BROUGHT TO ASHES

BROUGHT TO ASHES - AUDIO

I am somewhat reluctant to give today's post, because truthfully, if it was up to me, I would not post it.  There is no upbeat sense of anticipation with Father's blessings in it, nor does it have the romantic bridal tune of "your Bridegroom is coming" as the backdrop.  It is about God's judgment.  Something that I of late have been experiencing and it has brought me to the point that my own words are starting to depress me.  So my attitude was more or less of, "Should I really drag everybody else into where I am at?"   But I have had so many different confirmations that at this point it would just be downright disobedient of me to do othewise.  "So let the chips fall where they may".  I have to trust Him to touch that one soul that needs to hear this.  That has gone through the wilderness and are standing in their own personal Jordan, just as I am right now.  Or, in time coming, for those who by God's grace will be brought here. And as I said before, we are all at different phases in our growth.  One person's Jordan is another person's wilderness.  At the heart of this post is the wisdom of God's dealings that is completely different than ours.  We cannot put Him in a box, because, well frankly, He just won't fit.  And so my prayer is that when you listen or read this post, you will think of God's dealings with man in history, and how this correlates with how His dealings have been with you.  And just exactly where is He going with you in all His dealings?  There is a great chance that many will look upon this post almost "too late" for where we find ourselves presently in the spiritual timeframe of things, but His work is never done, until the last second we hear that trumpet call. And so it behoofs us to take note, to have teachable hearts and be faithful to the end with Him in all His dealings with us.

I'm starting this post with a word He gave me in August 2020 that will form the backdrop.  I opened my journal and it "sprang" out to me, arresting my heart.  This word from Father I received about a day or two after I saw a very quick flash vision.  The first thing I saw the most beautiful brown eye.  The brown was almost copper and was in a way transparent...difficult to describe.  Big lashes and perfectly defined.  The next moment I saw this reptilian eye, with the slit in the middle.  I still drew them side to side in my journal.  So let's start with the Word.

WORD RECEIVED - August 2020

Hearing and seeing are linked. You cannot see, because you do not hear. And you do not hear, because you cannot see.

The Pharisees could not hear and receive My sayings, becaue they thought they are not blind. They said that they can see, and therefore could not receive My words. 

Pride blinds and pride is the enemy of true discernment.  Pride is the true mote of the eye.

The eye is not single, not truly devoted to me, but to self.  For it glorifies self and protects self.  Therefore, blind to your own faults and not to those of others.  Seeing very well the faults of others, but blind to its own. Boasting in what they can see, there true blindness is with themselves.  

One has to discern first inward, before you can see without.

AS A MAN IS, SO HE JUDGES.

Do not be blind to your own sin, but acknowledge them to me and I will lift you up.

Scripture Reference:

Matthew 6: 21 - 23

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

The light of the body is the eye.  If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

But if thine eye be evil, the whole body shall be full of darkness.

If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.

This word has some very pertinent statements that can stand on their own.  The one I would like to focus on is - AS A MAN IS, SO HE JUDGES.  It is interesting to note that the post is about God's judgment on man and it starts with man who judges from out of who he is. To judge is another word to discern whether something is "right" or "wrong".  And depending on your disposition and personal "filters" as I call them, it will influence you in your discernment and or judging, even if you are doctrinally correct.  Remember, we are told to guard our hearts for out of it flows the issues of life.  So at the heart of judging or discernment, is the heart.  And this is exactly where His focus is with regard to a single or evil eye, as we have just read.  

As you know I am in a fast. This fast is for the purpose to be in sackcloth and ashes, so that He may lift up the bridal veil and exchange it for sackcloth, as per my post "Lazarus", quoting Isaiah 47.  This is a process and not a one-time only thing.  Once He shows you, you do not go on as normal, but rather everything changes.  And what He is showing me is who and what I really am.  What lies in the depth of man's heart, my heart.  Well, I have seen the enemy, and it is "I".  He is showing me the depths of man's depravity without Him and that without Him we are nothing but beasts.  

David says in Psalm73 the following:

13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.

14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.

This has been my reality thus far.  I  have come to where David was, where he sees that even though repentance is of utmost importance, the very essence of sin is still very much beating in his heart.  He is aware that his sin is covered, and yet still there.  Always fighting the "beast" within as we read in Romans 7, that which I do not want to do, I find myself doing and that which I want to do, I do not.  He goes on to mention the two laws within us, that of the sin nature and His nature.  Another word for this sin nature is flesh or in essence "self".  Which is what makes us the enemies of God that has been reconciled to God.

Romans 5: 10

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

So why is He showing me this if I then am reconciled to Him by the death of His Son?  In a nutshell, I asked for it.  We should be very careful of what we ask Him.  However, I very much went into my Jordan willingly, knowing full well that it would mean total death.  That His aim is that "beast" residing in my heart, thinking that he can declare himself as God in God's holy temple.  This "beast" wishes to dethrone my Lord and therefore he must die, and I have given Father permission.

David says further:

22 So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.

God works from the inside out.  We know that the Kingdom of God is near, and even within our hearts.  And in this Kingdom of our heart is an enemy. One who is determined to not leave.  He is willing to stay even in the folds of our righteous garments, just as long as he does not have to leave.  Because leaving, would mean full control and he just cannot allow that.  That would mean no limitations to what Christ would do through this temple.  And so the way of Father is to show me this "beast".  And that he has always been there in enmity with the Spirit within me.  This kingdom within us is not a palpable one that we can touch and feel, but rather it deals with our senses and thoughts as strongholds and prisons are built within our being.  And even Paul cried out...

Romans 8: 23 - 25

23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Paul is talking here about a law, and not about sinful actions.  He is talking about that very "beast" residing in our hearts called "self".  You will remember in my previous post mentioning Eve and her partaking of the fruit how at that moment the seed of independence was planted in her heart, and have been growing ever since.  Where nothing will be impossible for man.  We see this even now in this evil world.  Do you see the heart of the "beast" in our independence of God?  The ax has to be laid to the root of the tree!  In John 15 we read that He seeks good fruit and that he prunes us, and prunes us again.  There are two trees in the garden of our hearts.  The Vine in which we are grafted, is Him, but the tree that flourishes by the evidence of its fruit in our lives is that tree of the knowledge of good and evil...SELF.  Two trees in the garden of our hearts.  Two laws in the garden of our hearts.  Two kings in the throne room of our hearts.  Now before you go on to see the "beast" as the devil himself, I would like to remind you, that WE were the enemies that He reconciled to Himself.  Our alegiance to the enemy without, eating of his fruit, has caused the seed to grow in OUR hearts.  The ax has to be laid to that root.  That tree must die completely in us and the reality is that we may ask for forgiveness, and we will be forgiven receiving His mercy, but dealing with the fruit is different that dealing with the root.  The root is the source, and it is with that source He has a contention with.  Make no mistake, there is a war and that war is within.  And what a long war!  And the reality is that ONLY He can lay the ax to that root.  We cannot.  We can ask for forgivness and walk in the grace and mercy of God, but as to the root, there is only ONE.  He has to show us.  He has to show us the reality of the true state of our being, of who man really is.  We are ALL so at His mercy to lay the ax to the root.

This is why He is wanting us to see that our hearing and seeing influence each other.  Because if your eye is still evil, there is a darkness within that has no end. An evil eye is a divided eye, that points to a divided heart.  Remember, two trees in one garden.  This is why Jesus started this conversation with where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  His focus is on the heart within, the person within, looking through that eye.  Because as  you are, so you see.  The Pharisees did everything right.  They knew the law and were following it meticulously, but because they were divorced from the true state of their hearts, they were unable to receive Jesus' sayings.  They out right told Him that they are not blind, but that was not to their credit.  It simply meant that the following scripture applies:

Revelation 3: 17 - 19 

17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

The word "wretch" is exactly the word Paul used in Romans 7, which is how he saw himself, his heart as it truly is.  And how did Paul, the Pharisee of all Pharisees get to that place?  Father has to bring us to the place that we in authenticity see ourselves truly as wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.  Because the "beast" within, will not go there willingly.  To a point under religious pretense.  It will carry the cross, but is not willing to die on that cross.

And with this sin nature, this self within me, the reality is, that left to myself I will deny Him, just like Peter. I will seek my own and left to myself I will curse Him.  Left to myself I will crucify Him.  And this is what I did.  It was my sin on that cross that nailed Him to that tree, and left to myself, I will do it again.  That "beast" will do it again.  Peter was never the same after that night.  He even went back to his old occupation...fishing.  He was brought to ashes.  He was brought to that place where everything that He did for Christ, the miracles, the driving out of demons and all previous experiences with Christ, was laid aside.  It was dead.  And yet, the next morning, Jesus awaited him with a banquet of fish on the fire.  Jesus never doubted Peter's love.  He knew, but Peter needed to be reminded that He knows.  This is why Peter said, "Lord, you know."  Father took this man, faced with the reality of His heart by what he has done, and says, "I know you love Me and this is why I had to show you that without Me, you can do nothing."  And so we know this.  We know that without Him we can do nothing, but He has to bring us to the reality of it by making us nothing.  All that must be left is LOVE.  This is why Paul said, without love, we are nothing.  Everything else will pass away, but only that which is perfect will remain.  Peter was brought to nothing, Paul was brought to nothing, Christ was brought to nothing.  What makes us think that we are not to be brought to nothing?

And this is the judgment of God on us here and now.  I have to be judged now or after. In the end the question will be, "What did you do with the fact that My Son died on a cross for YOUR sin?" The cross will either testify for us, or against us.  It will either be a mercy or a judgment.  Better to be judged now so that I can receive mercy later. 

To be poor in spirit is not just humility.  Matthew 6 says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. To be poor in spirit is to see your true state and live from that reality.  This poverty of spirit is not accessorised with a halo.  It is a deep inner sense of our utter unworthiness of the grace and mercy of our God on us. He has to show us our hearts.  I am not talking about little "boo boos" of occasional sin, or even habitual sin.  I am talking about what man is and what man is without God.  Unless He shows us we will not be poor in spirit.  Remember the Revelation 3 scripture where they say they are rich, but do not know that they are poor? The reality is that you do not know yourself as you should, until you know yourself as this. Only He can bring you to this point as He lays the ax to the root. 

In a way we have to go through our own "holocast". We have to be stripped, become anemic in strength and gawked eyed and brought to ashes. We look at the holocast and click our tongue feeling terrible for them.  Depending on our disposition we may even think it was their due.  It has been foretold.  But what about our own holocast.  How come we who are guilty of the same do not get our due?  Is God turning a blind eye to our sin?   Why do we think we are exempt from being brought to ashes?  Especially considering the true state of our heart.

The reality is that there is soon coming another holocast that will make the previous one look like a picnic.  It has already started and is still in its infant phase, but will soon be undeniable.   A world holocast.  This time it will not just be the Jews but all of the world as well.  And just like God allowed his judgment on Israel through the hands of Hitler, He will again allow His judgment through the hands of the chosen "son of perdition".  We have failed to hear and see what the message of the holocast was onto us, which was God's judgment on sin.   History is about to repeat itself.  Not because God is vindictive, but because just like Israel, the world has spurned the cross and has not taken to heart the time of grace given, but have reveled in sin.  

You might say, "But Pietra, He died on the cross that we should not experience His wrath!"  Yes, this is true.  But His judgment now is His mercy, so that we will not be the receivers of His wrath.  Unless there is judgment on our sin, there cannot be mercy to stay His wrath.  So to be willing for His judgment now is to give Him permission to remove your bridal veil and be clothed with sackcloth and sit in ashes, as He shows you like Peter, Paul and Jesus, the reality of your heart, AS HE SEES IT.  

If you refuse to see the wisdom of God in His judgment and are adamant that He only extends mercy,  that what I am saying is contrary to the message of the cross, then you are either  ignorant of His ways or refuse to submit to it.  In truth, we would rather have His mercy than His judgment.  But, you cannot have the one without the other.  His judgment is His mercy.  As Ezekiel standing before the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, and God asks him, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  And Ezekiel answered, "O God, only Thou knowest!".  Exactly what Peter said when Jesus asked him whether he loves Him..."O Lord, Thou knowest."  Should there be still some semblance of self in you that are able to raise yourself up, you have yet to be brought to ashes. 

I repeat what He said to me before:

"Just like I did not need your help to save you, I do not need your help to raise you."

Lazarus was brought to this place.  Dead as a nail.  Not for three days, but four.  No hope whatsoever.   The Jews believed that up and until the third day the soul can still return to the body.  So my question to you today is, "Does that soul, that "self" still reside in your body, or have you been brought to this death where there is no more hope?"  And just like Lazarus, there is only One that can raise you.

This death is not a death that you can innitiate, nor one where you can raise yourself up.  It is God, or nobody. 

The issue of the holocast is the issue of God, and if we refuse to see His hand in allowing it, we stand the chance of making Him in our image, to what we would like.  And if we think that He would not want to bring us personally to ashes as He did with Peter, Paul and our Messiah, then we are in danger of putting Him in a box.  God's judgment is His mercy and we cannot separate the two.  As Art Katz says, "God is a seemless garment".  

We treat the holocast as if He had an issue with the Jews. But the truth is, God has an issue with man. Of which the holocast and the cross are an expression of both His judgment and mercy.   

The holocast that is about to happen in this world, will require of those who will be the workers chosen to be sent out to bring hope and a word of comfort to those who will be utterly devastated, to have gone through their own pesonal holocast.  How will you be able to speak that word of comfort unless you yourself have gone through your own personal holocast, brought to ashes and having a testimony of being raised.  Will you have hope?  Will you have a living testimony?  As He will use the hand of the "son of perdition" to smite this world, He will use the hands of those chosen ones to bring comfort.  Such is the wisdom of God.  The same hand that smites, is the same hand that comforts. The same hand that judges, shows mercy.

Hosea 6: 1 - 3

1 Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.

2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.

3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

We know this scripture is speaking about Jacob's trouble and the return of Israel to their Messiah, but all scripture is there for us as a type and shadow to first apply personally.  Here we read how He smites, but also heals.

In this is a promise that He will restore that which He has brought to ashes.   Judgment and restoration, forgiveness and atonement is for us.  

He leaves us with a promise, one I am holding onto.

Isaiah 61

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;

2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

4 And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.

7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.

8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.