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Word Association

by Abraham Woroniecki

There is a game called Word Association. You may have heard of it. If you are someone who hasn’t, it's very simple. I say a word and you say the first thing that comes to your mind. Children play this game for fun and psychologists use it to determine the state of some ones' mind.

So, I would like to ask you to play this game along with me. (No, I am not some psychologist, but by the end of the game you might determine that I am in need of one). Try, if you can, to pin point the very first thing that comes to your mind. You don’t have to say it out loud (we don’t want to scare anyone).

I ‘ll start with something simple. Are you ready? Here we go: “Hamburger”. Think a second. Ok, now what was it? Probably the first one you remember eating, or maybe the best one ever. The one that had bacon, cheddar cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and a toasted bun. That day I must have eaten at least ten, I was so sick afterwards. Oops, I think I just said my first thought. That’s, that’s kind of embarrassing.

Alright, moving on. Let’s try and think of a word a little more complicated. Like, something other than food. Let me think. Ok I got one: “Driving”. This one might take an extra minute. That’s long enough, now try to express it. Was it the time when you drove the fastest? Or maybe when your parents let you drive before you knew how to and you hit that sign. Then you had to run from that police man that was chasing you and you barely got away from him. (Sorry, that was my mine again.)

So anyway, I think you can see how this works. I am not going to go too much longer, or I might just give the courts enough evidence to have me committed. Hang in there with me for like, two more. This next one might take a little more thinking so I hope you slept good.

Clear your mind, ready: “Robert.” Now who do you think of? Maybe your boss at work, maybe a best friend or a family relative. Who ever ‘Robert’ is to you, you most likely think of the times you spent with him, whether good or bad. You probably think of his character, whether funny or annoying, caring or self-centered.

This is the last one, so try and concentrate. In all of these, it’s important to say what you really think and not what you think you are supposed to think. (I think that makes sense.)

So ready, here it is: “Jesus.” Wait, what was that?! A building?! A religion? An hour on Sunday? Hold on a second, maybe you misheard me. I just said the name of a person. Why would your thoughts not be similar to those when I said “Robert"? You either don’t know a ‘Robert’ or you think of the Robert that you know. If you say you can’t think of Jesus as a person, because He lived two-thousand years ago, then you would simply say “I don’t know Him.” If you say that you know Him, then why would not think of Him?

Before you put your guard back up and close your ears, I ask you to seriously consider this point. In what other case across the world is a man’s name not associated with himself, or at least the deeds that he did? In all of the annuls of history, all marked figures are clearly defined by what they did and said. Any other name if looked up in the Encarta, would be historically defined. Look up Christopher Colombus and you’ll find the history of how America was discovered. Or Simon Bolivar and how He liberated South American countries from Spain.

Why is it then that the name Jesus is left up to a matter of opinion? Why is it that we all think of a doctrine? Why do we think of a different man, the one behind the pulpit? Why do we think of a building? Every single one of us has this mentality. We all think this way. So ask yourself ‘Why do we’? Who put this thinking in our heads? Do we want to know otherwise? Do you want to find out who He really is? Are you content with the opinion of another?

The goal of every religion is to define Him. To wall in exactly what it means to follow Him. To clarify and simplify what they define is the Gospel. My hope would be to do the opposite. Rather then fill your mind with many of my answers, I would hope to leave you with a question. I would hope not to clarify but rather to ‘Mystify’. For who can explain the Mystery of God? Jesus hid the truth of His words in His parables. He said nothing without using a parable.

Why would He do that? Was not His goal to make everything as simple as possible? Why would He “hide” these things? (Matthew11:25) His disciples asked Him this very same question. He responded: “This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” (Matthew 13:13,34)

It is our nature to say “I already know that.” To say “I see, I hear.” It takes a an honest man to say “I don’t know ANYTHING.” This is what God is looking for. These things will always be hidden from all who say they‘see’. (John 9:39-41)

The gospel is like nothing else. It can not be learned in a conventional manner. You can read every book and fill your mind with much knowledge and be no closer to understanding. (John 5:39) It is a Mystery that can not be defined or explained, it can only be reveled. (Romans 16:25 Ephesians 1:9/3:3 Colossians 2:2 1Timothy 3:16)

Men don’t want to hear this. I don’t want to hear this. We want a formula. We want a system. We want someone else to tell us what to do and to be accountable for our lives. Yet, God in His divine plan, made it this way. He requires one thing from us. A HEART. The heart of a child, simple and broken. (Psalms 51:17 Matthew 11:25/18:3)

So, if it is revelation that we need, how do we receive it? If no man can give us revelation or light, then Who? That is the question. Who? His name is Jesus. (Galatians1:11-12) You must meet the living person of Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can give you light and reveal His Father to you. (Matthew 11:27) He is the Mystery of God. (Colossians1:26) There are no short cuts. There is one door and one way, He is it.(John 14:6/ 10:1)

Even now when I mention His name, you cannot help, but to fall back to the preset you have in your mind. There is little that can be said about the gospel that does not cause us to think of something we already ‘know’. This is Satan’s plan for all men. If we think we already know something, we will make no effort to seek out its true meaning. (1Corinthians 8:2)

For example if I say: "You must be Born Again". You will immediately think of all of the evangelicals and Protestants who claim they are ‘Born Again Christians’. Yet this phrase does not come from any religion. It is found in all versions of the New Testament including the Catholic Bible. These are the Words of Jesus, not men. But because we have heard it, we think we know it. We think we ‘see’. This by far is our hardest challenge; to realize that we know nothing. If we do not realize this in both word and heart then there is no hope. (Galatians 6:3)

It is like a room that is so full of furniture, there is no room to move. Unless we throw out the old there is no room for anything new. Unless we get rid of all of the things that we have learned from men, we will have not be able to learn from Jesus. (Mark 2:22)

So I hope that through all of this I have left you with a few questions. Questions like: Who is Jesus? What does it mean to serve Him? How is one born again?

I am sure that you will have many more. Don’t ask men what you don’t know. Ask Him.

“...Ask, and you will Receive...”

(John 16:24 Matthew 7:7)

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The clincher for me was where Jesus says "Come to Me...and LEARN from Me" (Mt.11:29). How does one "learn" from an invisible Being? Jesus says the true church are those who learn the things of spirit and truth (not pretense and pomp) (Jn.4:24). Does such a work of the heart not require such things of which no man can describe? Silence, meditation, talking TO God are things of spirit and truth. In this mega-hype culture it can be impossible to force yourself into a stillness of heart. You must do the impossible! Start meditating on the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of John. Wherever you are for five or fifteen minutes. It will seem awkward at first. You will find many voices in your head and feelings of anxiety. You've got to LEARN to silence them. Solitude is essential!

You will find that the reaction by others to this quest, to go directly to Jesus, is treated with presumption; "Oh, of course. I know all that already". Men can work eight hours a day but are too lazy of heart to consider that God's love is of such mysterious and magnificent proportions so as to require a work of individual heart far beyond any passive prayer (Jn.6:27,29). Thus they fall short of His divine Presence. This is the essence of salvation! It was prophecied hundreds of years ago (Jer.31:33-34/Ez.36:26).

This is not the "salvation" of today. Rather it is the unbiblical "accept Christ" prayer-formula that produces plastic "Christians". McDonald's Christianity would have you believe that all you have to do is drive up to the "service" window of any preachers castle and get the salvation-to-go order of repeating a one-time prayer. As if the same generic prayer written for all to parrot has anything to do with the personal heart cry which God requires (Ps.51:17). Like everything in the American culture it is "processed" into an articial and refined response so as to make everyone the same and fit perfectly into their system about Christ.

The brethren in Corinth or Ephesus were the true church who lived as those "set apart" to love Christ rather than this world (1 Jn.2:14ff/Consider Acts 5:32). Luke explains that what Jesus "began to do and teach" in bodily form He now continues in His people in His risen state (Acts 1:1). Their identity was not in an affliation with a particular doctrine, or trying to make this world a better place, but in the power they beheld in their obedient lives looking for the city which is to come . They were uneducated and unlearned but their lives demonstrated that they had actually been with the living Jesus ( Acts 4:13).

Jesus revealed the world is full of religious deception; many "churches", cults and religions (Matt.24). How will you know the truth? Will you learn from a man or go to God? More than ever before, my friend, you must not just go along with everyone. The majority is wrong (Mt.7:13). Don't look at what men SAY. Tons of people claim to be an authority because they have a website or claim to have a following. Like armchair quarterbacks who never played a down of football yet pretend to know what's wrong. Look at their LIVES! Do they just sit around like anyone else claiming to be religious? Or do their lives stand out as a witness? Are they doing something that bears the cross of Christ (Mt.10:38)?

There is nothing wrong with going to a service to try and learn something but watch over your heart (Proverbs 14:23). "...A little leaven levens the whole lump..." (Gal.5:9). Hypocrisy is like toxic waste, it disintegrates sincerity and corrupts anyone with a heart. Don't give yourself over to "church". Learn and go on. You must not settle there. You must keep going. You must get beyond it to learn, build and discover a personal walk with Jesus. We can tell you it is awesome! Do you know His voice? Your life now and your eternity are at stake. This is about your capacity to walk in abundant life or abundant hypocrisy.

For surely there is a true church and is a false church. There is a false christ and a true Christ (2 Cor.11:3-4ff/Mt.24:24,23). Jesus beckons you to come to Him and find the posture of humility to become a disciple and learn directly from Him. His anointing is capable of teaching you all the things (1 Jn.2:27). The idea of God actually coming into your being can only be defined as a mystery (Col.1:27). David said "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy words are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy truths" (Ps.119:99ff/read the whole chapter).

Jesus is waiting....If anyone is thirsty!

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