Because we are getting so close to the marriage of the Lamb... that day when He will have His perfect and spotless Bride who He's been preparing for Himself for so long, I felt it would be perfect to share a wedding gift with those who are looking and seeking and yearning for their Heavenly Bridegroom. This gift contains two blessings to help us understand, prepare for, and anticipate this day. These two blessings have sown deeply into my own heart and are literally like precious living water to the soul and spirit.
The first is a book I've now read twice in the last year. This book is a great preparation book and will help you to take a good look within your own heart to see if the Bride is really there. This is a good first step.... and one that will help keep us from being unprepared. Matter of fact, this is a book I read after having a dream last year about being an unprepared bride (of which you can read about on the corresponding blog post). The name of this book is "The Remnant Bride" and will bless you and encourage you and help get you ready for the most wonderful wedding that you could ever be a part of. I pray it feeds you as it has me. The second book is over the top. This book is deep, rich, and written in such a spiritual sense that it will overwhelm your heart at times. It is written by my dear sister from South Africa and portrays the very heart and soul of the prepared and waiting Bride -- and it is very likely not what you will expect. This book is life-changing and was written through the depth of the Word and through personal experience, making it one of the most anointed books I've read. This book is called "The Enochian Bride" and is an utter blessing for all those seeking the Bridegroom with all their hearts! I pray that these wedding gifts will be exactly what you need at this time, as we draw ever so near to the return of our Lord and Bridegroom, Yahusha ha Mashiach (Jesus Christ). He truly is coming very soon! Note: Both of these books can also be accessed on the Resources page on this site under "Writings, Books, & Blogs".
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This morning, I was reading about John the Baptist and how while he was in prison, he sent his messengers to Yahusha (Jesus) to ask and make sure that He was the One that should come or if they should look for another. Keeping in mind that John both saw the Spirit descend upon Yahusha like a dove when he baptized Him and had just previously proclaimed that He was the Son of God, the One that had come to save Israel... it seems that something must have caused John to need a bit of reassurance and confirmation at that time! I began to ponder on how John must have felt in prison, being left there, not rescued by his Messiah, and not being able to see all the miracles that were taking place fulfilling all the scriptures that John knew so well that confirmed Yahusha's messiahship. John, in great sacrifice for almost all his life, prepared the way for Yahusha only to be left in prison to die a very horrible and humiliating death, even having his head served on a silver platter to a gloating enemy. This got me thinking of the sacrificial life that was purposed for him and how it was one of loneliness, separation, and ultimately not being allowed to see the culmination of the ministry of which he was the forerunner. And I ask... Did John have his "best life now"? John committed and surrendered to a divine purpose-driven life that gave him a fulfillment the world would not understand, but John did not live his best life now. That life was waiting for him afterwards... I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 When we read this scripture, do we automatically feel that we are entitled to our best abundant life now through Christ? Or do we consider the whole of the scriptures and grasp the superior, beyond-measure, and exceeding kingdom life that Yahusha truly speaks of here? The entire goal of Yahusha's "ministry" of sacrificial death and then His defeating of death through resurrection unto an endless life was to reinstate and restore His children to their initial divine state of creation... which is holy and immortal in His presence, outside of this world. If we miss this or lose focus of this, then we will likely have our sights set on having our best abundant life now... here in this temporary, wicked place where life is fragile and fully incomplete. This misdirected mindset will keep us self-focused on self-satisfaction as we bask in our entitlement to all our abundant blessings. This is not to say we won't be blessed in this life as we experience all of creation's beauty, giving and receiving love, the joy of family, and all the things we really don't deserve that our Father has so graciously given to us. However, this abundance of blessings should not be our ultimate focus and goal, and we certainly aren't entitled to them. So what is this abundant life that Yahusha speaks of and how do we attain it? When we understand His kingdom mindset, then we know the abundance is primarily kingdom-focused. And as we obey and follow Him, we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and then all the things we need, and even at times desire, will be given to us. And the truth of the matter is that when we seek this type of abundant life, we actually find death -- death to all self-related intentions and self-seeking now in this life. Our self death brings us to seek only His path and provision as we run the race to true abundant life outside of this world. At this point, we begin to set our affections on things above and not on the earth (Col. 3:2). We can also ask the same question of Yahusha that was asked of John... Did He find His best life in this world? No He did not, but He found the joy of fulfilling His divine purpose in this life, and it had nothing to do with self. As our example, we are to follow Him and how He lived out His life in this world, which can be summed up in two words... sacrificial and obedient. As we attempt to walk out this journey in this world, we trust all His promises and obey all His commandments - all for His glory and the betterment of others. It's no longer about us receiving all our abundant blessings here... it's about preparing for our holy, immortal, and abundant life in the kingdom. We basically become a sacrifice in obedience, although not to the ferocious and bitter end of our Savior, but for His purposes alone. That IS His purpose-driven life for us now that we may have the glorious abundant life in the kingdom to come. And this is the entirety of the reason He created us! John the Baptist is an excellent example of living a divine purpose-driven life wandering the desert in his animal skins and feasting on insect delicacies, preparing the way for the King of the world and then losing his life because of it. However, he is far from the only one. We have a great cloud of witnesses standing right beside John cheering us on to stay focused and endure, some of these witnesses having never received the promises in their lives but instead endured great persecution, tribulation, and ultimately martyrdom. Was this the best abundant life now for these dear saints, or do we dismiss this by saying, "that was then, and this is now". Granted, we are now in an age of grace, but the Heavenly Father does not change. Our mandate as disciples of Yahusha is the same as then, and He left us this understanding all throughout the red letters of His word. However, today many are choosing to adopt as truth the plethera of devil-dangling distractions and deceptions leaving us feeling entitled to our best life in the here and now; and this is not the full truth at all. The following somewhat sobering scripture states the truth very well: For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Matthew 16:25 Grace is a gift to us right now and oh how incredibly abundant it is, but the overall Truth of what it means to be a true disciple of Christ who waits for his most abundant life in the kingdom to come is firm and unchanging. In this very late hour, it is imperative that we recognize this, embrace it, and ask Yahusha to fill us with all truth and the ability to walk it out in full obedience through His strength, His mind, and His love. It's the only way we can accomplish this now, and it's the only way we will have the full abundance of life that He came to restore. As I write this, it is as much for me as it might be for anyone else who reads it. This seeking of kingdom everything in this life does not happen overnight, and it may take some time to even understand at first. It's taken me a good, long while to come to the full understanding to the point that I am beginning to actually walk it out. If we truly love our Heavenly Father through His Son and want to walk in all truth, this is the first step. He will put the desire in our hearts and will take us down this very narrow path, and as it is narrow, there aren't many others on it making it quite lonely at times. And because this is a "path", it has to be walked out over time where we may stumble or even fall some. But if we press on with our eyes on Him, longing for and seeking Him in all truth, He will take us all the way to the end of the path where we will find the real abundance He has prepared for us that no human mind can conceive or imagine. He is oh so faithful when we are willing to stand in His truth in full obedience. In closing, I leave a few scriptures that give us the hope of the abundant life that is waiting for us as we keep our eyes fixed on the King of the kingdom! And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35:10 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4 And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. Isaiah 25:6-9 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 1 Peter 3:14 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. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 1 John 2:28 According to the scriptures above, and also many others, there are words to describe our stance before our Holy Savior upon His return:
Now let's look at Jude 1:24 in a few different versions and see what this "stance" brings: Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. (NLT) Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy... (NKJV) Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling or falling into sin, and to present you unblemished [blameless and faultless] in the presence of His glory with triumphant joy and unspeakable delight... (Amplified) We are told in more than one way that our stance before Christ of shalom (peace) and confidence will bring us "great joy", "exceeding joy", and "triumphant joy and unspeakable delight". This obviously sounds so wonderful and perfect and something that we seek and anticipate with all our hearts. In reality, this is the reward!!! I ran across the picture below a few weeks ago and saved it. It moved me at the time, because it spoke the epitome of what I just described above.
I am sharing all of this somewhat in a full-circle approach. Most of us start with the picture above and then some may fall out of it for various reasons that actually may be necessary as we begin to actually live the truth of the Word and accept the full truth of our fallen and sinful state; then we come full circle back in wisdom, understanding, and fullness of faith. When I stated that some of us "fall out of it", this is always attributed to our lack of understanding and faith, and of course our own actions. Our King provides us a way to enjoy the confidence of this perfect picture all throughout our walk, regardless of what He allows us to experience, if we continue walking in faith of His unsearchable love. I admit, my faith varied many times in my walk, but oh no, giving up was never an option. Although I wavered, my love for Him endured, and I am so grateful He gave me this strength. He simply will not lose even one of His own!! While I believe that the picture we see here is the truth of what it will be like, I don't believe it is always seen in fullness of truth. It wasn't for me, at least; and I share this just in case it is true for you too. When we stand before the Son of Man upon His return and in our own individual judgment, we will stand before ALL truth, THE truth, for only HE is Truth. We will stand before pure, unaltered, and absolute truth, and this Truth (Yahusha Himself) will judge our hearts. If we have not searched out His truth but instead stand with our own thoughts and ideas or those things we have learned from our religions, teachers, and pastors, we run the high risk of being bowed down before Him in shame. The Word says that our works will be subjected to His judgment; and remember, His eyes are a flame of fire! For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 1 Corinthians 3:11-14 The Word also unequivocally states that the works of our hearts are many times deceitful and wicked, even from the complete wrong and even evil motivation. Our hearts are so mysterious that we can't even truly know what exists deeply buried in the crevices. It's a storehouse for everything we've ever felt or experienced; and if is not renewed and cleansed by Truth, it stands to be deceived. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 So obviously, we cannot trust our own hearts, no not one bit. We cannot trust what we believe from our hearts, unless it is founded in the pure truth of Christ. He IS truth, and He IS the Word; therefore, all we believe and all that flows from us must be based on this. This is where the true shalom (peace and utter completeness) will manifest within us when we stand before Him, and His judgment of our work will render approved! Can you imagine this feeling?? Yes, this is unspeakable joy and delight as we stand before our Righteous Judge, King, and Savior -- the Lion of the tribe of Judah -- and He receives us with open arms! Can we reach this place now, in this life, where we are so resting in His truth that His shalom never leaves us, resulting in a meek and humble confidence that keeps us rejoicing without ceasing?? Yes we can!! The Word shows us that the rejoicing of the people of the Most High is never-ending!! This somewhat "indiscriminate" rejoicing is the proof! This rejoicing is not necessarily "happiness" of the world, but a joy and peace that surpasses all understanding in every single situation we face, whether sorrow, death, sickness, poverty, etc. I do not say this comes easy... no... and many times we are faced with these situations over and over to finally instill it within us. This is necessary to prepare us to stand before Him... in exceeding joy and liberty! The picture we see above IS the truth! But do we understand it in full maturity... but yet still keeping our first-love, childlike heart founded and grounded in experience, endurance, and faith? He who called us is faithful to get us there! Yes, He is!! Look at this again: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling or falling into sin, and to present you unblemished [blameless and faultless] in the presence of His glory with triumphant joy and unspeakable delight... Jude 1:24 (Amplified) I mentioned above that the Word tells us that the people of the Most High God can be identified by their rejoicing. I would like to leave you with a few of these scriptures to encourage you to know this and live this, if you are not yet in this place. I am still learning and growing in this regard, but I believe I finally understand it! Praise be to the glorious name of Yahusha, "Yah's Salvation", as He continually and faithfully leads us into all truth! Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified. Psalm 40:16 In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare: but the righteous doth sing and rejoice. Proverbs 29:6 Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee. Psalm 33:20-22 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. Psalm 32:11 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Hebrews 3:6 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways... Isaiah 64:5 And one more thing... I just can't resist!! In Ecclesiastes 3, we are told that there is a time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to dance and a time to mourn, and so forth an so on. I believe that in all of this, no matter what time it is, the internal rejoicing within our spirit as demonstrated in the scriptures above should never cease. And so, as you watch and enjoy the short little video below showing the undeniable contagion of laughter, imagine the impact of ongoing spiritual rejoicing!! |
Special NoteThese writings are written in love and a spirit of servitude. They are not designed to judge but make us think. We are all sinners in need of saving, and we all need encouragement and absolute truth to endure on the narrow road to sanctification and ultimately eternal life. Categories
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