Amanuensis

2 Chronicles 32:6-8 Then Hezekiah encouraged them by saying: “Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side! He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!” 

Hezekiah’s message is the same that you need today. Do not be afraid. Everything around you is the work of man. Yes, they have evil on their side, but I am greater than all that. Do you not really believe? Do you not trust? If you do, then you will not allow what is going on around you to cut off your relationship with me. You will not allow that to impede your connection with me. Look to me. Talk to me. Listen to me. Not any of that. Not any of them. Only me, my representatives and my true followers. The rest is just background noise. Do not allow them or what they say, what they do, what they try to use to influence you to take you off task, off mission. Be my voice in a dark world, be my representative – be my ambassador. Protect the innocent and weak. Stand for what is right and good. Do not back down, do not cower. You have me, my power, my Truth, my righteousness. All of that trumps the evil that they use, the evil that they are. Everything about them, everything they do, everything they represent is temporal. You have stepped into the eternal. You are part of me. You have access to me, my power, my righteousness, my eternal nature. What is there about them that can harm you? In what is truly important, in what is vital – nothing. Your eternal future is decided, guaranteed, and they can not take that from you. They can damage your temporal life here, but that is just what it is said to be – temporal, temporary, a stage. They have no power to damage or take what is your eternal destiny. So live into it in the way you live on this plane. Live for me, for my work, for the benefit of your fellows. Sow eternal seeds. Lean into me, I will help you. Every step of the way.

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because he has given us this Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 

This is my promise to you. A promise that has proven true time and time again during your lifetime. Have you not become stronger over the years as you endured hardship and allowed me to walk you through the trials. And has not your character become stronger? And throughout all, your faith and trust and hope grown? I remain who I’ve always been. I stand by my Word. These promises endure. You are in a dark time.  You are living through a world saturated with evil in ways it has never seen before. Yet, here you are. Chosen for this time, for these days, for tasks I have for you to live out. And you do know some peace. Lean in. I will give you more, while I concurrently give you wisdom, discernment, strength, courage, and endurance. I will bring you through these tough times, as I have each and every time in your life up to today. Stand firm, Child. Eyes on me. Ears attuned to me. Focus off of yourself, your circumstances, your surroundings, your world. Eyes on me. Only me. And we will walk through all of this together. 

Romans 4:18-22 Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping – believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead — and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 

Be an Abraham. He was 100 years old, as was his wife Sarah. In every human way, them bearing a child at this age was impossible. Yet, he had faith. I said it, he believed it. Be an Abraham. I love you. I will deliver you. I have a plan for you. I know you believe in me, you trust me. Expand those. Deeper faith. Wider trust. Focus on those, not on your imperfections, your stumbling, your humanness. Focus on my perfection, my sure steps, my deity. Those are eternal, never changing, always dependable. 

Romans 4:13-5:16. Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. 

You fret because you are so imperfect. You beat yourself up because you have some habitual sin you have not yet overcome. And in doing so, you impede my ability to communicate with you and help you to break those chains. Do I expect perfection from you? No. Do I believe you will never make mistakes, never sin? No. I know my children. I created you, in all of your imperfect glory. Yes, you are right at this moment a hot holy mess as you like to put it. But you are MY hot holy mess. You are my daughter. You are my child. You are my creation. And I love you, in all of your imperfection. I created you to be just who you are. Right now. In the state you are in. Did I create you with the plan that you remain who you are right this moment? No. Did I create you believing you would change who you are all by yourself? No. That is what I am for. That is what the indwelling of my Spirit is for. To guide you. To teach you. To help you. To change you from the inside out. But that is not possible when you are clogging your heart and mind with endless recriminations, endless self-judgment, when you just give up and believe you will always be a hot holy mess. Not true, my Child. Just abide. Rest. Lean into me. Stop flailing or you will certainly drown. Abide. I am here. Always. Stop. Breathe. Focus on my presence. And then let that presence work in and through you.  Live out your faith. Trust me. Allow me to work. No timeline. No script. No expectations other than I love you and will always do what is best for you. That’s it. The rest is mine to decide, to plan, to execute, to work out in and through you. That’s how this works. 

Psalm 11:1-7 (NLT)

I trust in the Lord for protection.
So why do you say to me,  “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety!
The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings.
They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right.
The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?”

But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven.
He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth.
The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence.
He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds.
For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face.

Remember this, Child. Yes, your world is evil. Your world is falling apart. Everything you believed in is crumbling before your very eyes. You are not sure what is true, what is good. You question whether anything you have believed in was ever real. Your legal system is corrupt. Your government works to poison your mind, your air, your food, your earth. Your “Church” leaders do not believe in me or my Word. They are using their position to create a new religion – yet really the oldest religion of all for humankind – the worship of self. But, Child, do not despair. Re-read my Words above. I am still in my Holy Temple. I am still ruling. I am still in control. I am still your refuge, your strength, your safety in times of trouble. I still love you and care for you and want what is best for you. And I will avenge. In the right time. Just not today. In the meantime, look to me. Stay close to me. Continue to trust in me. Pray. Meditate. Look up, certainly not around. Do not trust what your human eyes alone see. Look with your spiritual eyes.  Listen for my voice, do not pay attention to the human voices that surround you. Look to Heaven’s courts for justice, not human systems. And remember, it’s already all right. It does not feel so. But it is. For I have already written your future, the future of all mankind and all creation. You trust me, don’t you? Then just hang on. This is but a temporary situation. I love you, Child. That has not changed. And it never will.

Romans 2:25-29 The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile. And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it. For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people. 

Look at my “church”. It grieves my heart. So many of my children running around calling themselves Christians. Yet they do not believe my Word. They change it. They reinterpret it. They bend it to make themselves feel better, to make themselves the center of everything. They take their twisted Gospel and present it as mine. They put words in my mouth, change what I have written, create a new doctrine and present it as aligned with mine. Lies. Fallacies. Egregious sin. My Word stands. Just as written. Yes, written by the hands of men, but with my Words. God breathed. So, if you are going to say that you follow me, and you do not follow my given Word, then you are worse than a liar, you are placing yourself above me. By rewriting my Word, by reinterpreting my Word, by twisting and making my Word pleasant, by shaping my Word to fit the current political and/or social narratives – by doing any or all of these things, you are committing the original sin of your enemy – trying to be equal to or better than me. Open your eyes. Repent. Return to your rightful position. Or prepare to have no place with me in eternity. No in between, children. In or out. You decide. I do not do half measures when it comes to your faith, your trust, your obedience. I am God. You are not. That is an eternal truth that you will never change.

1 Chronicles 21:7-13   God was very displeased with the census, and he punished Israel for it. Then David said to God, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt for doing this foolish thing.” Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer. This was the message: “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’” So Gad came to David and said, “These are the choices the Lord has given you. You may choose three years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword of your enemies, or three days of severe plague as the angel of the Lord brings devastation throughout the land of Israel. Decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”  “I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

When leaders sin, their people often pay the price. See David. He insisted on taking a census of the people, even though his man Joab pointed out the sin in that action. David insisted, the census was taken and I was not happy. David’s sin was egregious. And the people suffered because of it. Your leaders have sinned egregiously. They continue to do so daily. And your nation is suffering because of it. But, as was true for David’s people, you will not suffer forever. There will be an end to the punishment. But first, there must be an end to the constant sinning. Your leaders must be held accountable. There must be repentance for not only the sins themselves, but for my children allowing it all to happen. When will my children arise and take back their nation, their world? When will you recognize you have all the power you need to overcome this evil? When will you stop being afraid, stop being concerned with how you appear, stop being overpowered, stop being intimidated? When will you begin to look only to me, to what I say is right, to what my Word says? Stop looking around, look up, look within and allow me to work through you to vanquish the darkness. You have created this mess – either through direct action or through inaction. You have allowed your Nation, your world, to reach this point. When will you take steps to stop it and return this land to me? When will you stop grieving and act? Stop reacting and take real action? Could I just fix everything in less than a second? Yes. But I will not. This is your world. These are your decisions. These are your messes to begin to clean up. I will help you, but I will not fix it for you. That would cheapen everything. I know my children. What is too easily achieved, what is too cheaply obtained – those are the things that are not valued. Liberty. Freedom. Integrity. Wholeness. Purity. Godliness. Right actions. Those are valuable. Earn them. 

1 Chronicles 19:1-4 Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king. David said, “I am going to show loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always loyal to me.” So David sent messengers to express sympathy to Hanun about his father’s death. But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon, the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun, “Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the land so they can come in and conquer it!” So Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved them, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame. 

Do you not see that others’ opinions of you are just that – opinions? If they do not know you, do not know your heart, do not take the time to see – truly see – you, then what they think, what they say, none of that matters. David’s heart was pure in this matter. He truly wanted to express condolences and give his assurance that he was an ally of Hanun. But, the men who surrounded Hanun were not pure of heart. They judged David’s actions based upon their own hearts – black hearts that would have done exactly what they were accusing David of doing. When you are judged by those who do not know you, they are judging out of the experience of their own lives, out of the state of their own hearts. Do not allow it to impede your actions, do not allow it to harm your self-confidence. If you are acting out of the assurance that you are receiving direction from me, nothing man says – nothing man thinks – none of that matters. Look to me, and only to me. And if you are confronted with something that rings true, pray about it. Seek me. Perhaps I am sending someone to wake you up to an error or something you need to address.  Always consider the source of what you are presented with. If you are given information, if you are given a message about your behavior, your life, and that message comes from someone you respect, someone you know has a solid relationship with me, then bring it to me in prayer. Do not automatically dismiss it. I will confirm or not. Consider the source. Base how much you value what they say upon how much you respect how they live. And, do not allow what is said online to affect you. That world is the playground of your enemy. 

I redeemed my children from Egypt. I released them from slavery. I led them through a wilderness, teaching them along the way to take care of themselves and to trust in me.  I did many miracles for them and in front of their very eyes. Do you not remember your slavery? You once were conscious of the release I had granted you. You were once looking to me for instruction on how to live, and were grateful for all that I was doing in your life. I know you’ve been knocked down constantly these last 20 years. But, I am here, still willing and able to do the same miracles in your life as before. Stop trying to insulate yourself from pain. Stop trying to decide what I want you to do. Stop believing that your life is worthless, that it’s over, that you have no purpose, that I am done with you. Stop it all. I am still here. I am still able. I am still willing. Open your heart. Let me back in fully. Stop trying to protect it. It has been shattered over and over. But, as when the Japanese fix pottery with gold, your heart has been pieced back together over and over and it is now a true work of art.

1 Chronicles 15:16-22 David also ordered the Levite leaders to appoint a choir of Levites who were singers and musicians to sing joyful songs to the accompaniment of harps, lyres, and cymbals. So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel along with his fellow Levites: Asaph, son of Berekiah, and Ethan son of Kushaiah from the clan of Merari. The following men were chosen as their assistants: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers – Obed-edom and Jeiel. The musicians Haman, Asaph, and Ethan were chosen to sound the bronze cymbals. Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were chosen to play the harps. Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-0edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were chosen to play the lyres. Kenaniah, the head Levite, was chosen as the choir leader because of his skill. 

Notice that those who were chosen to serve me were chosen based upon the strengths and gifts I had given them. You often wonder if you are serving me correctly. You wonder if there is not something more significant or important for you to do. I have gifted you in certain ways. I have given you specific skills and strengths. I use them accordingly. Do not compare your self with others. Do not spend your time wondering if your impact in my kingdom is significant. Trust me. If a lyre player tried to play the harp, it would not make appropriate music. It is only my opinion of you that matters. I will direct you, as I have been for all these many years. Just stay focused on me, not on what is around you. There is so much wrong in your world. There is so much that needs addressing, so many tasks that need doing, so many souls that are lost and need to be pointed toward me. You can’t address even a miniscule portion of all that needs done. Stop trying. Stop wondering. Stop wandering. Just focus on me. I have a job for you to do. I have tasks for you to complete. Sometimes they are being still, being focused, listening, gathering strength for the next battle. Trust me, I will make clear your next move. Your purpose does not always entail movement, tasks to complete. Sometimes your purpose is prayer, study, stillness. Breathe, child. Rest for a moment. Do not wear yourself out unnecessarily. Just look to me. That’s all. Just listen for my voice. That’s all. It will all become clear at the appropriate time, just as it always has with you and me.  This is not new. Just more difficult in these dark, dark days. Eyes on me and all will work out. Meditate on David’s song of thanksgiving: (1 Chron 16:8-13) “Give thanks for the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done. Sing to him; yes, sing his praises. Tell everyone about his wonderful deeds. Exult in his holy name; rejoice, you who worship the Lord. Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him. Remember the wonders he has performed, his miracles, and the rulings he has given, you children of his servant Israel, you descendants of Jacob, his chosen ones.”