As I was initially inspired to write this post through Art’s message, I thought the title would be different than I have now titled it. This is because at the time I was listening, a familiar pain had already been brewing in my heart and then came to its fullness yesterday. I didn't realize at that time that these things would be linked together and would form a message that I very much needed to hear. I desire to share this with my brothers and sisters who may also be in a similar situation -- for His glory and your edification. First I want to share that the title of Art’s message is called, “Knowing from Whence He Came”. This message reveals the deep revelation and impact of the knowing of the depth of what our Messiah, God incarnate, sacrificed to step out of complete and perfect oneness with the Father, that which He eternally had before the foundation of the world, to come to our realm and literally BE us. He became us to the point He took on our wretchedness and filth to crucify it and gain the ultimate victory over it – all in utter purity and obedience to the Holy One of Light. What He left behind is unfathomable, and Art does an amazing job, only through the Spirit, in revealing this. His goal was to help us see, as it was revealed to him, the magnitude of which can only be seen with spiritual eyes -- that we may have this KNOWING inscribed in us and as a result be able to do just as our Messiah and Savior did – sacrifice ourselves. This message is the reality of our existence, and it is simply not preached or taught much at all. As I was listening to this, several things began to come up in my heart and mind – all while a totally separate thing was going on in me… the brewing of a familiar pain that I thought was finally in my past. I’ll share about that part later. This message was all about the true knowing and adoration of the Messiah – not the “adoration” of the world that is abused in its use of this word, but the true meaning of adoration that is only applicable to the Savior and King of the world. It is an adoration that is authentic, pure, and steadfast because we KNOW; we KNOW the depths of His sacrifice. We know as He did. Art gives his full two-hour message primarily on one scripture that speaks of this knowing… Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God… John 13:3 Amazing thing is that this is also applicable to us. Do we truly know within ourselves, the depth of our being, that we have come from God, Yahuah, and are going back to God? And do we fully understand all that our Savior sacrificed to rescue and save us -- before the foundation of the world as well as in the world? This knowing is best described in Hebrews 10:34, as Art shared: For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Hebrews 10:34 This knowing we must have is inscribed in the fiber of our souls and being. It is the knowing that secures our oneness with Him and equips us for full endurance. It is a “knowing within ourselves”, which is the very expanded version of believing. Believing is not enough; we must know that we know that we know, to the point that our actions live this knowing consistently. It's a settled knowing that becomes our identity, and it cannot be shaken. As we are growing into this place of knowing, many times our circumstances and trials and sufferings can create a pothole in the road for us. The sometimes unbearable related feelings can become so overwhelming that our knowing becomes clouded and distorted, and we begin to base the knowing on our felt "truth" instead of the truth. In my own present journey, I know this process quite well and find myself weary at times revisiting the things that I thought were overcome. This can be discouraging, but I know without doubt that He finishes. It is already finished, accomplished, and done. He will finish His own workmanship; He will perfect His own -- those He purchased with His sacrifice and His own blood. So in the midst of hearing and receiving this wonderful message by Art Katz, a test was being prepared for me. I will not go into the minute details, but I will say that it involved the possibility of me finally having the joy of being near family again but then having the sinking disappointment that this may not be after all. This triggered something in me. As many of you you know, I lost my family (mom, dad, and brother) in a fairly short period of time, and it has changed me in all honesty. I know it has been for my good (because He said ALL things are for my good); but not all good is fully manifested yet. I will admit I still struggle in many ways. Very shortly after these losses, the Father also asked me to relinquish all needs of comfort that I thought I could have from my sons and to solely rely on Him. That was hard, because the presence of my sons could have made my wounded and weary flesh heal a bit faster… or so I thought. That was not Father’s plan… He was to be my sole Source for this healing. While it felt like the most horrible thing that could happen to me in the midst of so much loss, I can look back now and see the absolute love in it – the total love of my Bridegroom being the only one to comfort and heal me. I know He is jealous over this, because I am His Bride, but in all honestly, I want to KNOW this every second of every day without wavering!! I want to live every day in the absolute knowing of what He sacrificed for me and that I am truly His as His Beloved Bride -- without one single doubt. I have said this many times in the last months and remember when this understanding hit me… the Father’s love for us is so great (and the Word actually calls it “cruel”) that He will allow whatever level of suffering is required that He may have us with Him forever and ever. He will allow us to suffer so greatly to the point we feel we could die in our hearts – all so that we can be in His very presence always. In other words, He will do with us what it takes to have us, just as He did with Himself to have us. He will not lose us; therefore, He will “kill” us here if that’s what it takes (and obviously I am speaking of levels of suffering and death to flesh). And unfortunately, that is what it takes. While our Savior was God incarnate, He experienced and felt even greater sufferings that we could never bear, but He overcame. The Word says that He learned obedience by the things He suffered. We also must do the same, and while the Son had the Father in Him to be His strength to endure, we have the Son in us to do the same (for He in us is the hope of glory!). Many times, however, we put a stop or delay to this suffering through following our unbearable feelings and resulting murmuring, and then the process starts over again. If we are His, it shall be, and therefore, we simply must deliver ourselves up to suffer as He did, knowing we will ultimately endure, overcome, and obtain the reward. That is the promised glory of pain. So yea, I can say all of this and understand it, but can I live it? Can I reach the place of knowing the magnitude of His sacrifice (to that degree that Art describes in his message) and living this by my own complete sacrifice for Him? I so want to, but at the same time I know I cannot in myself. It can only be done by His power, His love, and His Spirit in me. I can only surrender and obey, which I will admittedly say that it is not always easy – no way is it easy when the feelings of suffering overtake to the point our bones within our physical bodies are screaming in weakness – reaching the point in our hearts that we would rather give up than feel the pain anymore. David wrote about this feeling – and so here we have the very “man after God’s own heart” struggling just as we do. What a comfort!! Selah… O lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee: let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry; for my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave. I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength: free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. Psalm 88:1-7 We know that David overcame… by the Word – the Son and Spirit of the living God -- and His immeasurable grace. He knew the Messiah in the way that Art Katz explains; he knew the depths of the salvation of God. Obviously this too is our remedy. This is also our lot – this is our life and the plan of our full redemption and Bridal preparation. It is our destiny… to suffer, to be transformed, and all to the glory of God, to become His image. This is not to say the Father does not bless us and give us the desires of our hearts, both spiritually and physically. He does, and we don't deserve it. This is to say, however, that we cannot be conformed into the fullness of His image without suffering; it is impossible, because the Savior Himself set that in motion. And to be in the direct presence of a Holy God full of Light... to be the actual Bride of the Son of God, we must reflect the Son. This morning as I was processing my overwhelming feelings of sorrow and disappointment, I wrote down some truths about these “things” that can overtake us and force us to believe their reality, when in fact, many times true reality is the opposite. These are the things that take our knowing backwards into the reality of our pain instead of the reality of His sacrificial love which sets us free, even in the midst of pain. I would like to share these now:
It is further an amazement to me that as I was experiencing all this in the last 3-4 days, my sister Pietra was preparing her latest teaching – perfectly connected to what I have shared, including Art's message. His message and her teaching go hand in hand, and both spoke to me before, during, and after my little sorrow episode. The Father was ahead of me, just as He is always is! I also know that there are others close to me going through similar things where past wounds and the associated pain have resurfaced, and we know there is a purpose! It is important that we see and appreciate that as we go through these things, our Father is behind the scenes preparing an answer and understanding and direction for us through His chosen vessels (or other means). He is always timely and provides His strength at the exact moment of need. Pietra's message was the icing on the cake in my situation, giving me more in-depth understanding of the reason for my continued suffering, my sometimes erroneous expectations of spiritual things, and the reminder needed that this all simply must be for me to have that which I crave and desire. As she said to me this morning, "Remember, He is dealing with you as His child, not a bastard". That alone was a "case closed" truth needed to press on! Earlier in this post, I spoke of us delivering ourselves us to the suffering that is required for our perfection (completion) in Yahusha. As I typed that, I thought of what Pietra shares in this latest teaching… that ultimately we reach the point that we actually DESIRE this suffering. We don’t just go through with it as our "only choice" or because it's the right thing. We become like Him and even like our brother Paul and others and find the glory in it so much greater that we begin to actually desire and joy in this suffering. That feels far away for me, but with Him all things are possible. Bottom line is that the call is great, and the cost is great – greater than we ever imagined or expected. But then again, it was the same for our Bridegroom – except that He KNEW and He still did it. Truly knowing this (the innermost knowing) is what will bring us the actual desire to suffer alongside Him and for as long as it takes. In closing, I would like to share both the message from Art Katz, “Knowing from Whence He Came”, as well as Pietra’s latest teaching applicably called, “Servants of the Most High God”, should you be lead to partake and receive. Again, these are both connected to each other, and both are related to the personal things I shared. The Father orchestrated the timing of everything as a full message to me as it transpired, and therefore I know it is likely going to be exactly what someone else needs to hear as well. Both messages are rich in truth that will deeply inspire and bring a joy of understanding that will revive our weary hearts. May you be blessed and edified! All praise, glory, and honor to the One and Only Holy One – our Rock, Fortress, Deliverer, Savior, and Father. May we keep our eyes solely on Him, even when it feels that our eyes and hearts are failing us; in this we are sure to overcome. Please note, playbacks for Art's teaching on other websites is not allowed, so to listen you will have to go directly to YouTube via the button below. For consistency sake, I will link Pietra's teaching the same way.
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Within the last month or so, I’ve had a realization or revelation that I was able to put into words. I’ve repeated this to those closest to me whose main goal in life is to seek the Father through His Son. It’s just been IN me. This is generally what I spoke: We serve a God who would crucify and kill His own creation in the midst of them being alive, while they are living and breathing -- to the end that He will ensure that they are there with Him, in all the beauty He has created for them, for all of eternity. That is a love that is incomprehensible. This is true of our God, the God of love – Yahuah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the only God who loves so much and so deeply and so purely that He will kill His own to do the work within them so they may be with Him forever. Does that even make sense in our human minds? We know this is true and is His very nature, because He has shown us in His Word through live examples of His dear ones like Job, Joseph, David, and Yahusha. Job in particular was a very righteous man according to the Word, but his suffering was more than our minds can even conceive possible. But what came from Job in all he experienced... a great seeing and knowing! I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Job 42:5 It’s true… we cannot fully see or know Yahuah through His Son Yahusha (Jesus) unless we suffer, unless we die. To know Him is to know that He is a God whose entire being is a consuming fire of holy light and love. He is One whose slightest glance and presence will annihilate sinful flesh on the spot – not because He is violent and condemning, but because His consuming light of love and holiness will automatically destroy anything that is opposed. He knows our frame and that we are but dust, only living and breathing because of His life within us; so to look upon us now is to kill us instantaneously. Although He knows this, yet He still does… kill us… because He must. To know Yahuah is to know that He will do what is necessary in us unto death. He does so slowly and in perfect order and timing and in a way that is gentle and long-suffering (although admittedly, there are times when it doesn’t feel very gentle). He shows us this path to death most perfectly through His Son, who was also killed. However, Yahusha took the ultimate path not required of man. Although being tempted in all things as we are and remaining fully pure and righteous, He was tortured mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, and He was “forsaken” by the One with whom He was one. He not only bore His cross, but He bore our sin. He suffered to the point that the natural water that would come through His body as tears and sweat came forth as blood. His very life was in that shed blood even then, while He was still breathing. We are not required to suffer to the point of blood while we are still alive, because Yahusha took that impossible feat upon Himself. But we are required to suffer nonetheless. We are required to follow Him, carrying our cross/burden, and be willing to die to ourselves, being crucified with Him (as Paul says in Gal. 2:20). We must die/decrease that He may live/increase in us. He has told us this repeatedly in His word; it just really doesn’t sink in until we find ourselves craving more and more of Him at any cost, and then it comes. As I spoke forth the words I shared above, I knew it was revelation that came from the Spirit and I was compelled to use my mouth to speak it as truth. But now I see even more that the timing was perfectly ordered and ordained. As I was speaking it forth in a knowing of only limited understanding, the Father was prepared to quickly give me more understanding by experience. In His grace, He shows us through experience that we may comprehend and that we may submit. In all honesty, I have been feeling the death of myself for about eight years now. I’ve called it my wilderness, because it has been one of death, barrenness, and loneliness – although I have learned and gained much spiritual endurance from it. There have definitely been streams of living water that He has given me to keep me alive in this wilderness, so that I can endure unto completion. There is always mercy in our suffering, for His mercy endures in all things and forever. I keep hoping my time in the wasteland is almost over, but there is one thing I must remember. I am supposed to die there, but the fullness of this death has still not yet come. A few days ago, I had an “episode” that has become somewhat of a regular occurrence since I lost my family, my 20+-year best friend, and other “possessions” that were not as important but had a significance at one time. It is an agonizing emptiness of feeling like an unloved orphan, being isolated from anything or anyone familiar, and a loneliness that swallows me up and pierces the heart just like death. In all honesty, these moments can leave me wondering why I am still here and feeling that I have nothing to offer anyone, not even my sons. While I know this is not true, I can become so “dead” in the despair that it’s hard to see anything else. Sometimes these episodes are so painful that I feel I cannot comprehend them or contain them. They are not always to this extreme, but sometimes it does go there, and this last time was one of those. On the other hand, somehow in the midst through the grace of Yahusha the Messiah, I have grown in the Spirit enough that I am eventually able to rise up out of that pit and praise the Father and thank Him for every loss and for every tear and for every inch of the grueling pain – and truly mean it! Does it stop the pain? No it usually does not, but it makes it bearable. It is then I remember that it is for His grand, perfect purposes and not mine, and it is a means to know and trust Him more intimately and perfectly. I remember this and accept it, and it strengthens me. It is for an eternal, glorious purpose; therefore, it can be (if I will receive it) a “light affliction” on this side compared to the glory to come. If I can stop and see myself as what I really am in His eyes – both absolutely the dust of nothing AND the absolute joy of His heart – I can rest in His strength while He sees to it that I keep going. That is what I have been doing, and that is the only reason I have made it this far. This dry and lonely wilderness and these episodes of death are absolutely necessary to break off any dependence upon anything else. I know the strength it is producing in me, and I know the Christ it is forming in me. It is pure fellowship with Him where His presence is literally all there is. There is nothing else. And as I have been telling Him for months now… IT IS ENOUGH! The day after this pitiful experience (and yes, pun intended because it felt like a pit!), I spent some time conversing with my precious sister and mentor, Pietra, from South Africa. This is a woman whom Father has chosen to be by my side during these last three years to share with me the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom she has gained from her own wilderness and death. I am constantly amazed and grateful that the Father would assign her to me, because I see where she is now, and it shows me where I am going – and it is no light thing!! We are continually in touch and typically exchange either by text or voice over Telegram. This same day we were sharing by voice back and forth, and as usual, what she shared resonated and comforted me greatly. It me took me one step further to understanding my own situation and the magnitude of this death that simply must take place. One of the messages in particular was so profound and confirming to the things Father was already showing me that I knew I was to transcribe it and share it. Her words were in response to my episodes of agony of nothingness, loss, loneliness, feeling abandoned by all, and wondering why I am here (and this is of course not the first time she’s heard this from me). What she shared was authentic wisdom, birthed from real experience where she lived it, endured it, and was resurrected up out of it. These words were breathed out by the overcoming Spirit of Yahusha in her, who she has allowed to be her ALL. As I listened, I felt nourishment and comfort as the words were like soothing honey poured over my head, and although they were different words, they formed the same message He had already begun to speak to me. What my sister shared is precious words of depth that can likely only be understood and received by those who are also tasting of this death. If you find yourself not understanding this now, please don’t worry or disregard it. If you are pursuing our God with all your heart, soul, mind, body, and strength, you too will likely enter into this. Father will do as He desires, even if it is just to plant these words within your spirit that they may spring up at the appointed time. Below are the words as she spoke them directly to me. But remember, these words are not just for me, not even for a minute! Please also receive them as yours. “I have now reached that place where I have no expectation from anyone, to be fed by anyone or to receive anything from anyone. My expectation is only of Him. We learn to walk without this where we have no source but Him. When we are called to walk alone with Him, He will strip and strip and strip, even to silencing the voices around us. I was thinking of Helen Keller, who did so much for the Kingdom of God. What a provision her deafness and blindness was for her, because it required her to lean solely on her God. In all of her immense lack, she chose to grow in absolute dependence upon Him. In the midst of my own great loneliness, Father told me that this loneliness was a gift. Even though we can sit back and think about it and agree that it has taught us much, we still have those moments when it is very difficult to deal with this loneliness, even knowing that it is a gift. The Father said to me, “Possess nothing, desire nothing, and be nothing. Be willing to be the world’s nobody, my nobody, even if forever.” I had to count the cost, even though I had no idea. I had to think of what it means to possess nothing, desire nothing, and literally become nothing. What does this mean? Loneliness is part of this. As long as we have anything that we depend upon or desire, we are still going after it in some way. As long as we still desire to be with people and still want that communication and the pat on the shoulder and the comfort and encouragement, then we are still yearning after that and desiring that. Desiring these things is not a bad thing, right? It is a natural desire and is how the Father made us to be dependent on one another as the body ministers to one another. We are social beings. So how does one marry these two dispositions where the one is natural and the other is most certainly unnatural? Being nothing, desiring nothing, and having nothing is completely unnatural. And because it is unnatural, it is actually spiritual. Our whole being is like a magnet to the natural; however, it is unnatural for us to be spiritual, and the world will tell us this. It will say that it is unnatural to not have these things or not want them… the encouragement, togetherness, love, appreciation, significance – and it’s not necessarily wrong to say that. But the Father is calling us to walk after the Spirit and not after nature, or the flesh, no matter how logically it makes sense. There are few who are willing to walk in this way, because the cost is so ultimate. There are even less who understand it, because they have never proposed in their hearts to truly possess nothing, desire nothing, and be nothing. Subconsciously, we are counting the cost, and most people are not willing to pay that price. As I sit here today, I am aware of a shift that has actually taken place in me. The only way I can explain it to you is that I possess nothing, I desire nothing, and I am nothing. It’s like I merely exist. And I know it is only Him who brought me to this place. It is only Him who can take you where become nothing and there is nothing in you of a natural desire that needs the natural things. Yeshua said that man should not live from bread alone (the natural), but from every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. To live from His words is not just the ability to be sustained when He speaks to you, but actually the words ARE the life in you. And that life is not just eternal life, but resurrection life. You live by that life now. Many subscribe to this resurrection life but actually live outside of the reality of it. They desire to have this but have it not, because they never truly entered into the death that must precede it. It is the death to the natural. For us to die to lustful pleasures -- fornication, adultery, stealing, lying, etc. -- is elementary. To die to the very life in you that requires you to become nothing… very few do this. This place where He has brought me to become that very thing that you yourself are desiring – which is because you desire truth and authenticity – requires the same death that you are now experiencing. But it is for the purpose of bringing you into resurrection life now! Not future (that too), but NOW! That death has to be utter and complete. It is a journey as you know. When you go into those moments where you feel it is like a dark pit swallowing you up in such sadness and heartache, remember Psalm 139 – that all you members were before Him when you were formed in the depths of the earth – all your members, which is your whole being – your organs, your flesh, your mind, your heart – your members. All of that is before Him and written in His book as He now forms you in the pit, the grave. Just think of the magnitude of that mercy to bring you to this place, however painful, and that it is such a grace and such favor and mercy of God – to extend to you that kind of sanctification that is so complete. How can one ever put a price on this? And yet He asks of us to count the cost for that life. It is death, it is utter death, and it is complete in all your categories. In His mercy He extends flickers of that resurrection life, the more we die. The Word says that the path of the righteous is like the sun that reaches noonday, ever increasing this life in you as you die in darkness. This resurrection life starts increasing and increasing in you all the more until it shines as bright as the sun at noonday where there are no shadows . When the sun is at its highest, there are no shadows. There will be no shadow in you – no darkness – because His light, His word, His truth, His life has entered into you because you were willing to go into the depths of the darkness of the grave. Only He can bring you up from that place. I pray this encourages you to stay the course, to know that there will be a moment where the light breaks through, just like the darkest night has to give in to the first light of the morning. Maybe that is why you love the dawn so much, the first light, because you long so much for His light to shine in your darkness. He is the Son, the strong man, that comes like the sun and races on His course, and He will not leave you in darkness. He will not leave you in that place of utter despair. He knows how long you need to be there, and He knows your breaking point.”
1. Our crucifixion involves the very godly attributes of our fathers of Israel:
3. Our burning “flesh” is a sweet-smelling aroma to Yahuah. We can only receive the fullness of the fire of Yahuah when we are willing to become the sacrifice.
As I pondered more about this suffering, I was lead to go back and look at my blog posts around the time that my dad passed away (he was the last of my family members to pass). I was lead to a particular post where I was able to write the words of the Spirit from a place of my own intense suffering. Only the Spirit can enlighten us to the sweetness of bitter and sometimes agonizing pain that we face in this life. I think this post is a perfect compliment to this current post. If you are in a place of suffering and need encouragement, please consider reading "The Sweetness of Suffering". I have transparently shared some things here regarding my own struggles and heart condition, and that can be a bit unsettling sometimes. However, His glorious ways are worth proclaiming, even if we expose ourselves! And also very importantly, YOU are worth it. It is just as Paul told the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4 (and in several other places as well), that all the difficult trials and challenges he and the others were enduring was for their sake, that the grace of Yahusha would reach to more and more people and increase thanksgiving to the glory of our God, Yahuah! I pray that this sharing edifies and encourages you in the way you need at this very moment! All praise, glory, and honor goes to our God and Father, Yahuah, through His beautiful Son, Yahusha the Messiah! Many of us find ourselves right now in the midst of the waters of difficulty, testing, and trial as our world and our country seem to be groaning from the inside out. We, the people of the Most High God, through this are being shaken and subjected to situations we have not yet experienced before. Situations that beg the question... will we trust Him or not? It brings to my heart over and over the scripture where Yahusha (Jesus) asks if He will find faith on the earth when He returns (Luke 18:8). I ask of my own heart... will he? As we go through what seems to be bad event after event in our nation and world, many of us find ourselves at times simply struggling in general.... whether it be from experiencing the death of a loved one, our own physical ailments, the lack of peace and normalcy in the earth, loneliness, the burden of family and friends who cannot see the truth and do not walk in the truth, and the list goes on and on. I have even found myself in what feels to be under a dark cloud of sadness where it seems so difficult to break through. But oh yes, Father always strengthens me to break through at some point (and many times through the prayers of my brothers and sisters)!! He IS completely faithful, and there is no change in this. Having said that, the time under the dark cloud can feel hopeless and helpless; it can literally feel as if there is no way out, even though we know He is there with us. These are the times we must break through, believing that we have been given the strength, the authority, the mind, and the love of Yahusha (as His word clearly says this)! Yahusha Himself also felt some of these very same things and always overcame through His faith and obedience to His Father. He knows intimately what we are going through as He experienced the same trials and temptations of man! He is there to help us break through if we will only believe; and He IS literally there beside us the whole time, although we may not feel Him at all! These trials are our practice to reach the place of trusting Him where the dark cloud has no place -- where there is no wavering and only loving and obedient faith... through Him. Oh how I long for this place; but honestly, there are still times when I feel so far away. I am reminded at this moment... These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33 It is in these times that we must allow Father to use every second for our growth and His glory. In other words, let us not allow one tiny bit of our trial to be wasted! We must be willing to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to suffer as much as needed to prepare us to be fully His, for His kingdom and His purposes... a bride without spot or wrinkle! We are no longer our own; we have been bought with a very dear price. Honestly, without chastisement, testing, and suffering... can we really be His disciples and servants? No we cannot. So, our suffering is our price to pay. All in all, our trials are opportunities to prove we believe this and will stand in it, regardless. As I have experienced much of what I am sharing today, I felt compelled to encourage all of you who are likely experiencing very similar things. In the midst, it is so important that we allow the truth of the Word to be our encouragement, pressing on in full faith in Him; for there is no other option. And when the dark cloud comes and we feel we are trapped under it, we must STAND. Even if we stand in silence, we simply STAND in His truth. And when we stand, Father provides many infallible ways for us to overcome, and He is faithful in each one. These things we experience are for our own good and His glory; that is the foundational truth that must permeate our hearts. As we practice more and more, and sometimes have to practice the same thing more than once, we will begin to come to a place when we can truly rejoice in our trials and suffering. This has to be the very thing that inspired Paul to say this: Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5 In closing, I would like to share something that has encouraged and inspired my own struggling heart, helping me to more fully understand and embrace my times of suffering, even when I feel paralyzed in them. It is written by a very devout monk from the 1600s named Brother Lawrence who reached the ultimate place of surrender and rejoicing in the midst of suffering. These words are taken from a letter that he wrote to a brother in Christ to encourage him in his own time of suffering. Please allow this wisdom to minister to your soul and equip you to willingly suffer for our Savior -- all the while knowing that this same level of divine peace can be yours in the midst. All we have to do is want it and ask for it, patiently staying the course as our loving, compassionate, and understanding Father and Savior will work it out and finish it in His time and at a pace we can handle. May you be blessed and encouraged as you encounter and endure your own walk of suffering... I thank our Lord that you have received some relief from your suffering, for I know this was what you have been wanting. I have been near death often. I have never been as content as I was then. Therefore I did not pray for relief, but I prayed for strength to suffer with courage, humility, and love. How sweet it is to suffer with God! However great the suffering may be, we receive it with love. It is paradise to suffer and be with Him.
If we desire to enjoy the peace of paradise in this life, we must accustom ourselves to intimate, humble, and loving communion with Him. We must keep our spirits from wandering away from Him on any occasion. We must make our heart a spiritual temple where we can adore Him continually. We must watch incessantly over ourselves, so that we may not do, say, nor think anything that may offend Him. When our minds are focused on God, suffering will be filled with peace and solace. In the beginning, it is very difficult to arrive at this state, for we must act purely in faith. Even though it is difficult, we also know that we can do all things with the grace of God, which He never refuses to give to those who ask for it earnestly. Knock and persevere in knocking. I assure you that He will open to you in His time, and immediately grant you what He has delayed giving you during these many years. God knows best what we need, and everything that He does is for our good. If we realized how much He loves us, we would always be willing to receive both the sweet and the bitter equally and indifferently from His hand. Everything that came from Him would please us. The most painful afflictions appear intolerable only when we view them in the wrong light. When we understanding that it is the hand of God that dispenses them, and we know that it is our loving Father who humbles and wounds us, then our sufferings lose their bitterness. They even become sources of consolation. May all our energy be devoted to knowing God. The more one knows Him, the more one desires to know Him. Knowledge is commonly understood as the measure of love. The deeper and more extensive our knowledge of Him is, the greater will be our love. If our love of God is great, we will love Him equally in pain and pleasure. *This excerpt was taken from the book, "The Practice of the Presence of God". I have posted on suffering before, and it seems it's that time again. Suffering is absolutely and equivocally a part of our walk. Without it, can we truly know our Savior... the Suffering Servant? And as we all desire to know Him more than anything else, we learn to offer ourselves up to these times in our lives when we must suffer in our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our bodies -- all that we may partake of a small portion of what He endured because of His amazing and endless love for us. And because ALL things work together for our good, we wait in anticipation for the wonderful good He will always bring out of our suffering. Praise Him for His faithfulness! Below I share a writing by Pietra de Bod that describes suffering in a way that encourages greater understanding, peace, and willingness to submit to it every single time it is brought our way. I pray that if you are in a time of suffering that this writing will feed you, inspire you, and bring strength for endurance so that not one second of your suffering is wasted and all things are accomplished through it according to the Father's perfect will. I also have a video listed below that is very fitting, as it describes in great detail from a medical perspective just what type of suffering our Savior, Yahusha ha Maschiach (Jesus Christ) endured. This is the type of video you will be compelled to share! Suffering by Pietra de Bod People like to live in unreality because they do not want to see things as they truly are. They prefer denial. Reality is not easy to deal with. It confronts us with our apathy and demands action. So unless there is an identification with reality, you will not be willing to suffer for the truth in obedience. It will not be because you have to, but it will be out of a vital union with His heart, seeing what He sees and hearing what He hears, as the Head of the Body. What breaks His heart, will break yours. Such a death, demonstrated by ultimate obedience, will bring with it resurrection life. Every condition in life has an appropriate obedience to bring God’s life into it, but we must be willing to first see it as it is in reality. These obediences are death. It is a willing suffering. His love is a suffering love. Once we see in reality the true state of things as God sees it, seeing with His seeing, it will bring with it the ultimate urgency in obedience to God. Art Katz says, “We will not see the ultimate requirement if we choose to live in denial and it is the very reason why we do not have the stomach to obey ultimately. We will only be willing to oblige Him, but not suffer for Him, and therefore we fall short of His glory!” We read in Romans 8 the following: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. How will we then be able to stand as Ephesians 6 requires of us, and how will we be able to stand during persecution, even in our day-to-day life. We hear words like our warfare is not carnal and that it is not against flesh and blood, but our actions show that the reality has not sunk in. We still fight amongst ourselves hurting each other, the Body of Christ. What obediences and seeing precluded the Richard Wurmbrands, Dimitri Dudumans and Brother Yuns of this life? And why are we so far from their realities? These are strange men to us. Our obediences which is as death to us, is God’s ministry of mercy towards us who suffer. How will we be able to extend mercy to others if we have no identification with mercy? How weightless is our mercy and devoid of identification with hardship? Is this not who Jesus is – the High Priest of our faith, because of His identification as the suffering servant? Our obediences will often baptize us in weakness, so that His strength can be made perfect in us. Being broken vessels, marred by the Potter is not the actions of a sadistic god who enjoys the pain and suffering of his creation. No! The broken vessel is the one whom He has broken in order to deal with all the impurities deeply seated within. As long as you have all your pieces together, you are still in control, but by your brokenness His very will is accomplished. He shares not His glory with the flesh, lest we say it is out of our own accomplishments and effort. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities and by His stripes we are healed. All glory has a prelude of suffering and obedience of an ultimate kind. If you listen to the experiences of Richard Wurmbrands, Dimitrov Duduman and many others, you will hear of great suffering and their obedience to God in that suffering, which was of an ultimate kind. But their testimonies are not void of the glory of God and the presence of God in a very real way. In fact, their eyes were opened to another reality, which is of the spirit, and this reality is much more real to them than the natural. An interesting note is that of today’s “Prophets” with all their dreams and visions, how many of them have a testimony of the accompanying suffering that preludes such tremendous visions of God? The question is now, not then, whether we are willing for such an obedience that will require suffering? Our flesh cries out for release and comfort. It hates suffering! Everything in us wants to be released from it. Can we suffer to say no when the temptation for relief comes to us in the words of “you deserve it, take it.” Or, “It is not the end of the world” or, “you can do it tomorrow”? Will you be able to see this as temptation and will you be able to deny it daily? Day after day? Do you have the mature character to resist it by a consistent life of discipline in a history with God? Do you even have a history with God? To live before the audience of one, where no one sees your suffering and that which you lay on the altar, no one except the One who sees all. And lest we think that our obediences are our safeguard, think again, because the enemy will make use of the opportunity to let us focus on our obediences in our pride, just as those who suffer from self-pity focus on their suffering. Paul only rejoiced and boasted in his infirmities and weaknesses. God’s strength could only pitch over Paul in his understanding and bracing of his weaknesses, because Paul knew exactly what kind of man he was before the Lord saved him. This was the reason for the process of sanctification he went through, especially in all his suffering. Paul’s focus was not his suffering or obediences, but it was the glory of God. For of Him and through Him and to Him is all glory! (Romans 11: 36 KJV) In the same way Abraham had to die in effect to himself before he agreed to sacrifice his own son in obedience. For Abraham it had to be a done deal even before he and Isaac walked up the mountain. Abraham was not in dread all the way up. In his heart He already knew that God would provide, even if it was going to be after the knife pierced his son’s heart. And God’s answer to Abraham was, “Now I know you fear Me…” How much did Father suffer when there was no provision made when His Son became the sacrifice? The Word says in Ecclesiastes that everything has a season and a time. We go through different seasons in our life and some of them can seem unbearable. Can you lay down your will to when that season should end? Are you willing to let it last forever if it will serve His purpose? Waiting is not for the faint of heart. It is a death to your ways and an embracing of His. Especially when you do not understand. “How one dies reveals who one or what one is. Dying is an ultimate moment, which reveals ultimately.” – Art Katz. Very often God brings to death even ministries, dreams and even marriages, so that when He raises it, He gets the glory. This is for us very difficult to understand. It makes no sense, because we cannot fathom that God would do something like that. It seems contrary to the Word of God. However, that is like saying that the only bad things that can happen to us is that which the enemy does. But do we ever ask the question why would God allow the enemy to go so far with us? He has the whole spectrum and knows everything years in advance. He is outside of time, sovereign and He knows what He is doing. Dare we actually believe that He can do with us just what He pleases just as the Potter has a right to break the pot and mar it? Not because He is vindictive, but because He knows the end from the beginning. He is the Alpha and the Omega at exactly the same time. The moment there is a jealousy in our lives for the glory of God, hardly anything in our lives will remain untouched by Him. If we abandon our lives and our thoughts to Him and learn to understand His ways, it will protect us from the pitfalls and deceptions of this world that will cause us to turn against God when things go wrong. So when the hour of testing comes, when persecution comes, how we react, finds us out as we truly are. It will either show forth the fruit of all our previous obediences, which is unto life everlasting, or disobedience which is unto death. Can you dare to believe that your sickness is for the glory of God? I do not say that God is the author of sickness, but is it possible that God has a greater purpose with it, than just your healing? The disciples asked Jesus who was responsible for the man born blind, his parents or because of sin? Jesus replied, “Neither his sin nor his parents but it was for the glory of God.” (John 9: 3 KJV) My interpretation of that is that God who has already written all that would happen to Jesus in His book, predetermined that Jesus would heal this man, and that it would be for His glory. Of course, any healing done by Jesus is for the glory of God, but surely the disciples knew that. Everybody wants to make sense of pain, and often this relates to having to blame someone. Once there is understanding of the way the Spirit works, you start to look out for those occasions because His discipline becomes a delight. Maturity starts to take place and mourning and murmuring is replaced with a teachable spirit that is willing to suffer. Not one moment in your life is insignificant or accidental, but in everything God has a purpose, whether devastating or not. For God every second of our day is accounted for – all our days are written in His book. He knows our Aquila’s heel, that very thing that twists the knife in our already open wound. He knows what is needed to break the flesh. In my own life I can testify of great hardship and I came to the understanding that this was required in His great wisdom to break me. And break me it did. But praise God He built me up again! It was not easy, but oh so worth it! You can either work with Him or against Him. Do not think your inactivity is not a choice. If you choose to not do anything, you are still rebelling. But if you choose to be attentive to His ways and principals there will not only be growth and healing, but greater intimacy. Hebrews 5: 8 says, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience by what He suffered.” When we start to serve God in such a way, we will be indeed seen as a peculiar people. People will see you as crazy and heretical even. God does not require us to go with the masses…the sheep knows His voice. His sheep runs to a different beat. They do not act out before contemplation and they know how to wait on God. The sheep do not follow other sheep, they follow the Shepherd. They are altogether not like this world. We will often seem loveless, either by our silence or by our words. The fact that we do not react and do like the rest of the church or the world, the way the rest of believers act, are altogether very strange to them. We are weird to them. This all disqualifies us for the world, but qualifies us for God. This is a people that do not find it necessary to defend or prove themselves to others, not out of arrogance, but because of their security in God. Suffering is God’s judgment upon us. The sin which would not have exposed itself has to be revealed, in order to prepare the vessel, not just in cleansing and sanctification, but to strengthen it in its weakness. We cannot know God’s mercy without His judgment. For as we are broken in judgment, so we are built up into a new vessel to be able to have such a treasure within. A vessel (body) fit for use, which only would have come out of suffering and judgment. For as the things of the Spirit cannot be received by the natural man, who considers it foolishness, and indeed he cannot understand it, because it has to be spiritually discerned, so the spiritual man judges all things, and is himself judged by no man (1 Corinthians 2: 15 KJV). For who knows the thoughts of God that he may instruct Him, but we have the mind of Christ. The flesh cannot contain, apprehend or hold and receive into itself the revelations of God. He can only use us to a certain extent because of an undisciplined life. Living undisciplined lives both in the natural and spiritual. All because of our unwillingness for God to deal with us. You don’t give a sword to a child. Suffering prepares the soul in discipline and the body for endurance in times of travail. Who is able to share in the fellowship of the suffering of Christ if they have not been prepared and trained in the school of Christ in longsuffering? This kind of endurance does not happen in a moment, but in the school of life, until we reach the full stature of Christ and Christ is formed in us. Gethsemane is called the Olive Press. On that night, the Olive of God was pressed, however oil did not run out of Him, but blood. Our Saviour was crushed by our sins and by the wrath of God. No man touched Him in that garden when the blood flowed. It was His own agony and suffering that made the blood flow from Him. Blood flowing willingly for us and our redemption as the Son of Man. Laying His life down for us, so we too must lay our lives down for one another, as His body. There can be no identification with His Body, without the identification of the cross, which is suffering. A suffering that leads to ultimate obedience, obedience of an ultimate kind, even unto death. Consecration allows the Holy Spirit to work without restriction. Before consecration we sit on the sideline and wait for God to do everything. Our will is passive. But when we consecrate ourselves to Him, we make a decision to actively engage and submit to His discipline. A life of consecration is a life of obedience after obedience. Watchman Nee in his book, “Releasing of the Spirit”, says, “It takes consecration plus the discipline of the Holy Spirit to make us vessels fit for the Master’s use.” Yesterday morning my heart was yearning to be emptied of me. (I firmly believe this is a continuation of my experience from the day before which I very briefly outlined in the last Manna Bite.) After recently asking the Father quite frequently to show me the barriers in my heart to receiving His fullness, He showed me a few things -- behaviors and attitudes -- just within the last 24 hours that are not pleasing to Him. When I pondered these, they repulsed me, and made me cry out for help for them to just go away! I began to repent, and then I wanted to read about someone in the bible who struggled with similar things and how they overcame. My mind immediately went to Paul, so off to Acts 8 I went to read of his conversion. But before I got to that chapter, I reached the chapter about Simon the sorcerer first -- and not by chance either. From here I studied his "gall of bitterness" and "bond of iniquity" just to understand how the slightest root in our hearts can affect our thoughts and motives and actions -- even after receiving salvation and being baptized! This then led me to Gehazi, Elisha's servant, and the strong root that had to have been in his heart to cause him to actually lie to Namaan and Elisha for personal material gain (2 Kings 5). I would like to share a bit of what I found in this study, because it seems that many of us are in this intense place of cleansing... emptying and releasing... that we may be fully filled with the Father's heart to endure what lies ahead and for our assignments in these last days. This helped me to remember that it only takes one small bit of leaven to leaven the whole lump (Galatians 5:9), and therefore, we may have to dig deep and find that little (or big!) something hidden in our hearts that only Yahusha can excavate and eradicate. In looking specifically at Simon the sorcerer in Acts 8:9-25... his "gall of bitterness" and "bond of iniquity" was such that he sought to pay money for the Holy Spirit that he may be endowed with power to do the same as the apostles. While it stated that he was in wonder of what he saw and that he also believed in Yahusha and was baptized, this bitterness and iniquity that resided in his heart did not disappear immediately. Instead, it kicked into gear, and caused him to desire the the very thing that had previously motivated his sorcery and witchcraft. In looking closely at "gall of bitterness", we can see the depth: Gall - G5521 - gall or bile; poison; maybe the same as G5514, which means greenish hue; used in the OT as "bitter" Of course, when we think of gall and bile in our bodies, it is the greenish yucky stuff that our gall bladder and liver remove from us -- the toxins and poisons and bad stuff that can harm us. This stuff must come out of the body and cannot remain, or it will literally poison us. Bitterness - G4088 - acridity (sharp, biting, or bitter), especially poison; bitterness The gall of bitterness in Simon was nothing less than similar to poison within his heart that was tainting his motives and likely affected everything that came out of him; and you know he was likely a miserable soul to boot! Thus, as Peter said, he could have no part or portion with the Holy Spirit until this was repented of and eradicated. The "bond of iniquity" also that plagued Simon was just as bad. He was literally bound (united, joined to, and even shackled) to injustice and moral wrongfulness. It had a hold on him. It was ingrained in him, buried in his heart affecting his thoughts and actions, making him, as Peter said, not right in the sight of the Father. Do some of these roots and bonds still reside in our hearts? Very likely yes, as the heart is so very deceitfully wicked, that it is impossible to fully know it (Jeremiah 17:9). These unresolved things in our hearts, no matter how small they may seem to us, have the potential to breed iniquity of all kinds. They hide and look for opportunities to come out of us in actions and attitudes; and before we even realize it, it's already happened and there we stand convicted and sometimes even ashamed. And it seems these roots and bonds are so many times associated with some form of pride or self-focus. Just like Simon... although it appears he truly believed in Yahusha, his focus was self-gain and glory, birthed from sharp and biting poison and moral iniquity in his heart. And how did this get there? It could have been anything... past wounds, unforgiveness, lack of self worth, willful sin, etc. Bottom line is that it did not go away immediately upon belief in Yahusha, and it was so prevalent in his life that it manifested itself quickly for all to see. These roots and bonds may be difficult for us to be rid of. It takes a pure, heartfelt desire and total surrender and then full assurance and faith that Yahusha will cleanse us. With some of us, this may be a process, especially if our roots go deep. This cleansing brings me to where I went next after Simon the Sorcerer. My bible commentary then took me to to the story of Gehazi, Elisha's servant, in 2 Kings 5:20-27. When reading this, it was just plainly obvious that something was lurking in this man's heart. To be the servant of the prophet Elisha and to boldly lie to both Namaan and him for personal material gain is just so blatant. Sad part is that this sin cost him his health, as leprosy was pronounced on him and all his seed forever. This is not the part of the story that moved me. I read the entire chapter, and it was what happened to Namaan before the incident with Gehazi in 2 Kings 5:1-14 that I believe is the key to what's next in this process of dealing with these roots and bonds. Namaan, a Syrian captain of the host of the King, was sent at the word of a captive Israelite maid to see "the man of God" (Elisha) to heal his leprosy. Elisha did not go out to meet him when he arrived but instead gave him some simple instructions of what to do through a messenger... Namaan was told to go and wash in the Jordan seven times and his flesh would then be made whole from the leprosy. Namaan was not impressed at first but then changed his mind at the advice of his servants and followed the instructions. When he did what he was told, he was miraculously healed. Because "leprosy" in the bible represents the defilement of sin and the resulting separation from the Father and the family of believers, seeing that Namaan was healed of this lead me to look into this washing seven times in the Jordan. Is this a representation of how we too can be cleansed? Jordan - H3383 - a descender; from H3381 - to descend, to go downwards to a lower region.... figuratively to fall Seven - H7651 - the sacred full one, a week; from H7650 =- to be complete, repeating a declaration seven times, take an oath or swear Obviously the Jordan River is significant. Yahusha was baptized in this river, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him like a dove. Also, since it also means to descend or go downwards to a lower region, I immediately thought of bowing down in humility. Thinking of the Son of the Most High God stepping into the water to allow a mere man to baptize him... this is nothing but absolute humility! This is the river of humility where we also will descend downward but in our leprosy (defilement of sin), to bow down and submerge ourselves in the water that washes (which is Yahusha, the living word!). So with us, first we believe that we can be cleansed through Yahusha, just as Namaan ultimately had to believe enough to follow the instructions. Then we bow down in faith and humility, confessing our roots and bonds, that we may rise up having been washed. It's all about our faith in and obedience to Him to do the cleansing! But Namaan had to do this seven times. This process had to be complete in order for full healing to take place. Obviously the same is true with us; therefore, we believe Yahusha will finish His work and we follow His lead and stay the course in patience and obedience. And also, do you notice that the word "seven" also means repeating a declaration seven times or to taken an oath?? As we go through this cleansing process of our own, I believe this is also confirmation that our words and proclamations must line up with what we are expecting! So here we all are... wanting to be completely emptied of all these roots and bonds that still plague us from time to time and also take up space in our heart that belongs to Yahusha! Just the fact that we desire this is proof enough that His Spirit is working in us. And if we are willing to make this process complete through patience and obedience, then we can rest assured that Yahusha will finish this cleansing process that we may come closer and closer to Him, with our ultimate goal to be in total oneness with Him. I crave this day and look forward to being able to walk continuously in the Spirit to glorify Him and be His ambassador in this earth! So after this little study, I was ready to read in the book "Manna, Bread from Heaven" (by Pietra from South Africa). I ran down the table of contents to see where the Spirit would lead me to focus. I came to the writing titled, "Nothing". I thought, "Yes, that is me and that is what I want in my heart that He may fill it all!". Needless to say, it was the icing on the cake! I would like to share this writing with you below, as it seals up this blog post very nicely. And finally, again today I was blessed to be lead to another one of Pietra's writings that put the cherry on top! This one is titled, "Naked" and can now be accessed via link, since Pietra now has her own blog! This writing profoundly takes us to an example of that final place of surrender and cleansing! Please access this writing here. (And please also browse through her site; you will not be disappointed!!). In closing, the Father has been speaking loudly and clearly to us a very important message in these last days. Our emptiness, our nothingness, and even our nakedness before Him is required in order for us to be completely and fully filled with His love and Spirit and clothed in His righteousness, through His only begotten Son, Yahusha ha Maschiach. If we are willing to deplete ourselves to this point, He is willing to fill us to all fullness. I am so ready and pray that you are as well!! NOTHING
By Pietra de Bod How many times have you said “I can do nothing without God” and cried out to God in surrender? “Help me Lord, I’m drowning!” But when we look again, we have taken things into our own hands. Once again, we have tried to persuade by our own means to get them to do as we say. Tried to convince those we love of the need to follow the Lord with all their hearts. Trying to make them see things as they ought to. Having lashed out insults or retaliated in kind, just as they do to us. Where is our nothing? Nothing equals empty. Am I really empty if I still produce the fruit of anger and bitterness? Are you empty? Or do you find yourself still wanting to get in the last word? Have you asked yourself whether your reason for offense is just as much validated in God’s eyes as it is in yours? In the end it does not matter what we think of a situation, but rather what He thinks. No longer is it about my circumstances. My circumstances will drive many to tears, but it is about doing the will of God in spite of them. We come to a point where we realize that nothing we say or do will change those around us, and that the only one we can change is ourselves. I have long ago come to the conclusion that unless I change, my circumstances will drown me after each wave of panic, insults, blasphemies, and loneliness. No, no longer can I be swayed and tossed about by these waves. I have to start swimming instead of drowning. I have to fight back again. Only not in my own strength. This time it will be God fighting my battles. Yes, here we are. Having started in the Spirit, but coming to depend upon the flesh again. The only reason for that is that our nothing is not nothing. Still there is pride, still there is self-effort, and still we do not trust. Unless we die to all our plans of how to fix something or change something, we will time and time again meet up with our inability. And it is these very circumstances where we feel so out of our control that He uses to bring us to complete surrender. You can choose to fall on the Rock, or the Rock can fall on you. He has to bring us often to this place of complete weakness and defeat so that there will be no more plans. I call it the most horrible right place to be. This is where we come as a child and fall into His arms. Not in our strength, but in complete surrender. Before we can say, “I can do nothing without God”, we ourselves have to be brought to nothing. Empty of all our plans and no longer leaning on the arm of flesh. He really does not need our help. He is only moved by faith. Scripture Reference: Jeremiah 17:5-10 5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. |
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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