Ken:
The bride coming forth out of many different denominations, different kinds of meetings—it seems like the meetings had to almost fail for the bride to come forth out of that setting, out of that religious setting, in order to be free. There really is that whole dynamic of the religious spirit.
And once you break free from that religious spirit and you enter into the freedom of the bride coming forth, it is just an amazing thing. You can see the reality of it. You can see the truth of it. The letter itself is dead without the anointing, and the anointing is what we're looking for in the bride. The bride has to be free.
Ron:
The bride comes out of the church. The church begins to despise and hate the bride, but it turns and fathers the thing that it comes out of.
Debbie:
Does everyone know who the bride is? The bride is the Bride of Christ. The church birthed the bride, but the bride comes out of the church.
Christ actually birthed the church, birthed the bride. The purity of the bride is what we're going after so we can be prepared for the Bridegroom.
Christ is a Bridegroom. When He returns, He's going to take His bride. He's going to have a marriage—the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Lois:
Queen Esther had six months of myrrh, which is put on dead people, right. So she had to have that time of dying before she could come to life. And we follow the same pattern—we all have. We've all been through the dying.
Ken:
And once you get through that dying process and enter into the freedom, it is so important, because in that freedom, all at once you look back and say,
"I'm not fighting to make myself pure. I'm not fighting to be better or become something on my own. This is something God is doing. I'm rejoicing at it."
When you enter the freedom, there's no struggle.
Ron:
Well, we've talked about the flow, and I think that part of what you're talking about is the flow of the Holy Spirit in and through His people. And as that flow increases, our rest increases.
So as the Holy Spirit—the flow—increases through the bride, the stress, the struggle, the religious striving, it begins to fall away. Yes, because it's not you doing it; it's the Father doing it through you.
Ken:
I think one of the things in that—you realize you're not under a restraint any longer. You're not limited by the words you speak.
You simply open your mouth and allow the Holy Spirit to speak through you, and there's such freedom in it.
The anointing is rich, and the word flows and penetrates your heart, because the dead letter will never do that. It just stays—sometimes it'll stay up in your head, but not in your spirit. But the word that's alive, that's anointed, will penetrate your heart and find a resting place.
Mike:
"My sheep know My voice." That's how they leave Babylon. They know the voice of the Lord, and they're seeking life, and they are drawn to His word, and they recognize it when they get there because of the flow.
Ron:
I think what's happening—and we're going to see happen more and more—is the anointing beginning to dwindle in those churches for a purpose.
How can I say it? Well, when the anointing dries up, there's no life anymore. It's like the mama bird pulling all the feathers out of the nest, and now it's thorns.
I feel like those that are called will come out, 'cause God will draw 'em out. I think there are many people—many people in the churches—that have a calling on them, and God knows how to draw 'em out.
It's the anointing. It's the life—you're drawn to life.
Ken:
They'll come out because they're hungry and they're driven by the righteousness of God. If they're not finding it where they're at, they're gonna look for it. They're gonna reach for it.
I don't think that they can be satisfied with just the nominal teachings of salvation, water baptism, and the Holy Spirit being poured out. It's more than that.
Debbie:
And they are going to have a hunger and a thirst for something more from the Lord, and they start crying out for it.
The Lord's going to meet them. The Lord's going to meet them through us, through others.
Ron:
So when you get around people, you're not necessarily, “Well, let me tell you about my Jesus.”
You know, you're not doing that. No, you're talking about whatever you're talking about that just flows with those people.
But at the same time, you're imparting Christ to them just because of your love for them. Just because you love them. Just because you're not putting anything on. You're not trying to be something. You're not trying to be a ministry. You're not trying to be Christ in the earth.
You're not trying to be anything—you're just being who God has made you. And you talk to people and you relate to them where they're at. And when you relate to them where they're at, then the Holy Spirit does His thing—'cause really, it's Him anyway.
Debbie:
It's such an awesome, joyful thing to be led of the Lord—to be a channel, just to be an instrument, just to be who you are, and just to flow and be led of the Spirit, and to become the priests that minister to the people—that minister to the people, minister to the Lord first.
Ed:
I think also in the Lord, you know, seeking after this truth and righteousness—what happens is it oozes out of you. (There it is,) and the people are drawn to it, because when you're doing that, you're in the presence of the Lord.
And when they start seeing you oozing Christ, they're going to be drawn to that.
Ken:
All of the doctrines, all of the legalism, all of the do's and don'ts—all of that kind of thing limits people from really moving into a relationship with God.
All they're getting is some kind of control because of a doctrine or a teaching or a tradition—whatever it is.
And when you drop those things and come into the relationship with the Holy Spirit, and He begins to melt your heart and you enter into a freedom in Him, all of a sudden those things don't matter.
They just don't matter. And it's not that you're against anything—you’re not—but it's what you're for.
