Amanuensis

Leviticus 20:22-24 “You must keep all my decrees and regulations by putting them into practice; otherwise the land to which I am bringing you as our new home will vomit you out. Do not live according to the customs of the people I am driving out before you. It is because they do these shameful things that I detest them. But I have promised you, ‘You will possess their land because I will give it to you as your possession – a land flowing with milk and honey.’ I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from all other people.

Do you not believe those words apply to you? Do you think that just because these were directions – commands – given to the Israelites that they are not current? I would have you apply these rules to your lives also. I have chosen you. You are My Children. Yet, you live like those who do not believe in Me, who do not belong to Me, who are not adopted into My family. So, as I told the Israelites, if you choose to walk away from My dictates, from My Word, from My commands, then I will allow you to do so. And in so doing, you walk out from under the protection I offer. You walk away from the gifts I have to give. You walk away from the land that I have gifted you. For, as your forefathers and the founders of your once great Nation knew, all that you have was a gift from Me. You say, “But Lord, we are obedient. We are loyal to You. Why do you allow all of this evil to flourish in our Nation?” Do you not see? The evil that pervades your culture, your land – this darkness that flourishes in your once great Nation – all of this was allowed to happen, to grow, to take root and take control. It is yours to banish, just as it was yours to stop from taking root. You have allowed it. You have looked the other way as many facets crept into your homes, into your schools, into your government, in to your “entertainment”, into every aspect of your every day lives. And so, since you allowed it to take root, it is up to you to uproot it and clean it out. I will help you. You have seen that in so many ways over the years of your life. But I will not do it for you. You have the power to defeat this enemy – in all of its manifestations. Take that power and use it. 

Exodus 37:7-9 He made two cherubim from hammered gold and placed them on the two ends of the atonement cover. He molded the cherubim on each end of the atonement cover, making it all of one piece of gold. The cherubim faced each other and looked down on the atonement cover. With their wings spread above it, they protected it.  

They protected it. As do My angels protect you. Always. At all times. Faith, Child. You of all people know, from personal experience, that My angels are around you at all times. Can you see them? Not with your naked, human eye. But you have been gifted a number of experiences where you were allowed to be in direct contact with them. You know that. Why would I have allowed you to experience these encounters? Perhaps to help you in times like these where your enemy cuts you off and feeds you lies about you being alone, abandoned, unloved, unprotected. Think, Child. Reach into your memory and remember those times. Memorialize them. Bring them into your conscious memory so that you can overcome those lies. Why was it important that the two cherubim on the Ark be made into one continuous piece of gold? Solidarity, strength. One woven strand cannot be broken as two separate pieces can be. Such is My protection over you. Solid. Unified. You are protected, Child. Not from all loss or pain. You of all My children know that life on your human level can never be free of either of those. But, you of all My children should also know that I protect what is important, what is vital, what is key to your eternal life. Choose. Believe your enemy’s lies or believe what I have promised, what I have already shown you numerous times in your earthly life. 

Exodus 37:1-2 Next Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood – a sacred chest 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. He overlaid it inside and outside with pure gold, and he ran a molding of gold all around it.

My instructions for the Ark of the Covenant were to cover it and line it with pure gold. Pure. All that is representative of Me, all that contains My Spirit needs to be pure – free of impurities and flaws. Do you not see? Do you not yet understand? You grieve and whine and cry out when you are being purified – when you are being disciplined – when I have you in the flames of refinement. Think, Child. You’ve read the accounts of how pure gold is the result of many many hours of refinement – of the gold being held over high temperatures – hot flames – in order the rid it of the useless dross that just clouds its clarity, its beauty, its usefulness. Well, so it is with My children. You are of the world, you are imperfect creatures, you carry stains and your spirits get cloudy. So refinement is necessary if you are to be of use to Me. Refinement is necessary to bring you to a level of purity that can be the best representation of Me. A purity that is worthy of containing My Spirit. Is that not what you always say you want?  Will you remain in the fires of refinement as long as I deem it necessary to bring you to the level of purity I need? Will you trust Me that, as the refiner of fine gold does, I will remove you from the fires of refinement as soon as you reach that goal? The refiner watches over the gold carefully, never taking his eyes off of it so that it does not stay in the fire one second too long. So do I watch over you. I am not absent in this process. It is painful. It seems to take forever. I seem to be absent. None of that is true. I am here, Child. I am watching every second of the process. I will stop the process when the time is perfectly correct, when you have reached the level of refinement necessary, when you have learned the lessons that you need to learn in order to be that woman. How long it takes and how successful the process is depends wholly upon you at this point. I do not change. I will do what I know needs done. But, will you submit? Will you have an open and teachable spirit to learn the lessons necessary? Will you stay in a position of trust and allow Me to have My way with you? The harder you buck against the process, the less you allow yourself to be open to what I have for you, those will determine the length and success of the process. So, decide, Child. What outcome do you REALLY want? 

Exodus 23:14-17  “Each year you must celebrate three festivals in my honor. First, celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, just as I commanded you. Celebrate this festival annually at the appointed time in early spring, in the month of Abib, for that is the anniversary of your departure from Egypt. No one may appear before me without an offering. Second, celebrate the Festival of Harvest, when you bring me the first crops of your harvest. Finally, celebrate the Festival of the Final Harvest at the end of the harvest season, when you have harvested all the crops from your fields. At these three times each year, every man in Israel must appear before the Sovereign, the Lord.”

Notice that the three required festivals were commemorating my impact on the Israelites’ lives. The Festival of Unleavened Bread was a remembrance of when I delivered them not only from the Egyptians and their slavery, but from My avenging angel of death. It spared their lives and the lives of their firstborn. The Festival of Harvest and the Festival of the Final Harvest both celebrate My provision for My children. It is too easy for My children to forget who I am. It is too easy for you to begin to believe that everything that happens in your lives is under your control. It is too easy for you to take credit for what I provide. If you forget that it is I who creates, it is I who controls all, it is I who provides for you …. When you forget that and begin to run in your own strength and power, when you forget who I am and believe it is all about you, then the troubles mount. Then you step outside My protective covering. Then you mess it all up and blame Me. So, Child, it is important that you remember. Always. I am He who created everything. I am He who controls the world in which you live.  I am He who provides for your every need. So find ways to commemorate these facts. Find ways to remind yourself at all times that it is not you who control anything. Find ways to remember that when you are making all the decisions, it is usually not a good outcome. Look to Me. Remember who I AM. Seek My wisdom, My discernment, My knowledge. Believe in and trust My provision. Commemorate those times that you have seen My hand in your life, My provision, My salvation, My protection. When you preserve – even celebrate – those times that you know it was My hand at work, then you are more able to step back and allow Me to handle the details of your life. 

Exodus 14:21-22 Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side! 

Do not miss this when you are reading this account. Reading about it makes it seem as if it were a quick event. There were millions of Israelites. This took a long time. A very long time. It would have been a long, frightening journey walking on the dry seabed with walls of water being held back, right there. Walls of water that could come crashing down at any moment. This was not just a few adults crossing the sea. There were children and elderly and livestock and wagons full of possessions and everything that the people would have needed for a long journey. This took a long time. All the while, a huge wall of water hanging over their heads. Would you have had the faith to go forth? Do you now have the faith to go forward on your journey, even when walls of water are hanging over your head? Do you trust me enough to keep going forward? With your enemy on your heels? My plans for you do not always make sense, sometimes they are spectacular, sometimes just endlessly tedious. But they are made specifically for your life, your benefit, your journey. Will you walk forward, on the dry ground I provide and point out, even when it could all come crashing down at any moment? That is the pertinent question here. Do you trust Me, whom you cannot see with your earthly eyes? Or do you put your trust in what your physical eyes can see? The outcome depends upon the answer to those questions.

Exodus 14:13-18  “But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving! Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will charge in after the Israelites. My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteers. When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory and know that I am the Lord!”

Yes, I will protect you. Yes, I will see that your enemies are overcome. But that does not mean you are to just sit and do nothing! See what I told Moses. “Tell the people to get moving!” And so, Child, when you are in a battle, you are to fight also. You are to engage also. I will show you how. I will lead you in what to do. But sitting around waiting on Me is not what I have for you. While you await specific battle plans, you are to be in prayer. You are to be in My Word. You are to be putting on your armor, ready to go forth at a moment’s notice. This is your battle, also. 

Exodus 14:8-12 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, so he chased after the people of Israel, who had left with fists raised in defiance.  The Egyptians chased after them with all the forces in Pharaoh’s army – all his horses and chariots, his charioteers, and his troops. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel as they were camped beside the shore near Pi-hahiroth, across from Baal-zephon. As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when the saw Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”

Do you not see what short memories you children have? Pharaoh had just watched me unleash a series of devastating plagues, ending in the loss of his and every Egyptian’s first born. Yet, the minute my people had left Egypt, it was as if Egypt forgot who I AM and what I can do. So Pharaoh called up his armies and went after My people. My children, the Israelites, had just seen me deliver them through those plagues. They had seen Me defeat Pharaoh and his people – to the extent that not only did the Egyptians allow them to leave, they gave the Israelites their riches for the journey. Yet, here we are. Camped at the edge of the Red Sea. Pharaoh arrives with his troops, as always depending upon his own strength and resources. My children, when they are aware of Pharaoh coming after them, panic and forget my power and my love and my strength and my protection of them. They panic and wish they had never left Egypt. And so it is today in your world. The evil ones in your world either ignore or quickly forget about Me and forge ahead with their own plans and in their own strength. My children quickly forget what I have done in their lives, and My promises to them. You also rely upon yourselves instead of looking to Me. And you panic. And you fret. And you sink into fear and defeat. Yet, Child, I am here. I am still by your side. I am still protecting and loving you. And I will defeat your enemies. In my time, just as I did in Egypt for the Israelites. Will you trust and rest in Me? This battle, like the others in your life, will not look like you think it should. It will be longer than you like, in all probability. It will take twists and turns and sadly downturns. It will seem to be a lost cause. Yet, what is not possible for Me? As always, look up, not around. Choose to trust. Choose to rest in My promises. Choose to continue to obey and follow Me. Just Me. It’s pretty simple. Just not easy. And often, you want easy….. I would remind you, when things are easy, are they valued? 

Exodus 5:6-9, 19-21   That same day Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen: “Do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves! But still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy. That’s why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifices to our God.’ Load them down with more work. Make them sweat! That will teach them to listen to lies!” …. The Israelite foremen could see they were in serious trouble when they were told, “You must not reduce the number of bricks you made each day.” As they left Pharaoh’s court, they confronted Moses and Aaron, who were waiting outside for them. The foremen said to them, “May the Lord judge and punish you for making us stink before Pharaoh and his officials. You have put a sword in their hands, an excuse to kill us!”

Notice that when Moses and Aaron first approached Pharaoh about letting them to into the wilderness to worship Me, the only response from Egypt was to double down and make their lives harder. They pushed them relentlessly, made impossible demands and beat them. Why do you act so surprised when you fight back and your enemy doubles down and makes it even worse? Why do you believe your enemy will give up easily? He will not. So do not back down. Moses and Aaron continued to serve Me, even when their own people told them to stop and let them be. The people were willing to stay in bondage to get the beating to stop, to lighten their loads. Yet, that is not where I wanted them. I wanted them to be free, just as I want you to be free. So, expect your enemy to keep doubling down. He will do so until I deem it is time to crush him, just as I did Egypt in the Red Sea. The only real question here is, will you continue to trust Me? Will you allow a period of crushing in the belief that it will end and I will prevail on your behalf? Will you allow Me to free you completely? Not partial freedom from some aspects of your bondage, but total freedom. Will you trust Me to do that? Will you endure until it is time? I am here, Child. I have not moved and I have not changed My mind about protecting and liberating you. Your job right now is to trust Me, to fight discouragement and to do what I instruct. Not easy, but possible if you lean into Me. 

Exodus 4:13-17 But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” Then the Lord became angry with Moses. “All right,” he said. “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he speaks well. And look! He is on his way to meet you now. He will be delighted to see you. Talk to him, and put the words in his mouth. I will be with both of you as you speak, and I will instruct you both in what to do. Aaron will be your spokesman to the people. He will be your mouthpiece, and you will stand in the place of God for him, telling him what to say. And take your shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to perform the miraculous signs I have shown you.” 

How many miracles did Moses need to see to believe that I would be with him and empower him to speak for Me? I delivered him from the hand of Pharaoh and he was not murdered as an infant. I placed him in the house of the rulers of Egypt to keep him safe. I gave him safe passage out of Egypt after he had murdered the man who was beating an Israelite. I set up his life in Midian before he even arrived. Then, the burning bush where I made my presence known to him. Think about it, a bush on fire that did not burn and a voice coming out of the fire speaking directly to him. Turning the staff into a snake and back again. Making his hand diseased then curing it. Yet, Moses did not want to do my will. He allowed fear to overcome all the evidence I had presented directly to him. He allowed fear to be so large in his life that he defied Me – the One True God – to My face. Why do you fear, Child? Why do you allow the enemy to rob you of the benefits of doing My will? Write the book. Publish it. Work on archiving My journal messages to you. I will provide the audience. I will provide the knowledge to get it into the format necessary. I want these words out there. I have given you that task. Will you obey? Or will you keep arguing with Me like Moses, until I allowed him to have Aaron do what I had asked him to do? Aaron was blessed, of course. But Moses was robbed of some of his blessing because he allowed fear to reside in his heart. What will it be Child?

Matthew 15:12-14 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”

Do not worry that My Truth may offend some. It will. It is meant to. It is meant to sear their conscience and perhaps wake them up from the stupor they are in. It is meant to jolt them from the lies they are believing – lies from the enemy of their souls. It is meant to offend them, to anger them, to get them to react so that they may be shaken from the state in which they live their lives. It is meant to bother them so much that perhaps – just perhaps – it will cause them to see Truth. To seek Truth. To seek Me. What is more important to you? Being unoffensive and allowing those around you to walk into – to lead others into – ditches that will cause them eternal suffering? Or offend them with My Truth – in the hopes of awakening them to the lies they believe and leading them on to the correct path – the narrow way that leads to life everlasting? Which do you believe is more important? Which has eternal value? Do you want to be popular or please Me? Because, Child, they are often – in these days in your world almost always – opposites. Please man or please Me. Always your choice. But never underestimate the weightiness of that choice. It is the ultimate life choice.