The Breaking Process

In the previous post, we saw that we cannot have Fellowship with others unless we have Fellowship with God first.

The other requirement for achieving Fellowship is to know yourself...your ARE. You can't choose to let others know you unless you know yourself. You also need to know who God is...Last week we saw that God's Nature is Right and Just.

Getting to Fellowship with God is a process. Whether we are conscious of it or not, God wants to be in Fellowship with everyone. God is constantly working with everyone in an attempt to get to Fellowship. This is Right and Just. The ONLY reason a person isn't at Fellowship with God is the person constantly chooses not to be at Fellowship with God.

Fellowship with God is a three-step process. For the last year, I have noticed this process BOTH in books and personally talking with people. Several times when people have told me they have taken the first step, I have warned them to watch out for the second step...only to have their eyes grow wide and tell me that it is exactly what they are going through now!

This process is painful to our flesh. Some people call it "The Breaking Process". However, I have seen that when people understand the process, they are able to intentionally work through it and not feel like they are alone (or insane).

We saw that Relationship with God begins when a person is "born again". Jesus' FIRST Command says to LOVE God with ALL your mind, heart, soul, and strength. This is Fellowship. ALL means COMPLETELY sharing yourself with God in EVERYTHING. This will require God to "break" the person.

When God breaks a person, the goal is to help the person become who God made them to BE. This is done for the benefit of the person. This is LOVE.

The outside of the person is the DO and the HAVE. The BE is on the inside. The flesh has to be broken in order for this BE to come out. I called this the ARE (who God created you to BE)..

If we are soft and young, the breaking process is easier. If we are constantly staying broken, the process is easier. If we are hard and/or have spent years being unbroken, the process is painful. “Modeling God” showed us how to begin to find out our ARE in general terms. We OUGHT to continue to find out our ARE in more specific terms. God will not show a person exactly who they are made to BE until they completely trust God. This proof of trust is a process…

The first step in the process is God pushing the person to get him to admit he is wrong. This (and every) step is actually a decision. God is essentially saying, “Do you admit you are wrong?” (This is what I call a “Full Confession”.)

The person can say, “no” with his actions or he can duck the question through drugs, avoidance, blaming others, etc. This is pride. People can get so devastated by this they turn completely away from God…but it is the person’s fault. God stays on the person and ramps up the stress through justice until the individual finally says, “Yes”.

The second decision that God is pushing the person towards is for the individual to admit he needs to rely COMPLETELY on God’s help. God is essentially saying, “Do you admit you need to rely on me completely?” (I call this “Full Repentance”.)

Again, God stays on the person and ramps up the stress through justice until the individual finally says, “Yes”. Again, people can get so devastated by the pain that they turn away from (reject) God.

Notice, the first two questions are really a deepening of Relationship. Full Confession and Full Repentance is the most complete way to be "born again". The next decision is the most brutal. Remember, God is trying to find out if the person trusts Him completely. God asks the person if they will follow Him regardless of whether God takes everything.

This can be presented as a series of questions:
Will you follow Me if I take away your job?
Will you follow Me if I take away your money?
Will you follow Me if I take away your friends?
Will you follow Me if I take away your kids?
Will you follow Me if I take away your wife?

Look at it this way...The person occupies a specific space. EVERYTHING else in the person's life occupies a space around the person. God's goal is to rebuild you into something else and you will most likely occupy a new space. THAT will create stress between you and EVERYTHING else in your life. This will look to you like God is taking these things away because He is causing the stress. Actually, it is EVERYTHING around you that is choosing to adjust or leave you.

God wants to know BEFORE He BEGINS this process if you are COMPLETELY trusting Him...if you WANT to go to FELLOWSHIP with Him. Jesus says that only fools build a tower or go to war without first figuring out if they are able to complete the task. God is NOT a fool. He is not moving until the individual states his will that he will still follow God no matter what...

I have told people to take their time with this step. They need to imagine what it would look like for each area to reject them. This is NOT something that OUGHT to be rushed. This is a brutal process.

When the person can say “yes” to each question, then they are completely broken, God can access their BE and begin the process of building them up into what GOD WANTS them to BE. They can have Fellowship with God...and they can have Fellowship with others who have Fellowship with God.

Unfortunately, some people have to ACTUALLY lose EVERYTHING before they choose to have Fellowship with God.

There are plenty of books that say we are "broken" people and that we need to be "broken"...what is the process these books describe? Can you do it intentionally?

How many people would still want the EFFECTS of THE ACTS CHURCH (or even continue to go to church), if they knew they had to go through this process?

Can you see why we don’t have Fellowship in church? Can you see why we don’t have Fellowship in Marriages? It starts with each person having Fellowship with God.

I have gone through this process. I am in a Fellowship group with people who have gone through this process. It has resulted in complete sharing, signs and wonders, and actively looking for opportunities to break bread and talk about EVERYTHING...including God.

Again, if you have any questions or need help, please contact me through e-mail.

This topic continues with a HUGE concept called "OUGHT vs. IS".