Walking With Christ

⚓ Floatie:  Guardrails in the Deep

John 6:66–68  (66)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  (67)So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”  (68)Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life”(ESV)

Most churches today give you just enough Jesus to keep you entertained, not enough to force you into the wilderness.  The sermons are padded with guardrails—safe words, safe topics, safe applause lines.  But guardrails aren’t freedom.  They’re a cage with a light show.

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✒️ Forge:  The Danger of Negative Space

Jesus left silences in His teaching.  He never promised wealth or health.  He never promised comfort.  He never said “believe in yourself.”  He never said staying in a bad church was obedience.  Those absences are intentional boundaries.

The danger comes when pastors start filling the silence.  Like sensory deprivation, when the noise of the Word grows quiet, the human mind manufactures static.  False teachers turn that static into doctrine:  prosperity, self-help, shallow entertainment.  The lie doesn’t have to be convincing—it just has to be repeated until rumor hardens into “truth.”

Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it.  One small twist, one human insertion into divine silence, and the promised land slipped away.  God doesn’t tolerate tampering.

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⚒️ Anvil:  Guardrails in the Shallows

Many mega-pastors thrive in shallow theology because shallow crowds pay shallow tithes.  It’s not about crowd size—it’s about the guardrails.  Guardrails that:

• Keep people from asking hard questions.
• Keep people from wandering into the wilderness where God refines His people.
• Keep people from daring the deep water, where either you walk with Jesus or sink into your own insufficiency.

The guardrails look like safety.  But they’re really walls—keeping you small, weak, and dependent.

The true scandal isn’t that crowds want easy sermons.  It’s that pastors are happy to provide them.  They fear losing the flock’s money more than losing the flock’s souls.

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🔥 Ember:  The Whisper vs. the Noise

False teachers know how to weaponize silence.  They’ll tell you:

• “If you leave this church, you’ll lose your faith.”
• “If you go into the wilderness, the enemy will eat you alive.”
• “If you walk into deeper waters, you’ll drown without us.”

That’s North Korea theology.  Convince the people that outside the walls is only death, and they’ll never try to leave—even if the walls themselves are the prison.

But Jesus says the opposite:  “Come.”  Out of the boat.  Into the storm.  Onto the water.  Not safe, not easy, but real.

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🌿 Covenant Triumph:  Into the Wilderness, Onto the Water

The Bible never said the wilderness was death.  The wilderness was where Israel met God.  The wilderness was where John prepared the way.  The wilderness was where Jesus defeated the devil.

The Bible never said the deep was destruction.  The deep was where Peter learned faith.  The deep was where storms bowed to Christ.  The deep was where obedience turned fishermen into apostles.

Shallow sermons will never train you for either place.  Guardrails will never teach you to walk on water.  Only Jesus will.

So tear down the guardrails.  Step into the silence.  Don’t fear the wilderness.  Don’t fear the deep.  The choice is simple:  stay shallow and safe with false comfort—or step out and risk everything with the One who alone has the words of eternal life.

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[⚓ Floatie] [✒️ Forge] [⚒️ Anvil] [🔥 Ember] [🌿 Covenant Triumph]
This post follows the Forge Baseline Rule—layered truth for the discerning remnant.