Amanuensis

Exodus 17:11-13 As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle. 

Do you not see? You are not to try to do battle alone. I have given you others to help, to come alongside you and hold you up when you get weak. To strengthen your resolve, to encourage you. You are used to doing it all alone, you are used to having to battle through life’s difficulties on your own. Yet, those days are over.  You are not alone. I have provided a new family for you. I have provided new friends, new sisters and brothers to come alongside you in these days. I have raised up an army for you to join. This battle is bigger than any you have yet faced, and you have been a strong warrior for me many years now. Yet, this is nothing like you have known. You need to reach out, to make connections, to allow others into your life. You need to continue your efforts to clear out all unnecessary things and distractions in preparation for what is to come. I am in this with you.  But I need all of you in this with me. Be here 100%, no distractions, nothing tearing away your attention or efforts. Seek me, I will guide you in all of this. But, work it out. Time is growing short. The battle is intensifying and you need to gather with your fellow warriors. No lone wolves now. All working side by side, linking arms and marching in unison. Your enemy grows bolder, no longer hiding his plans or his motives. He knows ultimately he will lose, his only real goal is to take as many of my children away from me as he can. Your job is to resist him and teach other about me. That makes you a target, so do not attempt this alone. Pray for others to come alongside you. I will provide them. Be aware, be open to it. I am gathering my forces as we speak. 

Genesis 37:31-32 Then the brothers killed a young goat and dipped Joseph’s robe in its blood. They sent the beautiful robe to their father with this message: “Look at what we found. Doesn’t this robe belong to your son?”

Ah, how you children are so capable of distancing yourselves from your sin. Notice that when they have sinned against Joseph and their father, they distance themselves from what they have done by calling Joseph “your son”, not “our brother”. Now, Jacob had a part in this. He favored Joseph over the rest of his sons, just as he had favored Rebekah over his first wife, Leah. It was not Leah’s fault that her father fooled Joseph into marrying her instead of Rebekah. Nor was it the fault of her sons. Yet, Jacob acted unfavorably toward all of them. And so, he put a wedge into his own family. And that wedge grew over the years and became this act – first plotting to kill Joseph, but then instead selling him as a slave to traveling Ishmaelites (yet another blood feud conceived in disobedience – Abram and Sarai’s sin). Jacob’s sin becomes his greatest grief. So you see? Sin begets sin. Deceit fosters more deceit. And, since all of my children know right from wrong – that deceit has to reach even into their own conscience. In order to continue on, you have to convince yourselves that your actions are, in some form, acceptable. Hence, selling their “father’s son” – not their own brother – into slavery. True repentance – true change – begins with honesty. Begins with facing the truth about yourself, your actions, your motives, your sin. There is no other way. You may be able to, at some level, fool yourselves about what you do. You can never fool me. And that is the at the core of the deepest sin – believing that you fool me, that I don’t know, that you can hide what you do. “Did God really say…..” Your enemy has been planting lies in your heads about me since Adam. And you, in your need to please yourselves and then not feel badly about what you do, have accepted his lies. Yes, I have really said sin is wrong. Yes, I have really said it distances you from me. Yes, I have really said true repentance is necessary. Sin is sin. Dress it up any way you wish. Justify it any way you desire. Convince yourself it really does not make a difference. Sin is sin. And sin puts up a barrier between us. One that your actions must tear down – be honest about yourself, your actions. Decide whether the sin is more important than your relationship with me. Either stop sinning, confess and repent or accept that you would rather stay in that sin and stay distant from me. But stop trying to live in your sin and be right with me. Those are not congruent. So choose and begin to act accordingly. And do not forget, if you choose repentance, and you begin to walk that path I will help you.

Genesis 35:5 As they set out, a terror from God spread over the people in all the towns of that area, so no one attacked Jacob’s family.

Do not forget that I am God over all – not just those who believe in and follow me. I have created all and I control all. Just as I protected Jacob and his family, so I will protect you. Just as I controlled their enemies, so I control yours. Walk bravely. Remember it is I who is by your side, who is for you. 

Genesis 37:21 But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. “Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the wilderness. Then he’ll die without our laying a hand on him.” Reuben was secretly planning to rescue Joseph and return him to his father.

Yes, this is the same Reuben that slept with his father’s concubine. So, he blatantly sins against his father by having sex with Bilhah. Then, he conspires to protect Joseph, his father’s favorite child, and spare his father that loss. This was to spare Joseph’s life, and to arrange the circumstances that would follow. A chain of events that would, eventually, save all of their lives. A chain of events meant to place Joseph in a position of power, from which he would save his family from starvation. A chain of events that I arranged and I orchestrated. Reuben was just as irritated by Joseph and his status as favorite child as the rest of his brothers. He was not a perfect son, he had sinned sexually against his father. Yet, I used him to protect Joseph. Do you see? If I have a plan, it will come to fruition. You do not know what I have planned for you, for your family, for your Nation, for your world. But you have a role in it all. Follow me. Pay attention to me. Trust me. Listen to me. Follow my directions, do what I ask. And believe. Believe that I have just as detailed and flawless a plan as I did then. But do not fret that you don’t see or understand that plan. You do not and you will not, not until it has been revealed.  Will you trust? Will you walk in faith? Will you believe that I am who I have already proven I am in my Word, in history, in your life? Will you trust that I have a role for you in all of this? Will you draw close as I reveal what I have planned for you in all of this? If not you, it will be someone else. Why not you? You were chosen. By me. For such a time as this. For such a moment in history as this. 

Matthew 10:26-36   “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. What is the price of two sparrows – one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven. Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household!’”

It was not too long ago that you could not imagine the world you live in today. You had your own experiences with family drama, you had experienced rejection from members of your family, but it was, for you, an understandable set of circumstances given the mental illness and addiction in your family. However, what you are seeing, what so many are experiencing these days, you never would have imagined. Families split apart, blown apart at the seams, over the lies and manipulations of the enemy. Hatred sprouting up out of nowhere.  These are spiritual battles. All spiritual. They are disguised as political. They are disguised as societal. They are disguised as “moral” issues. Yet, it is all darkness vs. light. You are beginning to see a rejection of all those who follow me. Not only that, but you are beginning to experience spiritual abuse and persecution that you would never have believed would be possible in the USA. Yet, here it is. And it will not only not lessen, it will worsen. This is your “new normal”. This is your Nation – your world – today. You see it. You experience it. You feel it all around you. You know that it is happening, yet it is still – at times – seemingly a dream. You know Truth, and you have the discernment to recognize lies and evil. That is unsettling, I know, yet these are qualities I gifted you with and which will save you. Remember, your enemy can only touch your physical life. He cannot harm you spiritually – unless you let him. He cannot cause you to become distant from me – unless you let him. He cannot touch what is important – your eternal soul – unless you let him. So, my child, it is imperative that you only look to me. Only listen to me. Only focus on me. Look up, not around. Stay in my Word. Swim in it. Dive into it. Live in it. Soak your mind and soul in it. And as you draw nearer to me, as you become more and more familiar with my Word – share it. Shout it from the streets. Tell everyone. Call out lies and defend Truth. These are the weapons of spiritual wars – Truth and lies. Love and hate. Belief and rejection. Light and darkness. You have chosen, and chosen correctly and wisely. I will honor those choices and always be with you, in you, beside you, on your side. Do not be intimidated. Do not become frozen or panicked. If you are afraid, come to me. Talk to me, then listen to me. Experience the calm and strength I have for you. They are limitless. Trust, child. Trust. I’m not going anywhere. Always remember – any voice that condemns you, any voice that says I don’t love you, any voice that says I am not for you – that is not my voice. Reject it and turn to listen to me. 

Matthew 8:28-34 When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no one could go through that area. They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”  There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance. So the demons begged, ‘If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”  “All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone. 

Do you see? You wonder how so many can be so blind to what is happening around them.  You don’t understand how so many can see my hand everywhere yet refuse to believe in me. Look at these people. They lived in a village that had two demon-possessed men that were so violent no one could go near them. No one could go into or through the cemetery where they lived. They were powerless over the malevolent spirits that had taken residence in these two men. They were incapable of overcoming the evil, of taming the violent men, or keeping their town safe. I cast these demons out of the men, healing them and making the town safe again for everyone. At the demons’ request, I allowed them to enter into a herd of pigs. Why? Why would I allow the demons to remain active, even if just in a herd of pigs? Perhaps for the object lesson to follow. So, did the townspeople rejoice in the healing of the two men? No. Did they rejoice that the demonic spirits were gone and their town was again safe? No. Did they thank me for the deliverance?  No. None of that is indicated here. No, their focus was on the herd of pigs – which threw themselves into a lake of water and drowned. The pigs were probably the main source of food and money for the town. They were treasured. They were more important to these people than the two human souls that I had saved. For them, the cost was too high. So instead of thanking me, instead of rejoicing over the saved men, instead of focusing on the liberation of their town, their cemetery, from evil spirits, they mourned the loss of the pigs and were afraid of what else would happen if I remained there. See? They saw me in person. They witnessed this miraculous delivery firsthand. They were actually present. And yet, their focus was on the wrong thing. Their focus was on their bodily needs, on their desires, on their earthly comfort and safety. Not on me. Not on my miracles. Not on my love for all. Not on my ability to deliver. So it is today. Many are blinded to the spiritual aspect of this war you are in. Many are incapable – even unwilling – to take their eyes off of their everyday, corporal lives and focus on the spiritual aspect of everything. They cannot – or will not – recognize the spiritual that surrounds them. And so it will continue to be. Do not be discouraged. Eyes on me. Focus. Keep telling the Truth, keep battling, keep availing yourselves of the weapons and tools I have provided. All will work out, in my timing and in my way. In the meantime, don’t give up and don’t give in. And never fear my power, it is on your side. I am for you. Will you continue to walk with me? 

Genesis 22:13-14 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “The Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

Do you miss the underlying meaning of this proverb, of this episode out of Abraham and Isaac’s lives? Yes, I will provide. But what is the “mountain of the Lord”? It is your obedience. Abraham was obedient – even to the moment of potentially sacrificing his only son, the son he had waited decades and decades for. The son he had been promised so long before he was born. Yet, when I asked him to do so, Abraham was willing and was at the point of actually killing his son as a sacrifice to me. It was in that obedience that I honored Abraham and Isaac and provided a sacrificial ram in Isaac’s place. Do you not see? So many of my children believe this concept wrongly. So many of my “teachers” tell their followers that I just want to provide and provide and overwhelm them with abundant blessings. Nothing about obedience. Nothing about following me. It’s all about them. About their needs. Their wants. Their desires. Their abundance. No word about their obedience. And when I don’t provide (usually immediately), they stop believing I love them. They walk even farther away from me, and from a place where they will be able to discern my commands and obey. Obedience. Patience. Waiting on me. All of that has been taught out of major portions of my “Church”. Beware false teachers. Beware words that tickle man’s ears. Beware any gospel centered on you, not on me. This is the travesty of modern preaching and teaching in so many places. Call them out. Speak up. People are being lost. Also, do not miss the fact that Abraham’s obedience to me was not a quick event. He had to prepare for the trip to the mountain. He had to gather supplies and food for the trip. He had to cut wood and gather the necessities for the sacrificial fire. He had to sharpen his knife – the knife that would take the life of his only, precious son. This was not an instant event. It took days and weeks – preparation, journey, hike up the mountain, preparation of the sacrificial altar. All took much time and planning. Imagine the torturous thoughts Abraham must have had. Imagine the slow, slow movement of time as he prepared for the loss of his precious son – at his own hand. Imagine the heaviness of each footfall of the journey, how arduous the hike up the mountain must have been. How joyless the entirety of the event. Yet, he persevered. Out of obedience. Obedience to me, the giver of everything he was about to give back to me. This was a sacrificial event like no other before it – though a premonition of my sacrifice of my son later. Imagine trusting me enough to do this. Imagine loving me enough to obey such an unbelievable command. Imagine knowing me well enough to know that, whatever the outcome, it would be the best outcome for all of you. Imagine walking in faith – such faith that when your son asks, you tell him that I would provide a sacrifice. And I did. At the last moment. Sometimes the miracle comes when everything seems decided, when it seems impossible. When you reach that miracle, you understand. Faith. Trust. Patience. Obedience. All pay off. Surrender. If you believe I love you. If you believe I want what is best for you. If you trust me. Surrender to my will. 

Genesis 16:1-2 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children from him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.

And so it began, the endless enmity between groups of my children. It began because Sarai did not trust my promise. It began because she decided that I was not going to allow her to conceive her own child, even though I had promised Abram descendants. She grew tired of waiting and took matters into her own hands. And Abram, hoping to please his wife, agreed and went directly against my promises and conceived a child with Hagar, his wife’s servant. They were seeking to soothe their own emotions: Sarai’s feelings of emptiness, of being less than a whole woman in a society that gave women status based upon her childbearing abilities. Abram seeking to assuage his wife’s feelings of insecurity and loss and his own feelings associated with his lack of children and his wife’s unhappiness. Neither trusted in my timing. Neither, in the end, trusted my word and promise to them. The end result was enmity between Hagar’s child and, later, Sarai’s son. An enmity that has been passed down to this very day. Did I punish them? No. I kept my word and later Sarai and Abram conceived a son. Yet, though I did not punish them or keep them from having their own child, I allowed them to suffer the consequences of taking these actions. Consequences that have echoed throughout the history of my children. There are consequences to taking things into your own hands, my child. Your motives may be good. Your actions may seem harmless. Yet, as you can see by this piece of history, all decisions have consequences that can echo throughout time. If you are not sure what my plan is, wait. If you are not sure whether what you wish to do is of me, wait. If you know I have given you my word on something, even if I tarry, and you grow impatient or feel that you can’t continue on without that thing or event, wait. Unless you are certain that what you are about to do is of me, and it is the right time, wait. I will help you. But, if you don’t wait, if you proceed, if you venture out into something alone – without me – I will not punish you. But, I will allow the natural consequences of such decisions and actions to follow. Every action, every thought, every decision is a spiritual action/thought/decision. Everything has spiritual consequences – both good and bad. Be wise. Be patient. Be wary of quick fixes, patches, instant gratifications. You may find me slow in acting, yet when I do the timing is perfect. Wait on me, child. I am not absent. I am not punishing you in my inaction. I am not trying to harm you. I see the entire picture. I know what you do not. Trust my knowledge, my wisdom, my perfect decision-making and – more than anything – my love and devotion to you and what’s best in your life.

 Genesis 15:6 And Abram believed the Lord and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.

That is all it takes. Faith. Not great deeds. Not mighty works. Not flowery speech. Faith. I recognize true faith. I honor true faith. I require true faith. There are many who have been fooled into believing that what they have is faith in me. It is faith, but not in me. It is faith in the god they have created me to be. It is faith in the god they wish me to be. Remember when you first started your journey in sobriety in AA? Remember the idea of a “god of your own understanding”? I allow this because so many have absolutely no idea who I am when they stop drinking and using drugs. So many have been given a false idea of my character. So, I honor their attempts to honor this god they do not know. But once clear thinking is established and they have been introduced to me, it becomes unacceptable. Today’s “Church” is presenting a false picture of me. They are creating their own “god” and presenting that god as me. They are perverting my Word. They are misrepresenting my character. They are creating a version of me that is more acceptable to selfish, self-centered humans. They are changing my Church into a place where everyone is worshiping a “god” of their own understanding. So many of my children are presented with the idea that my wrath ended in the Old Testament times. They are given a perverted version of me that is only love and tolerance and salvation and blessings. While I am all of those things, there is also wrath – against sin, against those who harm my children, against blatant disobedience, against violence for violence sake, against perversion of my Word. That wrath not only exists, but will be felt by them, especially those who teach this perverted “Christianity”. Be a Berean. Always verify what you hear against my Word – my complete Word, not pieces and verses cherry-picked to fit a comfortable narrative. Watch those who purport to represent me and see if what they say and do aligns with my character. So, here’s the key to all of that: know my Word. Get to know me. Study. Pray. Listen. Eyes on me, always. Close to me, always. Times are perilous and becoming more so by the day. Your enemy has managed to not only infiltrate my Church but to overtake major portions of it, in such a sly and subtle way that most do not see it. Never trust it. Trust me. And if that means you do not live in an area where you are able to attend a solid, Christ honoring Church that teaches my Word – unadulterated and in its entirety – then you find other ways to receive that teaching from solid teachers. Continue to learn, but do not give any of those false teachers your attention. Warn others, but stay away from their slick lies. 

Matthew 5:11-12-16 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way. You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

So you see it unfolding today. It is becoming more and more prevalent in your world. It began inauspiciously, decades ago in your Nation. Taking “religion” out of school. Then out of government. Subtly yet increasingly silencing the voices that represent me. During the Covid “crisis”, my churches were shut down, my people forbade to worship together, to sing in my houses of prayer. Now, it is open war against my children, against my Word. You are ridiculed, portrayed as less intelligent, less socially advanced, less civilized because you believe in me and adhere to my Word. You are accused of bigotry, racism, violence, tyranny because you trust in me, believe in me, follow me, and share my Truth. My churches are being destroyed, burned to the ground. My believers being attacked. Why? For their faithfulness. For adhering to the Truth. For being lamps in a dark world. This will not become easier. To the contrary, it will become more and more difficult, more and more dangerous, more and more ugly. You, my children, will continue to be attacked, falsely accused, hated. Again, decisions must be made. What will you do? Whom will you serve? Because, like it or not, there are only two choices. You either serve me or you serve your enemy. And do not try to fool yourself – not making a firm decision is, in itself, a firm decision to serve your enemy. While it may be said that there was a time where this was not a life or death decision (untrue), that cannot be said of today. There is no middle ground in your world today. Good or evil. Truth or lies. Morality or amorality. Me or your enemy. As always, the choice is yours. Will you choose eternal values or earthly values? Will you choose to be safe and comfortable here? Or will you choose to be safe and comfortable in eternity? You cannot have both. I will honor whatever decision you make. I will love you no matter the decision. But, do not miss this: this decision has eternal consequences. 

Matthew 4:18-22   One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers – Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew – throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

This is my call. Follow me. Just me. Not your professions. Not your possessions. Not your family. Me. Will you answer that call? Will you walk away from everything when you hear me calling? Do you think it was easy for my disciples to abandon their lives and pick up a new life entirely, following me – wherever it was that I would lead? Do you think it was easy for James and John to just walk away from their father? No hesitation. Just left him alone to run their fishing business. No, these decisions were not easy, but they were the correct decisions. By choosing to follow me, wherever I led, doing whatever I asked, these men became key players in laying the foundations of my Church. Their decisions did not make human sense. I was not widely known. I had barely begun to preach, to heal, to minister to my children. Yet, these men immediately believed in me, and left all that they knew to follow me. That is faith, child. Following when you do not know the outcome. Following when you are not assured success. Following because you know my voice and believe in me. Many are those in your world today who profess to know me, who profess to believe in and trust me, who profess to follow me. Yet, where are they in all of this? Do you see many out there standing up to evil, working against it in my name, availing themselves of the power I have granted you in battling against your enemy? Where is true faith? True obedience? True trust? True dedication to my principles? Which will you be? A follower or one who professes to follow yet does nothing? A warrior or pretender? Do not forget my warning  “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:22-23) Choose. Who are you – a follower or a pretender? What are you willing to give up in order to follow me and be one of my ambassadors, one of my warriors? You do not have forever to decide, yet you will have forever to reap the rewards of these decisions.