Please pray for this up coming trip to France, Germany, Italy and bit in Spain. Also please pray for the finances. The need is still very great but then so if our God. Pray for the two wonderful companions who will be going with me from India, Brother Gautam and Sister Dina. I thank you for your prayers. They make all the difference. The Lord is going to do awesome things as we stand together in prayer. We leave August 1^st and will return August 31^st.

 

This coming week is the 30^th and Final End Time Handmaiden and Servant’s World Convention. Please keep it in prayer. I will be there ministering to the children. Something I rarely get a chance to do anymore and something I take very seriously.

 

 

 

I understand there are many reasons for suffering. Sometimes it is our own foolishness or sin, sometimes curses that have come to us for some reason as I have explained in previous newsletters, sometimes persecution, etc. but I want to look at suffering from a different angle and talk about the purpose behind the suffering, regardless of the source or short term solution. Why does God allow it? Does God “want” you to suffer? NO! But sometimes it is just part of life and living in a fallen world and as a part of life we need to understand it and use it. If I am going to suffer I want some good to come of it and not just to suffer to be suffering.

 

Suffering comes from the fallen nature and the fallen world we live in. Though the Lord does not bring the suffering, the enemy does, that is clear in John 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly, the Lord can use that suffering that the enemy and the fallen nature brings for good. Now don’t misunderstand that and embrace sickness or seek suffering but seek the Lord and allow Him to use all things that happen in your life for good. To help you understand that I want to tell you a little story just the way the Lord told it to me. The story is called Too Much.

 

Once upon a time there was a very small lizard named Stan that lived under a big rock. He was so very small that he only came out at night and even then only for a little while to hunt for bugs before quickly going back under his rock. He had big eyes that enabled him to see at night, which made him look rather funny since the rest of him was so very small. He was a cold-blooded creature so he liked the cool of the rock. He didn’t think much about it, that’s just the way things are.

 

He had a good life. It’s true there were a lot of predators, almost everything wanted to eat him from cats, to birds but since he never stayed out from under his rock very long at a time he didn’t worry about it. There were lots of bugs to be had and his rock was nice and safe. Nothing smaller than him could fit under the rock and anything smaller than him he ate. But one day the Lord showed up and asked, “Stan, are you happy with your life?” “Well yes,” Stan answered. “It’s a good life for the most part. I wish there were more but with my rock I have everything I really need. I can just sit back and enjoy the bugs. I love bugs Lord.”

 

“Stan, do you want to give me all of your life?” The Lord asked. “Sure” Stan replied calmly. He wanted to impress the Lord with his answer. Besides the Lord loved him, what could the Lord want for him but more of what he already had, a calm peaceful safe life. After all, he’s a lizard what more could there be? The Lord gave Stan that sideways look that says I don’t think you really mean that but I will take you at your word.

 

Nothing changed that day. Stan didn’t think it would but every time the Lord came, He asked him that same question and every time he answered yes, something was accumulating. It was a legal right; an authority and a power to act on what was said. Stan didn’t realize his words were legal. You see Stan wasn’t ready for a change. He didn’t expect to change. He saw his life through lizard’s eyes and through those eyes nothing really needed to change. That’s all he knew and nothing else made sense.

 

But the Lord knew Stan needed to change. He couldn’t serve the Lord with all of his heart and remain the same. The Lord knew there was a real danger that Stan couldn’t see. The day came when the Lord showed up as usual and asked that same question, “Do you want to give me all of your life today Stan? Think carefully and be sure you really mean it.” Only Stan didn’t know that today enough yes answers had accumulated for the Lord to act on it. “Yes,” Stan said. It always made him feel good about himself when he answered the Lord that way and he liked to feel good.

 

Then the Lord lifted his rock. “Hey, what are you doing Lord?” Stan cried out, “Oh I see that’s really funny. I’m glad you have a good sense of humor. Now put that back.”  

 

“Didn’t you give me all of you life Stan?” the Lord asked

 

“Well yes but you’re not supposed to take my rock.” Stan complained, “That’s my protection.”

 

“If your life is all Mine and you stay in Me what other protection do you need?” The Lord asked. “Is there anything that can hurt Me?”

 

“Well no,” Stan said, thinking this might not be so bad. He would have all the liberty to hunt all the bugs he wanted and nothing would ever be able to hurt him. “You’re my protection Lord?” Stan asked hesitantly.

 

“Yes Stan,” the Lord said, “as long as you stay in me I will be your total protection.”

 

“That’s so cool.” Stan said munching down on a big bug.

 

About that time a huge lizard came rushing in. Stan just froze in fear and looked at him but then he remembered, “Hey he can’t hurt me I’m protected by the Lord.” So Stan stuck out his long sticky tongue and jumped up and down. “Hey bug breath you can see me but you can’t touch me. Na-na-na-na-na. Too bad for you cause you lose.”

 

The big lizard just smiled thinking he had found a nut case that was too stupid to even run. This would be easy. So he just reached over and took a bite out of Stan’s foot taking off one of his toes. “Yikes!” Stan yelled. “Help!! Oh my toe, my toe, my toe. That hurts.” The Lord reached down and shooed the big lizard away. “And what was that all about Lord?” Stan said holding his foot. “I thought you were going to protect me. Look at this foot. I needed that toe to balance and run fast. Evidently I still need to run.” Stan said sarcastically. “What’s up with this? I thought you were going to protect me?”

 

“I am here to protect you Stan.” The Lord said.

 

“Well you could have fooled me.” Stan said holding his foot.

 

“Stan I have made Myself available for your protection but you have to stay in Me. If you do anything in your own strength or your own will that puts you out from under My covering of protection and that makes you vulnerable to the enemy. When you taunted the enemy and made fun of him, that was not in My will, so it put you out from under My covering. To get back under My protection you must repent of that and plead the Blood of Jesus Christ as a covering.”

 

“How do I get under your protection when I can’t even see your covering Lord.” Stan said looking all around.

 

“Well Stan, do you see that thin thread of light that’s just over your head?” The Lord asked.

 

“Yes Lord.” Stan said squinting

 

“That’s it.” The Lord said.

 

“That’s it? How am I supposed to get under that?” Stan was getting more nervous. “I don’t fit. Where’s the rest of it?”

 

“Well as you grow and change, the light of My glory, that protects you will grow too but for now Stan that’s all you have because that’s all you’ve grown in My glory.” The Lord said. “You didn’t realize the need before so you didn’t grow.”

 

Stan looked at the tiny thread of light. “You know I thought I wanted this closer walk thing with you Lord, and I do want to give you all of me but this is harder than I thought, so just give my rock back and maybe when I get a little bigger or have a better understanding we’ll try this again because it’s evident I’m just not ready. Sheesh – take a guy’s rock and boom you lose a toe. Just give me my rock back and we’ll go from there. Okay? So I’ll let “You” know when I’m really ready.”

 

“No!” The Lord said.

 

“What do you mean no?” Stan was shocked. “We tried it your way and it’s evident that I’m not ready so just give me my rock back and when I am better prepared we’ll think about trying it again okay?”

 

“No Stan,” The Lord said, “There is no going back. Once you have made this level of commitment the only way to go back is to give up on Me and that means a life destined for hell. That’s why I asked you again and again because once you make that commitment there is no turning back. If you turn back Stan, you’ll die.”

 

“Wait a minute.” Stan said still blown away by it all. “You mean you don’t have my house. Well that’s okay. It was kind of small anyway. Just give me another house and we’ll call it even.”

 

“No Stan,” The Lord said firmly, “I am your house from now on and the only way to be safe is to learn to abide in Me. To go to another rock for comfort is to break your covenant commitment that made Me your rock and that would mean I would no longer be Lord of your life. That means you would go to hell when you die.”

 

“But I didn’t know it was going to be so hard?” Stan whined

 

“I know but if I waited until you understood it all or thought you were ready, you would already be dead. I did ask you – didn’t I Stan?” The Lord said.

 

“Yes Lord,” Stan whined, “You did ask me but….”

 

“Then I am your protection and only the things that don’t line up with Me are vulnerable to attack. Anytime you call on Me Stan, I will be there to help you.” The Lord said leaving, “This thin light you see is Me Stan and right now it doesn’t seem to cover much of you because I don’t have access to much of you. But as you grow in the light I will be able to protect you more and more.” Then the Lord was gone.

 

Stan looked around. He had never felt so alone. What if the next thing that got bitten off was his head, how would he call for the Lord to rescue him then? It seemed there were glowing eyes everywhere looking at him ready to pounce on him. He grabbed the edge of the light that he had and wrapped it around him as best he could. Stan was miserable. He didn’t sleep much any more. He was always afraid something was going to pounce on him. Nighttime when he used to love to hunt became the time other things now loved to hunt him. Poor Stan where he lived it was always night.

 

The Lord never let the enemies eat Stan but they were always taking a chunk out of him. As soon as Stan called on the Lord He would come to his rescue. If Stan would let the Lord He would take a piece of Himself that looked like golden glory and put it in the hole where Stan had been bitten. But if Stan was too busy feeling bitter or feeling sorry for himself the Lord was not able to do that and in those places Stan just had a hole. Several times he was hurt really bad and almost died but the Lord stayed with Him through it all. Stan often felt like giving up but there was no other rock to turn to and he was afraid of hell. When he was sick for a long time, then he would blamed the Lord but the Lord understood that Stan couldn’t see the truth through lizard eyes.

 

Each time the Lord would ask Stan, “Why were you attacked?” and each time it would be some part of Stan’s life that was not submitted to God. Then Stan would repent and the Lord would put a piece of Himself in the place that was missing so Stan could be healed. Stan would always ask, “When will I get a new home Lord?” When will this be over and everything will be okay again? I just want everything to be okay.”

 

But the Lord would always just look at him and sigh, like you really don’t get it do you Stan, and then as though He were talking to a small child He would say, “Not too much longer. I’m with you. Just keep doing what you know to do.” But Stan was never sure what to do. He knew he needed more of Jesus because Jesus was the light that protected him from the darkness and the creatures of darkness. He knew that one way to do that was to stay in the Word, to pray, worship and to proclaim scripture. But there had to be more. There always seemed to be something feeding on him. How could this be the Lord’s will?

 

One day as Stan woke up a big mean vicious dog was nibbling on him like a chew toy, shaking him back and forth. Stan was beginning to learn his authority in Christ, so he rebuked the dog, which caused the dog to drop Stan and run away. But his arm was badly crushed and he was covered in slobber. Enough is too much. How much am I supposed to suffer anyway? “Lord.” Stan called, “I thought you loved me. But all I do is suffer. As soon as I am through with one trial there is another one waiting for me. Is this all you have for me?”

 

The Lord appeared and looked at Stan intently. “Stan,” the Lord said, “a lizard is a cold-blooded creature of darkness. He lives to devour or be devoured. Is that what you want to be Stan? Is that what you think I want for you.”

 

“No.” Stan said hanging his head

 

“Stan I could make you safe physically but would you ever be safe inside as long as you have a cold-blooded heart? No. The only way I can change you is by giving you more and more of My life. The only way I can give you more and more of My life is to get rid of more and more of your life to make room for it. I can’t fill a cup that is already full can I Stan. So I have to take some of your slimy deadly life out the cup in order to put more of My pure and good life in. When you were under your rock you wouldn’t let me take anything out because you were happy and satisfied. You’re only willing to let go of things when you are miserable. These dark creatures are only drawn to you because of the darkness in you and the cold blood in you. If it were gone they wouldn’t mess with you at all.”

 

“Then let’s get rid of it all.” Stan said hopeful to see an end to all the suffering.

 

“I wish it were that easy. But you are not trading apples and oranges Stan; you’re trading life for life, lizard nature for God nature. Every piece of darkness in you attracts darkness and light must replace that darkness. There is still a lot of darkness in you that you make excuses for and justify so that you can keep it but in keeping it you leave an open door to the dark creatures and then when they bite you Stan, you blame Me. But I am always there to rescue you and put as much of My life and light into you as you’ll let Me.” The Lord said. “When you look at Me through lizard eyes, you look accusingly and sadly as though I am the one that hurt you. Nothing looks right through lizard’s eyes.”

 

“But now it’s time for the great transfer. It’s hard but it’s what has to happen for you to be truly safe. You have to give Me your will and your heart, in other words Stan your lizard nature. It will leave you empty and vulnerable for a while and then I will be able to give you My will and My heart, My nature. Are you willing? I can only do this if you are willing.” The Lord said.

 

“Stan honestly didn’t mind being cold-blooded but over a period of time as the Lord had rescued him again and again, he had come to really love the Lord. He thought he loved the Lord before but he didn’t really know what love was then. Now Stan really wanted to please the Lord and besides that he was tired of being the dog’s chew toy. He wanted a permanent solution for that. “Yes Lord.” Stand said a little nervous but committed. “I want you more than my own safety.”

 

“The first thing we must do is get rid of your heart.” The Lord said. “I know it seems to have some good in it but good is no substitute for God.”

 

“Lord I’ve tried to change my heart and my ways but I can’t.” Stan said hanging his head.

 

“I know you can’t Stan but that’s the point, when you let Me, then I can. You’ll never be able to change with that old cold-blooded nature inside of you. Just rest in Me. I will do it.” With that Stan drew close to the Lord and seemed to go to sleep. When he woke up he was sore and groggy. He had a big tube going in his chest and one out his foot. “What is this Lord?”

 

“Your blood transfusion”, the Lord said. “I am giving you My warm blood and pumping out your cold selfish blood. It is the only way to change your nature.” Stan was amazed that the Lord would do that for him and wondered at such love as he drifted off back to sleep. Later when he woke the Lord told him that he was in the process of getting a new heart, God’s heart, and that his heart had broken and was being removed piece by piece. Stan was happy about that but he was very sleepy. God was a good surgeon with His sharp two-edged sword. Stan would be okay. When Stan woke again the tubes were gone except for one large one going out of Stan’s chest and going up into the air somewhere. “What is this Lord”, Stan asked.

 

“That is the blood vessel that links you to Me now. We’re permanently attached. You share My heart Stan, My blood, My will and My nature.” Stan glowed and felt warm all over and it felt good. The predators looked at him but just moved on. He was warm blooded and attached to the Lord now. He was off limits. “I will draw you closer and closer to Me with cords of love now and soon you will be completely inside My heart the way you were meant to be.”

 

“So nothing can ever hurt me and I’m perfect now?” Stan asked looking around as though he were seeing the world for the first time. Everything looked different and new.

 

“No.” the Lord laughed. “You still have a lot of lizard in you but the more My blood is in you and the more you follow My heart and My will the more you will change. It is an endless process to become more like Me Stan. But now you walk in the light as I am in the light and you abide in My spirit. That is why I had to allow you to suffer. It’s hard for me to let My children suffer. I suffered so that you wouldn’t have to suffer but when you draw it in by your very nature and I know it will help you get rid of that nature that leaves you open for attack I allow it, even though it hurts Me. I hurt when you hurt Stan.”

 

“As long as you were happy you would never have even sought me. You would have died thinking you were really okay. But suffering and need pushed you to Me like a shepherd herding sheep. It’s hard to kick against the pricks. I had to allow you to be poked and bitten some so that you could let go of more and more of the old lizard nature. When enough was replaced, then I was able to position you so that I could fully rescue you. It was no fun for either of us but I loved you more. Anything that was too much for you helped Me push you into My waiting arms of love.”

 

“Too much pain, too much trouble, too much poverty, too much anything brought you to the one too much that answered it all. The too much I have for you. I love you too much.”

 

Saul came to the Lord and became Paul because of suffering. How could Paul worship the Lord while in prison, beaten to the bone and bent over in stocks? Those things could no longer contain him; he could rise above into the presence of the Lord regardless of his circumstances and find everything he needed there in the presence of the Lord. But how often we are stopped by the circumstances, instead of propelled by them.

 

Joseph suffered injustice and prison, Moses suffered exile, many suffered loss of all, Daniel was made a eunuch, David had to run for his life for many years and John was boiled in oil and exiled. Hebrews 11 talks about the many things the great leaders and prophets of God suffered of whom it says the world was not worth. Let’s look at some basic scriptures about suffering before we continue to see what the Word of God says.

 

James 5:10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience.

 

 

Philippians 1:29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

 

1 Thessalonians 3:4 For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know.

 

2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

 

1 Peter 4:19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

 

Philippians 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

 

1 Peter 5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

 

Psalm 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.

 

Psalm 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.

 

Psalm 119:75 I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are right, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.

 

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

 

When we think about the things we do suffer, is it anything uncommon. People die and suffer loss everyday but the Lord is with us and makes a way of escape for us when they have no hope or comforter to help them. The Christian life is not a charmed life that means you will never have a pain or a sorrow again. We do not embrace trouble we rebuke it but we also allow the Lord to use it for good once it has happened. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

 

Am I telling you to suffer on purpose? No. It is not the Lord’s divine will for us to suffer but to use the sufferings of this world, which are here because of the darkness in the world, to remove that dark world nature from us and transfer us from the darkness into His marvelous light (Colossians 1:13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love) where we can live and move and have our being in Him. (Acts 17:28 "for in Him we live and move and have our being)

 

When a man sins he sins against his own life. The life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). Sin is death. James 1:15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. So it is a struggle of life and death in the blood. When a man sins he is guilty and the punishment, price or consequence must be paid for that sin. There is no other payment but death. The act of sin brought death into the sinner’s blood, which is why forgiveness is a big part of healing. Matthew 9:5 "For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise and walk'?  Many times Jesus forgave in conjunction with healing.

 

The only payment for sin against your own life, sin being death and life being in the blood, is the payment of blood. It is demanded by the disease of sin and death that attaches when one sins. Blood for blood, the blood covering the sin. Because the blood of animals could only atone for the sin or “cover” it, and could never make full payment for it, then it could never remove sin.

 

When sin is in the blood by the deed, thoughts, feelings, lack (what we’re not doing that we should), inheritance (sins of our fathers), it calls in all that goes with sin and all that causes death; spirit, soul, mind and body. It calls in the accuser of the brethren and begins to give him legal right to access and to afflict that person. As we are born in our sins, inheriting the sins of Adam and our parents, we are from the beginning in a sad state.

 

When Adam sinned, God knew it would cause death to attach to him and to feed on him and even to begin to change his very “nature” from life to death thereby. So God told Adam when you eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall die. He knew that by taking on a sin, he took on a sin nature. Sin is death (true death being separation from God, the death of the body is called only sleep.) Sin brings death; Adam died.

 

Adam and Eve were naked in the garden because they were no longer clothed with the glory of God. That was bad enough but worse than that it caused them to hide from God. The guilt and shame caused them to withdraw from His holy presence. God’s very presence convicted them of their sin; so they hid. We must be careful because the very nature of sin and death is to run from God and hide. Often when we enter the presence of God, we find ourselves drifting away in our thoughts or feelings. We must fight our nature to run and hide constantly. It can and will be changed in the presence of the Lord. The Blood of Jesus Christ removes our shame so that we can approach a holy God. We wash in the Blood of Jesus Christ and clothe in the righteousness of Christ so that we can approach Him unashamed. Not because of our righteousness but because of His never changing righteousness freely given to us.

 

Why do we have lighthouses? They are lights to pierce the darkness to reveal ships in distress. Imagine that ship running away from the light because of fear of its brokenness being discovered. Wouldn’t that be ridicules? They need help and if they don’t get help they will die smashed by the storm. But we by the very nature of sin hide when we need Jesus the most. We must embrace the light as a door for our rescue and fight our way through the darkness with it.

 

Blood speaks, when Cain slew Abel, Abel’s blood spoke to God from the ground demanding the price be paid in full. Then Cain was remorseful because of the fear of the great price of death his sin would bring upon him. The blood of animals could not make full payment for the sin but could only cover it over so it would be quiet and not be seen or heard. It was covered so it wouldn’t call in the payment of death. Not that God is seeking payment but the sin by its very nature seeks payment. As God warned Adam that he would die if he sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, sin demands death and is a carrier of death.

 

But the atonement, the covering over of sin by the blood of innocent animals, is not permanent but is temporary. It wears off, the sin then would begin to be heard again and call in death again by its very nature. Though it brought a punishment or a payment, it was not for the purpose of inflicting cruelty by God but as God warned Adam the nature of sin is death. Death feeds on the sinner. When you get burned from a fire you don’t say God is cruel to punish you like that. No, it is the nature of fire to burn, it just is. So a good Father warns the child, don’t touch the fire. Is the parent depriving the child? Is he cruel or harsh?

 

No, he would be cruel or harsh if he didn’t warn the child. Can a man take fire in his bosom and not be burned, can a man sin without embracing the consequences of death by the very nature of sin. But an animal’s blood could only cover it or hide it for a year. It was temporary postponement and not a full payment. So we needed a better sacrifice because with this method, when we die and our blood is uncovered to determine our end our blood is still full of sins that demanded eternal death. That is why before Jesus died the dead waited for a better payment.

 

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law of sin and death. (Galatians 3:13) Jesus gave remission for sin (Hebrews 9:22), which means full payment, blotted them out, made them null and void and not just covered over. (Colossians 2:13-15) He nailed the handwriting against us to the cross by the blood of Jesus Christ. Redemption bought us back from the slavery to sin and death. To Justify, means “just as if I’d” never sinned. Paul said, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) (This sin nature attached to my new nature is like a dead body tied to the back of a living person. It has the same effect of a rotten apple next to a good apple.) Jesus Christ will deliver me from that old nature and give me a new nature in Christ Jesus. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

 

But it is our continual choice by our deeds (spirit, soul, mind and body) by our sincere repentance, belief (we must believe it to receive it). We must not embrace the guilt (though it should initially lead us to repentance) because Jesus removed the accusations by paying the price with His blood. It is under the Blood of Jesus where the devil can’t touch it so the enemy of our souls tries to get us to go get it for him by seeing if we will accept guilt for something that is under the blood of Jesus Christ. Only we can retrieve it. We must not access anything through the back door of our life, which is the flesh. The back door is most often accessed by guilt and condemnation or bad memories. The lion crouches at that door God told Cain. The lion is the lie – on us. Remember the lie always holds just enough truth to get us to feel obligated to receive it. “You did do that didn’t you?” The accuser will say. “Well yes but…” Then we’re hooked.

 

We must learn to recognize the bait the enemy uses to ensnare our souls. The purpose is not for you to feel guilty but to give the enemy access through the back door of the flesh (the carnal sin nature), we are supposed to access everything through the front door, which is Jesus Christ. Jesus said I am the door. (John 10:9) Through His presence everything in our lives must flow. The more time we spend in worship and in the word of God the more we will become accustomed to accessing everything through the Lord. Walking according to the spirit and not according to the flesh. (Romans 8:1)

 

What does that mean. It means our nature must change from that of a lizard (the carnal sin nature, which brings death) to the spirit nature of Christ in us. I Corinthians 3:18 we are being changed from glory to glory into His image. In other words we are being changed from our nature to His nature. We were created in the image of God, in the nature of God. It wasn’t our flesh that looked like God but our image or our nature that was like God. When Adam sinned he passed on to us another nature, the sin nature. There was a separation of the two natures in us when we became saved; but the sin nature is ever present and always trying to take over in order to kill us. It is how the enemy accesses good saints. Who will deliver us from this body of death (or this nature that causes death), Jesus will.

 

When we are forgiven sin no longer exists so there should be no more guilt, no memory of it, no remorse, it’s gone. So forgive yourself and go on. Shut that door. We feel guilty as though we’ve let God down. But the Lord knew our faults and struggles when He called us. Elijah was a powerful prophet, he told it not to rain and it didn’t rain for 3.5 years; then he told it to rain and boom it rained but when Jezebel threatened him he ran, threw himself under a broom tree and begged to die saying he was not better than their fathers (who had failed God as well). The enemy is quick to use your love and devotion for God against you. Don’t let him. The Lord knew Elijah’s problems before he used him to stop the rain. Just because you suddenly become aware of them, don’t let that stop you. It’s not about us but about the Lord and His righteousness, grace and ability in us.

 

Our very nature must change from lizard to Lord. Our habitat, vulnerability to death and perception, even our instincts and desires will change but it’s a process. Interesting that the Lord chose a lizard for the story because the enemy of our souls, Satan is called a dragon, which is just an overgrown lizard.

 

The Lord showed me a vision of a man working in the fields. The fields had all been plowed and he was working very long hard days in the hot sun planting seeds. He was planting oats. But suddenly when he looked in his hand at the seed he had taken out of his bag it was not oat seed but the grain of the oats like you eat or feed your cattle. He was devastated. How did that happen? How long had he been sowing the wrong thing? How much would need to be re-planted? How would he ever be able to tell? He looked before himself and as far as the eye could see and he knew even much beyond that, were fields waiting to be planted. Behind him as far as the eye could see were fields he had worked hard to plant that would now need re-planted.

 

He felt so discouraged. He began to grieve in his spirit. There was already more work to do than could be done and not enough workers and now he had wasted valuable time. It made him feel sick inside. He wasn’t just a servant but he loved his master and loved to please him but what would his master say now. He had let him down. His spirit grieved deeply. The Master called for his servant to come home. The servant began to walk toward the farmhouse but his heart was so grieved that he kept looking back and going over and over in his head what he might need to do to make things right but it was simply more than he could comprehend.

 

When he looks up again, he was surrounded in darkness. Oh no, what happened. He had failed again. He cried out to the Master and the Master answered him. Take one-step to the right. You are very near the right road but because of the thin black veil you can’t see it. So he stepped to the right and sure enough there was the road. Again he started toward the house but again his spirit was grieved and sick with worry. All he could think about was all trouble he had caused. He kept looking back until soon he was completely surrounded in darkness again. But he felt different this time, he felt very confused.

 

The Master called him to come home but even though he looked in every direction he couldn’t tell which way home was or what to do. He was totally lost and confused. His nature of fear and grief became a homing device for the darkness and confusion. When we embrace the guilt and grief, the shame and remorse it does that, we must rebuke it and remove it by the Blood of Jesus Christ. So lost, he cried out to the Master. The Master said for him to wash inside and out and soak in the truth and life. It is very healing and restoring. Everything will live where the river of life goes (Ezekiel 47:9), which is the opposite of sin and death. Healing by the river, it heals and restores the soul and the focus.

 

So he shut his eyes and stood and washed. When he thought or felt anything wrong he refused it and rebuked it. The he awoke as a man who had been sleeping. He had only dreamed it all. There he was in the field with good seed in his hand. “What happened?” the servant asked. (Hear what the Lord said in the vision) “You slept but did not perceive it because you seemed to be working. The enemy sought to slay you in your sleep by robbing your perception and using your fears against you. You love Me, therefore he made you feel that you had failed Me and that you were defective and unable to do what I have called you to do.”  

 

The Lord laughed. “All humans have this defect. I knew it when I died for you. Don’t let your new awareness of it frighten you. I know what to do. Don’t embrace sin and death; its consequences and requirements by guilt and grief of spirit but embrace the price paid to keep the obstacles and stumbling blocks out of the way so we can build and grow together. You were never meant to be able to function alone. You were made “for” Me and if that is a defect then you can blame Me because I designed you to need Me. You will never be fully functional without Me.” Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him..”

 

“A hand may be a good hand but it’s useless unless it’s attached. Let My blood and life feed you continually and build my nature and life in you, attaching you to Me more and more. John 6:55 "For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. It’s not a defect, it’s by design, discover it and grow in it. As for sleep and deceptions, until you are fully attached and there is no sin nature, those times will come. Remain faithful (the alternative is death) and I will see you through it and use it as an opportunity to attach to you even more. Now awake, feed on Me, we’ve got work to do. Never grieve about what is not, because any sin repented of doesn’t exist. I don’t just cover it, I remove it and annihilate it.”

 

“Abide in Me and seek My presence and let it attach you to Me. You change into My nature by accessing My nature and soaking in it.”

 

“Did the Servant ever stop loving the Lord or doing his best? No! How hopeless we feel when our best given with all of our love fails and is not enough, such a hopeless and helpless feeling. But the Lord knew our faults and weaknesses before, just like He knew Elijah’s weakness before. We weren’t meant to be alone. The Lord will always go with us. We need Him and are incomplete without Him, even at our best and that’s okay.”

 

The Lord reminded me of a time when I was a senior in high school and I missed the school bus. My dad and uncle had already left for the day so I decided to borrow my uncle’s old Jeep truck to carefully drive to school and back. But when my friend found out I had the truck, she begged me to drive her home. (She lived much further in the country and on very rough roads.) I sternly told her no. But she missed the bus on purpose and made me feel obligated to take her home. On the way to her house her schoolbooks fell on the gas pedal and when I leaned over to remove them the truck swerved. I knocked the door handle off on her side. I was so afraid to tell my dad what happened. He could be very rough as an old mountain man. I was literally shaking when I told him but much to my surprise both my dad and my uncle laughed and said I could work off getting the door handle fixed.

 

The Lord reminded me of that to let me know that some times I feel afraid or ashamed to come to Him because of my guilt. “Don’t be afraid to come to Me and tell Me you wrecked the car or made a mistake.” The Lord said.  “Know that I won’t stop loving you even for a moment. We’ll take care of it together. Don’t stop walking with Me even for a moment because of fear of how I will react. My reaction will always be that I love you because you’re Mine. I know your heart and your love. I know you didn’t do it on purpose. I’m with you. My love is more than enough. It’s too much. Never fear. I will always react to you in love.”

 

Then the Lord asked me a strange question. “If I was about to be charged by a viscous lion would you step between Me and the lion?” “But Lord,” I argued, “no lion could hurt you and you are my strength.” “Yes, but say that I was there in the flesh and could be hurt, would your first reaction be to jump between Me and the lion.” “Yes Lord.” I said, “But I would be asking for help.” [Sometimes it is easier to picture doing it for our spouse or children but if we love the Lord we would react and do it for Him as well.]

 

“Would you question or think before acting?” the Lord asked.

 

“No.” I said

 

“Why?” the Lord asked

 

“Because I love you.” I said

 

“Do I love you any less than that?” the Lord asked

 

“No!” I answered

 

You said you would be afraid but your reaction would be love. That is great love. You have great love for Me and it’s growing. But I have an even greater love for you. It will always be the answer to every question or situations and it will always be more than enough.

 

The sin “nature” means what feels natural to us. So often we must go against what feels natural to press into our new “nature”. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Once we have pressed in to it, then it will feel natural and flow easily for that moment. But the fleshly sin nature like a baby not weaned kicks and demands our attention. We begin to feel restless at times and our mind wanders. Why? The nature we feed is stronger and will rule us. So by the very nature of living on the earth we have fed the sin nature and it has become ingrained or rutted into us and into our habit patterns. With strength it demands and pulls us back. We breathe air, and though we can dive deep into the water, our very instinct “nature” causes us to come back to the surface.

 

The Lord calls that the breath of the world and says it causes us to live on the surface of His river instead of going deep and staying deep. On the surface we are more vulnerable to the dangers of the world. We must forcibly retrain ourselves to go deep and stay longer and longer. We must let go of the natural desires to receive the 2^nd nature. But is it really 2^nd. Isn’t it what we had before we were born when we were still part of God. 2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 1:4 and 2 Timothy 1:10. The Lord chose us and knew us before time began. How did He know us? We were there.

 

In order for us to have eternal life God created us or took a part of His life and gave it to us. All life comes from God. He chose us and knew us before time began, when we were still part of Him and had not take on the sin nature or the clay. [Clay leaks and its seepage spoils and corrupts the Christ nature in us.] So in reality our fist nature is a God nature, then we put on the flesh or sin nature when we are born. It is separated from us when we are saved. Then our God life or our spirit life is renewed but the body of death, the sin nature is still laying on us, like a rotting corpse (as Paul talks about it) seeking to rot our new life and cover our eyes to the truth. Who will deliver us from this body of death, as we said, Jesus will but it is one chunk at a time. How do we allow Him to remove those chunks, when they come to the surface through suffering.

 

We often fight this like a feverish child fights his nurse, not even realizing what he is doing. We work at being a part of the family and being retrained and re-accustomed to our original before time God nature that we were created to be. A lot of times we just want a quick deliverance and fix, but what really is needed is a change in our nature and that is a process of letting go to God, repentance, and God’s transforming work one piece at a time as that piece is revealed. Many die in the vortex, a swirling storm of self between the two natures that is full of grief and memories. It is never enough to die but like a baby that comes ‘out of’ the womb it must also be brought ‘into’ the new life. The vortex is the place in between, (A place between two places is called a valley; then this is the valley of the shadow of death. A shadow is not real but the resemblance or threat of something that is not yet. When we dwell on that shadow we give it substance. Just like faith is the “substance” of things hoped for. We give what we hope for substance by dwelling on it in a positive manner, so we can give substance to the devil’s shadows by our fears, worries, thoughts and negative attitudes.) It is time to stop dying and learn to live in Christ.

 

How much of our nature changes depends directly on how much time we spend in the word and in the presence of the Lord continually. [We leak, so we must continually re-fill.] The saying ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ is not true in the Lord. Absence makes the heart grow colder and bear wrong and dangerous fruit. The only thing that can feed our spirit is the Word of God. A spirit not fed is weak and easily ensnared. (Hebrews 4:12)

 

We must remove more that bits and pieces of the flesh. It’s true that paves the way for more but the very nature in the blood must change. We must have a blood transfusion. We must be transformed to become like a blood vessel in the heart of God. Think about that blood vessel. It is fed by God, connected to God, surrounded by God’s heart, with His blood and nature flowing through it. We are the blood vessel but apart from Him it is only dead flesh.

 

The Lord said to me, I have given you broken dreams and iron vessels and you have complained. Lord you gave me broken dreams and I can’t contain them and vessels of iron that hurt my feet like fetters of iron. But you have not understood that only to the lizard in you do the dreams appear broken. Only to the flesh does it appear so hard. Come above where they are perfect and function, as they should. They will never flow with the clay and cold blood of the lizard; so they look broken, come above. The iron is Me, I am strong and unbending, never changing. Don’t try to change the hardness of my character because it hurts your flesh and clay to fight against My nature. Become soft and conform to it, come above. The sun of this world hardens your clay so that the iron breaks you, flow above in My river of Love then you will become soft enough to conform to My image instead of being hurt by it.

 

When a fish flies people are amazed. But when a Christian rises above persecution rises against them

 

To rise above is to be alone, misunderstood and persecuted. Choose it and embrace it. Love the cross more than all the treasures of darkness. Be a plant that grows toward the light and seeks it.

 

There is no pain if there is no flesh to hurt, for the Godly nature is light that no darkness can touch. If the darkness can cause us to suffer at all does it not do us a service in bringing to the light that which needs to be removed and brought subject to the nature of Christ? Before it was hidden from our view by a calm surface and yet lay lurking in the deep places of our heart as a great danger to cause us to fall. It is like a hidden corruption, like a shark’s jaws lurking below the surface to devour the life and the good in us, causing us to wonder where our good went and why it failed. Will it be slain and removed while it is still in the depths? No! But when it is brought to the surface we pierce it through with the word and the blood of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 12:11) Even then we can only yield to the Lord and submit in a right heart attitude. It is the Lord who must take the helm of our ship in these treacherous waters and the Lord who mans the harpoon of His Blood and His Word with the thrust and aim of the Holy Spirit.

 

Ours is but to position ourselves to His presence and press into it but worship. To yield and not to try to do it ourselves in our own strength no matter how small the situation or change seems, because we cannot see what is left beneath the surface of the dark and muddy clay filled waters. We can’t assume to do it ourselves at all, for that’s the Lord’s job and if we take it from Him, whether little or big He will leave it to us, knowing we have not submitted to trust Him but in the very flesh we seek to slay, we fight it. Then the monster of “self” determination and the fierce head of obligation rears itself and we kiss it instead of slaying that many headed beast of self will that owns more heads that any, from self gratification, to self pity, to fear of man, etc.

 

Our job is to worship Jesus Christ and press in to Him, yielding complete control to Him no matter how it seems, because often we can’t trust the illusions or shadows of death the enemy casts before our face. We must know and trust Jesus beyond what we can see and feel. That’s why so much of the scriptures talk about knowing Him. When Jesus cuts the anchors let them fall. Do not bewail the things that you thought gave you stability and strength but see through the disguise to things that tied you to the earth, heavy weights that weighed you down with great burdens, so that you were kept from flowing with the current of His heart beat in the River of His Life.

 

Is He cruel to allow us to suffer and bear our crosses as He bore His? His cross and suffering was because He partook of our humanness to rescue us. He took on our nature and battled it without falling. He suffered torment and torture soul, mind, body and spirit not only from the blows of whips and the pounding of nails and thorns but from the sins of all time, eternity past and eternity future brought to bear on His soul in a moment. We can’t bear our own heavy load of sin and its nature but He took it all and all the consequences. That’s why He is the one who can deliver us from this sin nature because He’s already conquered it.

 

Our crosses are only in our carnal nature, for only what remains of that nature and has not been crucified can hurt us. Then we need to take up our cross as He did. Only through Him can we conquer it one piece at a time, until the time comes that the flesh no longer contains us but we now have taken the nature of Christ only. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. (Galatians 2:20) In this way we can truly become one with Him and live with Him in heavenly places. (Ephesians 2:6)

 

Though our seed or shell is still on the earth we can’t be affected by what happens there because we abide in Christ in heavenly places high above those things. As the darkness grows thicker on the earth (Isaiah 60:2) learning to abide above is going to be more and more important. Don’t say I’m so far from that, what’s the use in even trying? Every journey begins with only one step, keep taking steps and rising above more and more. Just do what you know to do and the Lord will do the rest through you and for you. (1 Thes 5:24) He will conquer our prison of clay that keeps us from our destiny as God’s friend and lover. Our job is to seek Him above everything else. Feed on His word and His faithfulness. (Psalms 37:3) Minster to Him; worship Him, give Him control and trust Him. If we could conquer ourselves it would be done. It’s okay to need His constant help.

 

Many are being pressed sorely in this swirling Vortex, this valley between, knowing they have come out of the old they are expecting great blessings but instead they are sorely pressed and experience much turmoil. This can cause great discouragement but if we understand the times and seasons of the Lord our heart is prepared. We must have our very nature changed from the cold-blooded lizard, a creature of darkness, to the Christ like nature of the light. When we look through our big sad lizard eyes at the Lord and our circumstances nothing appears right. Our very perspective and reality must change.

 

Be careful that discouragement doesn’t lead you to the back door. Jesus is the front door, and we should access none other. Sin crouches at the back door. In the story “The Can” in one of my previous newsletters, I talk about accessing the Lord’s work through the Ogre’s territory and seeing things through the eyes of the Ogre. The Ogre appeared to be a demon but the true Ogre was “Self Will” the demon gained access through that self will. Self is the back door, often accessed through guilt but also through any number of things that start with self, like selfishness, self-seeking, self-gratification, etc.

 

We reach a place where we feel secure and expect only blessings. The disappointment that follows can lead to real danger. At that point no more chunks of flesh will be removed but there must be a blood transfusion, a nature change. To change the nature there must be a heart empty of self. The heart stands for our will. There can only be one will and it must be the Lord’s. We must no longer seek to line up with what is good. Good is not enough for the days ahead. The very good in us must be removed to make room for God in us. It feels so wrong sometimes to let go of the good but we must if the Lord requires it. Then instead of ‘our’ heart and will, we share the Lord’s heart and will.

 

Resurrection life is just beyond the door of the tomb. If we remain inside the tomb of flesh, death and destruction feeds on us. We must come forth to life in Christ and let the grave clothes of the old be removed. (Grave Clothes is a covering of the old. Strong’s Concordance says that transgression is a covering of sin, grave clothes.) It’s time to feed on the Lord and embrace life. Suffering is not a punishment but the nature of sin, by its very nature of death and destruction it feeds on us until we are completely rid of its infestation. We must allow suffering to do its work to remove the flesh and we must embrace the life of Christ so that we can come out of the place where death by the carnal nature feeds on us. Then we can walk in the light and life of Christ. We will have His power of Resurrection life flowing in us and through us. This will become more and more evident and draw people to Christ to be saved.

 

Ps 37:3 says Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Read that same passage with different eyes. Our desires have been subject to our old nature but if you seek the Lord He will put His desires in your heart and His desires will fill you with His nature. My paraphrase is - Delight yourself in the Lord and He shall give you His desires (for) your heart. The biggest struggle is to keep our focus off ourselves and our circumstances or even people and on the Lord only.

 

So often we like the lizard are working on this bite or that bite or dreading the next bite but the real goal is a change of nature. If we know that, we will look at things differently and cooperate with the Lord more. I pray this teaching has been a blessing to you as it has been to me. I would love to hear from you. Your emails are always very encouraging. Thank you for taking the time for this revelation teaching and for me. I thank you for your prayers and your continued support.