Monday, May 2, 2022

THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD PART 2 - THE FRAGRANCE OF SUFFERING

 




We are going to continue with the Royal Priesthood, part two. I am very excited and blessed, overwhelmed and all the adjectives that you can think of with regards to this devotional. I know it will be a blessing. It has been a blessing and I think it is a continuous work.

We are going to start with the scripture and that is in exodus 30.  But before I read, I want to recap on what we spoke about in the previous devotional. We basically came to the understanding that we have to choose between which kind of priest we are. The totality of the priesthood that is the life that we live and that priesthood or intercession itself is identification with the Lord God as well as with man.  It is identification with His holiness and it is identification with His suffering; as well as the suffering of man and the frailty of man. We spoke about the responsibility of the priests as mediators, between man and God, to live holy lives so that we may lift up clean hands with pure hearts and be able to pray. Not only prayer, the whole premise of the devotional is that we honour the intercession of Yeshua, not by the death that he died, as our High Priest, but also the life that he lived.  The robe that He shed blood for to be pure and holy.  That righteous robe that He gave us so that He can take our filthy rags on Him.  The whole discussion was the fact that intercession itself is not prayer, but it is the life that you live. We are going to continue from this premise and we are going to trust Father to come and reveal to us the heart of this message to each and every single one of us.  It is a very important message.  It is the crux of everything. Not that the message in itself is important because it came to me.  It is the overall message of the Gospel.

We are going to start reading from exodus 30.

 

EXODUS 30

30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his ns, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.

 31And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.

 32Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.

 33Whoever compoundeth any like it, or whoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.

 34And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galban; these sweet spices with pure frankincense of each shall there be a like weight

 35And thou shalt make it a perfe, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy

 36And thou shalt beat me of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee it shall be unto you most holy.

 37And as for the perfe which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord.

 

This oil in itself, because it is the oil with which the priests were anointed with, speaks of being set apart. We all know that when Samuel went to look for the next king and he found David, that he poured oil over David’s head.  He did not make a little droplet there.  He poured oil over David's head.   This has great significance to a later conversation.  He poured this oil over his head and he anointed him as king. This means he was set apart as priest and obviously king as well.  This oil in itself speaks of the priest or the king's life that is not only set apart, but also poured out.   

 We have the New Testament example of this. Mary breaking an alabaster box and you will remember that she also poured oil on Yeshua's head, our King, and that by an extension when we look at Samuel and what he did, and we look at Mary, we find that the Lord God uses this woman that speaks of His bride, His priestly bride that pours the oil on the King's head. I find that absolutely beautiful.  Now let's read about that account.  It is in Luke, that particular one, because in the different gospels it is described in different ways and there is a reason behind it.  

 Luke 7

 37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

49 And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

50 And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

 

Many of us have seen this alabaster box in different forms and the idea is that it is this small little box that has been broken and poured out, but it is actually quite big. I do not know how many gallons, but it is actually quite big.  It had a specific seal on it and that seal had to be broken and more than likely it was actually speaking of that seal that was broken and not necessarily the box itself.  The seal was then broken and then the oil was poured on Him.  What I saw with Mary, as I was reading this, was worship.  This woman, sitting before her High Priest anointing Him, washed Him with the tears from her eyes that fell on His feet, in a position of worship, adoration, ministering and anointing Him. This alabaster box was very expensive and it was quite a high amount, even in our days if we had to do the same, and it was considered her inheritance or a dowry that speaks once again of this priestly bride.  When she poured that out it was not oil.  It was her life.   We think back on this oil that we just read about now in Exodus 30 and we see it was to be set apart.  Even her hands, everything was full of this oil as she ministered to Him, as she worshipped and adored Him, anointed Him.  It speaks of a whole life that was poured out before Him and onto Him.  It was most holy unto Him and He looked upon those that were standing round about Him, even Judas that you know was highly offended that this money was not used for the poor.  We do not know whether this was truly his disposition or motive, but either way, what Yeshua said was those who have been forgiven much, love much and this woman, having been aware of what a sinner she was, speaks of somebody that had a deep identification with her frailty and her own wicked heart. She knew that she was forgiven much. Yeshua says that when we know this, when we have an understanding of His love, of His forgiveness, when there is a deep identification with our own weakness and His love, the result is a life and a love for Him poured forth and it ministers to Him.  It is most holy to Him.  

What I find interesting is that Yeshua's head and His feet were anointed.  Now the head speaks of His authority and Yeshua is the head of the body.  In Matthew 26 talks about anointing His body and it also talks about anointing the feet.  The body is collectively the body as the church.  It speaks of the whole, it speaks of the head and the wrist, the hands and feet.  The feet itself are those that are sent out as the Word of God says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings.”  These feet constantly speak of either taking dominion, the gospel of peace, the shoes of peace that we put on and it speaks of Him who has placed all things under our feet.   It speaks of those that are sent out with the gospel. Those apostles and disciples, the 144 000.  The feet that she is anointing was a prophetic act as well of the anointing that will rest on those that will be sent out.  It stands to reason that she is representing those who will be sent out by her disposition, which is that of being at His feet. We see the same example of Ruth that was at Boaz's feet.  She was waiting for him to put his cloak over her and thereby betrothing himself to her as the Kinsman redeemer. A disposition of being at his feet.  Not standing, but humble and deeply aware of her unworthiness and His amazing grace. 

I had a vision the other day.  It was a very short one.  I was basking in His love and saw my wedding dress in this vision. It was a chiffon dress that “poofed” out.  A very cute dress.  I knew it was a wedding dress made of white chiffon “poofing” out.  Underneath I had my takkies on.  Now if you have read my blog, one of my previous devotionals called, “The Slain”, is with regard to a dream that I had.  I will quickly tell it now, but I was wondering why Father was showing me this particular vision again of me in my wedding dress and my takkies.  The takkies are Nike takkies.  Why is He showing me this? The reason why He showed me was because He wanted me to go back to that particular devotional that I wrote on the blog.  He wanted me to see various things, because He wanted me to address it again. He knows I love puzzles. The whole devotional has a lot of puzzles that He gives me through the week and then it makes a whole picture. In that particular devotional that I wrote, I wrote about this dream that I had.  The dream was where I could see myself from behind also having a wedding dress on and Nike shoes.  I saw the bottom part of the dress and I was walking up something and when I got to the top I turned around and put my hands in the air.  I was all excited, almost, like the Rocky movie of the 80’s where he gets to the top of the stairs and it is the victory dance that he does.  We know that Nike is the Greek goddess “Victory”.  That is why Father chose that I should have Nike shoes on. The hill that I walked on was all skulls.  Father was saying to me that He gave me victory and it refers to how His bride will overcome the enemy.  Just like He was on the cross on the hill of Golgotha, which is “the hill of the skull”, He procured our victory in the same way.  His bride will also procure victory over all the works of the enemy.  All these small skulls were actually representative of the demon hosts and the enemy that He will give us victory over.  

In this devotional I mentioned this lady, a missionary, Darlene Diebler Rose.  I was thinking of her husband, because she was telling in two videos on YouTube, I highly recommend her testimony, how her husband went to New Guinea for the first time to preach the gospel there and that he had to cross mountainous areas that were not prepared for anybody to walk on.  The mountain surface was like shards of glass and it took 18 days for him to get where he needed to get.  When he came back after a period of time to her, he could not walk.  They had to carry him.  She had to take the bandages off his feet.  He contracted a disease that actually ate away the flesh.  As the flesh hardened, she had to rip it off his feet because the disease was still attached to that flesh.  Basically, all the flesh had to be ripped off his feet and then she had to clean it, dress it and anoint it.  Anoint those feet and that is so beautiful. It was a grotesque site, terrible to see.  One of their friends came to visit her and the first time he saw those feet, he ran out, nauseous by the sight of it.  He said to the Lord he cannot even look at his feet and the Lord’s response to him was, “But to Me those feet are beautiful. His feet are beautiful”, and then he quoted, “How beautiful are the feet of those who brings good tidings.”  These feet that his wife anointed, like Mary, speaks of those that will be sent out to bring the gospel.  I was reading about Darlene Diebler Rose and then my eyes went to a quote that I typed in there from Richard Wurmbrand. He also happens to speak about flowers and my mind immediately went to the theme that started to develop, which was that of a rose. Richard Wurmbrand is the founder of The Voice of Martyrs” and he was for 14 years imprisoned. When they used to torture him, one of the methods was to bind him. He had to lean back and his feet was tied up and they would bludgeon his feet until it was a pulp.  He could not walk on his feet and it was deformed.  This is what he wrote…

 

“A flower if you bruise it under your feet rewards you by giving you its perfume. Likewise, Christians tortured by the communists rewarded their torturers with love. We brought many of our jailers to Christ and we are dominated by one desire to give communists who made us suffer, the best we have, the salvation which comes from our Lord Jesus Christ.”

 

You can see that the feet, the rose, the perfume and the ointment of the perfume that we read about now in Exodus 30, as well as Yeshua being anointed by Mary, form a picture.  There was spikenard in that anointing oil which is a beautiful fragrance.  The theme here is that of suffering being an ointment unto the Lord God and Darlene's name means darling or “dearling” and her surname is Rose.  It is almost like saying, “My dear rose”.  Father also reminded me of another lady in this time as well whose name is Helen Rosevere.  Another rose and she is a lady that went to the Congo and was brutally raped. She gives her testimony of how she forgave those that raped her. I think they killed her husband as well and the work that the Lord God did through these ladies as His roses is amazing.  Those who suffer and are martyred and who are sent out, they are His roses.  

A rose for us is a symbol of love and therefore it is a symbol of the bride.  The bride that's being sent out.  Let's read in the Song of Solomon.  What better book to read out from concerning love? We are going to start with the first chapter, from verse 1 to 4 and then we skip right over to verse 12.

SONG OF SOLOMON 1

 1The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

 

Immediately when I read this, I think of Psalm 23 where it says, “thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies, my cup runneth over. Thou anointest my head with oil.”  There is that name again and that being set apart with the oil. 

SONG OF SOLOMON 4

 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.

10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!

11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

 

Remember what we said about Mary’s alabaster box that was sealed and that we said that it is her life that is being poured forth.  Her life is that garden and within that garden all these spices grow and those spices come forth because of suffering.  Let me put it this way, the fragrance of that spices comes forth because of suffering and because of her love for him and he tells her that she is a fountain sealed for him.  In other words, whatever is in this fountain is meant for only him.  When Mary realized this, she came and broke the seal of her fountain and poured that oil, her life and her love for him.  She poured it out onto him and this is the call of the bride, to pour her life out on his body and his feet.  Those that will be sent out and to anoint them and to anoint Him.  When we do it to one another, we do it unto Him.  What a blessing to know this. 

 In the Song of Solomon 5 we read,

 

SONG OF SOLOMON 5

 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

 

It says he puts in His hand by the hole of the door.  Her heart's door and her bowels were moved.  Her insides, her heart, her spirit moved for Him.  She rises up to open to her beloved and her hands dropped with the myrrh and her fingers with sweet smelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock.  You find that the bride's hands, the way she ministers to Him, His feet and His body, her hands are full of the myrrh, like Mary's hands.  Can you imagine how much oil was on her hands when she ministered to Him? When she poured that oil over his head and on His hands?  We need to understand that He drips with oil. I love it.

Spikenard is actually an Indian plant and it has these roots that look like spikes.  It is a process of crushing and bruising it and the fragrance comes out.  I read a bit about the making of perfume, and without going into too much detail, they usually prefer roses to make perfume.  Just for 15ml of French perfume it takes 660 roses.  In the ancient Egyptian times perfume or scent was considered as the key to everlasting life.  Now Yeshua said, “Whoever is willing to lose his life for my sake, he will receive eternal life.”  You will receive eternal life.  Whosoever is willing to leave mother, father brother, sister and friend for My sake, he is My disciple.  In John 15 He said that no one has greater love than he who is willing to lay his life down for his friends.   It speaks of that everlasting life.  Giving your life to the Lord God is not just about making a decision in front of a pastor or somebody and saying a prayer.  When you give your life to Him, it means you give your life to Him.  Every area of your life has to be poured forth unto Him.  That is what it means to give your life to Him.

A while back, I was praying for my friend and her husband.  Father gave me a vision for them and one of the words Father gave me was that the Lord is going to send an Ananias or Cornelius to him.  And it was very interesting that I prayed that, because you find in Acts 8 of how Ananias was sent to Peter.  Ananias was praying and the Lord told him that he must go to Peter.  At that time Peter was sitting on the roof when he received the vision of the sheet with the unclean animals and the Lord was speaking to Him about the Gentiles that was also included in the Gospel and here comes Ananias, a Gentile and he is there so that Peter could bring the Gospel to him.  You can imagine just how faithful Ananias was to Peter after that.  In the next chapter we find the Lord God speaking to Cornelius.  Cornelius was a man of great faith and prayer.  He was told to go to Paul.  At that stage, everybody was fearful of Paul and he was saying, “Are You sure you have the right man here?” and the Lord told him that he is to go to Paul and tell him how much he must suffer for the Gospel. That is where Cornelius went, praying for Paul and the Lord God opened Paul’s eyes and everything happened from there.  Father gave me this word to my friend and when he replied to me in a very humble way, the anointing came over me and for a day and a half I was constantly meditating on it.  Eventually I said to the Lord, “Lord, am I his Ananias, am I, his Cornelius?”  That evening I asked Father for scripture.  And would you not know it, He gave me Matthew 26.  I did not know what was written in Matthew 26 and when I opened up my Bible to it, it was about Mary anointing Yeshua.  And then, my friend said she cannot believe I was so arrogant, but I said, “Lord, I need another confirmation. I want to know if this is exactly what You mean.”  I opened my Bible in no particular place and it opened at Luke 7 where Mary was anointing Yeshua’s head, body and feet again.  A double confirmation, saying, “Yes, you are his Ananias, you are his Cornelius.”  Actually, for him and his wife because they are one.  I am praying for them. 

Why am I telling you this?  I do not want to leave out prayer and intercession and just call it a life poured forth.  I want to bring the understanding that it also includes prayer.  The Lord God needs us to understand that prayer in itself requires a death.  We can pray generalized prayers and pray the basics, but there is a prayer of travail.  We know of Yeshua praying in Gethsemane and he was in travail, sweating blood.  You pray and in the Spirit you come to such an intensity that the Holy Spirit and something is birthed out of that prayer.  It is a breakthrough and a birthing that takes place.  There is always a death that takes place, before there is life.  Resurrection life comes out of death, not when something is still alive.  It produces forth life.  The Bride within herself is also a person of prayer and intercession.  There is no such thing as a ministry of intercession.  The Body by extension is called unto priesthood, which means that we are all called unto intercession.  There is not a calling for intercession.  Yes, the Lord God might draw you specifically to a greater dedication to it, but we are all called to intercession.  More specifically, we are all called to intercessory life of giving yourself. 

In this week, whilst playing outside with my German Shephard, my mother came to me and said that she listened for the first time to one of my videos.  She started crying so much and I could see that she is really touched.  She said that she cannot believe that the Lord God has done such a work in me.  She cannot believe that the Pietra she knows all her life, that He has done such a work and showing me the things that He is showing me.  So touched, and has not stopped watching the videos and reading.  She is sending it to everybody else.  All I could do is hold her and cry with her, because I know the type of person I was.  I know the grey hair I have given her.  I used to think, going out as a teenager, very rebellious and would think, “Yup, she’s praying for me.  She’s praying for me.”  And I would not enjoy myself, because I knew she was praying for me.  I said to her, “Mom, whatever fruit comes out of all these videos and my blog, you have a part in it.  All the tears that you cried all the praying, they are seeds that you sowed in my life.  And this is the fruit of thereof.  And your life that you have set apart, what you have done for all these years, praying for me, are seeds sown into people’s hearts.  The Lord knows when those seeds will germinate and come up.”  I was thinking of Psalm 126 that says, “Those who sow with tears will come with sheaves of joy in the morning.”  It was tears of joy that my mom and I cried after all these years.  It was such a blessing.  

Now I'm saying this, because a few years ago, I used to go to my aunt every now and then when I needed a break. Just to take a break from the very difficult season that I was going through and I was unable to cope with it at that stage.  At this particular time Father has taught me how to deal with my circumstances and how to endure. I went there specifically to seek his face. I was setting myself apart to be with Him and as I was on my own, I have not seen people for a long time for years and it was a very lonely journey. I was sitting there in the room one night, fasting, on my knees and I started crying saying to the Lord God, “Lord, I am as Hannah and I want my children. You are my husband and you have given seed in my life, but I want to know where is my inheritance? Where are my children that I want to give you?  I want to give You my children.”  I was crying out to Him and in fact I was actually frustrated.  “I know this is how it works. You marry me, You love me and we bring forth children. Spiritual children. Where are my children?” The next morning, I spoke to my aunt about something else, drinking coffee. Out of the blue, she looked at me and she said to me, “Pietra, I do not know why I am saying this, but I want to tell you.  It is like you are highly pregnant in the spirit.” Well, that was it for me and I just bawled my eyes out.  Since then, I have been asking Father for not a few children, but I want thousands of children.  He confirmed it in many ways, even to the extent that outside my kitchen window, I have a plant and it is called, “mother of thousands”.  I had to laugh at His humour when He gave me that plant. 

Intercession, this life and prayers poured out to Him, this oil or ointment poured out unto Him, the head and His body, is in order to bring forth those children unto Him.  The souls, those that are still asleep and are dead in their sins. 

I received a short dream the other day as well.  A short dream and also a very beautiful dream.  I dreamed that a woman came to me and asked me, “Do you have any cherries?”  I happen to love cherries and happen to have cherries in my freezer.  I love them frozen.  I said, “Yes, I do have cherries”.  She showed me a jar and it was filled with honey and cherries, saying, “I need these cherries to preserve them in this honey.”  And I ate some of it.  That was the end of the dream.  The next morning, I was wondering, “Is Father telling me that I must still give Him something that I am still preserving, like the cherries I am putting away in the freezer?”  And I thought, “No, I have given Him all.  I have given Him everything.”  I opened a book that is called, “Behold His Love” by Basilea Schlink.  The book is about meditating on the passion of Christ.  She wrote there that when Yeshua was on the cross, they thought that He has forsaken His most cherished treasure.  When I read those words, I knew what He was getting at.  And He said to me in that moment, “What is your most cherished possession?”  I thought of the cherries and said, “Lord, the children you have given me in the spirit, they are my most cherished possessions.”  A woman in my dreams usually means the Holy Spirit.  I have always had the connection of honey with regards to wisdom and revelation.  There is a scripture for that.  But as Father was speaking to me through this devotional, I knew that, that honey meant His love.  Just like we have read now in Song of Solomon, speaking of the honey on the lips.  He was saying to me, “I want to preserve you and My children in My love.”  Honey is like a preservative and have so many amazing qualities.  He wants to preserve His children in His love.  He said to me later and I thought, “What must I do with this information?”  It is nice, but what does He want me to do with it?  He said to me, “You are my cherished possession”, leading me to Ephesians 5.  It is in the Amplified version and it talks about the relationship between Yeshua and His Bride, where Paul talks about the husband and the wife. 

EPHESIANS 5

 29 For no one ever hated his own body, but [instead] he nourishes and protects and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members (parts) of His body. 31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall be joined [and be faithfully devoted] to his wife, and the two shall become [e]one flesh32 This mystery [of two becoming one] is great; but I am speaking with reference to [the relationship of] Christ and the church. 33 However, each man among you [without exception] is to love his wife as his very own self [with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude of lovingkindness], and the wife [must see to it] that she respects and delights in her husband [that she notices him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and holding him dear].

We are His cherries and He wants to preserve us in His love.  We are His cherished possessions.  He is asking us to pour forth our life and even, if need be, by death. It is a life that can only be preserved in love.  Isaiah talks about Yeshua that will inherit the fruit of His travail in Isaiah 53.  When Mary anointed Him, Yeshua said that she anointed Him for His burial.  You can imagine with Aaron and his sons when they were anointed with oil, how amazing they must have smelt.   The same with Yeshua and how amazing he must have smelt after Mary poured everything over Him and how the body smells to Him.  When Yeshua was beaten, when the thorns came into His skull, where that oil was poured forth on Him, can you imagine the smell that came forth?  On His back and His hands and feet, the smell of suffering. Can you imagine what it resembles?  Yeshua said to Father, “Father in the volume of the book it is written of me.  Behold I delight to do thy will.  Thou have prepared a body for me.  I delight to do thy will.” We are that body.  We are the feet, we are the hands and we by our lives and extension the way we suffer and lay our lives down, is a sweet-smelling savour unto His nose.  It is the ointment with which we continually anoint, even now, as our High Priest before the throne of God before the mercy seat; He is dripping with the oil and with the fragrance of the lives of the saints.  He is now clothed as the High Priest dripping with the oil of the lives of those who died. 

I was thinking of Paul and of the different prayers that he prays in the word of God.  His life was a sacrifice.  In 2 Corinthians 12 he talks about the different suffering that he went through, the beatings, being shipwrecked and how he also could write Ephesians 3. He prays for the Saints that they would have this revelation of the love of God. Considering the most important chapter in the word of God, 1 Corinthians 13, that Paul wrote, the chapter of love, it stands to reason that foundational to all his suffering was the revelation of the love of God. Let's read in Ephesians 3 how he prays for the Saints a prayer that we should also pray.

 

EPHESIANS 3

14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

 

Wow! What a scripture and Paul must have had a revelation of the love of God. He must have had a revelation to such an extent that his whole life was poured out in love to the One who poured out his life on him in love.  Paul's suffering, the way he lived his life, is a beautiful fragrance unto the Lord and even unto us.  That is why Paul could write the last part in Romans 8, because he had such an amazing revelation. Not exclusively only for him, but for us. Because remember, Paul is a continuation of the Resurrection life of God.  Remember when Christ died on the cross for us, Paul is a personification of that Resurrection body and foundational to the Resurrection life is the love of God.  It sustains us.  It sustains all things.   In Romans 8, he says who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

ROMANS 8

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Now, I made a statement in a previous devotional where I said, “Because we are in the Son, we are loved as the Son. One of the first things Father said to me when I gave my life to the Lord, I was 14 years old, were the words,” You will find my love. I will show you the colours of My love.”  I did not understand what it meant at that stage.  I just knew that He was going to reveal to me His love.  Then years after that, He said, “You only see in monotone now, but you will see in colour.   He used YouTube videos where colour blind people received these special spectacles where they could see colour.  Father kept on speaking to me and saying to me that I will see in colour.  The reason why He chose spectacles is because He was saying, “I am going to show you by you seeing it differently. Not by experience, but by revelation.  We all want to experience His love.  Who would not?  But the way He does is to reveal it to us by revelation.  He has to open our eyes.  Paul talks about the veil of our understanding that has to be lifted.  The veil is before our face and has to be lifted and we need to see the love of God.  He is going to reveal His love to us in colour.  Father told me the other day, “You know what you have?  You have the love of the Father.”  Think of the love of a father.  We are presently praying for little Daniel who has a heart problem and the doctors have given up.  We are trusting Father for a miraculous healing.  Think of the love of little Daniel’s father and what he is willing to do for that child.  How much more our Father and as Paul writes, “If He then gave us His Son, how much more would He not give us all other things?”  Love originated from Him, He is love.  Then He told me that I have the love of the Bridegroom. That is a jealous love.  A love that will go over every mountain, down every valley.  It is a love that will give His life for the Bride.  It is fiercely jealous.  Then He said, that I have the love of a mother.  He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, who comforts us.  He has always been there for me.  He showers me with love and guides, and teaches me.  He said to me, “You have the love of your best friend.”  There is no better friend than Him.  I can laugh with Him.  He tells jokes.  He has given us everything that pertains to love to tell us how much He loves us.  He wants to open our eyes to see it and we need to see it.  He has already given it and when we see it, it is then that we are in that place to go and tell others. He wants to preserve His cherries in that love. 

We know the word of God says that faith worketh by love.  This is written in Galatians 5: 6.  When we have an understanding of His love, like Paul, that faith is then generated out of that love.  What I mean by that is when you have an understanding of the Father’s love, the Bridegroom’s love, the Holy Spirit love, when our eyes are open to that, then there is no fear in love.  You believe all that He says.  You do not doubt it .  There is such a trust in that love.  There is such a communion in that love.  There is no doubt and that is why Paul could say, “I am persuaded…”  It was not cute words or poetic words.  He was saying, “I want you to understand that I am persuaded that nothing can separate us from this love.  When I think of Gethsemane, I think of Yeshua who was crying to the Father, sweating blood.  In that moment, He was there as the Son of Man crying out.  He was not there as the Son of God only, but as a man knowing what was awaiting Him.  He has a man that would have seen crucifixions over and over, done by the Romans, and knew the extent that it was going to be for Him.  He knew His hour has come.  He was a man, frail and weak, crying out to His Father with whom He was in communion day in and day out.  His Father to whom He cried out with tears and supplication and prayers.  Strong crying to save Him as He fought against sin.  That Father He was crying out to.  That Father that was with Him all along.  He fell back in that moment in order to endure on the Father’s love.  He said, “Father, not My will, but Your will be done. I will pour out My life to You.  I will pour out everything that I have, because you have done it for me.  You love Me.  I am persuaded that death will not separate me from You.  You will resurrect Me.  He trusted His the Father.  In 1 John 4 we read…

 

1 JOHN 4

16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Father wants to preserve us in this love and He wants to open our eyes to see it.  We must desire it.  There has never been a time more important now to receive a revelation of His love.  Never a time more important to understand and embrace His love.  When everything is taken from us, those workers that will be sent out, what will cause you to endure?  Not bravery, because you will be weak.  Everything will be taken.  Not faith that you somehow conjured up, but His love.  And it is not just a love poured out in you, but it is a love that you have learned to trust.  A love revealed to you.

I want to read from Basilia Schlink's booklet.  The meditations in this book are about the passion of Christ and there is a particular meditation that I read this morning.  I pray it blesses you.

 

The Rejected Sacrifice…

Lamentations 1: 12 – Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?  Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger.

 

Death is darkness, loneliness, separation.  It is the end of all things here on earth.   For Jesus death meant separation from His people.  He had come amongst them from another world and had spent thirty-three years with them.  What was this parting like?  His chosen people shed no tears for Him.  No one, except those closest to Him, felt the least regret that this most precious Guest from another world was being parted from them by death.  On the contrary, His parting was accomplished by scornful voices shouting, “Help Yourself!”  These were His chosen people’s final words to Him.

In such a manner the Son of God passed from His life amongst men.  It must have been a dark night for His soul.  He had poured out His love like a stream upon His children.  In the hour of death, the soul is most sensitive.  It seeks for a word, a token of love.  It hungers for love in this hour.  But Jesus was answered with hatred – hatred that put Him to death.  Yet Jesus’ love could not be stilled, for it is stronger than the hatred of hell.  Hell was forced to discover that the power of love is invincible.  Love could be hated, ridiculed, slandered and scorned.  Love could be sentenced to death and made to bear a heavy cross.  Love was assaulted by all these enemies, but it was stronger than all of them.  Jesus’ love took them captive.  The more they beat Him, the more glorious and victorious was the radiance of His love.  Hell was made to discover that in the hour that love is put to death, it rises again triumphantly to life.  For love is true life, divine life.  It can never be killed, either in Jesus, its Head, or in His members.

Who can understand this mystery?  Jesus is eternal Love.  He will always live, for He is the life of all.  Yet He was despised, mocked, tortured and put to death.  But in dying, love will always rise again.  Truly in the very manner of dying, love gains such power that sinners break down at the foot of the cross.  They are conquered by crucified Love, and so become messengers of love.

Lord Jesus,

On the cross You became the true image of love, all inclusive love.  Love embraces enemies as well as friends.  Love is stronger than death and hell.  In death, love proved its great power.

You have redeemed me to perfect love and to nothing less that this.  So, in view of Your cross, I will dedicate myself to You, O eternal Love.  I will dedicate myself to love with an all-embracing love.  I will love my neighbours and strangers, my enemies as well as my friends, the members of my own church and those of other denominations.  I will dedicate myself to a love that excludes no one – a love that never ceases.  I know that You will give me this love, the love that flows from Your heart.”

 

God’s perfume is called “Suffering” and the fragrance thereof is love.  That is what is poured forth when His roses are bruised and broken.  The fragrance through that suffering is love.  I believe that the incense before the mercy seat is that perfume, is the suffering of the saints that come up before Him.   The workers, those that will be sent out during this time, during the tribulation, they will be bruised.  Their bodies are the bodies that are prepared for His Son, to do the will of the Father.  They are the feet and the hands.  They will be bruised, broken and some will die.  Their lives will be poured out, but it will be a sweet fragrance in His nostrils.  It will come forth before the mercy seat of God.  I believe that the lives that will be poured forth in suffering by these workers, and even those that will die, will be the resurrection life that will resurrect those who are still asleep in their sins.  The sleeping Church and those still dead in their sins.  Those who have not committed their lives, who have just talked but not walked the talk. The cross is always the testimony of God’s love and His wrath. The cross is personified by us laying our lives down, just like Yeshua was the personification of the love of God.  It is a suffering love for us.  It will be the greatest need and is the greatest need for us now.  Many of us desire power and want Him to fill us with the Holy Spirit.  He promised us that He will.  But what I want more than His power, and am asking for, is His love.  I want His love more than His power.  The Word says that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.  Love never fails.   The time that we are going to go in, we will need His love to endure all things.  When He drew my attention to love that never fails, He was saying, “Pietra, in everything that comes on your way, remember, love never fails.”  When somebody attacks you, choose in that moment to love them.  Love them in that moment.  All resistance crumbles.  I know, I have tried it.  Love never fails.  You may not see the result immediately, but He promises us that His love never fails.  His love is that which will cause us to endure.  It will cause us to have faith, because faith worketh by love.  He upholds all things by His love.  This is why He is saying that He wants to preserve us in His love.  Especially for the time to come.

Father told me a joke the other day that had me laughing.  My husband bought me perfume.  Whilst I was reading my blog, the Richard Wurmbrand quote of the roses or flowers being crushed in the prison camps, speaking of Darlene Diebler Rose, and all the other “roses”, being about shoes as well; out of the blue, He tells me, “The devil wears Prada”.  I am like, “What!”  Okay, so this must mean something.  Now, I am trying to find out what the word “prada” means.  It does not mean anything, except that it is someone’s surname.  The brand called Prada.  Looking it up on Wikipedia, I saw that on their website they have a quote, “From Prada to Nada”.  This means from luxury to nothing.  When He said to me that the devil wears “Prada”, He was saying to me that the devil went from luxury to nothing.  He gets “nada”!  He will get no inheritance.  He had such an amazing inheritance, but because of the fall, he will get no inheritance, he will get “nada”.  To further confirm this, I saw the perfume my husband bought me, is Prada and the fragrance is “rose”.  God is so faithful. 

In Matthew 26 where Mary anoints Yeshua, it talks about how she anointed His head and speaking to the Pharisees later, Yeshua mentions that she anointed His body too.  I want to say to you that maybe you are going through a very difficult time.  This is the preparation for us, whether in your marriage, your children or financial circumstances, or sickness, whatever it may be, we come to Him and minister to Him, but He wants us to also anoint His body. Not just His head.  He wants us to love those that we struggle with, because love never fails.  When we do, it is such a sweet ointment to Him.  When we do, we are His priests.  Let’s read from Revelation 8.

 

REVELATION 8

1And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

 

This incense is the lives of the martyrs poured out.  It was given up with the prayers and the fire is God’s judgement that comes with the trumpets.  Those workers, who will lay their lives down, put their necks on the line for the Kingdom during the Seals judgment, their lives poured forth, will come up before His throne and He will see it.  And there will be fire on it and its fragrance will come up.  And He will tip the bowl of incense and the trumpets will sound and He will pour out His judgment and wrath over those who dared touch His anointed ones.  Those who dared to touch His children.  He is going to pour it out on this earth.  Every martyr’s life will be avenged.  This is why He says in Romans 12, “Leave room for vengeance, for vengeance belongs to the Lord.”. 

Here is the Word that the Lord gave me.  It is a personal word for now, but also a word for the time to come.

 

NOTHING BUT LOVE

 

My child, this season will require of you to trust Me inextricably without boundaries.  More than ever to be as a child.  To not doubt, but always believe.  Do not concern yourself with this world, but as I have said, “Look unto Me”.  Stay focused.  Stay committed to the way I have chosen for you.  You may not understand it, and this is good.  For I do not desire for you to understand, but to trust.

 

TRUST AND OBEY.

I have said that I will guide you with My eye.  Not with My mouth, not with reasoning, but with My eye.  Though you may not understand, you may know this.  I love you.  I know you love Me.  Never doubt these two facts.   For as I have said, “Love is the fulfilment of the law”.  Draw near to Me.  Stay near to Me. Not by doing, but by a disposition of love.  For love conquers all. Love endures all.  Hopes, bears and believes all.

 

So come, do not fear.  I am always with you.  There will be times when you feel that you are no longer able to endure, but love, as I said, endures all.  Nothing more is required but love.  Not your love, but Mine.  I will pour out My love into your heart at the right time.  Will it be as you expect? No. For you cannot put me in a box.

 

Faith has no limits, neither does love.  So come, come in the assurance that I will never leave you and remain in the posture of hope, faith and love, of which the greatest is love. 

 

Hope does not disappoint. 

Faith has no boundaries and love endures forever. 

 

I am your reward.  Not a crown, not souls, not anything else.  I Am.  Have I not said that I am able to do exceedingly above all that you could ask or think?  Know then that I am your all in all.   That I fill all and so I will fill you.  This is your reward.  I am your reward.

 

I love you My child, I love you.

 

 

 


1 comment:

  1. Thank you for this epic view of Love in ways I had never considered or recognized. Love being the one indestructible transcendent attribute that is ever present in Christ for us; in that we are considered in Him and so His perfect Love should be lived out in us. Thank You Pietra ! 💚

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