What Is IT? Cut It Off! - The Watch Letter

This morning, I woke up from a dream. It was very grieving and alarming. In it, a person was offended by the word that was being preached or by what they were being told to do by the preacher.

The word of God is faithful and true, and the instruction he gives us -- whether directly or through our leaders -- is just. So, the person's offense, although they thought it was with the preacher, was really with God. We must be careful not to make ourselves an enemy of God by taking up offense against his word or instruction.

Further in the dream, the person got up and began to complain and, as my niece, Zaida, would say, "talk trash" about the word, instruction, and the preacher. I tried to calm them down and talk to them but their mind was already made up and right there in that moment, I watched them fall into a burning pit. They burned away, falling into hell and into torment.

This is a serious and real thing. This person could be any one of us if we aren't careful. Some may ask: Surely I can't go to hell for complaining about the word, instruction, the preacher/the minister or not agreeing with the truth? But it's not just about the words you say or your disagreement with what you hear; it's about the thing in your heart that would cause you to turn your back on God, what he asked/called you to do, and turn a deaf ear to his word, his truth, his anointed messenger.

Yes, you can repent from this behavior, but often we don't see these things as sin, and we never really repent. Because what makes us rebel, both in the spirit and in the natural, is the thing we don't want to be told, hear, or be asked to do. The thing we don't want to let go of or give up for God.

So, that is the question I am asking myself and I am sharing with you to ponder today: What is the thing that will make you take up arms of offense against God and his anointed? Offense is a term of war. It is a dangerous thing to war with God and his people. While we may not physically fight God or our leaders, we can fight by our decisions, actions, the behaviors/words we show/say to others, and by what we think in our hearts. The Bible tells us that as we think/feel in our hearts, that is what we are.

Lord, forgive me for my wrong thinking and feelings, and anywhere I have been unwilling to do what you require, no matter what it is or who it comes from. I am writing this to hold myself accountable.

This week, Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn had the Body of Christ to study Matthew 22:37-38. One part says: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

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This is very critical. I am going to, and I encourage you to, examine me to find out what is that thing or the things that will keep me from loving God with everything and all of me ... because that is what would cause me to walk away and walk myself right into hell.

Hell is a place for the rebellious. Remember satan rebelled against God in heaven and hence hell was created for him and those who follow him. Sometimes we think it is okay to be a little bit rebellious and to be just a little bit disagreeable with the word and the instruction of God, but everything matters to God.

Jesus said in Matthew 5:18: For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

In Matthew 23, Jesus really shows us how he feels about our little rebellions. The Pharisees looked so religious and saved on the outside, as long as all they had to do was follow the rules and guidelines of the temple and their culture, but when Jesus called them out and made clear that it was their willingness, their care for others and their love for God that was most important, they hated him and rebelled against him. It didn't matter to Jesus how dressed up they were, how many scriptures they could recite, and how beautiful/rich they made the temple, because they had unwillingness, hatred, coldness, and bitterness in their heart.

Chief Apostle Gunn told me recently, and I thank God for it, "image is nothing and thirst is everything." It doesn't matter how we appear to God or others; it's about how we thirst after him and doing his will and loving as he has called us to do.

Ephesians 5:27 says: That He might present to Himself the church In all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

So, it doesn't just matter to God that we have a beautiful white robe and look the part. The robe can represent the contents of our hearts. And God is looking to see if we are blemish and wrinkle-free on the inside. Jesus told the Pharisees that they had clean cups on the outside, but they were filthy inside. And it is that internal filthiness that wins us a ticket to hell, if we don't turn from rebellion.

Could we be willing to just come to church and do the basic requirements of looking saved but don't want God to call us to do or be anything outside of that, like the Pharisees?

Are we willing to put who God is calling us to be or what God is calling us to do to the side when it's something we want to do? Because that thing we want to do could be the thing that causes us to leave God and war against him. Sometimes we can be doing it and not know it because everything looks good on the outside. Sometimes we do it and assume God will give us time to change or repent. But what if our time is running out?

Jesus was trying to get the Pharisees to do essential things that God requires (love God above all else and love others), but they preferred to do the things that were tedious, ornamental and didn't count to God. Jesus was trying to show them that no matter what kind of prayer they prayed, tithed they tithed, rob they wore, hymn they song, that if they didn't obey God's basic commands, obey his teaching, and obey the one he sent, it meant nothing.

What is the basic thing God is calling us to do that we refuse to do because we'd rather do something else? Often, we forget the vows we make to God, and we find ourselves abandoning ship to do what pleases us or others instead of what pleases him.

Chief Apostle Gunn told me to do what the Lord says do no matter what. He told me to put God out front no matter what I face or feel. His wife, Apostle Felicia, told me: ask God to prepare your heart to do what he says do no matter what it is. They are teaching the same thing. And I am really working on this because I want to do what God says do, and sometimes that starts with simply asking him in prayer. Chief Apostle Gunn also told me that we have to have determination in our hearts. Not the kind where you are persistent but the kind where you are sure (when you know and are willing to do exactly what God wants.)

Sometimes we are too lazy or afraid to ask God what he wants us to do for him or others because we don't know what he is going to say, and, for some reason, we think we can control what God asks of us. But if we really love him, we would be willing to hear anything he has to say or the person he sent has to say.

Lord, help me to hear you. Apostle Felicia told me one day: Ask God to tell you what he wants you to do in a way that you can't miss what he is saying and you are sure to understand. And Chief Apostle Gunn said: Be attentive. Make a choice to pay attention to what God is saying and doing. These are things we can easily do every day if we are willing, and I am going to put them into practice.

The Bible says if your right hand offends you cut it off. What is the thing that you know that will offend God, or cause you to take up offense against God, or cause you to find yourself in hell? It is time to cut some things off. Chief Apostle Gunn once said to be like an onion and let God peel back the layers to get you to the core of who you are supposed to be in him. It is time for us to weigh things out and determine is this thing I want to say or do really worth it? Is this thing I want to do going to disappoint God? Do I really care what God thinks about this? Do I really want to do it God's way or my way? Do I really want to compromise my eternity for that one thing (or maybe it is 2, 3, 4, 5 things).

When you have a bad part of a fruit or a vegetable that is not edible, you cut it off. When you want a plant or tree to grow properly, you cut off the dead or overgrown parts. When you have split ends in your hair that make it unhealthy, you cut it off. When you have something cancerous on your body, that can cause sickness or death, you get it cut off.

John 15:2: Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."

What is it in your life that is harmful to your walk with God? Whatever it is ... Cut it off!

A great way to start cutting away what God does not accept or what is hindering us is in prayer. Today's broadcast message from Chief Apostle Gunn is called: Continue in Prayer. It is a replay from 2018. Listen here: https://www.thebodyofchristinc.com/listen-in?wix-music-track-id=8163567651236838&wix-music-comp-id=comp-kjfzbgmx