Hope!!!

Commit thy way unto Yahweh; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.              

~Psalm 37:5

Hope always leads to trust and rest.  In order to have such hope, you need to commit your paths, your plans, and even your predictions to God.  There's a comfort in knowing it's out of your own hands. It's comforting to know that the preeminent changes can only be accomplished by God.  It's comforting to know that it's not up to you!

Hope isn't complacency.  But it is contentment.  And contentment in itself is gain (1 Tim. 6:6) -- another thing to hope for!

Hope is not a reason to sit around all day, just "waiting on the Lord".  Hope is a reason to have confidence in yourself!  Confidence in yourself -- in Christ (Phil. 4:13).  Remember in Psalm 37 that Yahweh will bring your way to pass.  Your way, yes, if it's already been committed!  In Christ, you are capable and pure.

Hope makes us bold (2 Cor. 3:12), it inspires us to act, it inspires us to pray and to contend.  Spiritual warfare is only done from a point of rest.  Work should only be done in trust.  Hope won't let you get weary!

Hope can seem foolish to the world.  It may inspire the appearance of short-term memory loss (Philippians 3:13). Hope can be illogical, unconventional, and stubborn.  Hope doesn't look at the facts.

The mystery of Christianity is this: "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).  Ultimately, hope comes from the longing for Christ in you.  

You Died on the Cross

Freedom from sin has been on my mind recently.  The greatest freedom we can achieve on this earth, ultimately, is freedom from ourselves.  God doesn't want our mental constructs, paradigms, or limitations to hold us back! He doesn't want sin bogging us down.  We are free to enjoy and fulfill unity with Christ.  Romans 6 says a lot about this, and I believe that there is an important revelatory key to be found here, in the first 7 verses:

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?"

The passing of the Law does not license sin.  It doesn't legalize it or anything.  The presence of grace does not permit sin; though the presence of sin permits grace to act.

"May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?"

Grace is for gifting, not for sinning (Acts 4:33).  We are not to live in something that Jesus died to eradicate.  Sin is still self-harming and separates from God.  Sinfulness in the life of a believer will always lead to the illusion of punishment.  It gives satan an open door to work.

"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?"

Baptism is symbolic of death.  Did you know that death can be joyful?  That death can be pleasurable?  Well, it is, if for no other reason that because baptism is.  Dying to self is a holy thing.  The old has been buried, forgotten, rendered obsolete. That means the shameful parts of you!

"Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life."

Newness of life is an everyday thing.  It has been you state of being since the first moment you believed, and it will continue to be your state of being forever.  You death to self has been sealed for a while now.  It's not something you have to work yourself into every morning.  It's just something that you have to remember and believe.  You new nature is natural.  

"For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,"

We were united with Him in the likeness and heavenly substance of His death.  We were right there! A few days ago, I was given a vision where I saw our Master being crucified.  I was an onlooker. I gazed on this scene for a while, and it was somber.  I didn't want to be far off.  And then things changed.  I was transmitted onto His broken body!  I was right there on that cross with Him; I was part of Him.  I shared in His sufferings (Romans 8:17).  He was broken so I could be broken, so that I could get out of my own way.  And the entire penalty, the one I deserved, was taken away from me.  The entire transaction was a beautiful, mystical thing to witness.

And, going back to the last verse, We have been raised through glory, through the glory of our Glorious Father.  When we remember His death, we remember our resurrection.  It's been a past tense thing.  Knowing you've died is freeing.  Knowing that you're now living in "the likeness of His resurrection" is even better!

"knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;"

See, we are free from sin.  Our sin nature has be crushed.  It's a part of us that didn't, hasn't, and won't come back.  We are slaves to righteousness, love slaves!

"for he who has died is freed from sin"

We have died to human desire, temptation, and sin, and all we need to do is remember it.  That's where the current manifestation comes in.  The punishment for sin has also lost it's hold on us.  A dead person doesn't need to fear the law!  And neither do we.

We died with Him.  We were resurrected with Him.  We are constantly being regenerated with Him. We are free to live with Him.  That means life to the fullest.

No longer do we have a predisposition to be angry, or to be worried, or to be sad.  We may go through those things, but negative emotions should only be the exception that proves the rule.  Life is beautiful and fun, it's holy and free.  That's how Yahshua meant it to be!

Temptation: Don't Settle

Been thinking a lot about temptation recently.  There is a higher side to this, a higher solution, that I'll get to in a bit.  But for now, here's some thoughts taken from the Smith Wigglesworth devotional:



Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. – James 1:12

People do not know what they are getting when they are in a great place of temptation. Temptation endured brings the “crown of life.”

There is nothing outside of purity except what is sin. All unbelief is sin. God wants you to have a pure, active faith so that you will be living in an advanced place of believing God all the time, and so that you will be on the mountaintop and singing when others are crying.

I want to speak now about lust. I am not speaking about the base things, the carnal desires. I am not speaking so much about adultery or fornication, and such things, but I am speaking about what has turned you aside to some other thing instead of God.

God has been offering you better things all the time, and you have missed them.

There are three things in life, and I noticed that many people are satisfied with just one of them. There is blessing in  justification, there is blessing in sanctification, and there is blessing in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Salvation is a wonderful thing, and we know it. Sanctification is a process that takes us on to higher levels with God. Salvation, sanctification, and the fullness of the Spirit are processes.

Many people are satisfied with “good” – that is, with salvation. Other people are satisfied with “better” – a sanctified life, purified by God. Still other people are satisfied with “best” – the fullness of God with revelation from on high. I am not satisfied with any of the three. I am only satisfied with “best with improvement”.

So I come to you not with good, but better; not with better, but best; not with best, but best with improvement – going on with God.

Why?

Because “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fully-grown, brings forth death”(James 1:15)

When anything has taken me from God, it means death in some way.

When Jesus said to the disciples, “The Son of Man will be put into the hands of sinners and crucified,” Peter rebuked Him ( see Mt. 16:21-22), but Jesus said, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”(verse 23)

Anything that hinders me from denying myself and taking up my cross(v.24) is of the Devil; anything that hinders me from being separated unto God is of the Devil, anything that hinders me from being purified every day is carnal, and it is death.

So I implore you today to make certain that there is no lustful thing in you that would rob you of the glory. Then God will take you to the very summit of the blessing where you can be increased day by day into all His fullness.

Thought for today: Do not neglect the Word of God. Take time to think about the Word of God; it is the only place of safety.

Divine Nature

"Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

2 Peter 1:4

Yahweh has given us so many precious promises.  Through what?  Look back to the last verse--through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  We participate in the divine nature, we mystically become part of Him, by simply understanding just how great He is.  By having the true knowledge of that.  Knowledge really is power!

"Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God..."

Reception, belief, true knowledge--all these things go hand in hand.  What it means to have a renewed mind (Ephesians 4:23) and realize just how well you already know Him!  It's comforting to know that you are a daughter, or that you are a son.

God's promises give us the power of participation, the power of holy pleasure.  There is a belonging in the family of God, in the nature of God.  It's just as natural as could be. (1 Cor. 15:46 and context)

I've been praying for two major things for a while now.  One, that I would feel the way my Heavenly Father feels about every situation, and two, that everything I say would be soaked in His Love.  These are just a small facet of the divine nature.

See, when you are partaking of His promises, in His goodness, the temptations of the world "grow strangely dim".  The burdens, the sorrows, the sin--all those things can be swallowed up (1 Cor. 15:54).  They can lose their place in your awareness and in your mind.

You are free to be free, you are free to be constantly joyful, you are free to never worry again.  You are free to be like Jesus was on the earth (1 John 4:17), always experiencing perfect love.  In 2016, let's all tap into that.

#77

I've been seeing the number 77 a lot recently.  Not only seeing it, but receiving it, hearing it, and accidentally typing it!  One of the more unique ways that Yahweh speaks is through numbers. These messages often point to future acts--so their delivery usually have prophetic significance.  God wants us to know what's going on!

John Paul Jackson on Numbers

Numbers typically relate to symbolism.  For example, this "77" theme was confirmed through a friend, who prophetically delivered Genesis 41 to me:

And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.
And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow:
And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine:
And when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ill favoured, as at the beginning. So I awoke.
 And I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears came up in one stalk, full and good:
And, behold, seven ears, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them:
And the thin ears devoured the seven good ears: and I told this unto the magicians; but there was none that could declare it to me.
And Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do.
The seven good kine are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years: the dream is one.
And the seven thin and ill favoured kine that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty ears blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.
This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

There's a lot of symbolism here!  But what is the message for me, at this point of this current season? Basically, it's to save money!

That's the main message, but not the only one.  God often weaves several elements into one message, into one symbolic theme.  Notice that He gave Pharaoh a very multifaceted dream that delivered one prophetic instruction.  Several things converged to give one main instruction--one main call to action.
77 is also one of the numbers representative of Yahshua.  Why?  Because He was born of the 77th generation after Adam.  Redemption complete!  Fittingly, Jesus Himself instructed us to forgive our brother 77 times (Matthew 18:22).  That's an appropriate command to be given by the One who brought forgiveness to all!  Yahshua's command here is one of just many that subliminally pointed to Himself

Our Heavenly Father gives us numbers to speak holistically to every arena of our lives.  He uses numbers as a sort of comprehensive prophecy, to meet us where we're at right now.

God will speak to you through numbers, if you're open to it.  He'll give you a sign.  He'll show you and re-confirm to you the Spirit's streams of teaching in your life.

Contentment

"But godliness with contentment is great gain."  

~1 Timothy 6:6

There is a contentment out there that only comes from God.  This expression of contentment comes when we live in the reality that Jesus is enough, when we live in peaceful union with Him.  Godliness and contentment go hand in hand, because being like God means being with God.  And being with God is always enough!

Contentment is knowing that there is always something to be thankful for.  There are so many precious promises that God has made known to us.  We may not know the future, we may only see in part (1 Cor. 13:12), but we do know that the word of Yahweh stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).  

"He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield."          ~Psalm 91:4

It's worth being knit to God.  It's worth constantly feeling His peace, His presence.  He's the Comforter, and He makes everything easier.  He makes it easy for us to draw near and experience Him.  He makes it easy to feel safe and secure.  

We were made to crave this sense of togetherness, where the Holy Spirit has hemmed us in on every side (Psalms 139:5).  We were created to feel swaddled!  This is what our Heavenly Father wants us to want.  He wants us to experience true security.     

Contentment is eternal life, and eternal life is to know Yahshua (John 17:3), to enjoy His protection. He'll give you just as much joy as you want, and He'll give you peace along with it.    

You are on the ancient path (Jer. 6:16); you have arrived in the promised land (Hebrews 4:9); you were known since before the world began (2 Tim 1:9).  Isn't that wonderful?  Enjoy it today.  

Living in Thanks

"I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of Yahweh"   ~Psalm 107:22

So many things in our lives can be sanctified by thanksgiving.  Whether we are waking up in the morning, working, or folding laundry doesn't really matter--we can experience the holiness weaved into each moment by awakening to a state of thanksgiving.

When we call on the name of Yahweh, we're really also calling on all that goes with it.  We are calling on a force greater and more noble than ourselves.  We are calling for a spirit of thankfulness and gratitude to overtake us.

So many rituals in the Old Testament point to future spiritual parallels found in the New (Colossians 2:17), It's our job, not God's, to become appropriately thankful for all the things He's already done.  Thanks offerings are still a part of the righteous person's walk.

"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful."

We're no longer on the other side of the fence, offering sacrifices to a distant, overarching God. Yahshua has come!  Instead, we can let Christ in us commune with the Father in the same way He did while on earth in bodily form.  We're one with Him, and He's one with us, even One with all who believe.  Thankfulness can be our natural state of being.  It's part of our calling, and it's a medium through which more specialized aspects of our Father's plans are directed.  God doesn't always make things easy, but He does make things easier.

...But Willingly

"Shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but willingly, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness"  

~1 Peter 5:2

"Not under compulsion, but willingly".  The Holy Spirit has been bringing up that short phrase again and again.  It doesn't just have to do with giving, or praying, or even shepherding.  Our Heavenly Father wants our every act to be done, not under compulsion, but willingly.  

When we do anything for God, we're giving Him something.  Our time, talent, attention--whatever it is, it's a gift to Him.  We choose to sacrifice our own plans and commit to His.

"With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good."        ~Psalm 54:6

It's our free will offering that Yahweh wants.  Remember that the natural came first, and then the spiritual (1 Cor. 15:46).  He wants us to willingly offer up ourselves and all the gifts He's given us. And He wants us to do so thankfully!

"When you sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf."

~Leviticus 22:29

It's not enough to just go through the motions in our service to God.  We need to be willing, and thankful.  We can present to Him our acceptable sacrifice (Romans 12:1).  Once we have aligned ourselves with the knowledge of Messiah and His sacrifice, then we can gratefully present ours.  Our life can be full of choices where we happily choose our Father's perfect will.

The Joy of Yahweh

"His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’"    ~Matthew 25:23

We all know that this verse relates to our graduation to Heaven.  But like many verses in the Bible, this one can be taken both literally and symbolically, naturally and spiritually, personally and corporately.  God often inserts two meanings into what He says (Psalm 62:11).

See, we can enter into the joy of our Master know!  We may only experience a small measure of the joys of Heaven, but we can still experience Heaven on earth today.  And that's a prerequisite to our calling here and now.

"This day is holy to our Elohim. Do not grieve, for the joy of Yahweh is your strength."    

~Nehemiah 8:10

Living in Joy makes everything easier.  Hope gives us joy, and joy gives us strength from God!  I believe that the power of the Spirit actually gives tangible, physical strength and health.  There was a period of time last year where I was not eating a nutrient dense diet.  And every morning, when I went for a walk and sang to God, my legs became uncontrollably itchy.  They would tingle all over. I'd experienced that before--as a cyclist taking high-dose vitamin B tablets.  God was restoring my vitamins and minerals, and I felt it!  All this was possible because I made the effort of believing to enter His Joy.

Forgiveness, repentance, boldness--it's all made easier by joy.  If we have joy, our attempts to do things for God become a lot easier and a lot more fruitful.  Joy is restful because it increases our confidence in our Heavenly Father.

If we are in a state of really believing, then joy will be evident.  Remember that Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit convicts us of belief (John 16:8).  If we believe, then any thought about Jesus, any thought about His sacrifice, any thought about His plans for us will bring us joy! The reality of living in God has to become greater than anything else, so His Joy can our be our joy and His contentment our contentment.


What was the joy that Jesus had? Joy should not be confused with happiness. In fact, it is an insult to Jesus Christ to use the word happiness in connection with Him. The joy of Jesus was His absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice to His Father— the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do— “…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:2). “I delight to do Your will, O my God…” (Psalm 40:8). Jesus prayed that our joy might continue fulfilling itself until it becomes the same joy as His. Have I allowed Jesus Christ to introduce His joy to me?

~Oswald Chambers

The Faith of God

"Yahshua answered and he said to them, 'May the faith of God be in you.'"                      ~Mark 11:22

Most translations of the above verse say 'faith in God', but that's not the most accurate translation. See, in recent times scholars and translators have discovered that the many verses that talk about our 'faith in Jesus' should really be translated as 'faith of Jesus'.  It's more about what God thinks about you!

This is one thing that I've been learning recently.  Our Heavenly Father wants us to be able to conceptualize what it would look like to have His faith--the faith of His Son.

If we constantly rely on our own faith in God, we may get burnt out.  Having faith in you own faith is not enough.  That leads to striving and pressure!  God wants us to experience His faith overwhelming and swallowing up our own.  This is what Reese Howells referred to as "the grace of faith" (Reese Howells: Intercessor

Just Imagine how situations would break out and how lives would change if we could just get out of the way and come to know the Faith of God.  What would Jesus do?  That's what Yahweh would like us to walk in.

It helps to see people as He sees them--as true sons and daughters who have wandered away from ever coming to know their true potential.  Jesus was moved with compassion (Matthew 14:14), and you can be too!

Check out how this verse flows when translated more correctly:

"Nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through the faith of Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified."

~Galatians 2:16