USING HIM
A Clarion Call to Guard the Heart of God
“‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness…’”
—Jeremiah 2:2 (NIV)
If you ever browse through YouTube or social media, you’ll find it everywhere: a world intoxicated by influence. There are influencers for every niche under the sun—ear-cleaning doctors, home decorators, political commentators, and countless others carving out their space in the algorithm-driven race for attention. And while influence itself isn’t inherently wrong, what has become of influence is deeply troubling.
We now live in a world where self-promotion is currency. People will backstab, exploit, and climb over others to gain a following. Entire platforms are built on exposing failures and feeding the ego machine. What once may have begun as a passion has too often mutated into performance.
But what breaks my heart the most… is that this same spirit has crept into the Church.
Ministry or Machinery?
My friend, I write not to be negative—but to weep and warn. Because I see it, I feel it. I hear the whisper from the throne room: “They are using Me.”
Ministry has become a stage, and Jesus has become a stepping stone. We’re not drawing near to Him—we’re using Him to draw crowds. For some, the sacred work of ministry has become little more than an influencer niche—a means to grow a name, a brand, and a following.
And all the while, the King of Glory stands outside the door of hearts He once called friend—weeping.
Just as Jesus stood over Jerusalem and cried, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” with gut-wrenching sorrow, He now weeps over ministries that once adored Him but now use Him. He weeps—not polite, dignified tears, but the hard cry of a lover shut out. He says,
“I remember when I was enough for you. When you came to Me in the night, not to post about it—but just to be with Me. When your face glowed with adoration when you laid at My feet for no other reason than love, I remember when you guarded My heart—not just your platform, when you sang to Me, not to a room. When the secret place was not a stepping stone but a sanctuary.”
Oh, dear one—He remembers.
The Idol of Ministry
There is a difference between using our ministry for people—and using people for our ministry. The latter is exploitation, no matter how spiritual it sounds. When the applause of man becomes louder than the whisper of the Bridegroom, we are already drifting.
And if that drift is not corrected, we’ll build an empire with His name on it—but without His presence in it.
We become spiritual influencers with no intimacy.
We seek anointing as a tool, not as a holy trust.
We chase gifting instead of the Giver.
We create idols out of our calling—and use God to promote it.
And the Spirit of God—so tender, so easily grieved—withdraws, not out of rage, but heartbreak.
The Weeping of the Bridegroom
There is a holy ache in the Spirit right now. I feel it even as I write. The Lord is yearning for His Bride—not her ministry, schedule, or show. Her.
He longs for the sound of her worship in the night. He misses her tears on His feet. He remembers the days when she didn’t care who was watching—as long as He was near.
Can you feel the ache of the Bridegroom?
He’s not angry. He’s wounded.
A New Kind of Bride
But I hear a whisper—quiet, steady, holy:
“I am doing a new thing,” says the Lord.
“I am raising a Bride out of the wilderness—leaning, not striving. Dependent, not driven. Hidden, not hustling. She does not use Me—she honors Me. She guards My heart.”
She is not loud, but she is holy.
She is not ambitious, but she is burning.
She does not push open doors—I open them for her.
And every time I do, she returns to the secret place. Again and again.
She is not looking for influence—she’s looking for Me.
The Clarion Call
Dearly beloved, I plead with you: do not settle for the stale bread of old encounters. Don’t ride the fumes of past intimacy. Don’t use Jesus as a means to build your name. Don’t grieve the One who died to love you.
Return. Return to your first love!
Return to the God who loved you before anyone knew your name.
Return to the secret place where your heart was soft, and your eyes were wet.
Return to the joy of simply being with Him.
The world is drunk on lust, power, ambition, and fame. But there is a remnant rising—a leaning Bride. She comes out of the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved, not strutting in her own strength. She lives to guard the Lord’s heart. She does not quench the Spirit. She is more in love with Him than the ministry He gave her.
This is what the Lord is after.
This is who He is calling.
Will He find that kind of Bride in you?
A Prayer of Return
Jesus,
Forgive me if I’ve used You.
Forgive me if I’ve traded the sacred for the spotlight.
Forgive me for treating You like a platform instead of a Person.
Bring me back to the nights when it was just You and me.
Set me ablaze again with holy longing.
Let me guard Your heart with my life.
Let me love You more than I love ministry.
Let me seek Your face before I ever seek a microphone.
Burn away every selfish ambition.
Tear down every idol with Your tenderness.
Let me return—not just to the work—but to You my sweet Savior.
Amen.
With Love,
Steve Porter
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Thank you Steve 🙏! May God continue to use you to reach out to His bride!
Thank you Steve💕🙏