storms and waves of the world! I am calling you to step out of your place of comfort—whether it be your church building, your traditions, your comfortable ministry or religious routine.

"Stop waiting for the world to come to you and take refuge in your boat! Stop waiting for Me to come and give you miraculous powers to convince the world with! Step out from your safety net and spend yourselves loving your neighbors and enemies! As you do so, you will find Me there with you, walking above the waves."

Dead Works

"Once you hungered for Me—when you first heard of My love and mercy—and you were filled with desire to know Me more, to find the abundant life I promised in Myself.

"But then you were taught that I wanted you to sit and receive crumbs, and that this was what abundant life in Me meant. You were taught that I poured out My Spirit only on leaders instead of on all flesh, and so you learned that I would come close to them but not to you.

"I am calling you to return to your first love. Stop denying your hunger and trying to convince yourself that you are filled by these ceremonies. Come out of the shadows to the light of Christ alone! I will give you living bread, and you will eat your fill!"

"Hindering My Children"

"Repent! Repent!
You are My people and I have not denied you,
but you have denied many of My loved ones
in My name and in your own name!

You have declared that in order to come to Me,
they must come through you!
You have declared that they must submit to your authority
or they will be in rebellion against Me!

Your authority is not a 'means of grace'!
Your rituals are not My 'means of grace'!
Your tradition and structure are not My 'means of grace'!
My means of grace is the Cross!

I have declared that whoever believes in My Son
shall not perish but have everlasting life.
I have not declared that they must believe through you,
your authority, your church, your tradition, structure or ritual!

Whatever you have done
to the least of these loved ones of Mine,
you have done unto Me."

*****

Art: "Anathema"

"Against My Law"

"Anguish! Anguish! My heart is in anguish for the deceived and for those who will be deceived! My heart is in anguish for many among My people who are pouring their love into a form resembling Me, but which at heart is of the antichrist.

"See! See! The antichrist does not come to you from outside, but from among you, the same as when he rode out from among the early church. Even now he works among you, but you do not recognize him because he shapes himself to look like Me: he speaks of power, dominion, authority and might. And because he speaks in My name, you accept him, forgetting that My name spoken without My heart is not My name at all.

"And so I have also told you that the antichrist is the man of lawlessness—he is against My law of agape love. He is against the spirit of the Cross.

"Do not look at appearances, but seek to understand the spirit of things. If you look at appearances, you will not see when the antichrist comes as a movement, as a company of false prophets and teachers instead of as a single charismatic leader. Many false prophets will appear from within My temple—the Church. Among you the movement will declare My name but not with My heart. It will profess to be My kingdom, but will be rebellion against My command to love one another as I have loved you.

"I am agape love; if you reject My love, you rebel against Me. If you do not submit to My law of agape love (even to My command to love your enemies), then you do not submit to My lordship. If you will not live in My love, you will not abide in Me.

"The agape love of the Cross is foolishness to the wisdom of the world, and so the antichrist will speak with the wisdom of the world in order to change My law of agape love. The antichrist will declare that the time of My kingdom has come, and will call all people to join in the movement to take possession of their inheritance.

"But My kingdom is not of this world, and My servants do not need to fight to gain it, nor do they need to fight to avoid losing it. Behold, the hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber! Love one another as I have loved you—even your enemies—for the night is nearly over and the day is almost here."

*****

See also: "Running in the Dark" (art link)

Locked Out ("No Room For My Spirit!")

"I stand at the door and knock, but you have locked Me out! With your doctrines you claim to have built a perfect place for Me to dwell, but in truth you have built them up because you have been so afraid of being deceived. You believe that your safety and your approval in My sight are because of the correctness of your doctrines, and once you've arranged them you do not want them to be changed. In trying to lock the door against deception, you don't realize that you have also locked Me out.

"You believe you have locked out spirits of darkness with your 'superior' construction of doctrines and systematic theology. But I see many among you who are held captive to the spirits of the enemy which have been loose among you, because superior doctrines and systematic theology cannot drive out the enemy; only My Spirit can. Only My Spirit can give you rest and peace from your fears of being lost and of not pleasing me."



"But you have made My Spirit, too, into a doctrine—into just another part of your beliefs in your theological system. You have mathematically arranged My words from Scripture into your own equations, in order to prove that your house is well-built and that I am at home with you more than in any other house. Yet deep inside part of you knows that I am bigger than your doctrinal house of cards, and that if you allow Me to come be Myself, your house of doctrines might be severely damaged or even done away with.

"I wait outside your locked door. Will you let Me in? Yes, I will change your house and I will knock down walls you have built. But I will also take away your darkness and your fear. Your house will not appear as theologically or systematically 'safe', but you will have peace and safety because My Spirit will be among you, and I will give you rest."

*****

See also: "The Empty Chair" (art link)

"My Bride"

"I have sought the one My heart loves and I have found her—you! I have found an eternal treasure, a priceless pearl worth all of My riches. You are My bride.

"You have been hidden among buildings, programs, rituals, schedules and meetings. But these are not My Church, these are not My bride. You are My Church, You are My bride."

Having Church

"To the Church:

"You are the apple of My eye. You are My precious bride, My beloved. I love you so much that I gave My life on the Cross, so that I could spend eternity with you.

"I am all you need, and you are all I want. Your programs, your rituals, your buildings and your traditions are not what I died for on the Cross. You are My bride. You are My Church, My body.

"All of your programs, rituals and traditions can be done without Me. All of these things can be performed without My Spirit. Yet none of these are the same as Me, nor are they part of Me. To have them is not the same as having Me, and to have Me will not necessitate having them.

"Behold, many of you do not know the difference between Me and these things. Meetings, rituals, traditions and programs have taken the place of Me in many of your hearts. Therefore I will remove many of your buildings and abilities to have meetings. All will mourn, but to those who have Me already the darkness will not be dark, for I will be their light. But for those who have not known Me--who have only known 'church'--they will be in distress, overwhelmed by the storm and lost in fear of tribulation.

"I have already begun calling many of you out of churches so that you may be with Me and learn to hear My voice. I will call more of you in the same way. You who have come out before the storm have been called so that you may receive My heart for your brothers and sisters, who have known 'church' instead of Me. Do not despise them, but love them in patience, just as I have loved you."