Traditions of Men and Obedience 1 of 2

October 30, 2019

Thank you, Jesus, for clarifying the meaning of traditions of men, good and bad. As well as the meaning of true obedience, which has so often caused me to fear losing freedom and being put in a box and controlled by others. Amen.

Am I the only one out here...that's afraid of Obedience and being controlled by others? I don't think so...

Well, dear ones, I want to share something with you that changed my life. First, I want to tell you, I am a renegade at heart. From the very start of my life I was self-willed and rebellious. Much of that may have had to do with things that happened when I was an infant, and experienced serious acts of rejection. Because very often rejection opens the door for a spirit of Rebellion.

In any case, I met with frustration in my early years, and always felt the world was unfair. And perhaps it was. But I didn't know how to respond to it. So, I fought the structure and did what I thought was right, behind people's back, sometimes. Having little or no respect for authority.

Am I the only one like that??

I wasn't criminal in my activities, but if something opposed my will...? Well, I found a way to get around it.

I witnessed a lot of hypocrisy and controlling maneuvers under the guise of obedience, in the churches I attended. When I discovered my vocation as a Franciscan sister, the Evangelical church I was going to sent a delegation to my house to try and keep me out of the arms of Babylon. Which now is seriously divided between true believers and Masonic clerics. At this point, those in power in the institutional Latin Church have broken with the church Jesus established in 33 A. D.

But there IS a faithful Remnant. Not always recognized by the Institutional Church. But a faithful Remnant, nonetheless.

I saw good and I saw bad. I received a lot of persecution, because I was radical about my faith. The group attached to John Michael Talbot's community, for married couples, was where I began. It soon became obvious that I was not suited to that group, or the regular Secular Franciscans for married couples that would meet in different parishes.

I wanted the radical life of St. Francis, to the best of my ability--or what the Lord would empower. I fell in love with St. Francis, because he lived the Gospels so literally. I knew I would never make it there, all the way, but I wanted to at least try. This was threatening to the Establishment, and we were more or less looked upon as outcasts and kept at bay.

I tell you these things, because I want you to know, I was a rebel with a cause. And I still am. I have backed away from the institutional hierarchy in Rome, to return to the radical, poor, and simple life of the Early Church. Where home groups were the norm.

Even though we are not under the current political structure, rather we are considered autocephalous or independent, there is deep agreement. Holy Spirit has taught the church through the last 2,000 years. Those are the things that were instituted by men, led of the Holy Spirit in the Latin and Orthodox churches. Many wonderful things have happened in those years that confirm a deeper understanding of the Scriptures.

To me the most important thing was living the beatitudes and the way Jesus walked upon the Earth.

That gives you background on where I am coming from, anyway. A lot of people criticized our fervor and the intensity with which we wanted to live the Gospels. I could find no one to be a spiritual guide for me, so the Lord alone guided me in the way He wanted me to go.

I was threatened time and again with having my children taken from me. I was shunned by the congregation and reported numerous times for just wearing my habit and having children. "Who IS this woman??? Is she a little duck from Mars, or what?!"

But I saw the beauty of the Franciscan life and wanted it with all my heart. I had been brought into the order by a Franciscan guardian priest, and our Holy Orders are directly in line from the Apostle Peter at Antioch. So, in one way, we are quite kosher. But in another way, I think it would be better to call us the Remnant Church.

I want to share with you the meaning of Obedience, as I have come to understand it through Our Lord.

Not having a spiritual director, I sought Jesus more earnestly, so that He could guide me. When I heard from Him, I did my best to obey what I believed was His will for me. And in this walk, I attracted others who wanted a deeper walk with Him, as well. They saw something that God had given me, and they wanted it, too. Let me tell you, it came with a price. The alienation of all my relatives; ridicule and rejection. But God was with me and I was happy.

I am bringing up this topic, because there are those who think the same way I do. They are renegades, but they are lacking in understanding of what true and Godly Obedience is all about.

Just to clarify Obedience in the context of living in a faith-filled body or group of Believers, whether it be church, a home group or a convent or a Community. You are never obliged to obey someone if they ask you to do something against your conscience. Never. If it violates the Gospels, you are not obliged to obey.

In a group, each one has their own task. But someone has to coordinate what needs to be done when, and for what purpose.

A group comes together for a specific task. In my case, the group is made up of souls that want to go deeper with God. And even return to the Early Church, and ALL the things the Lord would have for them there.

They want what the Early Church had before all the political nonsense in the Catholic, Russian and Orthodox, Baptist or Pentecostal churches. You know, the things that were written out of the Bible because they didn't work with political agendas? And still today, large denominations are splitting off into non-denominational churches to follow the agenda they feel is more suited to their faith. And so, we have thousands of Christian groups.

But what the Early Church had was not the teachings of men, but the teachings of God. They had the Gospels in the rawest form. Their lives were continually at stake for practicing their faith. And the whole reason for this walk that Ezekiel and I have embraced is to be free of political pressures, posturing, and tampering with the Scriptures under the guise of the Traditions of Men.

Traditions that agree with the Gospel are healthy. Traditions that conflict with it are not. So, we can embrace those traditions that support and align with Truth as it is written in Scripture. But those things that men have decided and made into firm doctrines yet are not supported by the Word of God--those things are crippling and depriving the teachings of Jesus and the power He left to every Believer and His church.

Yet, we don't know all of what the Bible says. We are continually discovering mysteries unrecognized for centuries.

Even as the Lord told Daniel, 12:4"But you, Daniel, shut up these words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many will roam to and fro, and knowledge will increase."

Now, some souls are called to lead. For some strange reason the Lord has called me to lead, and I am learning the importance of Obedience. A leader, in my eyes, is only as good as he or she is obediently following the Lord.

There's that word again: Obedience. My obedience to God and my group's obedience to me.

I have a VERY loose standard of Obedience, because I am a rebel at heart, and I love freedom of expression and all the different ways God works with each soul. Each one of you are unique and trying to cram you all into a cookie-cutter mold of prayer, for instance, would be destructive to what Holy Spirit is doing in your hearts.

Who is man to step in between God and the soul?

Never. Never do violence to the sacred place between God and a soul. That means, what you think works for you, may not work for them. That means, what you think is right, may be wrong for them.

This is where discernment comes in. Dear ones, we need to be discerning when helping a soul. You may think you are oh, so right, but be lacking in vision and wisdom and understanding. And instead, be oh, so wrong and meddling in the affairs of a soul's heart that has been established in intimacy with God's heart.

Here I will mention something that will cause some of you to stop listening to this video. But if you are so secure in your faith and the knowledge of the Scriptures, and who you are in God, you will not be turned off--but curious.

I am talking about the traditions of men. As I said before, if they support Scripture: good. If they oppose Scripture: bad.

Some people are of the opinion that the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary is clouded in obscurity, and therefore she means nothing more to the Church than the biological womb that bore Jesus. Where did they get this?? Certainly not from the Scriptures.

Take a look at just three Scriptures where the Lord actually delineates her role, in just three Scriptures. But of course, there are more; seven in all.

Luke 1 beginning at verse 46

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies and exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has looked on the humble state of His maidservant; For behold, from now on all generations will count me blessed and happy and favored by God! For He who is mighty has done great things for me"

(Yes, He really has! He has caused her to conceive the Messiah)

"And holy is His name. And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who [stand in great awe of God and] fear Him."

(This is the Amplified Bible, by the way.)

"He has done mighty deeds with His [powerful] arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart."

(Here, I think, it refers to the Scribes and Pharisees that had secret cultic practices in the bowels of the temple.)

"He has brought down rulers from their thrones, And exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things. And sent the rich away empty-handed. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy. Just as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

In part, this is actually a prophetic proclamation of what Jesus would do when He grew up. Bringing down rulers from their thrones, filling the hungry and the poor with food, causing the rich Pharisees to stomp off scoffing in envy and jealousy, having received nothing but indignation that anyone should be more spiritual than they...

Have you ever heard a non-denominational or Baptist preacher talk about her as a prophet, and that she would be called 'blessed through all generations?' Have you ever heard that??

end of Part 1 of 2