Amanuensis

Jude 1:3-4 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

And this is what your Church looks like today. So many “pastors” and “teachers” who tell you that you can live whatever lifestyle you choose, that you can deny the reality of how you were created by Me, that you can twist My Word to fit your desires. Woe to them. Judgment awaits them – a harsh judgment. Those who would represent Me, represent My Word – they will be held to a much higher standard than others. Twisting My Word, directly preaching against obedience to My precepts – causing others to stumble and sin – there is a harsh judgment awaiting them. Warn them. If they will not repent, leave them to their eternal reward. But warn others about their false teaching. Be loud. Be vocal. Be openly critical, backing your criticism of their false teaching with My Word. Warn others that they may not fall prey to this tactic of the enemy. 

Hosea 14:1-9   Return, O Israel, to the Lord our God, for your sins have brought you down. Bring your confessions, and return to the Lord. Say to him, “Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you our praises. Assyria cannot save us, nor can our war-horses. Never again will we say to the idols we have made, ‘You are our gods.’ No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy.” The Lord says, “Then I will heal you of your faithlessness; my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever. I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. Israel will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon. Its branches will spread out like beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. My people will again live under my shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon. O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from me.” Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But in those paths sinners stumble and fall. 

You were just discussing trees with other believers. And here is today’s reading – with mention of trees. Nothing is circumstantial, Child. It has all been decided and arranged – by Me for your benefit. Pay close attention to everything. Look to me to interpret what you see and hear and feel. I am the source of all and I am all you need. Your Nation needs to repent. Your people need to return to Me. You know that and it grieves your heart how blind others are to that need. But, you see how things are changing. Rapidly. Out of control – so it seems. Yet, I am still here. I am still in control. I am still on My Throne. Look to me. As I have been saying to you for years now – look up, not around. Pay attention to everything, but do not focus on everything. Be attentive, then focus on Me. Listen for Me to guide you, to give you knowledge and wisdom. Be discerning at all times. When you hear or read someone who purports to represent Me and My Word, bring it back to Me. Be a Berean. Pray about it. Study it. And trust your discernment. If your first reaction is to mistrust – then withhold trust until it is earned. Many will “speak” for Me. Few will be aligned with My Word. You know that. Trust the spiritual discernment with which I have gifted you. My Spirit within you will guide you. But you have to quiet your mind and emotions in order to hear appropriately. Breathe, Child. As a former friend used to tell you, “It’s already all right”. Even in the chaos of the evil surrounding you. Even in the upheavel of governments, families, structures, financial systems – even in all of that and more, it’s really all ok. You are Mine. That’s all that matters in the end. The middle – what you are experiencing right now – doesn’t matter except in what you do with your knowledge of Me. Share Me with the lost. Be a strong Ambassador. Walk in My Way. Study My Word. Be true to what you say you believe. All the rest is chaff in the wind. It will all disappear and cease to matter. But not your faith. Not your obedience. Not your walk. Those will go with you into eternity.

12:1-3   “At that time, Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation, will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time everyone of your people whose name is written in the book will be rescued. Many of those whose bodies lie dead and buried will rise up, some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting disgrace. Those who are wise will shine as bright as the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever.”

Where will your name be found? Is it written in my books? Will you be one of those who rise up to everlasting life or to shame and everlasting disgrace? That is always your choice, Child. Do you know Me? Do you believe in Me? Do you trust Me? Will you be obedient to My Word? Whom will you serve? Will you share your knowledge of Me? Will you reach out and try to save others – to lead them to righteousness? Yes, it is becoming more and more difficult in your darkening world to shine for Me. It is becoming more and more difficult – when you look around you – to believe I am in control, that I care about you, that I want what is best for you and your world. So don’t look around. Look up. Look within. If you are truly Mine, then My Spirit is residing within you. Look within. I am there. I am within you, around you, before you, next to you, behind you, above you, beneath you. I am everywhere you are at all times. Do not forget that. Do not allow your enemy to distract you. That is his greatest game. Distraction and misdirection. Focus, Child. I have not moved. I have not changed. I do not. I AM. Grammatically my name tells you that I was, I am, and I will be. Eternal. Fixed. Unmoveable. Unchangeable. I AM. Everything and everyone else is but a whisp of smoke in eternity – even your enemy. But – I AM. Cling to that. Cling to Me. Stay close – so close, so so close. So close that your enemy cannot get any hold on any part of you. You are Mine, and I am with you always. Armor up. The battle continues, but you have chosen the winning side.

Hosea 2:8-10  “She doesn’t realize it was I who gave her everything she has – the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal. But now I will take back the ripened grain and new wine I generously provided each harvest season. I will take away the wool and linen clothing I gave her to cover her nakedness. I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on. No one will be able to rescue her from my hands.”

So your Nation and your people. I have given your Nation everything that made it great. I have gifted your people with freedom and liberty, with abundance and grandeur. I have gifted your people with skills and abilities and knowledge and wisdom. But they gave it all away, gave it all up to other gods – the gods of comfort and pleasure and self-gratification and self-indulgence and self-aggrandizement – SELF. Your people are blinded to the fact that they have been led down the path to darkness. What they believe, many of them, is of Me is in fact of your enemy. He is cunning and powerful and has managed to enrapture a great many. Yet, there is hope. Some are awakening to Truth. Some are returning to Me. But time is short. Help them to awaken. Help them to see. Share the Truth with them. Many will reject it, reject you, reject Me. So be it. But it is assigned to you, to My Children, to try to reach them. 

Daniel 12:8-10 I heard what he said, but I did not understand what he meant. So I asked, “How will all this finally end, my lord?” But he said, “Go now, Daniel, for what I have said is kept secret and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, cleansed, and refined by these trials. But the wicked will continue in their wickedness, and none of them will understand. Only those who are wise will know what it means.”

Do not keep trying to figure out why so many are blind and deaf to Truth. It has been told you, only the wise will understand. You are to determine which you will be – will you be purified and cleansed and refined by the trials you face? For, as you know, the trials have already begun in your life. Or will you continue to be willfully blind and deaf? Will you choose to only learn those lessons you wish to learn and ignore those you do not like? You choose, Child. I am ready to refine you, to remove the dross from your life – from your character, to leave only the finest silver. But, it will be painful and time consuming and at times seem as if it will never end. What will you choose? For these choices directly affect your eternity and how you spend it. Yes, you are Mine and you are saved. But, how do you wish to spend your eternity with Me? It is the quality of your eternal life that we are considering here. Be wise. Suffering lasts for but a moment, in light of eternity. It may feel like forever, but that is your earthly body and emotions speaking. Ignore them and cling to me. Learn what I have to teach. Submit to My refining fires. What I wish to burn off is exactly what you can’t bring with you to be with Me – those things that would only weigh you down and create distance between us. Which will you choose? For I give you the freedom to make those choices – because I love you.

Daniel 11:36 “The king will do as he pleases, exalting himself and claiming to be greater than every god, even blaspheming the God of gods. He will succeed, but only until the time of wrath is completed. For what has been determined will surely take place.”

Do not miss this, Child. You despair of evil ever being stopped. Ever being avenged. You see darkness and horror around you everywhere. Yet, I am not unaware. I am not weak. I am not blind. All will be settled. Do not be fooled. What the evil ones “get away with” on earth is but a temporary phase in their eternal lives. They will stand before Me one day. Judgment awaits. You just keep your eyes on Me. After all, it is Mine to deal with.

Daniel 2:27-30 Daniel replied, “There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king’s secret. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed. While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen. And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.”

Never forget from where you get your information, from where you get your strength, from where you get your abilities and gifts. Nothing of import is from you. It all comes from Me. Remain humble. Remain in constant contact with Me. Remain aware of your limitations and, more importantly, of My lack of limitations. Nothing is impossible for Me, Child. Nothing is too hard, too obscure, too anything ….. Be a Daniel. Look to Me. Rely upon Me. Daniel was in an impossible situation, yet he did not fall captive to fear or doubt. He looked to Me always, and never lost sight of who I AM. And I was able to do great things through him because of his humility and obedience. Be a Daniel. 

Ezekiel 16:56-63   “In your proud days you held Sodom in contempt. But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned – by Edom and all her neighbors and by Philistia. This is your punishment for all your lewdness and detestable sin, says the Lord. Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will give you what you deserve, for you have taken your solemn vows lightly by breaking your covenant. Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember with shame all the evil you have done. I will make your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, to be your daughters, even though they are not part of our covenant. And I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. You will remember your sins and cover your mouth in silent shame when I forgive you of all that you have done. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” 

And so your Nation. You made a covenant with Me at your inception. You were a Nation established under the leadership of the One True God. You were faithful and walked in integrity and honor. Oh, how you have fallen! Your sins are more detestable than those of any other.  And your once proud swagger is no longer. Your true nature is being exposed to the world. Your sins are more evident each and every day. You no longer hold a place of esteem in your world, but are scorned and laughed at. This, however, is secondary. More importantly, is that your people – all of your people – need to be awakened to this reality. Until your Nation as a whole sees what you have become, what your leadership has done in this world, the true state of your people’s hearts and souls – until that happens, you will continue to sin and rot and fall deeper and deeper into the destruction that you have brought about. Yes, all in your Nation are accountable. You have either participated in this sin or your have turned your back on it, allowed it to occur. None are innocent in this reality you face today. Until you are all willing to see Truth, to acknowledge your sin, and repent and turn back to me – face to face – nothing will improve. Your Nation will continue to be undone from within. And I will allow it to continue until your people acknowledge Me. Turn back to Me. Worship Me. Seek My forgiveness. Seek My favor. Turn from selfish, self-indulgent, evil practices and acknowledge the utter depravity of your souls and seek Me. Repent. True repentance which reaches into each and every corner of your being – into those darkened spaces in your heart and soul which you have so long ignored and assuaged so as not to be aware of them. Face who you have really become. See your actions for what they are, your attitudes and thoughts and opinions – all of it – for what it really is. Rebellion. Sin. Utter depravity. Love for self and hatred toward Me. You cannot change what you will not acknowledge and fully face. Are you willing? Will you be courageous enough? Do you care enough? Or is being comfortably numb enough for you for the rest of your life? You choose. My decision was made at the beginning of time and has not changed – if my people will be honest and truthful and face their sin and call on me for forgiveness, I will forgive. I will help. But I will not come alongside you as you live in that sin. I will allow you to reap its consequences. And I will grieve those decisions. 

2 Timothy 3:1-5 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

This is your world today. Ever since I was removed from your society, it has degenerated into this. Your enemy has waged his war effectively, almost completely silently in the midst of loud, ugly battles. Battles that removed me from the schools and government. Battles that eviscerated sexual morality. Battles that made murdering the unborn not only legal but protected. Battles that removed personal responsibility. Battles that have rewritten history and basic biology. Battles that have turned the tables on reality and brought about what was warned about in My Word – the inversion of everything. What is right and good are now considered harmful and evil. What is true is believed to be false and what is an outright lie is touted as basic truth. Up is down and down is up and everyone is confused. You are living in what you used to call “quicksand territory”. No solid footing to be had – outside of Me and My Word. You that know Me are on solid ground, you know Truth, you understand objective reality, you see through the lies and manipulation. Those who do not know Me, those who knowingly reject Me, those who prefer sin to rightful living – they have no solid ground on which to tread. They are the majority in your world. Do you know them? Yes. Are they friends, acquaintances, even family members?  Yes. Do I want you to shun them? Ignore them? No. They need to see what you see, hear what you hear, know what you know. But, caution, Child. You are to minister to them, but not allow them to influence you. Spend time with them, but always be prayed up first, always wearing the armor of God, always ready to do battle while in their presence. Would you hike in grizzly bear territory without bear spray and other defensive weapons? No. Always, always, always be sure to take Me with you whenever you interact with the lost. They are controlled by a formidable enemy. One only I can defeat, so do not attempt it alone. 

2 Timothy 2:22-26 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. 

This is how I would have you live. Focused on Me. On My Word. On sharing Truth. You are surrounded by people who have been trapped by the enemy. They are held hostage by lies and manipulation and darkness and evil and most don’t know it. But you see. You know Me. You know Truth. You study My Word. You have eyes to see and ears to hear – you can pierce the darkness that surrounds you. Use that. See beyond what everyone else sees. See Truth. Then share it. Denounce the lies. Expose the enemy and all his ways. Some will hear, many will not. But is not saving even one worth the energy? Worth the fight? Watch yourselves, however. Be patient. Be kind. Be loving. Exposing lies does not have to be done with malice or anger or hatred. It does not have to be a dirty fight. Remember, this is not personal. You know that the enemy is not the person you are speaking to, it is not the person you are trying to help see the Truth. That person has been taken captive. The enemy is the same each and every time – no matter what minions he uses to do his will, no matter how much it seems as if the person you speak to is the enemy. And, as well, remember that it is I in you that is being rejected. This is not personal against you – it is personal against Me in you. Pare it down, Child. It is the battle that has been waged since the beginning of time – the same two main players – the fallen one against Me. The current battlefield is your world – in all of its iterations. Your minds, your hearts, your spirits, your allegiances, your families, your bodies, your politics, your ethnicities, truth, reality, objectivity, morality…… any and everywhere possible, your enemy wages war through you against Me. You are the target because you were made in My image. Because I love you. Because I have made salvation and eternal life available to you. Because harming you harms Me.