Becoming Independent
The word independent is defined as, free from being dominated by somebody;
especially not being controlled by any organization and having the ability to self-govern one self.
This means we have a self confidence in our selves and have the choice of thinking or acting without consultation or
guidance from others and free from control or interference. When a person is self-governing, they are capable of having self
control. True self control can only come to pass as we submit to the Holy Spirit’s leadings
and having a sure knowledge with in us that our steps are being ordered by the Lord. The main cause for a lack of
independence is the fear of not knowing ones own self worth. Fear, will rob one from using their God given talents and prevent
them from pursuing with excitement all that God has in store for them that diligently seek Him.
Hosea 3:6 God says, “My
people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” Proverbs 29:18 He states, “Where there
is no vision the people perish.”
From the beginning of time, God’s intention
for mankind was to be self governing and function with an independent mind set of making choices without being coerced which
brings a results of taking responsibility for the choices that one makes. The United States motto is, “In God
we trust” This country was born because people wanted to be free to worship God and not be ruled or dictated
to by any controlling government. Independence grows from maturing with a God driven knowledge and vision of purpose. As we
learn about being independent and join forces with other healthy independent people, we live as God intended as people uniting
with each other and sharing the love that God has for us with a common cause.
Some of the visions and purposes
in the world and the church today are a scaring thing to behold. God’s creation of inanimate and animate things are
more in tune with God’s plan than people. The ant has his set agenda to forge for food and build his abode. The earth
continues to grow and evolve. The birds fly south for the winter and the fish in the sea migrate as they were intended to
do as the salmon go back to their nesting area. The morning and the night continue all as God intended.
In the book of Genesis, God rested
from all of His labor; he stood back and said, “I did a good job.” He then made man
and told him to increase and multiply and take dominion over what He made and told man to become the caretaker of the world
that He gave them. When you study history as a student of scripture, the first thing man did was blow it. Ever since the Garden
of Eden fiasco man has been trying to get back into God’s favor. Thank God He still has a remnant of believers left
on this planet who have influence with Him and are seeking Him to restore what the devil did to mankind by distracting man
to focus on his own rule of law for perfection.
As children of God, will we ever see what potential we have with God? Are we able to turn things around
or are we going to get spiritually well by continuing to focus on our sin sick behavior which will keep us from becoming independent
as God intended. It’s time to grow out of our diaper stages and learn how to be rooted in God. We
need to put away our slave mentalities that cause us to follow every new doctrine. It’s time to stop leaning unto our
own logic and put on the mind of Christ. When will we decide to grow and mature in the knowledge of God; to handle the big
jobs that He has for us by using the mind He gave us?
The word of God was written for each person to have a personal intimate relationship with God independently from being a
part of any denomination trying to set a standard for what they think Christianity is all about. Jesus is not denominational. In the secular world, the constitution was written for the people and
by the people and there to empower them to actively take on responsibility and have a say in their style of living. It has
gotten to the point that, the two parties of government have lost their way, as the born again church has. We must understand
that to be independent you need to be trained, encouraged and empowered to become self governing.
Any so called new revelation brought
to the body of Christ has to be discerned and judged by independent born again believers, who know the thoughts and intents
of the heart of God because, their spiritual ear is becoming fine tuned; and they know God’s voice through their meditating
on the word day and night. All these denominations in the world today only compound the problem by soliciting believers to
increase their numbers. I believe there is a deception being perpetrated on this planet that says, be a part of what we are
building and we will take care of your needs. In the church world the needs of the poor are seen as taking care of them rather
then empowering them. In the secular world we have two parties fighting over their principles and promising
security but both have lost the vision of what really counts as far as God is concerned. God’s intension, if we are
to be a benefit to mankind is to empower people to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and make a difference
independently.
The church is supposed to be the salt and the light to independently do the works of Christ in the every
day market places of life. Unless we are sitting under anointed teachers and preachers that have the mind of Christ and are
operating in it; and the ones in the pews have a hunger and thirst to seek God daily in the secret place of their own heart
and mind, they stay as followers with double minded ideas and never become secure with in themselves. Everyone in the body
of Christ has a ministry of anointed and prophetic service in God’s family. Unless a person becomes independent and
secure within themselves, the love of God which operates with the anointing, never has full opportunity to manifest it self
in covenant relationships.
A person must become independent before they can function in a God love with an inter-dependent relationship
with others. You cannot through law and formalized training, build the body of Christ into a Holy Spirit anointed force with
power to change circumstances. There is no instant Christianity on earth in behavior and perfection is a destination of walking
with power in the Holy Ghost of completing our appointed purpose that God ordained for our lives.
Just as it takes years of training
to learn and recognize the gifts God put in us at birth for fulfillment, it takes a healthy nursery of security functioning
leaders that are building God’s way and not with their personal interpretations of scripture. We entered the family
when we become born again. However, we then have to be discipled by people who have only God’s heart and ways as their
top priority. These types of people are few in numbers within the body of Christ. We have so much confusion and noise in the
spiritual world today that it is imperative that we all take a step back and ask God to search our hearts and see if our priorities
are in order. There are some painful growing pains going on in the body of Christ today and Christians are looking for some
real answers as to what this Christian life is all about.
The Devil is having a field day with disillusionment
tactics in all areas of people’s lives. If we, in the body of Christ are going to fulfill our destiny, we are going
to have to be obedient to what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness; and all things that you need will abundantly be added to you” True independents
can only come this way PERIOD.
When we are obedient to Matthew
6:33, the word of God becomes a deep rooted security within us. The Devil will always try through our thought life to influence
us by using people and familiar spirits, to get us off track. However, God’s Righteous Spirit keeps us focused on how
He wants us to deal with our daily trials and temptations. The independent stage of maturity you might say is our young teenage
days of life with all their emotional experiences.
Unless our independence is being stabilized, the body of Christ will never be able to
function in our inheritance which is, all of God’s characteristics operating in us. All Christians have to ingest into
their being, the word of God and learn how to interact with the voice of the Holy Spirit, who is our teacher and comforter
in our daily growth.
With independence comes freedom of choice. When there is no independence, we
live in obligation, fear of consequences, formulas of how to juggle the trials of life and we never come to understand how
to surrender to the Love of God. The gospel is very simple and sums up to this, let go and let God love us,
so that we can become fulfilled by passing it on to someone else. Telling people that we need to love each other
and then not spending time to show them and answer their questions and have fellowship in relating our understanding of God’s
ways is ridiculous.
Real fellowship is when those that understand their righteous position in Christ say so out of their
mouths with words to each other. What we really do is prophecy to each other through the Holy Spirit. There comes a time when
we need to allow God to build character and integrity in our lives. There is a lot of shaking going on in Christians lives
and He is making people aware that they have been living with attitudes in their hearts which is coming out in their behavior
with un-god like qualities and child like behavior. It is time for the body of Christ to take their daily spiritual showers
from the Holy Spirit and recognize how much God our Father wants to lavish His favor and grace on us and for us to grow up
into independent maturity, so we can go on to become inter-dependent with each other. This is only the ABC’s of the
gospel. It is important that we take an inventory of our attitudes through the Holy Spirit’s leading at all times. This
is what keeps us growing in independent thought and makes us able to give and receive love as the Lord intended.