The Judgment of the Neck

There’s a difference between humbling ourselves and being humbled by God. When God convicts us of a wrong we have done and we acknowledge our fault, and also ask Him to forgive us, we’re humbling ourselves in the privacy of our intimate time with Him. Another way God can correct us is when He sends a person of spiritual authority to bring the correction from Him. When this happens, and we accept the correction, and ask Him to forgive us, we can prove our true repentance by seeking to turn from the wrong thinking that led to the wrong behavior and find restoration back to our right standing with Him. 

And when necessary, we make restitution when our fault caused damage to others because many times, asking God to forgive us is not enough. We also need to ask the one(s) we wronged to forgive us. If we have not done anything to repair or restitute the injustice or damage, there’s still a charge against us in the spirit realm. As we choose to take this humble step, and make restitution, God will give us grace and help us do the right thing, even when those we faulted against may or may not accept our apology. What we should concern ourselves with is being accepted in God’s eyes.

1 Peter 5:5 

“You who are younger in the faith: do as your elders and leaders ask. All of you should treat each other with humility, for as it says in Proverbs , God opposes the proud but offers grace to the humble.” VOICE

There are people in the Bible who received judgment for dishonoring and openly rejecting the Lord. Some of them served Him with wrong motives and others rejected Him by engaging in idolatry. To them, their judgment was shown in what happened to their neck. The neck is related in spiritual things to whether we turn to God with our hearts or are rebellious against Him and His ways. The neck also has to do with governmental spiritual authority since it is connected to the head. However, our spiritual authority can be lost with continual rebellion, disobedience, and an abject rejection of God. 

This means that our ability to count on God’s continual presence in our life, especially in times of warfare has to do with whether we seek Him daily and give Him a very important place of priority in our hearts and in our lives. God loves us all and is Omnipresent (present everywhere), but His presence accompanies those who choose to draw near to Him as the Scripture tells us. These are the ones who see victory in their battles. 

James 4:7-8

“So submit yourselves to the one true God and fight against the devil and his schemes. If you do, he will run away in failure. Come close to the one true God, and He will draw close to you. Wash your hands; you have dirtied them in sin. Cleanse your heart, because your mind is split down the middle, your love for God on one side and selfish pursuits on the other.” VOICE

James gives us an important clue. It says that before we can see victory against the enemy we must first submit to God (obey Him and His Word). We start this submission by coming close to Him and washing our hands (from the guilt of our sin by turning from it). We also must cleanse our hearts and come out of double-mindedness by not trying to pursue God one day and our selfish pursuits the next day that are not His will for us or is not the right time for them. This double mindset leads to defeat. 

We see this in the story of David and Goliath. We have heard of David’s constant pursuit of God and His ways. Even when he made mistakes, he turned to God for forgiveness and asked that His presence and His Spirit would not depart from him (Psalm 51:10-11). David made God’s presence a priority in his life, and even when he sat on a throne as king of Israel, God did not stop being a priority in his life. He worshiped him whether in private or in public.

David also passed down the awareness of this priority to his son Solomon when he was going to occupy the throne of Israel. But this choice of making God first did not start with David. We know that David is a descendant of Ruth. A woman that was born a Moabite. She came from a place and people who were highly idolatrous and had their origin with the sin of incest between Lot and one of his daughters. 

But this did not stop Ruth from desiring to serve the God of her mother-in-law Naomi, and to worship Him for the rest of her life. God then showed Himself gracious to her and gave her favor among the people of Israel. This caused her to meet Boaz and later become his wife. From this union, she gave birth to Obed, who was the Father of Jesse. Thus, she became the great-grandmother of King David and ancestor of our Lord Jesus.

Ruth 4:13-17

“So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, ‘Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer (grandson, as heir) today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.’

“Then Naomi took the child and placed him in her lap, and she became his nurse. The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, ‘A son (grandson) has been born to Naomi.’ They named him Obed (worshiper). He is the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].” AMP

On the other hand, in this genealogical battle, Goliath, David’s opponent, was said to be the son, along with four other giants of Orpah, also a Moabite. Orpah was the other daughter-in-law of Naomi. Some Theologians say that because she turned her back and left Naomi to reunite with her people and returned to her idolatry, her name was described as Orep- neck. This describes her rebellion against God after having served Him with Naomi and her family when her husband was alive. 1*

In addition, according to the Midrash Biblical Interpreters, what gave place to the birth of Goliath and her other giant brothers was Orpah’s continual involvement in promiscuity and other negative characteristics that could’ve been part of her idolatrous lifestyle. Thus, she was considered an immoral woman.1* This kind of lifestyle was also passed down to the next generation and we know from 1 Samuel 17 that Goliath the Philistine giant was a sorcerer from Gath who loved to intimidate and curse the army of Israel under the leadership of King Saul. 

At the time of the confrontation, David demonstrated his courageous desire to fight this giant because he knew that the same God who delivered him from the paws of the lion and the bear would also be with him to defeat this giant. Here, a curious principle of warfare is that the loser team is demanded to serve the winning team, and Goliath even stated this principle when he threatened the army of the Israelites. 

1 Samuel 17:9-10

“If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.” Again the Philistine said, ‘I defy the battle lines of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may fight together.’”  AMP

The defiant giant did not count on God giving the battle to the one who had a heart after His own heart and also showed Him his faithfulness. This battle was already determined by God to give David the victory and a great promotion. And so it happened that the uncircumcised Philistine was no match for David’s deliverer who used His supernatural power to sink the stone David threw into his forehead and killed him. By his defeat, the stiff neck of the genealogy of the giant was dealt with when his head was cut off with his sword.

1 Samuel 17:45-47

“Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that this entire assembly may know that the Lord does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will hand you over to us.’” AMP

Another case of a neck that was judged was that of Eli and his two sons Hophni and Phineas. In this scenario there was also a battle between the Israelites and the Philistines, but this time, the Israelites were utterly defeated. The reason, though they initially had the ark of the covenant of the Lord in their possession, which symbolizes the presence of the Lord, He was not with them. There was tremendous sin in their camp caused mainly by Eli’s two sons.

In this battle, this principle of warfare was also at stake and the Philistines did not want to serve the Israelites who had been their servants. The victory continued on the side of the Philistines because in 1 Samuel 3:13-14 the Lord had told Samuel the judgment rendered to Eli and his sons for their continual dishonoring and blaspheming Him by stealing the offerings of the people and other abominable behaviors in the sight of God that they engaged in while serving in the temple and their father didn’t do anything to stop them. The Lord told young Samuel,

“On that day I will carry out against Eli everything that I have spoken concerning his house (family), from beginning to end. Now I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the sinful behavior which he knew [was happening], because his sons were bringing a curse on themselves [dishonoring and blaspheming God] and he did not rebuke them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the sinful behavior of Eli’s house (family) shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.’”  AMP

Hence, the ark was captured by the Philistines in this battle, something that was devastating to the people of Israel, including Eli. When a messenger came to let him know what happened in the battle, he told Eli that his two sons had died in the battle but the high priest and judge of Israel already expected it to happen for Samuel had revealed to him what the Lord was going to do with them, and he accepted the judgment of the Lord (1 Samuel 3:18). That’s why he did not show himself emotional at the news, but when he asked what had happened to the ark and was told that it was captured by their enemies, he fell backward and broke his neck for he knew he could not live without the presence of the Lord. This was a sign of the public opposition of God against him for choosing his sons more than Him because 1 Samuel 2:30 says, 

“Therefore the Eternal God of Israel declares: “I promised that your family would go in and out of My presence forever. But now I surely declare, those who honor Me I will honor, but people who choose to despise Me, I, in turn, will consider contemptible: those who hate Me will not matter to Me.” VOICE

If this was not enough, when Phineas wife, who was pregnant heard about the defeat of the army of Israel and the death of the men in her family, she went into sudden labor and gave birth to a son before she too died. And she named the child “Ichabod” which means “The glory has left Israel.” Therefore, as we have learned in this post, it matters when the presence of the Lord is with us and He helps us defeat every enemy of our destiny. 

For this, we must humble ourselves before Him daily, and choose to draw near and submit to Him with obedience. We were born to worship Him and He loves it when we choose Him above all else. There’s nothing that can compare to being in His presence where we find comfort, love, joy, His loving kindness, and correction when necessary because He wishes that none should perish, but have everlasting life.

1 Samuel 4:21-22

“And she named the boy Ichabod, saying, ‘The glory has left Israel,’ because the ark of God had been taken and because of [the deaths of] her father-in-law and her husband. She said, ‘The glory has left Israel, for the ark of God has been taken.’” AMP

To God alone be all the glory.*

Images by Google Images 

1*. M, Michael, “Orpah and Her Interpreters: Evaluating the Justifications for the Traditional- Stereotyped Readings.” ECWA Technological Seminary, kagoro. OTE 24/2 (2011): 390-413. 

Preparing to Ride the Wave of Grace that’s Bringing the Unlovable to the House of God #3: The Separation of the Wheat and the Chaff

Isaiah 41:16

“You will separate value from waste, and a great wind and a strong storm will take away what is useless and unimportant. You will take joy in the Eternal. You will glow with pride in the Holy One of Israel.” VOICE

Before you continue reading I must warn you that this is a strong post, yet a Word I received from the Lord. We’re still observing the feasts of God and the new Hebrew calendar 5782. While I won’t go into detail explaining the three feasts and all they entail, what I will mention is that during the feast of Yom Kippur which took place from the evening of September 15th, 2021 until the evening of September 16th, 2021, we observed the Day of Atonement. **

This is a day also known in some Jewish communities as the holiest day of the year in which they remember the atonement sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ for the sins of humanity. It’s a day spent with much prayer, fasting, and repentance for the sins committed during the year. The importance of the observance of this day in this manner is that it is a day known for heaven to open the book of life and determine the names that will remain in it and the ones that will be removed. 

We all should observe this day with repentance every year because according to our actions and motives, and whether we present our sacrificial offerings in a manner acceptable to God, then He determines if we enter a new season of blessings or go back around the mountain of testing and trial for our lack of obedience and lack of just actions. And even worse than that, as already mentioned, some will be removed from the earth.

Some will indeed go because it was their time to graduate on to heaven. But others are reaping the consequences of their unjust doings. As the Scripture above describes, God’s separating the value from the waste in our lives, and the wind of the Holy Spirit is the One doing the work of separating and removing with the Holy Angels of God that have been dispatched for this task. Therefore, this is a time for us to look inwardly and ask the Lord to show us our wrong doings and things we have done against others so we can repent (turn from the wrong direction into the right direction and course of action).

Daniel 5:27

“‘ tekel’—you have been weighed on the scales [of righteousness] and found deficient;” AMP

One other way of looking at this is that we have all been weighed in the balance against His standard of righteousness and every area that is found unjust (how we’ve treated others), every area where we have been dishonest, shown lack of character, lack of integrity, lawlessness, rebellion against Him, His will, His Word, and His commands will be shaken according to what we have done so that what is left is our desire to look more like Him and to seek Him and His righteous ways for our lives. 

Also, as mentioned, the wind that is blowing away the unwanted waste in our lives is the Holy Spirit, and everything we have done following the influence of the spirit of this world will be shaken away so that the unshakable (the Kingdom of God, His truth, His will, and His ways) may remain and we can rebuild our lives on its foundation of righteousness and justice. An important reason for this is that God has declared war and judgment against the spirit of this world and its ruler Satan in every generation (See Exodus 17:16) .

Hebrews 12:27

“Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.” NKJV

This shaking also includes God becoming a swift witness against all corruption and unjust scales in every sphere of society, against the building and rebuilding of structures of what is false, against all idolatry, all workings of iniquities, all abusive behaviors through sorcery, the things held back and hoarded against others, the exploiting of laborers, widows, and orphans, exploitation of the youth through trafficking, and mistreatment of foreigners because as Malachi 3:5 states, these are the actions that come from the twisted thinking of those who don’t fear of the Lord.

Judges 6:11

“Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the wine press [instead of the threshing floor] to [hide it and] save it from the Midianites.” AMP

In this Scripture we see that Gideon was trying to beat the wheat in the wrong place and in a way that obstructed the separation of the wheat and the chaff. Instead of doing that in an open space where the wind (the Holy Spirit) could blow away the weightless waste in his life, he hid in the winepress to do his work for fear of the Midianites, but this method was not fruitful. 

This is similar to every area of compromise that God is confronting in our lives, and where many did things in obscurity thinking it would never be brought out in the open. But God, the Righteous Judge is exposing things in this hour and releasing consequences of those wrongdoings because He’s separating the sheep (obedient to His voice) from the goats (rebellious and defiant against Him and His will), so that He can send blessings to His obedient people, and release His wrath against the rebellious. 

Matthew 25:31-46 shows us other ways for us to see whether we have obeyed the Lord or sinned against Him and those around us. It says,

Verses 31-36 “‘When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and  He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father,  inherit the kingdom  prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink;  I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was  naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me;  I was in prison and you came to Me.’

Verses 37-40 “‘Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you,  inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Verses 41-43 “‘Then He will also say to those on the left hand,  ‘Depart from Me, you cursed,  into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

Verses 44-46 “‘Then they also will answer  Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did  not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you,  inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And  these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’”  NKJV

If reading this is making you shake in your boots, there’s hope, and you can still seek the Lord with repentance for all your wrong and unjust actions. Seek to mend the relationships you can and rectify your wrong actions, and most of all, ask the Lord, God of all the earth, and Righteous Judge to forgive you of your sins. 

Doing this may not prevent the consequences of your actions, but will ensure that your relationship with Him will be restored and He can lead you on the right path for your life and destiny as you continue to seek Him, obey His will for you, and follow His righteous and just ways.

To Him alone be all the glory. *

Image by Google Images 

** See: Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement @ www.hebcal.com/Holidays 

Preparing to Ride the Wave of Grace that’s Bringing the Unlovable to the House of God 2

A few years ago, the Lord gave me a vision of two buildings that were one in front of the other. What divided them was the street for people to walk on or drive. They looked like any other building with cars parked, according to the direction of the traffic. However, the building on the right side of my view was five stories tall, while the building on the left side was seven stories tall. 

The lower floors of the building on the left reflected the shadow from the building on the right. But the higher floors were exposed to the light of the sun until the top two floors fully reflected the sunlight. Not only that, but from those top two floors the view was more panoramic and I could see what was covered by the building in front. This reminded me of the Word in Isaiah 55:9 which says,

 

““For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” AMP

The Lord has brought this vision to my remembrance on several occasions to explain to me when we may be seeing things from a lower perspective that comes from the reflection of the shadows we’re beholding. Said another way, according to the level from where we stand in our spiritual walk, even though we truly love the Lord and want to serve Him, we can only reflect the level of light we’re exposed to. 

Our level of exposure to the light of the glory of God can be high or low due to different factors, including whether or not we seek His presence and obey Him no matter what He asks us to do. The Bible says that we all have sinned and fallen short (are in need) of the glory of God (See Romans 3:23). When we’re operating from the low levels or our fallen state, we’re reflecting the darkness that comes from the influence of the spirit of this world. The Lord even told me that the influence many are reflecting comes from the second heaven, a place where the demonic operates from. 

If we expose ourselves more to the things of the world than to the presence of God, we will reflect the shadows of the world and not the light of His glory. Some of you may think this doesn’t apply to you because you don’t go to clubs, are not involved in promiscuity, or worship idols. But you may watch more TV than you read the Bible, or are more preoccupied with the opinions and narratives of social Media than you are with what God has to say about your life and your calling, or you may be easily offended and given to slander and gossip. 

2 Corinthians 3:8 says that we behold as in a mirror the glory of God. In the same way, if we’re beholding the darkness of the world, that’s what we reflect. It says, “And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.” AMP

Prophetic people, especially, must be careful that what we see or hear is not from the narrative that comes from the second heaven. We want to see and hear what comes from the third heaven, where God’s throne is. For this reason, being proactive in our healing from wounds and deliverance from bondage is a must. The enemy seeks vessels to speak through or act out his influence since the spirit world requires human beings to host them and give them permission to fulfill their plans in the earth. 

This is true of both the Kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of darkness because God gave man the authority to rule the earth realm. Therefore, whatever we’re beholding or being constantly exposed to is what we’re authorizing to operate on the earth through us because both the Spirit of the Lord and the spirit of this world seek to influence us. We need to choose which kingdom we will give access to manifest on the earth.

Genesis 1:26

“Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”AMP

As shown in the vision the Lord gave me, the building that was seven stories tall was able to reflect the light of the sun, first because it was facing the sun, and second, because it was taller than the other building and the higher floors could reflect its light. The lower floors reflected the shadow from the other building which also blocked the view of the many wonderful things that were behind it, which the people in the lower levels could not see.

Seen from a spiritual perspective, this made the level of faith of the people in the lower levels reflect the only thing they could see: the building in front of them, while the people on the top floors could see more of the light of the sun, the ocean, a beautiful park, a church, a theater, and other buildings. Living a scenario like this in the natural would make it difficult for the people that live on the lower floors to talk about what they see with those who live on the top floors since the scenery is different. The ones on the lower floors cannot argue that what they see is an absolute since the ones on the top floors can easily prove that it isn’t.

An example of this is the prophet Elijah who was at the top of Mt. Carmel not only as a location but also as his seventh floor spiritual height. From this vantage point of the higher ways of God, he could hear that a torrential rain was coming. His servant, on the other hand, had to go through the process of climbing to this height before he could see that a small cloud, the size of a man’s hand was forming. From the lower levels the servant could not see what the Prophet could see and hear with clarity from his higher perspective (See 1 Kings 18:41-44). 

Hence, for us to reflect more of the light of the glory of the Son, we’re required to grow to higher levels of spiritual maturity that come from beholding the Son in His radiance through our relationship with Him. Another important factor in rising up to higher levels is when we allow Him to take us through the processes that help us walk in higher levels of His glorious light. We all have at some point in our lives reflected the fallen state of Adam, who forfeited reflecting the glory of God through his disobedience to God’s command to not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  But Jesus came to restore to us what Adam had lost. 

Romans 5:17

“For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.” NLT

As mentioned, we’re called to grow to higher levels of faith and of glory, but how do we do that? Many people call for the glory of God to come down and God does come down and shows us His goodness (See Exodus 33:18-23). But for us to be constant reflectors and glory carriers, we must rise to new levels of faith and of the light of the glory of God in our lives which helps us see more of the higher thoughts and ways of God. 

Isaiah 60:1 

“‘Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you.” NLT

As we can see, the Word calls us to rise up and let our light, which comes from the glory of God, shine for all to see. This means that as mature sons and daughters of God, we see His higher thoughts and ways in our circumstances, and can take a stand with authority against the enemy. In fact, the word “arise,” which is a plural verb that works as a call to the body of Christ, in its Hebrew meaning denotes that we stand up against our enemy. 

There is no passivity or complacency in taking a stand against the enemy. The Word says that we’re to resist him, but not without submitting to God first and His authority over our lives. Then we can watch him flee when we obey our God (James 4:7). Ephesians 4:13 also gives us the example of Jesus’ spiritual height that is an absolute necessity for us to reach as His body. It says, 

“until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity].” AMP

For Jesus, even though He was fully God, in His human form, as a demonstration to us, was required to grow in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man. Thus, besides His times of fellowship with the Father, growing in these four aspects, helped in His spiritual maturity and reflection of the light of the glory of God. Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and men.” AMP

Explained further, Jesus demonstrated these four aspects of our spiritual growth:

1. In wisdom—mental maturity, by the renewing of our mind. 

Romans 12:1-2,

“Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].” AMP

1. In stature—physical maturity, by the nourishment and strengthening of our bodies and by living holy lives because we’re temples of the Holy Spirit. 

2 Corinthians 6:19-20,

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]? You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]. So then, honor and glorify God with your body.” AMP

1. In favor with God—spiritual maturity, as we keep a strong relationship and fellowship with Him by reading the Bible, praying, fasting, declaring and obeying His Word, and by concerning ourselves with every aspect of our calling and destiny in Him, and by following the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  

John 17:3-4,

“Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent. I have glorified You [down here] on the earth by completing the work that You gave Me to do.” AMP

1. In favor with people—relational maturity, by caring for and protecting our process of maturity in all areas of our lives as we receive from others who have reached higher levels of maturity than us. In turn, we can help others reach higher levels of maturity, for the Bible says this contributes to our oneness and unity as a body. 

Galatians 6:1-4

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love]. For if anyone thinks he is something [special] when [in fact] he is nothing [special except in his own eyes], he deceives himself. But each one must carefully scrutinize his own work [examining his actions, attitudes, and behavior], and then he can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable without comparing himself to another.” AMP

Therefore, let’s not live out of the reflection of the shadows of the spirit of the world which block the reflection of the light of the glory of the Son of God in our lives, so that what we see and hear comes from the light of His glory and not the things of darkness. Let’s also give to God in obedience every yes to His will and to His way He’s asking of us. For decreasing that He may increase in us is not a loss but a marvelous gain of more of Him and of the ways of His Kingdom in us and through our lives.

To God alone be all the glory. *

 

Preparing to Ride the Wave of God’s Grace That’s Bringing the Unlovable to the House of God 1

 

Revelation 1:7-8

“Look! He is coming with the clouds, in glory. He will capture every eye, Even of those who pierced Him through. All the nations of the earth will be pierced with grief when He appears. Yes, may all this be done according to His plan . Amen...I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the very beginning and the very end,] the One who is, the One who was, and the One who is coming: the All Powerful.” VOICE

The grace of God has come to us in greater ways to help us accomplish what we could not do in our human weakness. This great grace is necessary for the awakening that many are experiencing to move them out of the grip of darkness and into God’s marvelous and glorious light that’s exposing their sinful ways to them. This call to repentance is driving many to go after the light of Jesus and seek ways to forsake their former ways. 

However, God’s warning us to not look to them as if we are clean and want no part of their filth. These people have found themselves entangled with sin in many forms and need us who call ourselves God’s children to extend a helping hand that demonstrates His love, His compassion, and His forgiveness for their sins. The fact is, that, if we violated one word of the law, we are guilty of breaking all of them. So, rather than judging others for where they have been, God is calling us to obey the command to love Him and them as we love ourselves.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7

“Israel, listen! Our God is the Lord! Only the Lord ! Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your being, and all your strength. These words that I am commanding you today must always be on your minds. Recite them to your children. Talk about them when you are sitting around your house and when you are out and about, when you are lying down and when you are getting up.” CEB

Mark 13:30-31

“and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You will love your neighbor as yourself.  No other commandment is greater than these.’” CEB

The Lord through His Word has given us, His children, this very clear and explicit command. And it’s so simple, there should be no confusion or doubt about it. As mentioned, the command is to love Him with all our heart, all our being, and all our strength. He even charges us to pass the knowledge of this command on to the next generations by speaking about it and demonstrating to them what loving our God looks like. 

The Word also says that this first commandment is not a suggestion but a must-do. But how do we live this out and demonstrate it to others? The answer to that is by not compromising our standards as people who have learned through experience to trust Him to be a God who loves us and believe that He’s righteous, just, powerful, faithful, and able to take care of us, answer our prayers, and save us from the wiles of the enemy. 

One thing that ensures our protection and keeps us in the shadow of His wings is our obedience to His Word, and to the promptings, He gives us by His Spirit as He stirs our heart in the direction He wants it to go in our daily lives like He directs the course of the waters (Proverbs 21:1). For this, 1 John 5:3 tells us what it means to love God and that loving Him is not hard to do. All it takes is a determination to live to do His will and please Him no matter what others may say.

“You see, to love God means that we keep His commands, and His commands don’t weigh us down.” VOICE

2 John 1:5-6

“So now, dear lady, I am asking you to live by the command that we love one another. I’m not writing to you some new commandment; it’s one we received in the beginning from our Lord. Love is defined by our obedience to His commands. This is the same command you have known about from the very beginning; you must live by it.” VOICE

As we have seen, loving God means we obey Him, without this, we could not fulfill the second command to love others as we love ourselves. Indeed, this command is charging us to look outside of ourselves and demonstrate the love, mercy, and loving-kindness of our God to those who waver in their faith, and also to not ignore those who have soiled their garments of righteousness with the filth of the earth. We’re called to pull them up and out of the pit, but being careful to not fall in the same traps they fell.

God is showing us in His Word ways we’re to partner with Him to disarm, dismantle, and overthrow the enemy’s tactics against us and those around us who, in their weakness, fell short of His will for them and may feel they can’t get back up on their own. To do this, we cannot behave as we have never sinned. Instead, God’s calling us to roll up our sleeves and stoop down to reach them so they can see our light shining for them to bring them out of the pit of darkness and release His presence by becoming His hands, His feet, and His mouth, and when necessary, His pockets too.

Jude 1:22-23 

“Keep being kind to those who waver in this faith. Pursue those who are singed by the flames of God’s wrath, and bring them safely to Him. Show mercy to others with fear, despising every garment soiled by the weakness of human flesh.” VOICE

Galatians 6:1-3

“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.” NLT

Luke 6:27-31,

“‘But I say to you who hear [Me and pay attention to My words]: Love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, [make it a practice to] do good to those who hate you, bless and show kindness to those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other one also [simply ignore insignificant insults or losses and do not bother to retaliate—maintain your dignity]. Whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you. Whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.” AMP

Walking in the love of God is important for His Church to rise to higher a dimension where we can have a better view, guided by His eye, of the situations we encounter and see others in the same way He sees them. The command of God to love Him and others as we love ourselves also demands that we dig deeper and examine ourselves with humbleness and judge ourselves so we do not walk blindly and legalistic, pointing at the speck in the eyes of others when we have a whole tree, branches, roots and all, covering ours (Matthew 7:3-5).

For as Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, our fight is not against people, but against the rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark world. It is against the powers of evil that work from the spirit realm in heavenly places and seek to rule in the earth by controlling the minds and the hearts of people who give in to their lies and fear. Therefore, we must be suited up with the armor of the truth of the Word of God and our obedience to Him to demonstrate we’re His and also that there’s a better way to live, and only Jesus is the answer out of despair.

The Book of 1 John chapter four also defines for us the meaning of true love which comes from God. It tells us that for us to be recognized as God’s children and that we know Him, we need to be able to show His love to others. He loved us first by sending us His Son to sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins. This example should suffice for us to express His love for others no matter how far they may have gone in the way of darkness just like He did. 

1 John 4:7-12 

“Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.” NLT

When the gang and mafia members, homosexuals, Freemasons, murderers, sorcerers, the young down and out, Satanists, prostitutes, pimps, or even women that didn’t sell their bodies but only own skimpy clothes, white collar crooks, drug lords, and even our unlovable family members cross our path, or when they make their way through the doors of the Church buildings, how are we going to respond? Are we going to receive them with acceptance and an embrace, or are they going to get our judgmental walls of rejection? 

The Lord is touching hard hearts that many thought would never come to know Christ and get saved. So let’s ask the Lord to prepare our hearts to ride this wave of the grace of God by loving the unlovable with an eagerness to put our arms around them and say, “welcome to the family” because when sin abounds, grace abounds even more through Christ Jesus and for the glory of God alone.

Romans 5:20-21

 “All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.” MSG

To God alone be all the glory. *

Images by Google Images 

The Mercy of God for the Foolish Virgins

Matthew 25:1-13

“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. The five who were foolish didn’t take enough olive oil for their lamps, but the other five were wise enough to take along extra oil. When the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 

“At midnight they were roused by the shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’ 

“All the bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. Then the five foolish ones asked the others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’ 

“But the others replied, ‘We don’t have enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’ 

“But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I don’t know you!’ 

“So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of my return.

Continuing from the last post, at the direction of the Lord, I have been studying and also listening to the teachings of some anointed men of God. As expected, although I know they have not conferred with each other, the Lord was speaking a similar message through them about the condition of the Church in this hour. Then, while listening to one of the messages, the Lord revealed to me something that was not being taught, but literally brought me to my knees and also to a deeper understanding of the mercy of our God when we do things that are illegal in the spirit. Not in vain does Hosea 4:6 say that God’s people perish for lack of knowledge.

This Scripture is saying that without our knowledge and understanding of God and the ways of His Kingdom, we live our lives unaware that we could be doing things that are illegal by His standards and could’ve cost us our lives. But Jesus paid that price and took our place. He died on the Cross for us knowing that we would do things that deserved death, and instead, the King is extending His scepter of grace and mercy to those of us who come seeking to be reconciled to Him.

So to explain the Scripture at the beginning of this post, Matthew 25:1 talks about ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. That sounds good until we realize that half of them we’re not prepared to meet Him. You see, those lamps represent the anointing of the Lord for our lives that is cultivated through the oil of our watching in prayer and seeking His presence. In other words, according to the Bible and as Pastor Juan Carlos Harrigan shared, our anointing to do His will and fulfill our calling comes from His presence. That is the only way. 

The world cannot anoint us for our calling or preserve us in our anointing. The Scripture also says that the five foolish bridesmaids had their lamp, but what they didn’t have enough of was oil. This tells us that they were once anointed by the Lord and were given a lamp for which they were commanded to keep the fire burning. However, they must’ve neglected this fire and the oil that kept it burning. Exodus 27:20-21 shows us the only source that was valid in God’s eyes for this oil to come. 

“‘Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually. The lampstand will stand in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for the people of Israel, and it must be observed from generation to generation.” 

As the Scripture describes, this oil could only come from pressed olives. This talks about our sacrificial giving to our God as we seek Him as our first and foremost necessity when we start our day, and also as He prompts us to increase our time in His presence with prayer, fasting, worship, reading, and studying His Word, along with every step of faith He leads us to take. This also includes our financial giving and service to others as He directs us. What God wants us to understand is that our offerings must be acceptable in His eyes. (See Romans 12:1).

The above paragraph lists some of the ways the Lord assigned for us to keep our lamps burning continually which summed up, help us hear with clarity, and follow His voice by His Spirit. The lampstand in the Tabernacle which is us represents our relationship with the Holy Spirit that helps us have access to God’s supernatural power to accomplish what only God can give us and is acceptable to Him for our lives. 

Even our ability to stand in His presence (the Ark of the Covenant) from where we receive everything we need for life and godliness comes from our relationship and obedience to the Spirit of the Lord. Everything else that we would try to conjure up without God’s leading or approval is considered illegal in His sight. Zechariah 4:2-6 tells us,

“‘What do you see now?’ he asked. I answered, ‘I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each having seven spouts with wicks. And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.’ Then I asked the angel, ‘What are these, my lord? What do they mean?’ ‘Don’t you know?’ the angel asked. ‘No, my lord,’ I replied. Then he said to me, ‘This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” 

But going back to Matthew 25, verse 8 says that the five foolish virgins asked the five wise ones to give them some of their oil because their lamps were going out. This is what brought me to my knees to ask the Lord to forgive His Church for our foolishness and to thank Him for His goodness and mercy towards us for the abominable things in His sight that we all have done at one time or another. 

Matthew 25:13 says that the oil, which came from pressed olives, means that we must watch for the coming of the groom with prayer and all those other things mentioned above. Therefore, asking or expecting someone else to do the watching for us while we remain asleep, not preparing for the move of the Spirit that He has promised will come could’ve killed those five foolish virgins because their “borrowed” oil for the fire of their lamps was considered strange or illegal fire in God’s eyes. 

In the times of the Old Testament, this caused two newly ordained priests their lives because only God reserves for Himself the right to provide the fire of His glory for the lamp of the anointing for our lives and to provide the answer to our prayers in His supernatural way. But most of all, maintaining the fire of His presence in our lives prepares us to become the answer to the prayers of others. This was the case for Jesus. Isaiah 61 gives us the wonderful promises of God of what Jesus Christ (Christ is not a name but a description of what God did through Jesus by the Holy Spirit and His obedience and it means “the Anointed”). Verse 1 says,

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, Because the Lord has anointed and commissioned me To bring good news to the humble and afflicted; He has sent me to bind up [the wounds of] the brokenhearted, To proclaim release [from confinement and condemnation] to the [physical and spiritual] captives And freedom to prisoners,” AMP

Luke 4:17-21 shows the fulfillment of this prophecy, 

“ The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah), Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy), to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].’ Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him. He began speaking to them: ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.’” AMP

We know by the Scriptures that Jesus kept the oil of anointing flowing through His intimacy with the fire and by maintaining the fire burning through daily prayer. For this, He separated Himself to a solitary place, to spend precious time with the Father. And from this time in the presence of the Father, He new what He was anointed to do and how to carry it out, where, and with whom. In the same way, when we separate time to spend in the presence of the Lord, our oil is pressed out of us, but the lamp continues to burn because we have that fire going and not neglected. Then, He will lead us by His Spirit into how to position ourselves to receive the things He asks us to do and for which He anointed us. 

But when we continually try to come up with our own fire by doing things He never told us to do to “help things along” or to try to give birth to His promises in our own authority and power, this ignites His wrath because, by this, we’re telling Him that He’s not God enough or powerful enough to do what He promised or to supply our needs. Trying to come up with our own fire opens doors to the enemy to influence us away from God’s will for us. The more we do this, the harder our heart gets and as we continually reject God’s will for us, we begin to call evil good, and what is evil in God’s eyes we call good. 

What follows is the need for us to face the consequences of following the wrong voice and doing the wrong things.  We see this in Leviticus 9:1-24, after the ordination in the priesthood of Aaron and his two sons, Nadab and Abihu, the Lord concluded the seven-day ceremony by sending His own fire. This was a fire that they were mandated to keep burning day and night and all the priests were to follow the same command in every generation. This mandate continues for our generations to keep the fire God placed in our hearts for Him, His presence, and His ways. 

But Leviticus 10:1 says that Aaron’s sons fabricated their own fire from coals from somewhere other than the fire of glory God had provided, and put incense on top of the coals to create an aroma. Sadly, they were burned to death by the fiery wrath of the Lord. After this happened, the Lord spoke to Aaron through Moses to let him know why his sons died. By His act, God demonstrated to whom He reveals Himself and shows His glory through in the side of others. Leviticus 10:3 says, 

“Then Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord meant when he said, ‘I will display my holiness through those who come near me. I will display my glory before all the people.’” And Aaron was silent.” 

But in His mercy and grace, Jesus died for us and as shown by the outcome of the five foolish virgins, instead of dying on the spot for being willing to provoke strange fire in God’s eyes, the groom shut the door and told them they needed to go and watch for His coming again. This is the only way to keep the fire burning in a way that is pleasing to the Lord because the groom responded to them that He didn’t know them. Clearly, this shows that they didn’t spend time seeking His presence or doing His will. In addition, the wise virgins told them in verse nine that they needed to buy (pay the price) for the oil (of anointing) they were lacking. Revelation 3:14-17 says,

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation: ‘I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” 

Unfortunately, this is the condition of many people who are more preoccupied with following the ways of the world and its lust. They do not realize that they are constantly trying to conjure up their own fire because it takes choosing as a lifestyle to live sacrificially from the presence of the Lord (dependent on Him), rather than seeking the quick fixes the world offers that in the end, leave us having to go around the mountain of testing for neglecting to do His true will for us. The Western Church is mostly guilty of this.

Many of them are blind like the priest Eli and ignore their spiritual condition and that of those around them (See 1 Samuel 3:2-3). Their lamp is verily burning until God raises others to keep the charge of their assignment from dying by watching and praying for the coming of the Lord and to be rightly positioned for His move. But in His goodness and mercy, our Lord shuts the door on our wrongdoing, and at the same time knocks on the door of our heart hoping for us to answer and allow Him to enter in. Remember that He doesn’t force Himself on us because He gave us free will. 

Instead, He expects us to answer and choose to eat a meal with Him. This also stands for our seeking His presence with prayer and watching as we seek first His Kingdom and all His righteousness (See Matthew 6:33). Revelation 3:18-20 continues with this admonition and also shows His grace and mercy for us and not the death we deserve from sending to Him the strange fire of our own accomplishments and for causing the oil in our lamps to be nearly quenched. Rather, He asks us to choose death to self by seeking and obeying His will for us.

“So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. ‘Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

To God alone be all the glory. *

Image by Google Images 

Scriptures in this post were taken from the New Living Translation NLT  unless otherwise noted.