I remember when I was going through a
particular difficult time in my marriage.
On one occasion my husband made a joke, which I found very funny. I laughed and at that particular moment a
love for him filled my heart. It was
then that the Spirit said to me, “It does not matter how you see him, only how
I see him.” This stuck with me as He
started to speak to me about those we pray for.
How important it is before you pray for someone to ask Him how He sees
them. To ask Him what we are to pray
for, even if we know logically what to pray for, we still need to ask. He will reveal His heart about them to you.
Out of that context we can pray. When we
do not pray in this way, we pray out of the filters or our own heart. Whether a negative disposition, unforgiveness,
bitterness, opinions or traditions instead of being guided by the Spirit of
God. This changes our prayers radically
and protects us to pray from a place of sentimentality and to rather be guided
by the Spirit. In Isaiah 55:8 He says
that His thoughts are higher than ours and our ways are not His ways. He thinks differently and so it behooves us
to understand that because He has given us the mind of Christ, the Spirit knows
what the will of the Father is and prays through us the will of the Father. We need to see the way He sees.
This has to do with discernment and
discernment is the ability to see as He sees.
Discernment is not about what is wrong or right. I recently did a post on my blog called
“Liberated by His love” wherein I discuss how love liberates us from black and
white thinking, of being burdened under the law. Even things pertaining to revelations or
understanding we get through dreams and visions or what His true name is, the
calendars or Sabbath, become a law unto us.
We then place people in a box of “have and have not’s or do’s and do
not’s”, thinking in black and white. He says to us to not walk in our own
understanding, but in all our ways to acknowledge Him. This also means in that which you know are
right, don’t even lean on that. Always
lean on Him and ask Him what He thinks.
He is the Light and light has all the colors of the color wheel spectrum
in it. Love sees in color, which is
light, in color and not black and white.
He wants us in absolute dependence upon Him. We are to walk by the Spirit and the
fulfillment of the law is through love.
Love liberates, the law binds. In
this way, our discernment, our ability to see as He sees is radically
changed. For this, He has to reveal His
love for us in such a way that we are set free to walk by grace. This grace finds its full expression through
love. Loving as He does.
In Matthew 6 we read the following:
MATTHEW 6
22 The
light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body
shall be full of light.
Light is synomous to revelation or understanding and the eye is
your ability to discern. If you have
revelation, your body will be full of light.
23 But
if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
Having a single eye speaks of an
undivided eye. A single eye is a
reference to dove’s eyes. In Song of
Solomon, Solomon tells the bride that she has dove’s eyes and just one look
from her overcomes him. She only has
eyes for Him. A dove does not have
peripheral vision and therefore can only see one thing at a time. This is why they cock their heads in order to
see something. Their eye is undivided. So our eyes are to be undivided and not have
a black and white mentality, but see through the eyes of love. We are to see as He sees. In this way, our whole body shall be full of
light. We will not be blind to the wrong,
but there will be a rest because we see as He does. On the other hand when your eye is evil, it
says that the light in you is also darkness.
This means that an evil eye sees in black and white. And that white or light itself is
darkness. How great is that darkness
then! In other words, our eyes, our
ability to discern is in darkness when we only see in black and white. We are to walk in the light and to walk in
the light is to walk in Him. Life is not
viewed in monochrome then, but in color.
This brings me to me sitting one day
looking out onto the trees and birds. I
was meditating on how everything in life that He surrounds us with, is an
expression or display of His love. Not just
nature, but people and their differences, everything that happens to me, good
or bad. It does not matter what it is,
when my eye is single, I am full of light and I see in color. I see His love in everything. I then said to Him, “You are my all in
all.” I was wondering whether Him being
my all in all relates then to the fact that I see Him in all things. When you
see as He sees, you are seated in heavenly places and view life from His
perspective. Although in the midst of
great darkness, you are able to see light.
I do not need to fear then and whether I truly believe that will constitute
whether I truly see in color and through the eyes of love. His love transcends circumstances and
understanding. It helps us to discern
correctly.
Paul says to us the following…
PHILIPPIANS 1
9 And
this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in
all judgment;
10 That
ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without
offence till the day of Christ.
The word “judgment” here is
discernment. In other words, in
discernment and in knowledge, love is to abound. The word “abound” means to exceed or above
number or measure, to overflow. You may
have all the facts and the ability to see right from wrong, but if your love
does not abound, you are not seeing as He is seeing, no matter how right you think
you are even with the scripture to back you up.
We are to be led by the Spirit and not on the basis of right or
wrong. Hence why he says that we will
approve then things that are excellent, guarding our heart at the same time.
Love protects us from judging wrongfully.
We need to read the scriptures as if
we are there with them in the tribulation.
The book of Philippians is about suffering joyfully. He is telling them that during this time,
this love will help them to discern correctly with whatever happens to them and
that they will then walk in sincerity and will not be offended. During this time, Yeshua tells us that we
will be thrown into prison, some of us will die and some will not. Even of our own brethren will come and bring
us before magistrates. We will need not
to prepare anything to say, because at that moment the Spirit will tell us what
to say. We will be led by the
Spirit. In that moment, because of love
that abounds, your heart will be without offence and your love sincere and this
will make way for an opportunity for people to be saved, because they see that
you do not take offence. They will have
an open heart to receive the gospel because you do not take offence. Who is sufficient for these things? And yet, the scriptures are written for us as
an example and for us to appropriate it.
During this time we need an understanding and revelation of His
love.
EPHESIANS 1
17 That
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope
of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the
saints,
Paul addresses here the fact that they need to
receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. This is the purpose of the Spirit of wisdom
and revelation. Not necessarily that the
scriptures need to open up to us, because the scriptures testify of Him, but
that we may know Him. He is light and He
is love. We also need to consider that
that which was shall be again. The first
church mentioned in the book of Revelation is the Church of Ephesus and the
last church is the Church of Laodicea. We
are now presently in the Church age of Laodicea, the lukewarm church. Their love is neither hot nor cold and He
cannot handle them in His mouth and spits them out. The next Church Age will start again with the
Church of Ephesus, who was told that they have lost their first love. Their love has gone completely cold. Paul is addressing the Ephesians and telling
them that they need a revelation of who God is.
The eyes of their understanding needs to be enlightened. Paul was
addressing the fact that there is a revelation in the knowledge of Him that is
linked to his calling upon their lives.
You cannot separate Him from your call.
They desperately needed a revelation of Him. Their calling can only be understood in the
light of who He is. Did they then not
know Him that Paul should pray this? Of
course they did. He clearly understood
their spiritual disposition, hence why Paul specifically prays in Ephesians 3…
Ephesians 3
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 fullness of God.
20 Now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Paul’s whole emphasis in Ephesus is
love. This is a time of great
persecution and people will then be introduced to the mark of the beast. It is only when we get to the Church of Smyrna
where it is in the heat of the battle where beheadings will take place, because
of money. It is all about money. Their hearts will grow cold because of
suffering and because of money, the desire to save themselves. We must remember that famine and war will
take place and people will want to protect their families and themselves. In order to do that they will choose then
whom they will follow. They will then
choose to hate their mother, father, brother, sister and friends in order to
survive and betray them, or they will choose to hate their mother, brother,
sister and friends willing to not save themselves and follow Christ. Only they are accounted worthy to be His
disciples. Those whose hearts have grown
cold will find it very difficult to say “no” to those who will put pressure on
them in order to save their own lives.
For a morsel of bread they will easily sell their inheritance like
Esau. They will cast us into
prison. Those whom we thought love us,
will do this to us. How will we be able
to deal with this if we do not have a revelation of His love? This is why Paul is emphasizing love over and
over.
Recently He started to talk to me
about Paul’s disposition towards his spiritual children. I noticed how Paul tend to start his letters
with “I thank the Lord always for you”. He
had so many problems with them, but he was so grateful for them. He loved them so much. He mentions how they are in his heart and
that he not only wants to share the gospel with them, but would even give his
own soul to them. What kind of love did
Paul have for the brethren? That kind of
love transcends circumstances and understanding. Just think of the things Paul suffered in
order to proclaim the gospel. Think of
the floggings, imprisonment, being shipwrecked, fastings, fighting beasts. He was willing to endure this for the Church,
his children. The love that Paul had for
the church or his spiritual children amazes me.
Paul is the resurrection man, a type and shadow of Christ after the
cross. This is why he could say, “Follow
me as I follow Christ” or calling it “his gospel” of grace. Paul gave up everything for the Church and
you see the love of God displayed through this man. He is a type and shadow of Christ. We, in the time to come, need a revelation of
Father’s love for everybody, for our brothers and sisters and enemy. In my post “Liberated by His love” I speak
about the owl that has a third membrane over its eyes. I likened this to a veil. We can know about something theoretically,
but still be veiled in our spirit. You
still see in part. You are not moved by
knowledge, but when revelation comes it moves you to action. This is why in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul speaks
of love. He says that we can have all
the revelation and knowledge, all faith and not have love, and be nothing. We can even give the clothes off our back or
burn our bodies, but if we do not have love, we are nothing. Love believes all
things, bears and hopes all things. Love
ENDURES ALL THINGS. Then He says when
that which is perfect comes, which is love, all these things will fall
away. That which is perfect that will
cause us to see no longer in part, but face to face and to know even as we are
known is love. Paul is talking about
clarity of vision and perception and being able to get right to the point,
walking in love. Everything will fall
away, but that which will remain is faith, hope and love, and the greatest of
these is love.
I recently had an accident with some
boiling water that fell on my tummy. It
left a burn mark on me. I never take
anything as insignificant. After a
shower and drying myself, I noticed the scar again and I thought of the fact
that it was on my tummy. Then I took
some spray that I have been putting on my hair that has placenta in it. Immediately I knew what the Spirit was
talking to me about. He was talking to
me about child birth. I thought of
Paul’s words in Galatians. Paul had such a love for both Gentile and Jew that
he often referred to himself as a mother figure who travails over them. He says the following…
GALATIONS 4
19 My little
children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,
Little children is an affectionate
term. The word travail here means to feel
the pains of child birth. This is not
one who is not touched by their infirmities, but as a mother feels their pain
deeply. He identifies with them as one
who loves them deeply. Paul is willing
to go through suffering for the body. This
is the heart of God shown to us by Paul’s disposition towards his spiritual
children. He loved them with His
love. It made me think of the stretch
marks a woman has once she has given birth that for some remain permanently. Paul says the following…
GALATIANS 6
17 From henceforth
let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Here Paul was
referring to the suffering he has gone through like the flogging, imprisonment
and hunger. We can only imagine what
Paul must have looked like. The marks
all over his body. This “mark” in the
Strong’s means to be branded or burned like a slave would be to show who his master
is. Like the burn mark on my tummy. This Paul did for their sake. This too will be our mark or brand in the
time to come, bearing the marks of the Lord Jesus even on our bodies. We will not be a pretty sight. But, it will be an honor and a glory. We will be branded and in travail for the
body of Christ. So that Christ may be
formed in those little ones, the harvest we will bring in. Two well-known intercessors who bore the
marks of the Lord Jesus on their bodies are Praying Hyde and Father Nash. Praying Hyde was known for his desire for
souls. He was so moved and passionate about souls that it is said that one day
when rushed to hospital, the doctor said that in agony of prayer his heart has
moved and that he could have died. This
gives new meaning to “my
heart was moved.” Then, we have Father Nash who was
known as the intercessor who always went two weeks in advance to pray for the
revival when Charles Finney spoke. They
would find dents in the floor where He was on his knees in prayer. James, the apostles was also known as “Old
camel knees” as his knees was hardened through prayer. People that are driven to give themselves for
the sake of the gospel and for lost souls.
This is a love that transcends human understanding. In the same way we read of the travail of
Yeshua on the cross for all of mankind in Isaiah 53 giving an account of what
he endured. We then read the following…
ISAIAH 53
11 He shall see of
the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
What does it mean He shall see the
travail of his soul? The travail is the cross, but also His life. When you travail you are giving birth. It
means He shall see the fruit of His labor.
The children He has brought forth through labor. Even Yeshua is giving birth to sons and
daughters through suffering. A
willingness to lay His life down. This
seems to be the currency in saving souls, the willingness to suffer.
I will never forget the day I asked
Him to show me His love for the Jews. It
was as if I was a little child under a table and the table cloth was just
slightly lifted for me to peek through.
The moment that love hit me, I was down for the count. I cried for days and that was just a moment
in time, just a little peek. That kind
of love has no boundaries, none. It will
die for another. That is the love we
need. Richard Wurmbrand in his book,
“Tortured for Christ”, was beside himself wanting to save people. Wondering whether they are really saved. Are we?
In the Bride of Christ, we have the
faithful and the unfaithful bride. We
have the awake and the sleeping Bride or the lukewarm Bride. An example of the faithful Bride would be
Ruth. Ruth told Noami, “Your people
will be my people and your God will be my God.”
Boaz gave Ruth a good report, telling her that she is virtuous and that
she has left father and mother and her country.
Ruth is harvesting with Boaz. Recently
I was led to the book of Hosea. We know
that the book of Hosea is about a prophet who was told by the LORD God to take
for himself a woman of whoredom and children of whoredom. A prophetic act of the marriage between the
LORD God and Israel. He is not only to
take her, but told to love her. Think of
what it means to be a prophet, living a holy and set apart life unto God where
your every move and word is scrutinized by those around you, and then to
receive this instruction to become one with a woman of whoredom. This by no means could have been easy. He had to constantly take her back after her
adultery and love her again. Remember,
we are speaking of the disposition of the Bride of Christ, the workers, in the
time that we are going in. This is with
regard to the lukewarm Church, or adulterous Church and our enemies. Ruth is an example of this Bride that is like
Hosea. What I want to bring across is
that when we first give our lives to the Lord, He first starts to speak to us
about His love for us personally. He
comes and reveals His Father heart to us, His mother heart through the Holy
Spirit and His Bridal love through Yeshua.
Constantly speaking to us about His love, affirming us, comforting and
healing us. At first alluring us into
the desert to speak softly to us. Then
in Song of Solomon 8 she comes out of the wilderness leaning upon Him. No longer lured, but she has become one with
Him. Once you have come out of the
desert, you are no longer one that needs to seek that love and affirmation from
Him. You are secure and at rest in His
love. You no longer need affirmations of
how He loves you. You do not need to hear
how He will protect or provide for you.
You do not need any of those things.
You know that you know. You have
gone through your wilderness where He has stripped you of everything and have
become your source. There is no lack or
want in Him (Psalm 34). When you are in Him you have no lack or want. Ruth has found her provision and protection
in her Boaz. Coming back to Hosea, he
had to die many things in order to walk in authenticity of that call. And we know that Yeshua was told in the same
way by the Father to take for Him a woman of whoredom and children of
whoredom. The Bride is in Christ when
she works here during the tribulation.
She now is as a prophetic entity, like Hosea, taking and marrying
herself to the left behind. Choosing to
love them. She is now no longer the one
needing the affirmation of love, she is now the vessel of love. She is now willing to pour out her life, like
Paul, willing to travail in birth.
Willing to bear the marks on her body of Christ for her spiritual
children.
Let us see this also in the context
of Jew and Gentile. Ruth is an example
of the Gentile Bride. She was a Moabite
and Boaz a Jew. In the same way we find
Moses, a Jew, married to Zipporah, who was also a Moabite. The Jew and Gentile connection right through
the Bible. We have the wife of God
consisting of both Jew and Gentile, and within them the faithful and the
unfaithful. Outside of them we also have
the enemies that He died for. This is
what He wants the Bride to understand, having the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of Him, that you will be able to perceive and
understand the love that He has for the lost.
And because you see the way He sees, you will be willing to lay your
life down. I remember years ago, I knew
that there was a love that I needed from Him that transcends
understanding. Not just any kind of
love, but His love. A love that
transcends anything I can comprehend. I
prayed for this love. I remember exactly
where I stood when I asked Him. And His
reply to me was, “You do not know what you ask.” What? And then He said, “No
man has greater love than he who lays his life down for his friends. You are my friends.” What He was saying is that that kind of love
is a suffering kind of love. That kind
of love will die for another. This is the love that He wants to pour into us,
because that is the love that endures all things. We are to think carefully before we ask Him
to fill us with this kind of love. Count
the cost. We cannot go without this love
and need it desperately in the time to come.
There is a paradox within the faith that is
divine, speaking to our differences. This
is why Paul mentions this in Ephesians 2 that we are saved by grace through
faith so that we should not boast in any works.
This was not so that we can argue whether we are saved by grace or
works. He was pointing out that if it
was not for grace extended to us through the Jew’s blindness, we would all be
lost. This is the context. The context is Jew and Gentile and that as
His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, so that we could walk
in them, we are to understand what that call is. Our call is first and foremost to the
Jews. He wants us as Gentiles to know
that we are the wild olive branch that was grafted into the natural olive
tree. That we have nothing to boast
about and that we can just as easily be cut off. We have received grace through faith, having
mercy upon whom He will have mercy. Our
call is unto the Jews first and then to Samaria. Some of us might at the same time never come
into contact with a Jew, however, there is still a mystery within the paradoxes
of life. There is a mystery in this
revelation of Jew and Gentile that displays the manifold wisdom of God through
opposites. The two shall become
one. There cannot be greater opposites
than Jew and Gentile. Neither a greater
opposite than between husband and wife, prophet and teacher, black and white,
parent and child, different denominations, saved and unsaved, and friend and
enemy. This is the paradox of the faith
where in His wisdom He wants to make the two one. He even refers to this in the fourth chapter
of Ephesians after talking about husband and wife, parent and child and slave
and master. He says that we in our
differences are all members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. He desires to bring them into the fold.
EPHESIANS 5: 32
This is a great mystery: but I
speak concerning Christ and the Church.
Why would He choose to do things this way? Why the friction and the uncomfortability of
differences? It is because we who have
been grafted in are not to think highly of ourselves, because we were grafted
in by grace through faith. It is to
humble us and keep us in a place of dependence. When all the masks have fallen
off and we meet each other in our differences face to face at the mercy seat,
it is in that moment that His love transcends all things. It will then show whether we have a
revelation of who He is and His love. We will all be shaken. Those who think that they have served the
Lord for so many years, will be shaken.
All this made me think of a series that I
watched recently that the Spirit brought my attention to. The series is called “Nevertheless”. It is about a young girl that falls in love
with a young man who is very unfaithful.
He has a tattoo of a butterfly on the back of his neck and kept
butterflies as well. These butterflies
represented all the woman he has been with.
He had serious trust issues. She
was constantly confronted with his unfaithfulness, but “nevertheless” she could
not deny him. He was in love with her,
but because of his trust issues it took him a long time to confess this to
her. At long last, he released all his
butterflies for the one butterfly he was in love with. Her name happened to mean butterfly as
well. Another movie was about this girl
whose mother was very cruel. She had a
butterfly broach. This girl would take
butterflies and tear of their wings. She
was herself a butterfly whose wings have been broken. And the truth is that we are all worms that
have to go through a death cycle in order to become butterflies that expresses
His love in color. When reminded of this
series called ‘Nevertheless” the Spirit directed me to something Paul said in
Philippians.
PHILIPPIANS 1
21 For
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But
if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose
I wot not.
23 For
I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ;
which is far better:
24 NEVERTHELESS,
to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
25 And
having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for
your furtherance and joy of faith;
Let’s just think a bit about what Paul is
saying here with his “nevertheless”. He
is saying even though I long to be in heaven, I know it is better for you if I
stay. What? His desire between heaven and staying on
their behalf is equal, hence why he is saying he is in betwixt two. He chooses them. Just like Yeshua chose you and I. This is not an automatic reaction, but can
only come from a basis of the transcendent love of God. Another “nevertheless” we hear is in the
Garden of Gethsemane.
LUKE 22:42
Saying, Father, if thou be
willing, remove this cup from me: NEVERTHELESS not my will, but thine, be done.
This “nevertheless” has to become a reality to
the Bride. She has to have such a strong
sense of this “nevertheless” that can only come from the basis of having a true
understanding and revelation of His love.
A love that is willing to lay its life down. I woke up the other day, not knowing yet
where Father was going with this devotional, at 6:10. I was prompted to look up the meaning of 610
in the Strong’s concordance. Strong’s 610
means: “judicial sentence, an answer. A
judicial decision. On asking myself
whether I should come out safe from mortal peril, I answered, I must die.” There is only one scripture reference to this
number.
2 CORINTHIANS 1
8 For
we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in
Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we
despaired even of life:
9 But
we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in
ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
Paul is here saying that he has already
sentenced himself to imprisonment and death.
We all have a decision to make.
We all have to reach a place of “nevertheless”. We all have to seek His face and count the
cost. He has to work that “nevertheless”
in us. There is a difference between
sentencing yourself to imprisonment or death versus being forced into a prison
or death. Unless we sentence ourselves
to imprisonment or death, how will we be able to endure? I expect nothing else in my life that I will
be imprisoned. I am expecting it. We have to be willing to lay our lives
down. We cannot do this from out of
ourselves. It will not be because we
muster up the courage by our will to do so, because our will, will always rebel
against the will of God. The flesh will
want to save itself. The flesh will cry
out to be saved. Only that which comes
from out of His life, strength and wisdom will endure.
I think of Judas and how he was Yeshua’s
friend. He was not just His disciples,
but also His friend. Yeshua always knew
about Judas’ love for money. Yeshua was
betrayed for 30 shekels, which was the going rate for a slave at that
time. It broke my heart when I thought
about it. They walked together, laughed
together, slept together and saw great miracles together. How often did Yeshua not spend alone time with
Judah, knowing what is in his heart. He
never stopped loving him and even washed his feet. His friend that He knew would betray
Him. I can only think that when Judas
ran away, how it must have broken Yeshua’s heart. He knew that he would betray Him, and He
already sentenced Himself to death, already passed “nevertheless”, but to see
His friend go and come back to betray Him with a kiss! Asking him, “Have you come to betray me with
a kiss?” They will betray us with a
kiss. Our friends and family will betray
us with a kiss. It is not going to be
easy. Unless His love is in us, we will
be offended and our love will not be sincere.
Yeshua loved so ultimately.
In John 6 Yeshua speaks to his disciples
mentioning how they are to drink of His blood and eat His flesh. His followers knew this meant suffering. In John 6:66, which is the 666 pointing to
the number of the Beast or the money system as well, they no longer followed
Him. Yeshua then turned to the twelve,
and asked, “Are you also going to leave Me?”
And Peter said, “Lord, where can we go?
Only You have the words of life!”
Money will cause people to no longer follow Him. In fact, John the Baptist, living from locust
and honey in the desert is a type and shadow of the workers in the field who
will testify of the Light. Find it not
strange that lately meat is slowly but surely being substituted with locusts or
crickets. There is a great prophetic
significance in this as we are nearing the time of the great harvest to
come.
We are witnesses of the Light, just as John
the Baptist was a witness to the Light.
The word witness means martyr. A
martyr is not just someone who dies, but one who has already decided that
spreading the gospel is worth dying for.
They have passed “nevertheless”. John
the Baptist was beheaded, which is what will happen to the Church, because they
will confront the powers that be and bring many to salvation. A few years ago, someone who has turned away
from me, told me that she thinks I have a martyr complex. She meant it as an insult, because she
considered the price I am willing to pay to walk this narrow road was too
extreme. That I wished to suffer and
that He would not ask of me the things I said He does. Where she meant it as an insult, I took it as
the greatest compliment someone could ever give me. Just after the Acts outpouring of the Holy
Spirit, those who gave their lives to the Lord, knew that they were at the same
time signing their name of the dotted line of their own death certificate. Not so today.
No, today we hear that when you are saved you can get “this and
this”. Then they knew that when you get
saved everybody has all things in common.
Nothing you own is yours anymore, because we need to survive and by the
way, the probability of you dying a cruel death is very high. But, you can rejoice. They considered it a privilege.
PHILIPPIANS 1: 29
29 For unto you it
IS GIVEN in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to
suffer for his sake;
Richard Wurmbrandt quotes:
One of our workers in the Underground Church
was a young girl. The communist police
discovered that she secretly spread the Gospel and taught children about
Christ. They decided to arrest her. But to make the arrest as agonizing and
painful as they could, they decided to delay her arrest a few weeks, until the
day she was to be married. On her
wedding day, the girl was dressed as a bride-the most wonderful joyous day in a
girl’s life. Suddenly, the door burst
open and the secret police rushed in.
When the Bride saw the secret police, she held out her arms toward them
to be handcuffed. They roughly put the manacles on her wrists. She looked toward her beloved, then kissed
the chains and said, “I thank my Heavenly Bridegroom for this jewel He has
presented to me on my marriage day. I
thank Him that I am worthy to suffer for Him.
She was dragged off with weeping Christians and a weeping bridegroom
left behind. They knew what happens to
young Christian girls in the hands of Communist guards. Her bridegroom faithfully waited for
her. After five years she was released,
a destroyed, broken woman, looking thirty years older. She said it was the least she could do for
her Christ. Such beautiful Christians
are in the Underground Church. God will
judge us not according to how much we endured, but how much we could love. The Christians who suffered for their faith
in prisons could love. I am a witness
that they could love God and men. One
great lesson arose from all the beatings, tortures, and butchery of the
communists: that the spirit is master
over the body. We know about the love of
Christ toward the Communist by our own love toward them. It was in prison that we found the hope of
salvation for the Communists. It was
there that we developed a sense of responsibility toward them. It was in being tortured by them that we
learned to love them. Richard says about
those he suffered with for 14 years of imprisonment, “I kiss their chains, as
the first Christians kissed the chains of their fellow believers when they were
led to be thrown before the wild beasts.”
I
finish with a word Father reminded me of when I had my own “nevertheless”
moment.
A
BODY PREPARED
Let
Me love through you. When you surrender
and offer your body as a living sacrifice, it will mean sacrifice. There will be a price to pay, which is to lay
your will down so that My will can be done.
In
this your mind is renewed to know My good, acceptable and perfect will. This is why I have given you My Spirit, that
you may live by every word that I speak.
Therefore, to lay down your life as a living sacrifice requires you to
constantly know My will in every situation.
Your will, will always rebel against Mine. It has to be laid on the altar every time, in
every situation. In that moment, you
will hear. In that moment, you will
understand. In that moment when you
submit, I can love through you. It is My
love that touches hearts. My hands, My
feet, My mouth…all is Mine. Therefore,
as My body you have to subject yourself to My will as the human body is to the
mind.
Instructions
have always come from your mind. But,
now you have the mind of Christ, My mind.
How will you know unless you quiet the distractions, the emotions and
all the demands of your own will?
Therefore, do not think this comes overnight. Practice makes perfect. Over and over you teach your mind to go into
the path I lead you.
Have
I not said that I will instruct and teach you in the way you should go? Surely all My ways are peace. Therefore, walk circumspectly as a soldier at
all times, ready to listen, to submit and obey.
Trust Me to guide you in every situation that I bring upon your path to
make a way for you.
Come
each time to learn of Me for I am meek and humble. This is not about you. This is about a vessel given over to Me to be
used by Me so that I can love the lost, the broken and the poor. Do you realize how much I want to touch
them? To heal them like I did with the
washing of the feet? I said, “Father, a
body thou has prepared for Me to do Thy will.”
Your
body is there to do My will, not yours.
So,
let Me have full play through your hands, feet and mouth.
Seek
to do My will.
No comments:
Post a Comment