The Joyful Branch

     An audio version of this message will soon be available at the link below:

michaelottministries.podomatic.com

John Chapter Fifteen

1.I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 

2.He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.

3.You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 

4.Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
5.“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 

6.Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 

7. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 

8. When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
9. “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 

10. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 

12. This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 

13. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

14. You are my friends if you do what I command. 

15. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 

16. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 

17. This is my command: Love each other.

     As I was reading these verses today I was once again amazed at how simple the gospel really is. It is so simple that a child can truly understand it, and to complicate it negates the simple message of love that Jesus taught.

     As I was reading these verses His voice came to me and he asked me to write down these words and share them with you.
He said.


     My loved ones. I did not come to bring complicated laws and formulas and secret religious things that would make your walk with me hard. The reason these things are hidden from the wise and revealed to the simple is because those whom the world thinks are wise can not usually accept a simple explanation of how things work. They try to make things complicated so they will seem important and so you will not be able to challenge them when they are wrong.

     This is the truth that makes you free. It is the simple truth by which all of the kingdom of heaven works. The truth is that you can do nothing without me but through you I can do all things. This takes the burden off of you as it should. The parents should bear the burden of raising children. The children shouldn't be burdened with things like paying bills and providing food and running the household. I am your parent and I want to do all these things for you, if you will humble yourselves and admit that you can't do it on your own.

     In society today you have each and every person building their own kingdom and doing things their own way. This is not the way the kingdom works. The kingdom is simple. You abide in me and I abide in you. I flow through you with my power and create all the things you need to flourish. You just soak up my love like a branch soaks up sugar from the vine and produces fruit. It is a natural thing. As long as the branch is connected to the vine it bears fruit. If the branch disconnects itself and tries to bear fruit on it's own then it dies. It really is that simple. Simply abiding in my love and my joy gives you all you need to be fruitful.

     So how do you abide in me? I told you in these verses. You abide in me by loving each other. I told you in these verses that if you obey my commandments then you will abide in my love. Then I told you my commandment is to love each other.

     By loving each other and laying your lives down one for another you keep the cycle of love going. My love flows through you into others and back to me.

     My loved ones will you please put aside religion and false doctrine and return to the simplicity of abiding in me? I promise you that you will find great joy when you do so.

     It is great joy when you realize that you can enter my rest and let me flow through you to build my kingdom. I will flow through you with my life and my blood and my spirit. You will bear so much fruit for the kingdom that you will wonder why you ever tried anything else. You will be full of delight when you discover that it's the simple fellowship with me that makes you a healthy branch.

     While abiding in me if weeds grow up you don't have to fight them. You just listen to my words and my voice. I will prune you with graceful words It will not be painful. Remember my word is sharper than a two edged sword able to divide soul from spirit and joints from marrow. I will not prune you with a hatchet. I will speak to you my truth and the things that entangle you will fall away.

     I will never break this cycle of love from heaven towards you. You are the only ones who can break it. You can decide you like being connected to the tree of good and evil that the word eats from and start to wither like the world does. Anytime you choose not to walk in love you eat from that tree and get the nourishment that leads to death. Why would you want to do that when you can have the life that flows from me flowing through you and constantly feed on the tree of life?

     My loved ones, it is always your choice where you abide. You can be a sad, dying branch feeding on the world or you can be a joyful branch feeding on the love and joy of heaven. Please choose correctly. I love you and want you to abide in me. I want you to constantly eat of my goodness and love for you. I delight in you and it brings me great joy when you abide in me.

    Please my loved ones. Be the joyful branch. 

     This was the end of the words he spoke to me a few moments ago.
I hope you are encouraged by these words.
Until next time Grow Rich in His Grace.
I love you all,
michael

     For more information please click on the links below:

michaelottministries.org

michael's blog

michael's podcast

michael on itunes

Precious Treasue

     An audio version of this message will soon be available at the link below:

michaelottministries.podomatic.com


     As I was praying today Father spoke to me and asked to write down the following words and share them with you. He said:

 My children, my precious treasure, listen to my heart. You hear me by heart and not just by voice. You are listening for a voice when I am giving you my heart. If you will be still and listen you will hear me in your thoughts and dreams also.

     I know many you want to give up but you can't. You can't go back to where you were because you know I am no longer there. I have brought you to a place where you have no choice but to trust me. Do you not think my disciples did not have days when they wish they could go back to what they knew? Some of them even tried. It is common to want to go back to where you have been because you know that place and you know where to hide. I don't want you to hide anywhere but in me.

     I want to teach you how precious and valuable you are to me. You are my delight and my greatest joy. I chose you because I wanted you because I loved you and I will always love you.

     Today your religious culture tries to tie your value to your calling. If you are in what you call the five fold ministry then somehow that makes you more important than those who aren't. This is not the way my kingdom works. We are first of all and most importantly a family. You are each precious to me. It doesn't matter if you are an apostle or a toilet scrubber at the meeting place, each of you is my child. Your value to me is because you are my child.

     If you had two children which would you value more, the child who became a doctor or the one who was unemployed? See how silly that is to put your value in your calling and not in being my child? Once again I say, "You are valuable to me because you are my child." If you never do great things for my kingdom it doesn't mean you are less special than someone who does. Jesus washed all the disciples feet. They were all precious to him.He told them to do the same to each other. I was in him loving them each and every one.

     It is the same with you. Yes each of you is gifted with certain callings and gifting to share but that doesn't make one above the other. Is your blue eyed child more important than the brown eyed child? The boy more important than the girl? The rich more valuable than the poor? The one who can sing more important than the one who dances?

     It's time my church stopped fighting for position. The place I have placed each of you is where you fit best. Contrary to your belief I didn't put you where it would be best for me. I put you where it's best for you. I love you and I wan't you to be eternally happy with what I have given you to do but it's not about doing or achieving it's about being. Jesus came to make you son's and daughters not to give you a job title.

     No one earned their calling or their gifting. That is why it is called a gift. Each of you has gifts and each of you is a gift. As I told you through Paul's letter to the Ephesians, I gave some apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists as a gift to the church. 

     Those who truly understand their callings will not flaunt it. They understand that callings are for serving and not for ruling. You will know them by their fruit and by the Spirit. You don't have to see it written on a business card to know when you see one. Most of the time if you see the word bishop or apostle on their business card it's because they are trying to convince themselves that is what they are.   So many in my church today are fighting over titles of apostle or bishop or pastor. What is this? This is not the way a family works. You are all brothers and sisters and the only title that matters is are you my child? I wish you would all drop the titles and call each other brother and sister because that is what my heart desires.

     Jesus understood that he and I were one but he came to serve and not to rule. In heaven we rule by serving. Power and gifting are not to be used to make you feel special. If you find yourself in one of these offices it is because you were put there to serve others and not to feel important. The world fights for position and power. This should not be in my church.

     My loved ones. Do you not know how valuable you were to me long before you were ever born? Before you ever did one kind thing. Long before you found yourself in my kingdom you were loved and the value for you was set. It cost me all that I had to get you and I paid your ransom before the foundation of the world. I knew that sin would want a fortune to sell you back to me and I didn't even blink at the price. How much is your child worth to you? Would you pay with your life? Of course you would.

     What I am saying is once you understand your value to me then you can rest and stop trying to find your worth elsewhere. You can stop trying to become something you are not just to feel like you are worth something. You can settle in to the place I put you and bear much fruit without struggling. You can release the gifts I gave you and be a blessing because of who you are and not because of what you do.

     So many think that if you can do miracles and great wonders then you will be worth something. If you would stop trying to "do" miracles then you could "be" a miracle. If you would just rest in my finished work then these things would flow from your spirits and you would not be straining to produce that which comes natural to you.

     The miracles that my Son did and the apostles did were not born out of works. They were born from fellowship with me and my Spirit. Jesus told you that he didn't even do the works. He told you that I did the works in him. It's Christ in you the hope of glory. Let him dwell in you. Abide in him and abide in me and let us abide in you and then heaven will pour forth from you because you are overflowing. Where do you abide? Where you abide is where you live and rest, not where you work.

     My loved ones are struggling to do great works so that they will be accepted by the so called church. You are already accepted in my beloved so what more acceptance do you need? Face it. The miracles most people seek are not born out of fellowship or love for another. If you will be completely honest about what you usually see, it's not about bringing me glory or setting captives free, it is about getting highlight videos for the internet so they can look important or to validate their ministry. Nothing wrong with sharing my love on the internet, but why you do what you do is most important. Is it to bring glory to me or is it to show people how wonderful your church is? This is not why we do miracles. They are done from love and compassion and are done to restore people's sense of value.

     Do you remember the miracle done for the lame man at the gate of the temple? Peter and John were not going preaching. They were going to pray. When they saw the lame man they told him to look at them? Why did they do this? They did it not to get his attention but to restore his dignity. He had been a beggar so long he could no longer look anyone in the eye. He didn't feel worthy enough to do so. This is also why it says Peter took him by the right hand. It's the hand men shake to business with . It made the man feel like a man again and showed him he was equal to them.

     Remember the woman who was bent over that Jesus healed? He said this daughter of Abraham should be healed. If she was valuable because she was Abraham's descendant then shouldn't people who are my children be valued because they are mine?

     Think about this for a moment. In the scriptures it says that if all the miracles that Jesus did were written down the world could not contain the books. So why didn't we write them down? Why did we only list a few in the scriptures? The miracles Jesus did were born out of compassion for others. We gave you a few examples but miracles are not the proof of a disciple. Love is. They will know you are my disciples by the love you have one for another. 

     It never was about the show. Today it's all about the show even if people have to do what they call "fake it til you make it." Fraud should not be in my church. The show must soon come to an end if you want the real to return. 
If you want to see a show then look up. The heavens declare my glory day and night. Look at the world around you. The fact that you exist is proof that I do also. How can some be so foolish to think that they exist and I don't?

     You don't need signs and wonders to know that I am with you. You know I am with you by the love that is in your heart. Signs and wonders flow from love not to love. They are gifts from my heart to you. Not something you can earn or work up. Your value to me is not in how much power you can release or how many miracles you can work. It is because I love you. It is because you are my child. It is because my son proposed marriage to you and you said yes. 

     I have given you my Spirit who lives in you. We came to you and made you our home. What more proof do you need that you are valuable to us and important to us? I could live anywhere I choose and I choose to live in your heart. Why do you need anything else to make you feel valuable?

     If you get your self worth from what you do then what happens if you can't do it anymore? If you are a professional athlete and you get old and can't play anymore are you less valuable as a person because you can't run and jump? Is a child who can't walk less valuable than one who can? Is a fireman who can't work because he was injured saving a life less important now that he can no longer fight fires?

     See my loved ones, what others want you to believe is that if you don't measure up to Jesus or Paul or Peter then you aren't as important to my kingdom. This is why you were told not to compare yourselves to others. Each of you is a treasure in your own way. Each of you is worth more than all the wealth of heaven. Each of you is worth what I paid for you. So just enjoy being who you are and stop striving to perform for me or others.

     This is one reason there is so much confusion in the church. Each of you know people who call themselves pastors and they are not. How can a man be a pastor if he hates people? Some call themselves prophets and sell millions of copies of books making predictions about things that are coming and they never do come to pass. Stop buying their books and they will stop selling them.

     If your mechanic was wrong time after time would you still pay him to work on your car? If your dentist kept pulling the wrong tooth would you go back? If your doctor kept giving you the wrong medicine would you keep paying him? Many of these people who are in the wrong place are sincerely trying. They think they have to be a household name to be important and so they go into error trying to be someone besides who I made them to be. So they step into positions they have no gifting for and fail miserably. 

     My children, it's time to wise up. Each person is valuable because you are mine. Each of you is gifted and called so find your gift and use it. Don't try to be someone else because they seem more spiritual. They may not be more spiritual, they may just be crazy.

     Stop modeling yourselves after anyone but my son. He is your example. He is the image you are being conformed to. Was he an apostle? Yes he was. Was he a prophet? By all means. Was he a pastor? Yes he is, that is why he is the great shepherd. Is he a teacher? Of course he is. Was he an evangelist? The greatest of all. So why do you look anywhere else for an example? Even my beloved Paul said "follow me as I follow Christ." He didn't say just to follow him because he was an apostle.

     It's not about who you follow on Facebook or twitter or whatever your latest social media platform is. It's not about how many are following you. It's about who you followed to the cross. Did you pick up your cross and follow him to the place you call Calvary? Did you lay down your life for him as he did for you?

     My loved ones. If you cant see how precious you are to me then consider this: How much is Christ worth? Does he not live in you? Is the bank not worth the amount of the investments that are in it? The whole Godhead dwells bodily in Christ and he dwells in you. So just how much are you worth?




     This is the end of the words he spoke to me a few moments ago.
I hope you are encouraged by these words.
Until next time,
Grow Rich in His Grace,
I love you all,
michael

     For more information please click the links below:

michaelottministries.org

michael's blog

michael's podcast

michael on iTunes

Where Is Your Song?

     An audio version of this message will soon be available at the link below:

michaelottministries.podomatic.com

     Before we begin today's message I would like to say thanks to all of you for bearing with me. It has been several days since my last post. I have been traveling and have been away from my computer. Sharing these messages with you and sharing the journey of faith with each of you is a great blessing in my life and I appreciate your prayers so very much. So thanks for your patience and kindness. 

     I I just got back from Montana and I would like to take time to say thanks to all my wonderful friends there. It was really great to get to spend time with you and share Father's grace and truth together. Each of you were a great blessing to me and a great help on my journey. 

     So thanks to Daniel, Sam, Kyle, Joe and Jamie and Tom and Mary for the great fellowship and encouragement. Thanks to Kevin and Holly for opening your home to us and for the great meal. And a special thanks to Michael and Livee for your hospitality, for the home cooked meal and the food for my trip home. Each and every one of you were a great blessing to me. If you all only knew just how precious you are. Thanks again.

     And now for the message.

Ephesians Chapter Five

15. So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. 

16. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. 

17. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 

18. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 

19. singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 

20. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Colossians Chapter Three

12. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 

13. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 

14. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. 

15. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
16. Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.


     As I was praying today Father spoke to me and asked me to share these words with you. He said:


     My children, where is your song?  You once sang to me and worshiped me in your heart of hearts. You kept yourselves in the Spirit with the song that is in your hearts. 

     I miss those days when you sang to me just because you love me. Do you remember those days my beloved? Those days when it wasn't just about learning Greek and Hebrew and all the great doctrines of all the past leaders who you think were closer to me than you? Not that those things are bad, they are wonderful and I am delighted that you want to learn of me, but you can never be closer to me by what you know. You draw near to me when you seek me with that love song in your heart.

     I am in love with you and there is a cross and and empty tomb to prove my love. You have forsaken the truth of the gospel to try to learn me by education and that is not the way to know someone. If you want to know someone then spend time with them. The song in your heart is what opens heaven before you. It is truly open all the time but you enter my gates with the songs of thanksgiving and praise. 

     I do love it when you all sing together but I also love it when you sing those songs that you think are silly, but they come from the part of you that I long to live in.

     My children. It is very important to know the doctrines and the great messages about the scriptures but love is the most important of all. There are many theologians who know most of the great truths in my kingdom but they don't know me and they don't experience my love.

     Even your enemy knows my scriptures and my doctrine but he doesn't get in because he doesn't sing to me. If you want to drive him crazy then sing to me. He once had the ability to stand in my presence with a song but he lost that when he fell. 

     But you me beloved ones, you have every right to stand in heavenly places and worship me with your songs and hymns. I love it when you do. I dwell in your praise and when you sing I can't help myself. I am drawn to the song in your hearts and I love to dance as you sing to me.

     When you sing your songs to me you are like that little child standing on Daddy's feet as we dance and you sing. The song in your hearts is the secret to staying in the secret place. If you want to be free then sing. If you want my power to flow then sing. If you want all of heaven to break out into your lives then sing to me. Sing with your understanding and sing with your spirits but no matter what don't stop singing to me.

     Here is another key my beloved. Do you want unity in the church? Then sing to each other in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. I love new songs. I love the ones that come out of your heart. Yes it is good to gather and sing the songs that are popular in your time, but which would you prefer from your bride? Would you prefer her to borrow a song from someone else and sing it to you or would you love for her to sing her deepest feelings to you in her own words from her own heart? 

     See what I mean? It's not how technically correct the words are or how the chorus flows with the verses or even how the melody is perfect. It is about how much of your heart is in the song that you are singing.

     If I rejoice over you with singing then shouldn't you rejoice over each other also? So many of you take each other for granted and don't realize how precious fellowship with each others is. There are those who believe in me in faraway places who would be so grateful for a kindred spirit to fellowship with. For them to have someone to worship together with would be pure delight. Please my beloved ones; wake up. If you are hearing this message you are so blessed to have each other to fellowship with.

     So my loved ones. Will you look deep in your heart and find a song for me? It doesn't have to be in perfect pitch. I don't care if the bridge is in the wrong place and the chorus should be the verse or if it has five layers of harmony. It's not perfection I am looking for. It is your sweet voice singing to me that I long to hear. 

     I am your truest love. I am the one who delights in your presence. I am the one your heart desires even if you don't know it. Just as you are the one I desire. You are the one I want to hear singing. You are the one that I want to spend eternity with.

     Will you please search deep in your heart and find your song? I know you have one. If you take your eyes off of the world and all your problems and just sing and worship with me. I adore you and I long to fill your life with my presence. Will you please just answer one question for me my beloved? Where is your song?



     This is the end of the words He spoke to me a few moments ago. I hope you are encouraged by these words.

Until next time,

Grow Rich in His Grace,

I love you all,

michael

     For more information please click on the links below:

michaelottministries.org

michael's podcast

michael's blog

michael on iTunes