And Jesus wept over it

Luke 19:41 “And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it.”

Here, Jesus wept over Jerusalem, the Beloved city…..seeing all that would shortly come to pass for it….and how it could have been avoided.

            “But ye would not”.

And so they must bear the consequences of their refusal to receive their King.

Matthew 23:37-39 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee,  how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings,  and ye would not!

            Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

            For I say unto you,  Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say,   Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

           (The hen,   when danger or storm or enemies are about…will cluck and bring her chickens to her….and hide them under her wings:  sheltering and defending them.    This Jesus Christ would have done…

           Yet, again,  they would not.)

Luke 21:24 “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations:  and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

(This was all brought about in 70 A.D., when Rome put Jerusalem to the sword.    And we believe the time of the Gentiles in Jerusalem continued,  until the Israelis took the “old city” in 1967.

Of course, God’s timetable is His…..and we are waiting the next thing for the church….the Rapture,  where we will be caught up to be with the Lord in the air.)

         Today, it is not Jerusalem over which Jesus weeps….but the church….which must soon be spued out of His mouth….if we will not repent….turn from our own ways.

Revelation 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

(Actually,  there are only two of the seven churches He writes to in Revelation, symbolizing the seven dispensations of the church, that He does not call to repentance.

         Smyrna, which was the church under the Caesar’s persecution.

And Philadelphia,  which had just a little strength, yet kept His Word and would not deny His Name.

         The rest of the churches He called to repent….and in this last dispensation of Laodicea…when time is so short….

….His Voice calls us to be zealous (boiling hot!) and repent.)

We often think of repentance for the lost….and surely as they turn from their sin, and by faith come to Christ,  they are repenting.

But repentance is for His people….any time we have “turned to our own way” of thinking, reasoning, and feeling.

Titus 2:12-13 “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

         Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 10:37-38 “For yet a little while, and He  that shall come  will come, and will not tarry.

         Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

1 Peter 4:7 “But the end of all things is at hand:  be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

2 Peter 3:11-12, 14 “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,  what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

        Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God,…

        Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace,  without spot, and blameless.”

It is true….we need to be diligent, in order that we might be without spot….all our daily sins confessed, and covered under the blood of Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:9)

        And blameless….by using all the grace and means He gives us…to do His Will, in us and by us.

        Then, we will be found of Him in peace.   

We should be looking for His coming….and for the joy of being in His Presence….wanting to have something to give to Him….who gave so much for us. 

Luke 21:34 “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”

Surfeiting is to overindulge in food or drink:  which is eating for the pure pleasure of eating,…and not for nourishment for the body…nor with the fellowship with others

        But for the pleasure of the mind and emotions of the body.   To satisfy our desire to taste.

        This becomes sin as we let these pleasures override our concentration on the Lord’s Will.

And the cares of this life-–so very many to be concerned about!   “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:…” (Luke 21:26)

Yet the Lord said about these times….about these things….”Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time…”   No matter what is going on,  we are to look to Him….and His Will for “the goings on”.

       It is in the repentance from sin, that we do the most good.  In repentance, we prepare ourselves for the blessing of God.   

      And when the circumstances are falling apart…isn’t that when we need His peace, most?

Luke 21:28 “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads;  for your redemption draweth nigh.”

The Lord has said….”Take heed”. 

      Is there something in which He is trying to awaken you to?

      Is there something that you have become a little “heedless” in?

Then hear the Lord to you….and repent,  and take heed to yourselves….look up and lift up your heads,  spiritually to Him….

….for,  Hallelujah,  our redemption draweth nigh.    He is coming….are we prepared?

The creature must find a resting place

Hebrews 4:9 “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.”

In this day and age,  people are anxious,  worried, and often depressed.   There is a great many personal reasons for that….but there is also the simple fact that we need to find our resting place in the Will of God….

…for that is the only real resting place there is.

Now I am not talking about surrender to His Will, in general.   Every Christian, I believe must come to that place….where they have decided to do the Lord’s Will.  Period.

No, I am talking about coming to the place where we rest in God.

When I was in the hospital this last year,  and in pain,  and troubled….I cried to the Lord…and knew He was there.

      But…..and I want to say this with the most reverent speech….that was not enough.    Why?  Because at that time….I wanted Him to do something….I wanted my circumstances to change….I wanted to be able to get up….and,…. well you get the idea!

      My prayers were full of myself….not necessarily whining (although I am sure I did some)…but reminding the Lord of promises, and what I thought was the Lord’s Will concerning them.

      There was no rest.    

Hebrews 4:10-11 “For he that is entered into his rest,  he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.

       Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”

Then, I got real serious with the Lord….for trouble seemed to come onto trouble.  Sleepless night upon sleepless night.       And I sought His Word concerning this.

       And He gave me:

Psalm 18:1 “I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.”

And He started to show me,  me….and His Way.  There were failures to deal with,  testimonies to give….His Word to study.

       And then He showed me, my heart.   I love the Lord,  and the joy of that fact…amid what I felt….

……and the strength of His love….in the midst of all the terribleness….was my rest.

      We think of His greatness….He can do anything!     But what He showed me was HImself…and that all I was going through was from Him….and HIs love.

      That brought me to this place of rest:   whether in death (and it seemed a possibility), or life…He was going to say…

…..and I was at peace…..He was my place of rest.

      He became an anchor to my soul….and the bed which I wanted to flee,  became an altar to His Way.

“Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest”

And what is the one thing that keeps us from entering into rest?    Unbelief.

“Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”   (This “fall” is not to fall away….but to fall down on something.   To fall on the promises God has given you….to seemingly crush them.)

Unbelief destroys things.   

       It comes into our minds first (whether by a suggestion of the devil or a temptation from the world) and says:   God has not given you what He said…..and then the suggestion repeats what God has said….but adds things…

…or takes away from what He has really said. 

Then unbelief comes into our hearts….and here is the “fall”.   We feel that His Word has been crushed….that He will not do it for us…..or now.

But the very next verse,  if we will see it, takes care of these temptations….

Hebrews 4:12 “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

How wonderful to give us HIs Word!   How wonderful to show us what He is speaking to us about!

His Word is quick or enlivening!

His Word is powerful….we know this, so many times He has spoken and moved our hearts and lives!

His Word is sharper than any two edged sword….for it reaches through the hindrances to our soul (reasons, emotions, and will) and reaches our spirit which responds and yields to His Word.

His Word is a discerner of our thoughts and intents of the heart (1 Cor. 14:24-25)….and shows us exactly how we are….and what we need!

      We have but to yield to it….and the Lord gives us grace to overcome.

John 1:17 “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

He has offered abundant life….”…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

     Overflowing life….a resting place for us, as creatures….in this world of turmoil and trial.   

Will we yield….to Him….and His Way for us?   For this Way may take us down into the valley of the shadow of death…..or up into the mountain top of joy…or may lay a table in the presence of our enemies….

….but in it all,  as we yield,  we can say….”Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” (Ps. 24:5)

Psalm 18:1 “I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength.”

Spiritual Warfare: Our thought Life.

Our thought life is important. We often just think that what we do is of value, and it is. But what we think, and what we allow ourselves to think on, is important to God.

2 Corinthians 10:3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: “

Our flesh is our natural self life.

It is what we have become over the years as Adam’s children.

It is our habits, our desires, our plans, and our way of thinking; all of which make us do, and say, and act, the way we do.

This is the flesh.

When we become born again, and Christ’s life is within us by the Holy Spirit, then our flesh fights against the new life; so that it will not have to obey Christ, but can continue to do what it pleases.

A warfare takes place within us:

Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

“The things that ye would”, are those things that Christ leads you in, for you are born again, and want to serve Him.

But, because there is warfare within, it hinders the joy of service, and often the service is marred.

What to do?……..we can not get rid of the flesh, it will always be with us.

But we can win the battles to bring it into subjection to our King, Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;)

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

What are these “strongholds”? They are those thoughts that take hold in our minds and do not let go.

They could be a “good” reason; or suggested by the emotions flowing and toward a certain motive.

In the Spirit, we may know it is not right, though we can not tell how; but how ever it comes; if it is not dealt with,…….it builds a fortress in our thoughts.

It could be about the value of a certain thing. Simple in itself; but given power over the thought life by the flesh,…….and built upon again and again, because every time you go to get rid of it;…..and don’t,….it’s value becomes stronger.

(I once knew a Christian who became convinced that there was no hell. He, of course, did not want to think about some of the people he knew who would go to hell, because they were not born again. It became a big snare in his life; and dulled his sense of urgency where dealing with the lost was concerned.)

If you refuse, once, to deal with it; then the Adversary inflates the object with all sorts of affections, or opinions……to keep it.

“Casting down imaginations”. Our imagination is a faculty which brings to our minds, in pictures, the things we are dealing with.

We can let our thoughts “go”, and pretty soon, we are in a world of our own making; no reality; where the truth is what we want it to be.

Dangerous…….because the truth can then be twisted to be what the Adversary wants it to be….into a lie.

Casting down imaginations is tearing them down, to reveal the Truth that is in Jesus for this situation.

It can be a tough fight,…..but the Holy Spirit inclines our hearts and minds as we yield to Him….in dealing with what it is…how it got started…and the way to get rid of it.

But again the fight is not with carnal or natural weapons, but mighty through God, by His Holy Spirit, to cast them down in our affection……….so that we can be free from the influence of the Adversary through them.

In a world where “virtual reality” is accepted everywhere, we need to be especially careful, if we want to please the Lord Jesus Christ; Who is the Truth.

Or we may end up like those Paul warned of:

2 Timothy 3:5 “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”

God has promised power to live His life through us….by His Spirit…if we cooperate with Him.

The power of God is mighty to pulling down strongholds within our minds;…..and to cast down imaginations which have given a alternate view of Reality.

The power of God is through the Holy Spirit….working in our hearts.

“Every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God”.

God will tell you something; through His Word.

Then you hear, “You don’t really believe that do you?”

Or a question of “How can I do this?”

That is a high thing which is exalting itself against the knowledge of God.

God has said something to you, He is dealing with you about this situation; and the Devil would sent a doubt, and a hesitation, or a “very good reason, not to do what God said”.

What is it that we must do? Try and reason with the Devil? No! Eve tried that and sin was the result.

We can not reason in the flesh,…

….or try and work up affections for God in the flesh…..

God asks us to yield…..to the Holy Spirit within us, and let Him lead us.

When we do, we will be “captives” of God’s reasons, And “captives” of His love.

“Captive”, here, means “to prefer, to choose to have”…..

….the Holy Spirit works that choice within us…..giving us the reality of God’s love and peace in the enjoyment of following Him in our thought life.

If ye love me, keep my commandments; Jesus said. (John 14:15). And when we do love Him, we will. This is where God’s power comes in.

His Power is given to us to have His Life.

To have His Light, to see reality.

To have His love shed abroad in our hearts. (Romans 5:5).

To have His peace, shelter us.

To have His joy, make us strong.(Nehemiah 8:10)

We can make ourselves our own lord; and every time we refuse to yield to the clear command of God, that is what we are doing.

But that is bondage of the worst kind.

Strongholds,

Virtual Reality for Reality,

and a form of godliness.

Or we can yield to the Holy Spirit, and have the power of God, which is mighty, working within us, to bring us into captivity to the Life of God.

Which will we have?

The Light that lighteth every man.

John 1:9 “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man which cometh into the world.”

Inside every man there is the place of the knowledge of God. It is the spirit of man, a gift given by God to man, when he was first created.

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

God is: God the Father, God the Son, and God, the Holy Spirit: a Trinity.

Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

God formed man of the dust of the ground: his body.

And breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: giving him his spirit by the Holy Spirit (the breath of life).

And man became a living soul: a living personality was the result; mind, heart, and will.

Man, created in the image of God, is Spirit, Soul, and Body: a Triunity.

At the first, man’s spirit was Lighted by the Holy Spirit, for fellowship with God.

When Man fell by sin, the Holy Spirit left his spirit, and man’s spirit became darkened, but not destroyed.

The impress of the Light of Life was still there, so there was a knowledge of God……..but a hinderance also was there: sin.

Romans 1:21 “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; and became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

Sin hardens the heart and mind against the Light, because it wants to stay in the darkness, and hide.

John 3:20 “For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”

Ephesians 4:18 “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:”

Since the fall of man, we have missed the mark (or purpose) for which we were created.

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

That is the definition of sin: “missing the mark”.

We have all sinned; we are all sinners; we have all come short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

We as sinners, have earned the wages of death. Death is the separation from God.

The question is? Will we continue in this death, through all eternity?

Or will be receive the gift of God, by the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ…and have His life?

“But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.

This eternal life is a condition of life, now; not just for eternity.

Certainly, those who receive Christ Jesus as Lord, and Savior, will go to Heaven which is the abode of God, but the eternal life He offers is for us,…now.

He gives us light and life now, for the darkness and death we have lived in.(Ephesians 2:1-3)

At the time of regeneration; when we are born again (John 3:7); the Holy Spirit comes back into our spirits and gives us Faith, Light, and Life.

The Holy Spirit, within our spirits, then begins to bring our spirits into subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ, and His Word to us;….for our lives.

He does this by showing us God’s Will, and influencing our hearts and minds to will after God’s Will.

This brings us from being babes in Christ, to grown up children of God.

But we must yield to the Lord’s Will.

This increases our Light.

And light makes plain everything in our path….both in us, and around us.

Our wills are the determining factor:

Philippians 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

He works within us, that we might know His Will and do His Will.

That His Light will grow within us, and that we might be blessed of God.

The Vine’s Purpose

Ezekiel 15:1-2 “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  

           Son of man,   What is the vine tree more than any tree,  or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest?”

Ezekiel has been “warning” (enlightening by caution)  the captives against a false sense of entitlement.  

         Jeremiah and Ezekiel had told them that the Lord would destroy Jerusalem for the sins of the people there.    That they would be in captivity for years (as Jeremiah had said)….

….but they did not want to believe that things were that bad….or that the Lord would drive them out of the Land that He had once given them.

Israel was figuratively God’s grape-vine.

        Their purpose was to bear the fruit of the knowledge of God in praise,  work,  and worship (Deuteronomy 6:20–25) among their children and family….

….and to be  witness to the nations round about, of the joy in serving the True God…and to show HIs glory.

This was the “fruit” they were to bring forth in their lives.

       But they refused (in general) and so God was finally….after years of speaking to them….of sending them prophets…going to “burn” them….give Jerusalem to the fire of judgment.

Ezekiel 15:4-5 “Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel;  the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned.   Is it meet for any work?

      Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work:  how much less shall it be meet yet for any work,  when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?”

The Lord says,  “What good is it for wood?”   Not much good….”will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?”      

      To be cut down for wood….it is little….it can’t even make a pin to hang something on in the house.

It is not even good for burning….for it is not as other trees,  which when cut down make stacks of timber.     

      But it burns at both ends, and burns up….with no lasting heat.   It is of little use.

When it was a vine, “it was meet for no work”.  It did not fulfill its Purpose.

This is an important phrase,  for we, in the church are told:

2 Timothy 2:21 “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”

      Prepared unto the honor of the Lord….and the work of the Lord for us.

Are we?

      (As my husband’s Papers, about his Awakening meetings,  said:

…we are to be set aside–”sanctified and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work”…and that is what these meetings will deal with.   It is to the church….when we are ready,…we can invite the lost.

      For it is always first in us….then in our church, and our home and ever outward.

Again I would ask…are we set aside to God and His Will for our everyday lives?   Are we prepared by submission and yielding to every good work?)

Ezekiel 15:6,8 “Therefore thus saith the Lord God;  As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel,  so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

      And I will make the land desolate,  because they have committed a trespass saith the Lord God.”

Therefore, as the vine wood is given for the fire when it is useless, so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem to the fire….because of their “trespass” against Me.

(I want to speak briefly about the Trespass offering.

         The Trespass offering was for sins done knowingly:  stealing,   defrauding someone,    or things found and kept, when they should have been returned to the owner.   

         The law was that the person was to make restitution of these things….plus…one-fifth more was to be given,  from his own possessions.

          But it was not enough to repair the wrong done to the neighbor or to the social group….the person was also required to bring an offering….a ram, without blemish, which would be placed on the Burnt Altar, and roasted, and then given to the priests.

        This was to be done to show his sorrow and repentance for having slandered and dishonored God and His laws of mercy.)

Israel had willingly sinned–yet had not repented and changed their ways….their had been no Trespass offering … 

…..even when He had rose up early and spoken to them (Jeremiah 29:19  actually the Lord says eleven times in Jeremiah how He has done this!)….yet they refused to hear His warning.

The Lord Jesus Christ has called us to bring forth fruit….to “abide” in Him, and let His Words “abide” in us.

“Abide” here means “to stay”.   We are to stay with Him.   This is not for salvation…it is not our hold on HIm, but His hold on us that counts for our salvation.      

         But this is to stay in heart, and action with Him….to follow,  and walk along with….to not leave His Will for us….or His Work and Word to us…for another.

         And He warns us:

 John 15:6-7  “If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

        If ye abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

Eight times in this chapter, the Lord speaks of “abiding”….of staying with Him.     

        And I love this…”…ye shall ask what ye will,  and it shall be done….unto you.”

This is not a promise for someone else….no, it is a promise for us….if we will stay with the Lord,  we may ask what we will….and it will be done unto us.

We can be those “vessels unto honor,  meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work”.

       Prepared!   Think of it….prepared by God, the Holy Spirit, for   every  good  work!

2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,  that the excellency of power may be of God, and not of us.”

The purpose of the Vine, was to bear grapes for the Husbandman….and we are to bear the fruit of righteousness….of His likeness,  and yield the Spirit’s fruit (Gal. 5:22-25),  showing that we belong to Jesus Christ.

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down

Hebrews 12:11 “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are exercised thereby.”

Have you been exercised thereby? Simply, have you learned from your failures?

You see, this term is from the training those of fighters that went into Roman arena for sport.

They would be trained by a master trainer, and they would get plenty of bumps and bruises along the way.

To be “exercised thereby” is to learn, through all the training, how to use your hands and feet aright.

The training was strenuous and extensive. It covered attitude, as well as form. It covered strength, as well as technique.

And if you really wanted to learn, the master trainer would often give extra time to teach you harder things. (Yes, that usually meant more bruises.)

Here, it is talking about our learning from the hands of our Heavenly Father, who has to correct us, when we error; so we can learn to walk and stand aright.

Hebrews 12:12 “Wherefore lift the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees:”

Our hands symbolize everything that we accomplish, in the will of God. Everything that is our responsibility to do.

Therefore if they hang down; become weakened by discouragement or “weary in well doing” (Galatians 6:9), then we can not have the victory in the battle. (And sometimes the consequences of this discouragement, lasts for a long time)

Our knees are feeble, when our hearts begin to weaken, and our minds begin to wander.

They can hardly hold our weight; for we are burdened with the cares of this life.

We have forgotten that we are yoked with Christ, and that we are to:

“Come to Him, all ye that labor and are heavy ladened”. (Matthew 11:28-30)

We are to come, all through our life and walk, to Christ, as our yoke partner.

Hebrews 12:13 “And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which be lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.”

Outward problems come when we do not maintain our way before God.

Perhaps we think we know what we should do.

Perhaps we have been careless in letting something “slip”.

Perhaps we have been too tired, and feeling sorry for ourselves, we have not put forth the effort, or even asked for the strength we need.

Proverbs 4:25-27 “Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

When we have stumbled in our ways, we are to “straighten” them.

Set them right before the Lord, by confession and ask for joy and peace; strength and courage, to conquer our hinderances…..

…….so that none that follow after will be turned aside by our lack of maintaining our way.

“Healed” is the ultimate goal of all who are in such a situation.

Don’t doubt.

Don’t fear.

Come to Christ, and be restored to spiritual health.

The verse says, “let it” be healed.

How often the Lord would give us joy for sorrow; and we have turned away from Him, because we want the circumstances to change, not us.

You see, “happiness” has to do with our circumstances. If they are good to us, we are happy.

Joy, on the other hand, comes directly from the Lord to us, through His Holy Spirit within.

It does not care about circumstances (and often comes in the worst circumstances, as we believe God),……because it cares only about our relationship to God.

He showed me once, that He would give joy a lot more often, if I would “Let it”.

All this comes as our Heavenly Father corrects our failures, to bring us into a closer relationship to Him.

When we see the correction; to “let” ourselves be healed, we must see our Father’s love behind them.

Hebrews 12:7, 9-10, 14 “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he who the Father chasteneth not?

Furthermore, we have had father’s of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits, and live?

For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”

His great love for us is the reason He corrects us.

Let us lift up our hands to Him!

O Wretched Man that I am!

Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Paul wrote this, telling of the revelation of God to himself….about his sin. He thought himself a very righteous person….till God awakened him to the sin within.

Now, we too, are wretched…….according to the Word of the Faithful and True Witness.

Revelation 3:17 “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”

“Wretched” means that we endure evil….we put up with it in our own hearts and lives.

“And knowest not”. Jesus says that this we are….and we are all unaware of it.

Yet the Lord has told me, that any Laodicean,…. that would get a good look at his own heart…..

…..would do something about it!

But the problem is that we think we are rich and increased with goods….and have need of nothing.

(No wonder God warns us of “deceitful hearts”. Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”)

And the devil would keep us blinded to reality, if he could.

(But God also gives us sight,….if we want it. Jeremiah 17:10 “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins (will), even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” If you really will to do the Lord’s Will, then He will show you, your ways and your heart.)

Revelation 3:18 “…..and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”

What is the eyesalve?

Some say the Holy Spirit….and of course, He is the agent, always!

But to consider this wretchedness, we must see our side of it.

Luke 8:15 “But that on the good ground are they, which in a honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

Notice…..”honest and good heart”…..good only because it is honest.

What does an honest heart do?

Having heard the Word, keeps it.

It answers the demands that the Word makes….doing what we are told.

(We must stress everyday obediences…..I believe this is one way the Adversary has deceived the church…..

….waiting for some special time, special place, special Word….when what He wants is us to just do what we’re told.)

We usually do not see the last strongholds of our rebellion, until His love points them out.

But once God has shown you, His love for you….personally, then you are never the same person again.

But all this rests with honesty…….as we will get honest with the Lord…we will see the reality, that is our own heart.

This is a deliberate act of our wills…..we must all come to believing obedience.

Believing what He shows us…..believing what His Word tells us….believing it is for now….today.

I see it!

I know what this life of obedience entails for me.

I desire it!

This is the life I want to live!

I expect it!

I will, by His enabling, live it.

I accept it!

I know I have it, and I thank you Lord for it. I trust Christ for it!

“Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

Would you be delivered from your wretchedness? If so, get obedient.

Let His love open up your eyes and heart to His Faithful and True Witness.

What fruits do you bear?

Matthew 7:20 “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”

When the scriptures speak of “fruit”….it is talking about what is produced in the life….and from a life.

We bring forth after our kind.    If we are lukewarm Christians…we can not influence others to be zealous….until we become zealous. (Rev. 3:19-20)

If we love the Lord,  it will produce “fruit” that pleases the Lord. (John 14:15)

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone that saith unto me,  Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;  but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.

       Many will say to Me in that day,  Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?  and in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works?

       And then will I profess unto them,   I never knew you:  depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”

Plainly,  Jesus Christ is saying,  it is not calling Him   “Lord”  that means anything….but it is making Him our Lord in our lives that makes a difference.

Jesus said,  “…but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.”

         Here, Jesus stresses the necessity for Obedience in those that follow Him.

But we might say….isn’t prophesying in His name….and casting out devils…

…….and what about those wonderful works I did?     All  in Your Name, Jesus.   Isn’t that obedience?

It is sad but true,  that many will use the name of Jesus to do many things….will talk about Jesus for many reasons….

God will honor His Word….and God will honor the name of Jesus.

         But  He will not honor those workers of iniquity….which simply use Jesus for their own gain. (Jude 11-13)

To them the most terrible words will come:   I never knew you…. Depart from Me.   

        This “knew” here…is absolutely know….to have His eye upon for good.

The Lord knows His own….His eye is upon them for good always.   

        But the wicked He does not know in this way….but only as Judge.

I want to talk of the example Jesus Christ uses here of two homeowners.

        (Speaking of our  heart-homes ….”For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:21)

Matthew 7:24-25 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them,  I will liken him unto a wise man,  which built his house upon a Rock:

        And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;  and it fell not:  for it was founded upon a Rock.”

Matthew 7:26-27 “And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them not,  shall be likened unto a foolish man,  which built his house upon the sand:

       And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;  and it fell:  and great was the fall of it.”

Notice that the same rain and storm comes to both. 

      Notice that both hear His sayings.   

      What then is the difference between these men?

The wise man (cautious and thoughtful)…..does the sayings of Christ…and builds his heart-house on the Rock of Christ Jesus, Himself.

      The foolish man (heedless)…does not do what he has heard….and builds his heart-house on the sinking sand of this world.

Both heard,  but how they heard was the determining factor.

     One heard,…. to learn and do what Jesus said.

     The other heard…..but refused the Rock of Salvation,  Jesus Christ.

Could the fact of personal obedience to what Christ says be more clearly stated?  

     To each person He speaks….using the Holy Spirit to convict….for personal belief in HImself for Salvation and…..for a personal call to sanctification.

      But it is doing the will of the Father that shows that we are founded upon the Rock of Christ.

We all know the children’s song about this illustration….(how important for children to know Jesus Christ!)

….but are we aware,  that the whole stress of this last of His message here….is “fruits”….by their fruits ye shall know them.

The Lord goes on to show that many will seem to know and do things for Christ….calling:  Lord,  Lord!

      But words are not fruit.   

      They are like the leaves on a tree….they look good….they fill out the tree, or vine.   But they are not fruit.    

And that is what counts in the court of heaven….fruit unto God. (John 15:8 “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.”)

Fruit is the “expected end” of a tree or vine.   It is the joy of the Husbandman.   

     If we wish to bring joy to the Lord,  let us do His sayings….let us be wise, thoughtful and cautious about our hearts….and lay our lives on Jesus Christ, our Rock….our Savior and Lord.

A Scribe which can be Instructed

Matthew 13:52 “Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”

We mostly consider scribes as wicked men; they certainly were to Jesus. Some of them only sought to discredit, or mock Him.

But there were others who sought to know the truth:

Matthew 8:19 “A certain scribe, came and said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.”

Mark 12:28, 34 “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, Which is the first commandment of all?

And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou are not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask Him any question.”

Scribes, (they were usually Levites, the family of the priests), were assigned at the beginning of their history, for good: They were to write out the law and teach it to the people who might not come to the Tabernacle or the Temple.

All were to know God’s law, and they were assigned the job, to write and pass it out, by teaching it.

Jeremiah was assigned this job by Josiah, the last Godly king of Judah, who led a revival there. (2 Kings 23:25)

Also Ezra was a “scribe in the law of Moses” (Ezra 7:6), and led many of his countrymen back to the land after the Babylonian captivity.

He led a revival there (Ezra 9-10), and also helped Nehemiah with the first reading of the law to those returned (some of them had never heard it before. Nehemiah 8:5-6, 8).

Scribes were given to make people understand what God wanted them to do, using His Word to show them.

Though some corrupted this; yet Jesus said, “…every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like”:

He said that if you know the scriptures, My words, then you can bring out of them, things new: that which you have discovered by the experience of them, and share them.

And things old: what others have written or testify from them.

Both are food for us, as Christians.

We need to know what Jesus has said:

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye love one another:”

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

We need to know what the Word says:

1 Thessalonians 5:8 “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.”

1 Timothy 6:6-7 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.

For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.”

We need to remember the examples taught us in the Old Testament, for they are lessons to us. (1 Corinthians 10:6)

And we need to awake to the warnings of His Word, against the enemies within us…and around us in this world:

John 7:24 “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgement.”

Ephesians 4:26 “Be ye angry, and sin not; let not the sun go down upon your wrath:”

Galatians 5:24-26 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

1 John 5:21 “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”

These are some of the verses the Lord has dealt with me about through the years (there are lots more), and I share them with you, letting the Holy Spirit speak to you about them, as He will.

God has given us His Word. Let us hear what the Word says to us, and be instructed unto the kingdom of heaven…..

And pass it on.

Hezekiah’s prayer

Though we have the story of Jerusalem’s salvation from the largest and the most feared army at that time….in  Isaiah, 2 Kings and in 2 Chronicles….yet only in 2 Kings and Isaiah, is Hezekiah’s prayer recorded.

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against the defenced cities of Judah, at the border…and took them.

This king was a fierce and terrible king.  He was bloody and viscous….killing was his stock and trade….for he loved power and conquest….and he was successful!

        He had conquered and pillaged many nations…

…..and now he sent one of his trusted servants to Jerusalem to mock Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord….and to see if he could get them to surrender to Sennacherib.

Isaiah 36:13-20 (condensed) “Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice….Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

       …Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you.

       Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord,….

       Hearken not unto Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria,   Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me….Until I come and take you away…

                  Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying,  The Lord will deliver us.   Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

       Where are the gods of the Hamath and Arphad?  Where are the gods of Sepharvaim?  and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?

       Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand,    that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?”

Wow!   This was said in front of all who had come to the wall surrounding Jerusalem to listen.  Everyman heard in his own language what was said….every man knew that the king of Assyria was horrible….violent,  often destroying and torturing for sport by his soldiers…men, women and children.

Yet, they waited….on the Lord.

When the report of what was said was given to Hezekiah….

Isaiah 37:1 “And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.”

He sent to Isaiah and Isaiah assured him that the king would not come into Jerusalem….and in fact Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went to fight another king for a while.

But then a message was brought from the king of Assyria…a personal message to king Hezekiah….saying the same thing:

         Don’t think that the Lord will deliver you…..for no gods have delivered any of the nations that I have conquered…..we have destroyed them “utterly”.

So Hezekiah read the letter….and…

….”and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.”  (Isaiah 37:14)

Let us look at what this godly king prayed….for he and his people were in serious trouble.

Isaiah 37:16 “O Lord of host,  God of Israel,  that dwellest between the cherubims,  Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth:  Thou hast made heaven and earth.”

I love this!   Here Hezekiah takes stock of his God.   

    “O Lord of host”….Lord over every army.  Over the armies of men,  of hornets, of beasts,  of hailstones and storm!

    “God of Israel”…Hezekiah is calling upon his God….the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.   The God who brought this people here, and gave them this land….the God of Israel.

   “That dwellest between the cherubims.”    Over the Ark of the Covenant,  two cherubims stood facing inward where the mercy seat and the blood of the Atonement was!   There was the Presence of God.

   “Thou art God,  Thou alone,  Thou hast made heaven and earth”    There may be many gods of men….but the Lord was the only true God.

Hezekiah acknowledges God….and then asks that He look on the words that this Assyrian king wrote against Him and His people…..

….which was a reproach to “the living God”.     

        (“reproach” here means to strip off…to expose.   The king of Assyria thought that he would expose God as nothing…unable to deliver Jerusalem…

…..of course, he was wrong!   For God is a living God…mighty and able!)

Then Hezekiah tells the Lord the way things were.  

     The king of Assyria was indeed a mighty foe….Assyria was the greatest nation at that time.    He  had destroyed many nations…

(And this is the way we should pray.   We should lay out before the Lord exactly our predicament.  We should not shy away from telling the Lord what we are afraid of.)

….but then Hezekiah tells the Lord that he knows…

….the gods of these nations were no gods.   They were no help for these people…they were but idols which could not speak or deliver.

But:

Isaiah 37:20 “Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand,….”

(Perhaps we would stop here….but Hezekiah was a godly king….and he prayed for more than mere deliverance.)

……”that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord,  even Thou only.”

And here is to pray for the glory of God.    

      Save us….not because we are something….

…but save us that Your Name might be glorified….and that all the nations round about may know that You alone are God.

And should not we pray for the glory of God in all our prayers…especially when we need help and deliverance?      “Save us….for Thy Name’s sake.”

Well,….God did save Jerusalem at this time.   The king of Assyria never came into Jerusalem.

The Lord spoke to Hezekiah by Isaiah,   concerning Sennacherib, king of Assyria:

Isaiah 37:22-23, 28-29 “This is the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning him (the king of Assyria):   The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn;  the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. 

        Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? And against Whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high?   Even against the Holy One of Israel.

        But I know  thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against Me.

        Because thy rage against Me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put My hook in thy nose, and My bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.”

The Lord’s “hook” and “His bridle” was sent.

       Isaiah 37:36 “The angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand:  and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”

      The king of Assyria never came into Jerusalem….he went home…and was killed there, by his own two sons.

Now I mentioned that Hezekiah was a godly king….he had:

      2 Chronicles 31:20-21 “And thus did Hezekiah….. and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the Lord his God.

      And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God,   and in the law,   and in the commandments,  to seek his God,   he did it with all his heart, and prospered.”

Sennacherib’s words attacked both God….as being just like any other god.   And Hezekiah, because he trusted in the Lord….and showed it.

We, as Christians, have many troubles.   Some which come because we are in the world, as everyone else….for problems come to all.  

      But some enemies come,  because we are the Lord’s….because we trust in Him…because we believe that He is God, Who ruleth over all.

Let us spread our troubles out before Him….tell Him all that is on our hearts,  and listen for His Word to us.   

      He will deliver us from fear,…if not from all trouble.    He will deliver us from our enemies…in His time….His Way.   

And when He does,  let us praise Him….and magnify His Name before others.