"IF THINE EYE BE SINGLE"

 

"IF THINE EYE BE SINGLE" Audio

Galatians 5: 6

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

In John 17 Yeshua says, “Thy Word is truth” just as He told his disciples, I AM THE TRUTH”.  And we know Pontius Pilot asked Yeshua, “What is truth?”  In no ways would he have understood what the truth is, because the truth always has with it the element of something that has to be caught.  I want to suggest to you that this is the same for what Father wants to say through this devotional.  It is not something to just be taught, but caught as well.  It may be something we have heard over and over, but never really caught in order to make a radical change.  The change Yeshua referred to when he said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  The issue before us is to ask what truth it is that will set us free and from what?

JOHN 1: 4

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The Word of God is life and light.  With the entrance of the Word we get understanding.  But understanding is not the purpose alone, but revelation.  Only revelation changes a person and constitute an event.  The truth that will set us free is always a revealed truth, and not just intellectual truth.  Only when the Spirit lifts up the veil of our understanding do we enter into reality.  The Word cannot be read on the basis of instruction and direction for this life alone, but its purpose is to cut between bone and marrow, our motives and intents.  It is to pierce our deepest recesses. It leaves us gasping for air at times or in absolute wonder.  But it is anything but stagnant, rather it is living.  It produces life to those who walk in the light, and judgment for those who stumble in the dark.   It changes, it sets free and opens blind eyes.  It raises the dead.  The Word of God is an event as it goes forth once it is sent by God and it will never return void unto Him.  It will accomplish that which He sent it out to do every time.  We should therefore expect to be changed when we read His word.  The same is true when we listen to a word given by another.  There should be an expectation of something in you to shift and that expectation is hope and faith. It is incumbent upon us to make sure that when we hear a word or read His word that we do so in the faith that it will in fact be an event.  It will be according to our faith. 

GENESIS 1:4 

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

In John 1: 1 the word, “Word” means the divine expression that is Christ.  This is a very important statement, because at the heart of this devotional is that we ourselves, as His Body are to be the divine expression of Christ.

Only that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, and the will of God.  This is true in everything we do and not just concerning rebirth.  That which is of the flesh, remains flesh.  Two opposing realms and two opposing realities.  The one of the spirit, the other of this world.  We are told that we are to have our conversation in heaven, which means our being in heaven.  Being born of the flesh, we live our life on this earthly realm.  However, our being should be from heavenly places.  We are not to walk as mere men, but when we are born again of the Spirit we are to walk by the Spirit as spirit-beings.  It is a complete and utter change of being.  It is radical and it is total.  A total and complete different creation.  In Christ Jesus we are now a new creation.  Just as there is a spark of light when conception takes place where two become one, in the same way there is life when our spirit and the Spirit of God becomes one.  That spark of light, is the life that is given to all mankind.  There is a whole new being that comes forth from that union, just as we see in the natural.  Spirit and spirit has become one. No longer subject to the flesh.   This flesh constitutes both the lusts of the flesh, but also our relentless desire to do for God only that which He can do.  This in fact is what we are saved from when we say we are saved from our sins.  All sin is fed by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.  Galatians 6: 15 says, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”  That thing that the revealed truth sets us free from, is ourselves.  We are in prison houses made by our own hands.  By our thoughts, by our opinions, traditions, works and way of life.  Bound to this earth instead of having our being in heaven, even now.  The soul now standing between the spirit being and the flesh having to choose which one to submit to. 

JOHN 1: 14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

He became flesh, that is to say made in the weakness of man that can do absolutely nothing without God.  How then did they behold his glory and what did John mean by His glory?  We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  What is this glory?  This glory is that very life, which is God Himself that departed from Adam and Eve the moment they sinned. His presence in their midst, both around them and in them.  Although they died gradually physically, their spiritual death was instant.  This in fact is exactly what Yeshua incurred on the cross when He took our sins upon Him and cried out, “Father, why hast thou forsaken me?” The very thing that Adam and Eve experienced.  When He took our sin, He not only died physically, but also spiritually.  Some may see this as blasphemous, however, when He took the sin of the world upon Him, the Father in that moment had to turn away and remove His presence, His glory from His Son.  Completely and utterly left destitute.  This is what He endured for us.  Because of our sin, the Father had to forsake His Son.  Nothing could remain in Yeshua by which He could raise himself up, only the Father.  In the same way, nothing can remain in us so that only the Spirit can raise us.  The glory that departed from Adam and Eve, was His constant abiding presence, which they were always to live by.  The same glory that Enoch knew when he walked with Him and was no more.  That which is the essence of who He is.  Not life that constitute breathing for eternity, but the very essence of God, which is His glory. 

In Philippians 2 we read, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”  His mind speaks of a disposition.  He made himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.  Not the likeness of men before the fall, but man in his weakness unable to do anything without God.  This disposition has its inception in heaven and its birth on the cross.  He who is the Word, the life of our life and who made us in His image, came down and made himself in the likeness of man.  He stripped himself, that is to say He stripped himself from His divine attributes as God, to become man, in order to enter fully into what God intended man to be since creation.  This is the mind we are to have.  One where we also choose to strip ourselves of all dependency in our own ability.  This is why we are admonished to become as little children.  This mind or disposition we are to have is absolutely imperative to the faith and constitute what it means to live by faith.  He became the Patterned Son that demonstrated that even though He could do nothing without the Father, just like us, everything was possible through the Father by means of His utmost dependence on the Spirit.  He was not walking as a mere man, but had His conversation in heaven.  The Word dwelling amongst us.  

This body that was prepared for Him was to become the sacrifice for the covenant between the Father and us.  Everything in the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation is about covenant.  We know this, but because we do not always read it in this context, we lose sight of the whole picture.  We miss the forest for the tree.  It is imperative that we read the Word of God always in the context of covenant.  It is good to gain understanding and instruction through the Word, but we always have to read it with glasses of covenant reality on.  Everything points to Yeshua who is the sacrifice of this covenant between us and the Father.  He is the only way.

In Genesis 15 we read of the Abrahamic covenant that the Lord God made saying that Abraham's seed would be as many as the stars.  We are the seed of Abraham by faith.  In this covenant Abraham was put to sleep whilst the Lord God walked in a figure of eight through the divided sacrifices.  This was for our benefit to know that our significant part in this covenant is to rest, that is to say live by faith.  Amongst the sacrifices, of which there were five of, two of them were birds.  A turtledove and a pigeon.  These were told not to be divided. Research found no difference between a pigeon and a dove as the dove is a subspecies of the pigeon family.  Be that as it may, I want to take some liberty in saying that the turtle dove was probably white, speaking of its purity, whilst the pigeon a normal pigeon we see every day.  What other reason could there then be for the distinction?  My point is that the doves were the only animals not separated during this covenant.  We understand that the heifer represents the Father, the goat and the ram Yeshua, and the doves, the Holy Spirit.  All three of the Trinity were involved in this Abrahamic covenant which served as a type and shadow of that which was to come.  This was fulfilled when Yeshua came in the flesh and laid His life down to be the sacrifice.  Therefore, each and every one that believes on Him and His Name stands in covenant with the Father. 

A covenant at its core is a life for a life.  Many believe that because Yeshua gave His life for us, we in fact have no responsibility in this regard, completely ignoring the fact that covenant is a life for a life.  When we fail to deliver, we in fact break covenant and will be held accountable.  Part of covenant is that both parties are to walk amongst the sacrifices and point to the slaughtered animals and say, “May what have happened to these sacrifices come upon me if I should break covenant with you” and the other party would do the same.  It was a mutual agreement to never break the covenant, by which they exchanged weapons, their enemies became the other party’s enemy and so forth.   All of us have come short of the glory and have broken covenant with God over and over.  Yeshua therefore took our place instead of us being slaughtered in our covenant with the Lord God.  The innocent party of the covenant chose to lay His life down.  Therefore, not only do we have to answer to the Most High regarding the covenant that we break, but also consider that His Son died in our place in the breaking of this covenant.  Covenant is serious business, but we live our Christian lives as though we are not in one.  Day by day goes by without us even thinking specifically about covenant.  Yet it is God’s provision for us, the “way” that Yeshua is to the Father.

JOHN 3: 18

He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Exactly what does it mean to believe on Him and His name? 

To believe on Him and His name is more than the fact that through His blood and sacrifice we receive atonement for our sins.  It is more than forgiveness.  To believe is to enter into covenant with the Most High knowing that there is an exchange taking place.  A life for a life.  In other words, your weakness for His strength.  Your understanding for His wisdom.  Your sickness for His healing.  The Word says that we have received according to His divine power all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.  Past tense.  Have received.  Not will receive, but have already received.  An exchange took place.  To believe on Him is to understand that you now live by His means through grace and faith, and no longer depend on your flesh in all things.  You enter in covenant with Him and you better make sure you count the cost.  Today everybody can just come in response to an altar call and say a prayer, but few be there that actually explains the reality of what is taking place.  The fear of God as well as the joy of the Lord should be the two components that underlines this decision and in fact be our disposition at all times.  Fear for breaking it and joy for the provision given by His Spirit in all things that pertains to life and godliness.  To believe on Him is to believe that which He came to show us as the Patterned Son.  That we as man in utmost dependence upon the Spirit can overcome sin in our daily walk, and also live as He lived.  Few be there that truly believe this because they see their own failure day in and day out.  The same Spirit which at that moment of rebirth has revived our spirit, is the same Spirit that was in Him, now also in us.  That we no longer live, but are crucified with Him.  Hence why it is so important that we understand that we cannot preach half a gospel.  We have to preach the full gospel.  Yeshua never preached that which would pamper man and keep them bound in their sin.  There was always a requirement to leave something and hold onto Him.  “Come to Jesus and have everlasting life!”, but we fail to explain that it is in fact a life for a life.  Not just in the context of giving our lives, but actually receiving that life, that glory which we come short of.  The very Spirit of God residing in us, being now our life!  The good news of the Gospel is not only that we can have eternal life when we part from this life into heaven, but that we can have eternal life, the quality of life that Yeshua had here on earth, even now.  Do we truly believe this? This is the good news about the Spirit, which is God in us, who alone can fulfill the law through grace and truth.  In exactly the same way Yeshua fulfilled the law, which is by the Spirit.  This is the full gospel.  Christ in us the hope of glory!  That very glory we forfeited through the sins of Adam and Eve.  Ichabod, which means the glory has departed.  But alas, the arc of the covenant is found in the hearts of those undivided to Him. Those who believe on Him, not only in His sacrifice, but walking in the understanding that He is to live through us and not we through Him.  It is not Lord help me to do this, but Lord do it through me.    

Interesting to note that in John 2 where Yeshua came into the temple where He was overwhelmed with zeal for the house of God, that the sacrifices were oxen, sheep and doves.   As I said before, the doves were not divided, but the sheep and the oxen were.  The dove is always a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  In verse 16 only the dove is mentioned.

JOHN 2: 16

And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.

This is directly linked to Matthew 6: 22 – 24 regarding having a single eye.

MATTHEW 6: 22 – 24

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall 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!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Yeshua told them that they cannot serve mammon and God and that when their eye is single, like a dove, their whole body will be full of light.  A dove do not have peripheral vision and can only see one thing at a time.  This is why the Bridegroom tells the Bride in Song of Solomon that she has dove’s eyes.  She only sees Him and no other.  However, when their eye is evil, there whole body will be full of darkness.  When we think of an evil eye, we think of an eye that is divided or split. It speaks of a divided heart. 

Why merchandise?  Why Mammon?  Because merchandise is the means by which this world functions.  Money is the name of the game and everything in this world evolves around money.  So the issue is not money only, but the world.  By this we can know what differentiates the Bride from the others.  She is undivided, body, soul and spirit, completely His.  The dove as we know is a picture of the Holy Spirit which further points to His Bride being as one that lives and walks by the Spirit.  That divine expression of the image and glory of the Son of God by complete and utter dependence on the Spirit, the dove.  She is not His Bride because she gave her heart to Him a few years ago, but by virtue of her walk, which is her obedience to Him and whole hearted devotion to Him.  She is an undivided living sacrifice.   It is a way, not just a decision at one time long ago.  She is undivided in all her ways as He was to the Father.  She walks in the knowing that they are one, that she is bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. 

1 CORINTHIANS 6:17

17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

From this we understand that the most important characteristic of the Bride of Christ is her undivided devotion to Him in body, soul and spirit. She walks in Bridal Covenant.

 

                                                                John 3: 19 – 21 again is also linked to Matthew 6: 22 – 24 regarding a single eye. Let’s read from verse 19…

JOHN 3: 19 - 21

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

What else can this darkness be than depending on the flesh and the ways of this world as we read in Matthew 6?  The issue is not money, but rather the system, the spirit and the ways of this world.  All that constitute flesh.  He is making a clear distinction here between the Bride and those who compromise.  They that do evil actually hates the light, which we have established is the life of God.   When we deliberately sin, we prefer to call it a relapse, but He calls it hating light. This would be the Spirit of God.  They that do evil hate the Spirit.  Indeed in Romans 8 we read that the flesh is in enmity with the Spirit.  They who do evil are they who still depend on the flesh, unwilling to repent.  At the heart of repentance is a turning away from leaning upon the flesh, especially our own understanding and ways as well as from the world’s, to relying completely on the Spirit.  However, the cost to stay in covenant is too high for us and we are unwilling to repent for it ultimately means that we will have to depend in everything on the Spirit.  We love our sin too much.  It is easier to rely on the flesh.  No waiting involved.  One can act by impulse and pretty much say and do what you want when you want to, all the while saying that you are doing it for the Lord.  After all, we are not hurting anyone.  Therefore, exempted from condemnation, because you are doing something spiritual.  But in truth you are just doing something spiritual by relying on the flesh and calling your own creation very good, but not Him.  That which is of the flesh will only reap corruption.  Yeshua told Nicodemus that that which is born of the flesh, is flesh.  We can label it what we want, but if it came out of our dependence on the flesh, it remains flesh.  No matter how impressive it looks or sounds, even spiritually.    Repentance by extension is dependence.  It is utter and requires one to truly count the cost.  Today people have no concept of the reality of what it means to turn from your sin.  They believe that they should from now on try their best not to do it again.  We all know how well that goes.  No, to repent is to believe on the Son of God’s atonement AND the good news that we no longer have to fulfill the law by our own means, but from now on our bodies, our whole being, is a living sacrifice unto God, so that He can fulfill the law through us.  It means that you deliberately forsake any and all dependence on yourself and cleave to Him.  So that we can allow Him to do through us.  It is not us fulfilling the law.  We cannot do it.  It is the Spirit of life in us, to whom we are restfully available by faith.  Just as the Lord God made covenant with Abraham whilst he was sleeping.  The good news is that the Spirit is just as much available to us as He was to the Son of God and that we are to now walk by the Spirit through faith as the sons and daughters of the Living God.  But do we truly believe this?  The just shall live by faith.  Utmost dependence upon the Spirit to do the work through us.  It is by that principal of life that we are to live from the moment we “give our heart to the Lord”.  The requirement is an offense, but the reward is glory.  This is why Paul said that if he had to preach circumcision, resembling our own works, why then did he still have to suffer and that the offence of the cross would then cease.  You see, the cross is supposed to be an offence as well.  The cost of the cross is the offence.  The flesh hates this idea and would rather remain in darkness, if but only in part.  Yet Yeshua said that if your eye is not single, you have an evil eye, which means you hate the light.  This is a grave indictment against us when we do not understand the seriousness of what He is saying about our hearts when we are not willing to let go of certain sins or obey Him.  When we are not the doves of God with single eyes and have merchandised our hearts to this world and to the flesh.   

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Those who have a single eye, who are wholly devoted to Him are walking in the light as He walked in the light, because their whole body is filled with light.  And it is evident that their works are wrought in God.    It has its origin in God, and therefore that which is of the spirit is spirit and will constitute an event that changes people’s lives and affect principalities and powers.

Peter, resembling the backslidden Church in general is known for his denial and consequent return to the Lord.  But John is known for His love.  This love is pictured over and over as he is also called the disciple whom Jesus loved. This speaks of devotion.  Not any kind of devotion, but total devotion in every category.  He loved the Lord with all his heart, mind and strength and his brothers.  Why is this devotion important?  Because it speaks of a pure heart or a single eye.  To have a single eye is a disposition that is the prerequisite for true seeing.  The Word says that the pure in heart shall see God.  When our eye is single, our whole body is full of light.  There is no darkness, not even a shadow.  Not just the light of the written Word, but the Spirit of God, the Revealer, the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation.  Nathaniel who met Yeshua, said to be an Israelite in whom there is no guile, was promised that he would see the Son of God with His angels ascending and descending upon Him from heaven.  Once again a reference to seeing, pure devotion and a single eye that is full of light.

This bears with it the understanding of the absolute centrality of God in everything.  The heart being the center of all our being.  To be total to the Lord speaks of a quality or state of being, a disposition of total dedication and devotion.  “Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus”, is Paul’s admonition to us.  Be total towards the Lord God in body, soul and spirit.  Your first question, which is always your abiding question in all you do, is not what pertains to you, but what does what you are doing pertain to Him?  There is no more “I” in it.  Not the impact we make on man whether we give them a thrill, but whether the principalities and powers are moved and take note.  There is nothing in it for us except that God would be glorified.  It is an utterness of spirit, God-wards.  There is no partiality between you and Him.  Only what He thinks of a person, idea and action is your foremost consideration.  Your opinion about a person is laid down.  In fact you no longer give your opinion, because it does not matter.  It really does not matter.  The only opinion that matters, is His.  The only opinion that matters about those who speak against you, is not others or yours, but only His.  "What does He think of that person?" should your question be.  But are we waiting on His opinion or are we presuming upon Him?  There is no cutting of the corners, no negotiation regarding anything in your life.  All of you for all of Him.  Saved from yourself that brings you to “Follow Me”.  Your obedience towards Him is a reflection of your utterness towards Him.  Whatever possesses you and possesses your soul, needs to be sold and given up if it prevents you from totality in God.  The rich young ruler came to Yeshua and asked Him what he must do to be saved.  He told Yeshua that He kept all of the law.  What a good boy.  What a lovely reputation and achievement that resembles the ability of man to do well from his own ability.  Yeshua told Him that he lacks one thing.  “Go sell all and follow Me.”  This could very well be his actual goods and God may very well require something like that of us, but the reality was that that “all” was more than earthly goods.  The man walked away dejected and Peter said to the Lord, “But Lord, who then can be saved?”  Indeed this is the question at heart and very pivotal to where we are at just before His coming.  Who then can be saved?  The Kingdom of God is like the King Himself, which is total.  He is absolute.  All or nothing at all.  Yeshua told Him, “One thing you lack.”  This is the condition for maintaining the covenant with Him.  To sell all.  Peter said, "Lord, we have left family, boats and everything to follow you."  But the only thing that he has not yet left is Peter, which means he has not left at all.  Yeshua told them, “With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  Simply meaning that there is no way that we can do it, He must do it through us.  And He can only do this is we repent.  Keeping in mind that repentance is dependence with our whole being on Him alone.

Uncompromised allegiance to Him.  Do not be fooled, whatever you have not given up will be the very thing that will cause you to deny Him.  Peter wanted to save himself.  And so whatever sin you are still accommodating is in fact you saving self.  Our whole being is to be laid on the altar.  Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, ALL your mind and ALL your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.  All means all.  Many sincerely believe that they have forsaken all just like Peter, but has yet to forsake themselves.  Unless He had Abraham’s Isaac, He did not have Abraham.  Isaac came from his loins and was the precious promised son.  The moment he lifted up his knife to kill his own son, it was then that the Lord God could say, “Now I do not only have the man’s goods, but I have the man himself.”  What we are to sacrifice is not just our pet sins we love so dearly, but also our autonomy.  The right to make decisions for our lives.  It is to this level or degree that this dependence is upon Him.  Without Him we can do nothing.  Without Him we should do nothing.  He directs what you speak, hear or see and what you do.  The sole end is Him in all you do.  There can be no “I” or “me” in our consideration.  Only Him.  It is from this premise Paul said…

Galatians 2: 20

20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

He did not say this on the basis that he one day literally “saw the light” on the road to Damascus, but on the basis that he was so total towards God in all his considerations, that the unity between them was as such that Yeshua was truly the life of his life.  Undivided in his devotion and therefore one with Him.  For just as He is one, so we are also to be one in order to be one with the Father and the Son.  The Bride is undivided.

JOHN 1: 16

And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.

Grace is the ability to do as the Father directed Him.  Grace is not a veil over the reality that we are to keep covenant, but a means to it.  Yeshua said that He only did what the Father showed Him and only spoke what the Father told Him to, because He could do nothing without the Father.  And yet He could tell His disciples, when you see Me, you see the Father.  He was demonstrating man as God intended man to be, which is man as nothing, and God everything in man.   The glory of God revealed to humanity in earthen vessels completely and utterly given over to Him.  A divine expression of Jesus Christ.

We have nothing less than what Yeshua had when He was here on the earth.  Nothing less.  Father was no more available to Yeshua than what He is to us now.  Why the discrepancy in us?  Why do we not reveal the glory of God in our lives that others too can see the Father when they see us?  Is He then not the patterned Son whom we are to emulate?  Is God then not without partiality? How can such a high standard be set for us?  To be like Jesus seems like such an impossible task and indeed it is.  With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.  The issue is not whether we can do it, but whether we have presented ourselves completely and utterly to Him and have the same mind which was in Christ, who made himself nothing.   Even Yeshua would not have been able to fulfill the law if He was not total in His dependence on the Father.  He came as man to show us the way.  The way is not just the cross, the way was His life as well. He came to show us how to live.  The very narrow way that requires an absolute utterness towards God in body, soul and spirit.  He came to show us what man was intended to be by the Father when He created man in the garden.  When He looked at His creation He saw Himself, because in His image they were made.  And He said, “Yes!  It is good!”  His own reflection, His glory in them caused Him to exclaim that it is good!  When the Father looked at His Son here on the earth, again He saw His image, His glory in His Son and exclaimed, "This is My beloved Son!  Hear ye Him!”  Full approval because what He saw was His own image and nothing but His image will satisfy Him.  The problem is that we are unaware of just how much we depend on ourselves. We are ignorant of the many decisions we make without consulting Him. Oblivious to the many times we ignore the voice of the Spirit in a day. 

It is one thing to be saved and quite another to be converted.  Many saved, but few converted.  Conversion speaks of change from one thing to the other.  When we give our lives to Him the first time, we are to be counting the cost of exactly what it means to enter into covenant with the Most High.  It is to be a conversion of the whole man, not just his spirit.  We need to understand the exchanged life we receive and just exactly what He means by grace through faith.   When we lose sight of the foundational premise of the Gospel, the whole building is shaky and will not stand.  What is the foundation?  Covenant.  A life for a life. 

To surrender is to submit.  Surrendering not only to wanting to do His will, but unto His will.  The one is focused on what you can do, the other on what He can do.  Resoluteness and determination of heart is required to allow Him to do His will through you.  To be ever vigilant in looking out for any dependence on the flesh, moment by moment. Not only wanting to do it, or know that you have to do it, but to delight to do it.  Your abhorrence of the one is directly related to your delight in the other.  Meaning simply to the degree that you abhor to do your own will, will be the degree that you delight in His.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  The reality is that we fool ourselves when we think that we abhor to do our will, even if we repent a thousand times or feel like a miserable sod a thousand times, the point is, man does that which he delights in.  What a sobering thought.  You cannot choose the world, without rejecting Him.  Those very things we struggle to do in obedience to Him, is showing exactly how much we are holding on to the opposite.  One hopes for some kind of middle ground, but there is none.  A choice always has a definite point of focus or loyalty, even if we refuse to make a choice, ultimately we are making one.  Partial obedience still remains disobedience.  This of course does not mean that He does not have pity on us or love us or that He does not want to help us.  But as long as our conscience is seared regarding the reality of this, we will not be resolute and determined.  We will cut the corners and not see it as breaking covenant.   His compassion and mercy is new every morning.  However, He never intended for us to do, but to rest.  The doing is Him through us, whilst we rest.  Unless there is that resoluteness and determination to seek His will in absolutely everything, whatever we do will ultimately fail.   We may succeed for a while, but soon come to the harsh reality that we cannot do it.  There has to be a day where you have had a very real and authentic time and place where there was that final crack, the breaking of the will in ALL things, body, soul and spirit.

By this commitment you are not waiting to die and enter the Kingdom, but have died and entered.  Yeshua said to Nicodemus, in John 3: 13, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, EVEN THE SON OF MAN WHICH IS IN HEAVEN.  He was standing right in front of Nicodemus, but told him that He was also in heaven. Does the Word not say that He has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus?  Truth that will set us free, that truth that is to be caught, is a matter of totality.  If there is one shadow within the truth, it is not true.  We enter into this reality to the degree that we understand exactly what it costs.  And to the same degree that we enter into the truth, the truth of being nothing and Him doing all through us, is the degree that we are IN Him.  In the same way our baptism is only true to the degree we are IN Him.  We baptize in the Name of Yeshua, but the baptism serves as a type and shadow of what should constitute reality.  The reality of having gone from death unto life and not just a prayer made, however sincere.  To be baptized is to go under, which speaks of complete and utter death.  We cannot preach a lesser Gospel.  One where it is not ultimate, but accommodating to our needs.  One where we know Him as Father, ready to call ourselves sons and daughters when in fact we have not yet stepped into the reality of sons and daughters of God.  Where we say we have given all, except our very life.  Laying even the right to our lives on the altar.  No right to your body, your comings and goings, your time.  A complete bondservant of the Lord.  Asking ourselves before we do something, “Is this what Father wants?  Did He tell me to do it or am I acting out of presumption, instinct, good intentions or pride?”  These all constitute flesh.  The cost is ultimate, because we serve an ultimate God of an ultimate Kingdom of Truth.  But we do not know Him as such, because we are not willing to pay that price.  We veil this ultimate cost with grace saying that we are only human and that nobody is perfect.  And the reality is that we cannot do it, only by faith when we trust Him to do it through us. 

With this surrendering comes a true acceptance and embracing of the dynamic of relationship we have with Him in covenant.  A relationship that requires ultimate obedience in dependence.  To accept that we do not belong to ourselves and do not get to do our own thing.  You now live for Him alone.  Even in the smallest of things.  Whether it is to give our opinion, to send someone something, to pray your own thing, to help when someone is in need.  Your good intentions and well-meaning actions are not what He needs, only your obedience.  Sacrifice is not what He needs, but obedience.  This is His delight. 

We have to remember that in the same way that we are to delight to do His will, He delights in our obedience.  And because words are so important to Him, we should do our due diligence in finding out exactly what He means with the word delight or abhor.  We cannot just assume that we understand the depth of it or His particular view regarding it.  It is our responsibility to understand what He requires, because in this day and age, nobody can say, “Well I did not think you meant that Lord!”

Webster’s dictionary defines the word abhor as:

To regard with extreme repugnance : to feel hatred or loathing, despise. A deep often shuddering repugnance.  Hate implies an emotional aversion often coupled with enmity or malice.  Loathe implies utter disgust and intolerance. 

Webster defines abhor further:

The Horror in Abhor

The roots of abhor can give us a deeper understanding of both the strength of the dislike expressed by the word and its relationship to other words in English. It came from the Latin word abhorrēre, which meant “to recoil from” or “to be repugnant to,” and was formed by combining ab-, meaning “from” and horrēre, meaning “to bristle,” “to tremble,” or “to shudder.” This word for trembling or shuddering in reaction to something scary or awful is related to the word that names of the cause of those reactions—the Latin word horror, which was later borrowed into English. The -hor of abhor is also the hor- of horror.

How many of us truly have this disposition towards our disobedience towards Him?  Maybe in those things we are deeply ashamed of, but how many of us have a general disposition of this kind of abhorrence to our disobedience in small things.  Things like our laziness in certain matters, or our pet indulgences that He has spoken to us about.  What about certain disciplines He has brought to your attention or your unwillingness to submit to Him in what you watch or listen to?  These are not necessarily things we would look upon as “earth shattering”, but merely look upon it as little areas we can sharpen ourselves in a bit more.  Is this really the way He looks upon any disobedience?  We have to ask ourselves, “Do I see it the way He sees it?”  Look with spiritual eyes.  We have to understand that truth is only as God sees it, not the way we see it. Are we divided in our devotion to Him?

Oswald Chambers said the following:

“It is not what we spend the greatest amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over us.”

Much is at stake by our “little” disobediences that we think to be small inconveniences or mishaps.  Truly it is the little foxes that destroy the vineyard of our lives.  And is the Father not the Vinedresser that will hold us accountable for the condition of our fruit? 

Acceptance of this kind of relationship with Him is often that which our flesh recoils from…pun intended.  It is willing to accommodate, but always preserves that little bit for itself.  Much like those in the Israelite camp who hid the idol in their tent, causing a great defeat at Ai.  The whole family was stoned to death before the congregation.  Showing us that our little pet sins, influence the camp and those of our own homes.  Holiness at the heart of it requires our hearts to be perfect before Him.  That is to say, that even if we do not always get it right, our true disposition is that we truly abhor that which He abhors. 

And now for the word delight.  Webster’s dictionary defines delight as:

A high degree of gratification or pleasure: JOY; extreme satisfaction; something that gives great pleasure;

Synonyms are: delectation, feast, joy, kick, manna, and pleasure, treat, exuberate, exult, glory, jubilate, rejoice and triumph.

This is what we are to feel with regards to doing His will and this is what He feels when we do. 

PSALM 40: 6 - 8

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

The first thing that we should take note of is what transpired in David before the law was written on his heart and the subsequent delight in doing the will of God. His ears were opened.  Ears have with it the direct connection to obeying.  Hence why we read in scripture, “Give me thine ear”.  Unless we come to this ultimate place of surrender and acceptance, meaning an abhorrence towards all sin in our life, and an acceptance that this is how we are to walk circumspectly before Him at all times, we will continue to see our sin through our own eyes.  Our eyes has to be opened to see reality as He sees it.  When we do not see as He sees, the leaven starts to set in and causes an indifference or leniency towards sin, sometimes unbeknownst to us.  And a little leaven, leavens the whole lump.

When I thought on this I realized that the greater obedience, the much required of those who have much, is not in the big, but actually in the small.  This is so like Him where we, contrary to Him, think greater is bigger, but in His economy greater is smaller.  Just like children…these are the greatest in His Kingdom.  Not saying that a child will be greater than Moses or anything like that.  The point is meekness, being little in your own eyes, humility and child-like faith.  The issue is not the size of the sin, but the level of obedience.  It is often easier to be obedient in the big things, but it is the obedience required in the mundane every day life that really costs us.  Being obedient in the small and seemingly insignificant requires a certain disposition to detail and a watchfulness in everything you do.  So the question is why?  Why do we need to go that far with our obedience?  Can’t we just relax and enjoy life?  Do we have to be so serious and painstaking pedantic?  Well, yes we do.  Because what is small to us, is big to Him and it really is not about us, but it is all about Him and what He wants to teach us.  He can use a massive storm to make His point, or He can use a tiny seed.  All of these things He uses to build in us a character and disposition of complete devotion unto Him.  It is not about being fanatic, although I am sure many people will see it that way.  It is a matter of devotion and being wholly devoted, body, soul and spirit.  Big and small matters to Him and it is not our declarations that reveals our love to Him, but our actions.  Acts of betrayal are often done in small ways. Not that we outright want to betray Him, but we cannot help but feel this way when we promise one thing and two seconds later found ourselves with our hands in the proverbial cookie jar.  Proverbs 30: 20 says, Such is the way of the adulterous woman.  She eats, wipes her mouth and says, I have done nothing wrong.  This is not about eating.  This is about the small that matters greatly to Him.  To those who have much, much is required.  Walking in obedience not just in the spiritual things, but the mind and the body.  We cannot separate our lives into secular and sacred.  All is sacred to a believer, at least it should be.  All is worship.  It is just a matter who you worship by what you do.  Yourself, the enemy or Him.  But in the end, all is worship.  We do not see the small in the same light as He does.  Unfortunately the small is still small to us.

An author of the 1600’s. Richard Alleine said the following in his book, “Heaven Opened!”…

“When conscience has lost its authority, God’s authority is gone.”

Art Katz says:

“Your authority is measured by whether you are total or partial in God.”

It is up to us to ever guard the authority that is given us.  To esteem His authority as our highest priority in serving Him at all times as well.  The moment we allow our conscience to start justifying our actions, is the moment we negate our own authority, which is dependent on our submission to His. 

David declared that he delights in doing the will of God.  And from understanding this delight, we know that it means that his true joy is found in delighting His God.  Yeshua quoted David in Psalm 40, He added, “Here I am, I delight to do Thy will.  A body thou hast prepared for Me to do thy will.”  Of course we know that it was the will of the Father that the Son would be the sacrifice for our sins, but we need to remember, that we by extension is this body.  The sacrifice is only pleasing when done in obedience as a way of life.

Psalm 51: 16 - 17

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Richard Alleine also said,

“He who has some love to holiness, and yet not so much as to carry him through the work of holiness, is short of sincerity.”

We may be able to fool ourselves, but not Him who searches and tries the heart of man.  We must have a zeal, a jealousy for holiness and walking in obedience towards Him in complete submission.  We need to understand that this is about complete devotion.  It is not about whose will, will win…ours or God’s.  It is about His jealous love that will not tolerate anything that causes us to be divided in our hearts towards Him.  That we would be just as jealous for an undivided heart as He is.  It is about unity in love.  It is about dove’s eyes that are pure, undefiled and devoted.   

Devotion is more than feelings.  Devotion at the heart of it is obedience.  The heart of the dove or the eye cannot be divided.

About two years ago Father showed me a vision whilst I was studying Matthew 6 about the single eye.   The first thing I saw was a beautiful brown eye.  I have brown eyes.  The pupil had all different colors of brown and made me think of a transparent brown stone with a kaleidoscope of browns, from ochre, deep dark brown, light bronze to gold.  It is very difficult to describe, but it was absolutely beautiful.  The next moment I received the opposite.  I saw what I could only explain as a reptilian eye.  Divided yellow pupil, red veins, slightly slanted and pure evil.  Father wanted me to see what He sees.  Light verses darkness, single verses evil.

The other day right out of the blue, the Spirit reminded me of that beautiful eye and said to me…

“Just one look, and this is what your eyes look like when you are wholly devoted to Me.

One look of your eyes ravishes My heart.”

Needless to say that I could not continue with what I was busy with.  This is not to boast in any way whatsoever.  The point is, this devotion, this absolute surrender and acceptance to Him, a jealousy for what He is jealous for, is what it is that causes Him to delight in our obedience to Him.  Whole hearted devotion ravishes His heart.  And this is dove’s eyes.  The words, “I only have eyes for you” comes to mind.   Two lovers truly only have eyes for one another.  How divided our hearts are towards Him in our disobedience.  I am not talking about the times where we fail in our own strength, but our indifference to the big and small.

He says nobody can have two masters.  He sees the mere presence of the one master as a declaration of being owned by that master.  He will not share you with anyone, including yourself.  Just like your spouse will not share you with another.  He wants all of you.  Not one part in your life, body and mind can be occupied by another.  He wants full control in order for His purposes to be fulfilled.  There is no middle ground or negotiation.  Surely this is reason for counting the cost knowing how much it ravishes His heart when we love Him wholly.  Surely we need to sit down and settle this between him and us and relinquish our ownership over our body, our mind and heart.  Surely our discontentment is due to our unwillingness to let go and unwillingness to embrace and are actually fighting Him tooth and nail.  We are unwilling to let go of all of these in totality and we are unwilling to embrace His ownership over it.  It is not that we do not want to share, it is that we do not want to give it all up at all.  God is not in the sharing business.  All of you for all of Him.  That’s the divine exchange.  To the measure you make room for Him in your life is the measure He will fill you.  If you make room 50%, He will fill you 50%.  Therefore, we might very well feel that we are at full capacity, but the reality is that, yes you are full, but 50% you and 50% Him.  But He wants you dead in all your categories.  I remember Leonard Ravenhill said, "There are only two type of men in this world. Men that are dead in sin and men that are dead to sin." He wants 100% - All of you.  And that is the cost.  He needs a throne from where He as the King of kings can rule through His sons and daughters on this earth, and He has made it very clear that that throne is your heart.  Your whole undivided heart and body, and mind.  No King shares his throne with anyone.  He wants it all. He is relentless in His pursuit to have all of us, but are we relentless in letting Him have His way?

1 Peter 4: 1 – 2

1Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

It is a suffering to deny the flesh and have the disposition of mind that Christ had.  This is why the cross is an offence as well.  To consecrate yourself to Him, means to be set apart for only Him.  If any part of us is not yet completely consecrated, that is to say set apart for only Him, we are then still divided in our devotion.  Our eye is still divided.  And yet, who of us are perfect?  Not one.  However, it is not in the perfection of our doing, which He knows we struggle with by not having learned to depend only on Him, but whether our heart is perfect towards Him. Our disposition. Whether we have the same disposition of abhorring sin, particularly those we deem “small” and whether we truly delight in His will. 

2 Chronicles 16: 9

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to shew Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.

A heart that is perfect towards Him is the mind of Christ.  You will find that the word heart and mind in the Strong’s Concordance means the same.  What was the mind of Christ that we are to have, that perfect heart towards God?  Complete and utter dependence on God who alone can do the impossible.

Yeshua said, If you love Me, you will obey Me.  As simple as that. 

Oswald Chambers’ devo of 28^th December last paragraph reads...

There are areas of self-will in our lives where our pride pours contempt on the throne of God and says, “I won’t submit.”  We deify our independence and self-will and call them by the wrong name.  What God sees as stubborn weakness, we call strength.   There are whole areas of our lives that have not yet been brought into submission, and this can only be done by this continuous conversion.  Slowly but surely we can claim the whole territory for the Spirit of God.

He said in John 15, If you love me you will do My commandments.  I do not only want to obey Him.  I want to express my love to Him through my obedience.  I do not want to obey Him just because this is what He wants, I want to obey Him because this is what I truly want.  I want to show Him how much I love Him in every act I do.  And He knows my heart and sees every act whether it is done in true devotion or not.  Like a wife who wants to show her husband how much she loves him by submitting to him.  Not because the Bible says she must, but because deep down in her heart she loves him and wants to show him.  Not complicated, just loving Him.  This will find its expression not just in what I do for Him, but what I do for others, remembering that we are all His body.  Loving Him is obeying Him.  It remains his most important love-language.  The Most High designed it this way, not just because Eve is the weaker gender and must know her place.  No!  Her submission is her love towards him.  This world has made submission a curse word when in fact it is a love word.   Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loves the church.  Washing her in the water of the word, praying for her and being her strength.  Giving his life for her.  And then Paul says, even though he is talking about husband and wife, he is actually referring to the love between Christ and His Bride.  I am not hammering on obedience, I am actually emphasizing love.  For men and woman are both the bride and our focus is to be our love walk with Him.  Just like Enoch. It is a beautiful thing to be able to ravish His heart and that is all I want to do.  I want to ravish His heart by my whole hearted devotion.  This world is just the place where I am to do it.  Now.  Not in heaven, but here where everything that surrounds me contend against that whole hearted devotion.  But He chose this place, because even though I want to give Him this devotion, He knows I just cannot.  And so what does He do?  Like a husband He comes next to me and loves me, washes me with His words and becomes my strength.  Why?  Because He is wholly devoted to me. It’s a love walk. 

This is why He is not interested in sacrifices, but obedience.  Great acts of sacrifices are amazing, like Peter walking on the water.  But the real challenge is walking daily with Him on the way.  The one is a moment in time, the other, all your moments.

What does the enemy still have in you?  What is that one sin that you just cannot let go?  Is your disposition that of His?  Do you have the mind of Christ, which is to depend with your whole being on the Spirit, thereby keeping covenant?  Do you still make your own decisions on a day to day basis and ignore the Holy Spirit? Are you indifferent to what I am saying? You have to pull the trigger on it if you want to be an undivided living sacrifice for Him, just like those doves.  The Bride is symbolized by the undivided dove.  You yourself have to lay on the cross by your own will.  You have to abhor sin for sin is what keeps you from undivided devotion.  Your disposition towards your sin exhibits your disposition whether you are total or partial towards Him.  The time is very short for the Bride to be that which ravishes His heart.  This starts with a decision made after you have counted the cost.  Either way, there will ultimately be an ultimate cost to pay.

 

UNDIVIDED

My child, it is not what you do, but with what heart you do.  You can do the greatest of things for Me, and yet your heart can be divided or far from Me.  I want your heart in the big and small.  But you think I do not care as much about the small as the big.  You would be wrong.  For out of the heart flows the issues of life.  Therefore, it is your heart that I look at, for your heart determines the value of the deed.  I want your whole heart, and this means absolute obedience.  When you obey Me in all things, it requires absolute dependence for you can do nothing without me.  Nothing.  Therefore, you have to give your body to me as a living sacrifice, so that I can live through you.  Your obedience can only be achieved in the measure of your dependence on Me.  For that you have to give your whole body to Me.  If you obey Me you will abide in My love, just as My Son obeyed and remained in My love.  Love is the fulfilment of the law.  Your obedience to Me is a declaration of your love.  And when you abide in My love you can ask Me anything and I will give it to you.  But your obedience must be in all things.  Do you understand just how much you need to depend on Me, especially considering that the flesh is in enmity with My Spirit?  No longer a debtor to walk after the flesh, but to be controlled by My Spirit.  These are my Sons and Daughters, not because you say so, but because you have allowed My Spirit to live through you, your body.  Know ye not that ye are the temple of the Holy Spirit?  Therefore, know that what I need of you is complete surrender in utmost dependence on Me.  I want your whole heart.  Your heart, which is your mind by which you make decisions, determines the course of your life.  Therefore, when you are deliberately disobedient towards Me, do you not see how your heart is divided?  1 Thessalonians 5 says, And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  The word whole means exactly that…complete in all respects.  Every part of you, your spirit, soul and body.  Is your obedience to Me complete?  Have I not said that it is not sacrifice that I require, but obedience?  The pagans also do sacrifices, but I am the God who searches the hearts of men to see whether their hearts are divided.  This is why you have to search your heart and ask Me to show you where you are still disobedient in what I have asked you.  Take stock, because it is my desire to sanctify every part of you, spirit, soul and body wholly, which is to be set apart unto Me so that My life can be the life by which you live by.  If you are not sanctified wholly, there will be those parts, whether in the spirit, soul or body, that are still subject to another master, whether the flesh or the enemy.  Nobody can have two Masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will despise the other and turn away.  Your eye has to be single in your devotion to Me, because when it is not, you are still walking in darkness.  I want to show you so much, but this can only be done when you have a single eye.  More I want to show My children, but they are still divided in their hearts.  Therefore, be zealous to obey Me, because it is not in your declaration that you are devoted to Me, but in your actions.  You can say you love Me with all your heart, but your obedience to what I have told you, still reflects the true state of your heart.  

Yes, you can do nothing without Me and therefore you will often falter as you learn to depend on Me.  Once again, I take all things into account, but to those who have much, much is required.  Therefore, to those who have reached a certain maturity in Me, I will require more as stewards of My flock.  Those who are still young and growing, I will guide as the Good Shepherd that I am.  I discipline those I love, because just like your earthly Fathers, I know when your heart was deliberate in disobedience or whether you tried and are still learning.  Am I not as a Father that pities his children?  Do I not know your frame and that you are dust?  I am slow to anger and rich in mercy and I do not always chide or keep My anger forever.  I do not deal with you after your sins or reward you according to your iniquities.  But I pity those who fear Me and those who keep My covenant and remember My commandments to do them.  I see all things and I know the desires of your hearts.  Am I not a loving Father who knows how to give good gifts to those whom I love?  I surely do.  Therefore, be earnest to seek My will in all you do.  Do not lean on your own understanding, but acknowledge me in all your ways.  This was the will of My Son, to do My will and so His desire is to do My will still and I am well pleased with My Son.  Let Him express His obedience and love to Me by doing My will, through your body.  Give Me your body and see if I will not indeed reward you as a Father would an obedient son.

I love you My child. I love you with an everlasting love for you are Mine.  Look unto Me in this time where all the enemy wants to do is take your eyes off Me.  You can only follow Me when you look to Me.  Trust Me and lean on Me for everything.  I will never fail you.