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Part
2 PERFECTION:
The Marriage While
I was writing this dream about the carnal reasonings of man, the Lord asked me
to write some testimonies about the battles that I have fought against the
thoughts that came from Satan, how I turned to the Lord, and his wonderful love
not only came to fight for me, but how I was made a partaker of Christ’s
victory by asking for him to come and fight for me. Psalm
105:2 “Sing unto
him, sing psalms to him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.” In
1989, I was maintenance contractor working in a resort that was located on the
Isle of Palms, which is a barrier island just outside of Charleston, S.C. In
September of that year, Hurricane Hugo made its visit to Charleston, and the eye
of that Category 4 storm went right over the Isle of Palms. Not only did this
Island get battered with 145 mph winds for several hours, but when the surge
tide came in, the entire island was anywhere from 6’ to 12’ under the ocean.
I had kept all of my equipment stored on the island, and what the buildings did
not destroy when the walls came down, the salt ruined when the surge tide came
in. Though I had some liability insurance, I did not have any flood insurance,
and all that I lost was cause by the flood of the ocean. The lost of equipment
was bad, but the worse part was that I had annual maintenance contracts with
some of the condominiums that were located in this resort, and I lost these
contracts because for over a year, there was nothing left to maintain while
reconstruction took place. Even
though I had lost these maintenance contracts, the Lord provided my company with
as much restoration work as we could handle. But there was still this large gap
of time that passed where I was still paying my employees, but the restoration
work had not yet begun. So now I not only had to make up for the loss of income,
but I also my payroll that I had to make up for; and the new equipment that I
needed to purchase to replace the maintenance equipment that I had lost; and the
new equipment that I needed to purchase that would allow for us to do the
restoration work. So I was really strapped for every dollar that I could get.
Then one of the first big restoration jobs that I did, it went well right up
until the very end. But in the end, I found out that the owners were not going
to pay me the last $17,000.00 that they owed to me; and the worst part was that
they would not even tell me why they were not going to pay me. The money at the
end of the job, this is where the contractor gets his profit, and I really
needed this money to help me get caught up with all of the expenses that I had
incurred. I cannot tell you how angry I became when I found this out, only to
say a very malicious and bitter anger came and filled my heart; and anger that
was so great that basically I could not see how it could be quenched without me
first extracting some sort of revenge against these people.
Nevertheless,
I took this matter and my anger before my heavenly Father, just like any kid
would run to his dad after some bully had picked on him. I went to Father with
this matter because I was fully expecting him to do for me what I considered at
that time what any good dad would do help his son that had been unjustly
treated. My anger was really expecting the Lord send some kind of fire from out
of heaven that would allow for this matter to settled to “my” satisfaction;
or, in other words, that I would get paid the money that was owed to me. Do you
remember that verse in Isaiah were the Lord said, “Your thoughts are not my
thoughts and your ways are not my ways”? Well, I was about to get my first
taste of the truth of this word. I was praying one morning about this matter,
asking the Lord what he wanted me to do when he spoke and said, “I want you to
forgive them.” This was so contrary to what I wanted to hear that at first, I
refused to believe that this was actually the voice of the Lord. Then the Lord
repeated what he had said to me, but this time he added, “I want you to
forgive them, and I want to forget that this matter has ever happened.” I knew
this time that this was truly the voice of the Lord because I had never heard
anything before about forgiving and forgetting; and for the first time since the
Lord had called me, I began to clearly see the enmity of wicked thoughts coming
our of my carnal mind, and they not only were opposing that which Father had
spoken to me, but they were so angry with the Lord that it took all my strength
to keep my mouth from cursing God because of the instruction that he had given
to me. Hebrews
3:7-9 “So, as the
Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts Hebrews
12:25-27 “See to
it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they
refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away
from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but
now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also
the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be
shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.”
Revelation
6:13 “And the
stars (the numbers/reasonings in my dream) of heaven fell unto the earth,
even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty
wind.” I
then answered and pleaded with the, “Lord, do you truly want me to forgive and
forget this matter? What am I going to do about the money that I need? Lord, I
really thought that you would be there for me to make this wrong to be right,
and to make that which is unjust to be just?” I was still pleading with the
Lord, hoping that he would change his mind when he spoke and said, “Have I not
gladly forgiven you of all the offenses and sins that you have transgressed so
unjustly against me with? Have I not only forgiven you of “all” this evil?
Have I not called you to be conformed to my image? Have I not called you to
follow me, to do as I do? Is it not written that if you do not forgive from your
heart the sins of those who have trespassed against you, then you will not be
forgiven? But if you show the same mercy towards others that I have shown
towards you, then you will receive all the more mercy and grace of my love? Now
go and forgive them, and forget that this has ever happened.” Isaiah
43:25 “I, even I,
am the one who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not
remember your sins.’ Matthew
6:14,15 “For if
you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if
you will not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your
trespasses.” Matthew
18:34,35 “In
anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should
pay back all he owed. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you
unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” Romans
13:8 “Owe no man
any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another has fulfilled the
law.” After
the Lord finished speaking these words to me, a peace came over me just like the
man that I saw in the dream described in Part 1; and this peace came because I
decided to follow the instruction of the word that Father had given to me rather
than to satisfy the lust of malice and revenge that had been raging like a great
fire within me. I had this peace for all of a few hours.
Then that night, I heard the first voice of Satan speaking within me
saying, “Who do they think that they are? They cannot treat Mitt Jeffords this
way and expect to get away with it.” Not only did I hear this voice of
opposition coming against the counsel that God had given to me, but so also was
the fire of malicious anger also accompanying these words. I then heard this
voice, “Where is the justice in just forgiving and forgetting this matter?”
Then I began to hear multitudes and multitudes of other voices in my mind that
were all giving me a reason why I needed to get some kind of justice in this
matter. All of these reasonings were flying around in my mind just like all of
the confusion and disorder of numbers that I had seen in my dream. Hateful
thoughts, bitter thoughts, vengeful thoughts, wicked thoughts, unforgiving
thoughts, and evil plans; one right after the other. I was now so troubled in my
mind that I could not sleep at all that night. How could this be? The Lord had
said, “Forgive and forget”, and my mind was suddenly invaded with nothing
but thoughts that were contrary to the instruction that Father had given to me,
as well as that which I had agree to follow after. I tried shaking my head
violently, like I was going to be able to shake these imaginations out my head,
but it was like the more I tried to resist them, the more of these wicked
reasons entered into my mind to
torment and trouble me. There is enough torment in malicious anger that lusts
for revenge, but when you couple that torment with the torment that comes when
you are refusing to believe any of these reasonings so that you can hold fast to
the word that the Lord had given to you, then you have about as big of a battle
in the heavens of your mind that one could expect. Star wars. It was also in
this battle that I first discovered that I truly could not make any of my
thoughts conform to the instruction that Father had given to me. Galatians
5:17 “For the
flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for
these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that
you please.” Proverbs
4:13 “Take fast
hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is your life.” II
Timothy 1:13
“Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and
love which is in Christ Jesus.” The
next day, after only a few minutes of sleep the night before, I continued to
have all of these thoughts troubling my mind, trying to overcome the counsel
that God had given to me. If this was not enough, the enemy opened up another
attack on another front when I got a call from another contractor that had
worked on this same job. He then told me that none of the other contractors had
gotten their final payment from these people either. He even said that there was
one company that was owed over $250,000. He then informed me that they were all
going to sue, and he was now giving me all of his reasons as to why I should sue
these people right along with them. As this man was speaking his counsels to me,
I was just sitting there listening to him, and verbally agreeing with all of his
words; but as soon as he left me, the Lord reminded me that he had said,
“Forget that this matter had ever happened.” I had been involved in lawsuits
in the past, and I knew that if you sue, it would be impossible to forget that
the matter ever happened. If fact, if I told this to most of the attorneys that
I know, it would be to them like some kind of
curse words for them to hear someone say, “I am going to forgive and
forget that this matter ever happened.” I then knew that filing a lawsuit
against these people would be completely out of God’s will for me. But even
though I knew this, that still did not stop me from being attacked by the all
these wicked reasons that were enticing me in my thoughts to do so, presenting
in my thoughts plenty of “just” reasons that would justify me suing these
people to get the money that was rightfully owed to me. All day, and all night,
I heard nothing but imaginations with all of their ideas about how I should
extract some measure of revenge, and then the next day it was like they were
joining their counsels with all these other counsels to give me more reasons as
to why I should sue. I was overwhelmed. I would rather just lay down and die
rather than disobey the Lord. That
night, when I tried to pray, my mind was so troubled by the counsels of the
enmity in my carnal thoughts that I could not even speak any prayers. So I just
waited until the Lord gave me the strength to pray, but all that I could say
was, “Help me, Lord”. Then later on, I was able to pray more, saying,
“Lord, I can not stand this for another moment. It is like my entire body,
soul, and spirit is burning with lust to disobey the counsel of the word that
you gave to me. There are so many of these thoughts that I do not feel like I am
going to be able to find any peace from these reasons unless I submit and obey
them. What am I to do?” I then realized that for the first time in my life, I
was doing something that I had never done: resisting and refusing to believe any
of the counsels of my own thoughts
because none of them agreed with the word the Lord had given to me that
instructed me to forgive and forget. The madness and the chaos only increased in
my mind, and my thoughts were just like the numbers that I saw in this dream;
some where racing this way, and some were racing that way, and some were turned
upside down, and some zooming out then zooming back in. I did not realize it
that time, but in my refusal to believe my own thoughts, I had unknowingly taken
up my cross to deny my thoughts so that I could follow the counsel of God’s
words. There was no way that I could follow after the Lord without me first
dispossessing my own thoughts, professing that not one of them was right counsel
in the sight of God. I was sweating blood, or rather, I was dying to my belief
and trust in myself. After a few more minutes, the Lord spoke to me and said,
“Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Until that
moment, I did not know that this verse was written for every day battles because
at that time in my walk, I thought that salvation was a one time thing. So I
began to call out on Jesus, asking for him to come and save me.
Nahum
1:7 “The Lord is
good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knows those who trust in him…11-13
“There is one
come out of you that imagines evil against the Lord, a wicked counselor (the
enmity of the carnal mind). Thus says the Lord, “Though they be
quiet, and likewise many (the reasonings), yet thus shall they be cut
down when I shall pass through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you
no more. For now will I break his yoke from off you, and I will burst your bonds
in sunder.” Hebrews
12:4 “You have
not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.”
Matthew
15:25 “Then came
she and worshipped him, saying, “Lord, help me.” The
rest of the night I cried out, “Jesus save me from these lying thoughts“;
and, “Jesus, save me”; and, “Jesus, help me”. But no salvation came.
Again I was troubled most of that
night also, waking up several times to the voice of these miserable counselors.
When the morning came, I was still calling out on the name of the Lord; but
nothing had come. I
was desperately waiting on the Lord to come and do something, anything that
would give me some kind of relief from continually hearing these hateful voices
of rebellion in my mind. You can run, or flee, or hide from a man, but you
cannot run, or flee, or hide from the thoughts in your own mind. Then later that
same morning, just when I was thinking that I could not hardly endure another
moment, another wicked counselor showed up in my thoughts that joined itself
with the reasons that were tempting me to seek revenge and to justify myself
with; and it was the spirit of fear. “What are people going to think about you
if you just forgive and forget this matter? If you do not do anything, then it
will like you are just giving this money that is rightfully yours. How you pay your make your
payroll if you do not so something? If you do not do something to get this
money, then where are you going to get the money from to pay for all of this
equipment that you need? How you are going to make your house payment and
utilities? Again, one fearful reason after another fearful reason, that followed
after one vengeful after another, that followed after other just reasons that
were continually tempting with their counsels that would justify their will
rather than my Father’s will. It
truly was multitudes and multitudes of reasons, all waiting for me to make my
choice in the valley of decision . Even though I had already made my decision to
follow after the Lord and his counsel, these reasonings were relentless in their
attempts to persuade me to do otherwise, because they did not cease at all from
coming into my mind. All that day, and into the night they continued; and I
truly felt like I was in hell because there was no rest from the torment of
having nothing but rebellious thoughts in my mind. I was asking the Lord why he
was not coming to save me, when the Spirit of the Lord reminded me that even
Jesus, the Son of the living God, even he repeatedly went into the garden for
prayer in the hour of his temptation, crying out, “Father, not my will
be done but your will be done.” I then realized that I was not above my
master, and if I continued in prayer without giving up, then surely Father would
come as he came to Jesus. So I just kept calling out on the name of the Lord,
now saying, “Father, not my will be done, but your will be done.” When I
finally fell asleep that night, I fell asleep with the hope that I was going to
awake without anymore of these reasonings tempting me. Joel
3:14 “Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the
valley of decision.” When
I woke up the next morning, the morning of the fourth day, there was nothing in
my thoughts but this incredible peace. There was not one reason coming forth to
tempt me in my thoughts as they had the previous three days. There was nothing
but peace and a complete willingness to forgive and forget in this matter just
as the Lord had said. What was really strange to me was that almost all of the
trouble and torment that I had suffered was like some kind of very distant
memory that is hard to recall; even to the point that I wondered whether these
trials of my faith really did happen. That is how great the peace as in my mind.
“Lord, you are an awesome God who truly comes to deliver us from the evil that
comes forth when we are tempted.” The
true test of what Father had done for me became evident a couple of days later
when I saw one of the people that had refused to pay me, and instead of me
having any of these wicked thoughts that I had battled against, I found that I
had no evil about them. In the past, when I tried to forgive someone that had
offended me, all was quiet until either I saw them or when I heard just their
name spoken of. Then all the evil that had been thinking about to do them would
immediately return into my remembrance. But this time, it was completely
different. Here I was looking straight at this very person, and there were no
evil thoughts present in my thinking. The Lord had finally come, and just like
in the dream, he had cast out all of the reasons that had opposed his will for
me, and by his Spirit I was made free to do his will. The stars from heaven, the
multitudes of these reasonings that were in my mind, they had all dissolved or
fallen from my thinking. All that was left was the ONE and only word that Father
had spoken to me: “Forgive them and forget that it happened.” That which
Father had spoken to me was that which Father had worked in me, for it is Father
who works in us to do his will and his good pleasure. I then realized that if
God could do this, transform my thoughts from being his enemy to being his
friend, then truly, there is nothing impossible for him to do for me or for us. Hebrews
5:7-9 “In
the days of his flesh, when he (Jesus) had offered up prayers and supplications,
with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save him from death (the
enmity that rules in the carnal mind), and was heard because of his godly fear.
Though he was a Son, yet he learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
And having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who
obey Him.” I
Peter 4:1 “Therefore,
since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same
mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no
longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but
for the will of God.” John
1:12,13 “But as
many as received him, to them he gave power to become children of God, to those
who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Matthew
26:41,42 “Watch
and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak.” Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My
Father, if this cup cannot pass away from me unless I drink it, Your will be
done.” Matthew
6:10 “Your
kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Psalm
40:8 “I delight
to do your will, O my God: yea, your law (Rom.8:2 the law of the Spirit of
Life) is within my heart.
Matthew
7:21 Jesus said,
not everyone who calls me Lord shall enter into my kingdom except those who do
my Father’s will.” Revelation
6:13 “And the
stars (the numbers/reasonings in my dream) of heaven fell unto the earth,
even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty
wind.” One
last note to add to this testimony. About 2 years after this event occurred, I
got an unexpected call from an attorney in Charleston. It turns out this man
represented the people that did not pay me and he then told me that if I would
accept it, he had a check for me from these people. He then explained that it
only equaled one third of that which was owed to me, but if I would basically
call the matter “paid in full”, then he give to me. Seeing that I had
already forgiven and forgotten the matter, this was like a gift from God, so I
gladly said yes. When I went to pick the check up, the attorney then told that
this was all the money that these people had, and they wanted to give it to me
because of all the people they owed money to, I was the only one that did not
sue them. Thanks be to God, whose ways are far above our ways. End
of Testimony #1
This
testimony begins with the time that the Lord was beginning to open my eyes to so
that I could see that I had not been using his words correctly. We all know that
one of the reasons that Father gave us the scriptures was so that we could come
to know that which is right, and good, and true in the sight of God. But the
Lord began to reveal to me that I had been using the scriptures in the same way
that the Devil uses them, to judge and accuse those who did not do that which is
right, and good, and true in the sight of God. Instead of using the scriptures
to solely judge myself, I was judging others to be guilty of transgressing the
laws of God while justifying my own transgressions. The Lord then began to teach
me that when those who are carnally minded read the scriptures, then their own
understanding of the scriptures will arouse within them the same desires that it
also arouses in the Devil: to accuse, to find fault with, to point the finger of
guilt at, and to condemn all others who transgress the laws of God; all that is
except myself and all those who I had approved of. This correction was really a
grievous thing for me to see because I had not believed that I was not at all
doing anything like the hypocrites do that Jesus had spoken about, but I was
doing the same as they were. II
Corinthians 2:17 “For
we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as
of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” Revelation
12:10 “Then I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the
kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of
our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast
down.” John
8:44 “You are of
your father the Devil, and the desires of your father you want to do (judge
and accuse). He was a murderer (condemner) from the beginning, and
does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a
lie, he speaks from his own resources (reasonings), for he is a liar and
the father of it.” When
the Lord was correcting of walking in this hypocrisy, there was one passage of
scripture that I really did not like to read at all; and it was the story about
the woman that had been caught in the very act of adultery. I did not like to
read this story because Jesus was showing mercy towards a woman that I knew in
my heart that I would accuse and condemn if she was brought before me in the
same manner. I was so ignorantly zealous for God at that time that I could just
not see how Jesus could not judge and accuse this woman for what she had done.
It never once dawned on me that I was the hypocrite here, not Jesus.
Nevertheless, I was reading this story one morning when the Lord opened my eyes
to see what Jesus said after he had told this woman to go, and sin no more. In
verse 12, it is written, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am
the light of the world. He who follows
me shall
not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Every time that I had read this scripture, I
thought that walking in the light was referring to those who did not sin, unlike
this woman. But the Lord began to open my eyes to see that it was not this woman
who he was talking about, but it was the hypocrites, sinners accusing and
judging other sinners, that he was speaking of. It was these that were walking
in the darkness, using laws to satisfy their dark desires to feel righteous by
accusing, judging, and condemning another. The more the Lord enlightened my
understanding of this passage of scripture, the more the truth amazed me; the
truth that revealed that Jesus could not find one reason to pick up a stone to
accuse, or to judge, or to condemn this woman. I then saw clearly how I myself
had been guilty of misusing the law and the scriptures in the same manner as the
rest of the hypocrites. I had been walking in the light of my own reasonings,
blind to see that the light of God’s love shows itself in compassion, mercy,
grace, and forgiveness, rather than judging, accusing, and condemning. I then
remembered that earlier own, in the midst of my days when I was so
self-righteous and feeling good about myself, that asked, “Lord, what did you
come to save me from?” He answered saying, “Your own judgments; for you are
going to be judged with the judgments you used to judge others with.”
John
8:3-12 Then the
scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery. And when they
had set her in the midst, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in
adultery, in the very act. Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should
be stoned. But what do you say?” This they said, testing Him, that they might
have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the
ground with his finger, as though he did not hear. So when they continued asking
him, he raised himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you,
let him throw a stone at her first.” And again he stooped down and wrote on
the ground. Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went
out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left
alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had raised Himself up and
saw no one but the woman, he said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of
yours? Has no one accused (condemned) you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And
Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” Then
Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows
me shall not walk
in darkness, but have the light of life.” I
Corinthians 13:5 “Love….thinks
no evil.” I
Timothy 1:5-8 “Now
the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good
conscience, and of faith unfeigned: from which some having swerved have turned
aside unto vain talk (reasonings), desiring to be teachers of the law;
understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But
we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully.” Hebrews
9:13,14 “For if
the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, then how much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,
cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” It
is like Jesus said, all those who use the law in this manner show the works of
darkness when they judge, point the finger of accusation, find fault with, and
condemn. Yet, Jesus, the light of God, showed the greatness of Father’s love
when he showed this woman grace, compassion, mercy, and forgiveness, even though
she had so clearly transgressed and sinned against the law of Moses. It is when
the Lord was opening my eyes to see the truth of these words that he said to me
for the first time, “Love does not judge. Hate lusts to judge.” Then the
Lord showed to me how he is righteous judge, in that he only judges others in
the same manner that they judge others. Because God is love, and love does not
judge, the Lord could only choose for man to be judged in this manner. It is for
this reason that it is written, that those who do not show mercy and grace to
others, they will be shown no mercy or grace when their judged by their own
judgments. Though this was very scary for me to see because of my own guilt of
doing this, I could not help but admit that this is the most just act that I
have ever heard of. Very scary, but totally just. It was with this teaching that
I really began to understand the importance of why we should take heed to the
instruction that says, “Be you transformed by the renewing of your minds”;
lest we find ourselves storing up condemnation and wrath against ourselves when
we are blindly and ignorantly
judging and accusing others in this same manner. John
9:39 “And Jesus
said, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which do not see
might see; and that they which say they see might be made blind.” And when
some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, they asked him,
“Are we blind also?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you should
have no sin: but now because you say, “We see“; therefore your sin
remains.” Acts
26: The Lord
speaking to Paul, “But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you
for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which
you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver
you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send
you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, from the
power of Satan (to accuse & condemn) to God (love), so that
they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are
sanctified by faith in Me.’ One
thing that I have learned about walking this walk and following Jesus, if and
when you hear the voice of the Lord speaking, teaching, or revealing anything to
you, then you can be sure that Satan is not far behind to tempt in that which
you heard, to see if you are going to hold fast to the counsels or instructions
that which Father had just taught to you or shown to you. And when Satan
attacks, he brings forth nothing other to tempt you with than those reasonings
that seem more righteous and just than the counsels or the instructions that you
just heard from the Lord. If you do not believe me, then I pray that the Lord
will give you understanding about the parable of the sower. And true to form,
not long after the Lord began to teaching me how the law should be used
correctly, then a situation arose
that would greatly try me, to see if I really believed what the Lord had been
teaching me about the mercy and forgiveness; the grace of his love.
One
of my daughters had gotten married, and short time later, they had moved to
Tampa, Florida. They were not there that long before they began to experience
some marital problems that became so great that it led them to separate. My
daughter was just a baby Christian at this time, and when these troubles began
to arise between her and her husband,
she was still walking in that baby faith. My wife and I were praying fervently
for both of them, hoping that the Lord would move and bring reconciliation
between the two of them. What really troubled me during this time was the fact
that they had moved 500 miles away, and it was really difficult to try and
encourage or minister to her faith about this situation by phone only. Her
emotions at that time were much, much stronger than her faith. Then
around 7 PM one evening, our daughter called and spoke to my wife. She then
informed my wife that during this time that she and her husband were separated,
she had an encounter with another man. Her husband knew about it, and
reconciliation now seemed like an impossibility. After my wife hung up the phone
and began to explain to me what was going on, I began to really get furious with
daughter about what she had done because it quickly dashed all of the hope that
I had about her and her husband. I immediately went into prayer, asking Father
what he wanted me to do. I was surprised and I was not surprised at what the
Lord then said to me, “Love her”. That was all of the counsel that the Lord
gave to me. As soon as he said this to me, the Spirit of the Lord then brought
back into my remembrance what the Lord had just taught me about the woman caught
in the act of adultery; “Woman, where are your accusers?” She answered, “I
have none”. And Jesus said, “Neither do I accuse you.” So I then settled
it in my heart that if there were going to be any accusers against my daughter,
then it was not going to be coming from me. I freely chose to follow the counsel
that Father had just given to me. No
more than an hour had passed since I got this instruction before the first
reasonings began to appear in my thoughts that were contrary to Father’s
instruction. And it seemed like what started out was just a small stream of
these ungodly counsels quickly grew into a great flood of reasons why I should
not love my daughter in this matter. And of course, just as Satan’s manner is,
all of his reasonings to judge, accuse, and condemn my daughter were trying to
appear more righteous and just than the counsel that Father had given to me. For
the first hour, Satan brought forth nothing but reasons into my thoughts that
counseled me that I should accuse and think evil of my daughter because of the
agony and pain that her sin was now obviously putting my son-in-law through.
Then it was like this one reason
then opened the door for multitudes of other reasons to enter into my thoughts
that were all tempting me to accuse and condemn my daughter because of the many
other ways that she was not only hurting my son-in-law, but our in-laws, their
friends, as well as my wife and I. Yet, in the midst of this flood of these
ungodly counsels, I was able to hear that small voice of the Lord saying,
“Love her”. On it’s own, this incident was greatly troubling to me, but
now I was also being greatly troubled and tormented with the counsels of these
reasonings that were enmity against the counsel of God that I had chosen to
believe. So now I was not only troubled with the situation, but completely
tormented by the reasons that sought to turn my heart completely away from my
Father God. I then began praying, crying out, “Lord, your will is for me to
love my daughter. Not my will be done, but your will be done.” Psalm
18:2 “The LORD is
my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will
trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. will call
upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine
enemies. The sorrows of death (the reasonings of the carnal mind)
compassed me, and the floods of the ungodly made me afraid. The sorrows of hell
compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called
upon the Lord, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and
my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled;
the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was
wroth.” Psalm
40:11-13 “Withhold
not thou your tender mercies from me, O LORD: let your lovingkindness and your
truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: my
iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are
more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart fails me. Be pleased, O
LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.” Psalm
109:2-4 “For the
mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they
have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with
words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause. For my love they (the
reasonings of Satan)are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer.” Psalm
1:1-4 “Blessed is
the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of
sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of
the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a
tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season;
his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The
ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff that the wind drives away.” Just
when it had seemed like order was about to be restored in my thoughts, here came
another reason to tempt me, under the guise of, “Your daughter is not really a
Christian because a true Christian would never do such a thing as this.”
Again, it was like this one thought also opened the door for multitudes of other
reasons to come in to accuse my daughter about whether she was really a
Christian or not. Of course, all of these reasons were one after the other,
tempting me to judge, to accuse, and to condemn my daughter. I want to say right
now that I have never in my life ever heard any voices coming into my thoughts
that were accompanied with so much malice and viciousness as these reasons were.
The hatred in their voices was more than anything that I had experienced in the
25 years since the Lord had called me. I immediately knew that if I yielded to
any of these reasons, and spoke their counsels to my daughter in the malice that
I was hearing in my mind, then I would surely say something so offensive and so
vicious to my daughter, that she might ever speak to me again. There is no doubt
that I would hate to be stoned by the words of these ungodly, unmerciful, and
wicked counselors. There was no presence of love in any of these counsels.
Again, I went to pray, crying out, “Lord help me; for not one of these
thoughts, in any way, agrees with the counsel that you gave to me. Not my will
be done, but your will be done.” Nahum
1:11 “There is
one that comes out of that imagines
evil against the LORD, a wicked counselor.” Thus saith the LORD, “Though
they be quiet, and likewise many, yet shall they be cut down when he shall pass
through. Though I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more. For now will I
break his yoke from off you, and will burst your bonds in sunder. Psalm
107:6 “Then they
cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their
distresses.” Again,
all of these ungodly voices that had been speaking into my thoughts seem to
quiet down for the moment. But then, just a few minutes later, another entirely
different reason entered into my mind, bringing it’s so-called “just”
reason as to why I should judge and accuse my daughter for the shame and
embarrassment that her sin has brought upon me and my family. This lie tried to
convince me that I should their counsels to be right rather than the counsel of
God gave to me. And of course, shortly after I heard this voice, then came the
multitudes of other voices that sought to confirm with their “just” reasons
why I should judge and accuse my daughter. Though they were all different, they
all agreed that she should be accused because of this embarrassing situation
that she has brought upon us. Again I prayed, crying out, “Lord save me; not
my will be done, but your will be done.” Again, as soon as I finished praying,
all of these voices became silent. Job
40:8 (The Lord
speaking to Job) “Will you annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me so that
you may can be righteous?” Again,
this silence did not last long as one more ungodly reason entered into my mind;
and again, it also was accompanied with multitudes of like-minded so-called
“just” reasons why I would be justified in disobeying the counsel of God’s
word so that I could judge and accuse my daughter instead. I cried out on the
name of the Lord, and he faithfully he came again and quieted these counsels. By
this time, I was amazed to see that just these two little words from God,
“Love her”, could bring such a bitter, and hateful, and vicious attack
against this counsel. The parable of sower is the parable that describes the
tactics that Satan uses to come against us “after” we have received a word
from the Lord; and the purpose of all of his attacks is to overthrow our belief
in that God has given to us, lest the imaginations of his reasonings gets cast
out of the heavens of our mind. It is nothing we do to bring it upon ourselves,
it is just the way that the adversary fights to keep death ruling over the
carnal mind and to keep us from drawing nearer to God. I was so thankful that
God was there for me each time that I called out to him. My mind had become so
quieted that I was finally able to get into bed that night. Luke
8:11-15 “Now the
parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they
that hear; then comes the Devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts,
lest they should believe and be saved. These on the rock are they, which after
they hear, receive the word with joy; but they have no root, which for a while
believe, but in time of temptation fall away. And these which fell among thorns
are they, which after they have heard, go forth and are choked with the cares,
and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But
that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” I
got in peacefully got into bed, having forgotten the word that says, “Joy
comes in the morning.“ I must have been asleep all of 15 minutes when
suddenly my mind was attacked again with “all” of the multitudes of
“just” reasons that I had previously heard. If I could I have visibly seen
all of these reasonings in mind at that moment, I am sure that it would have
looked just like the heavens that I saw in my dream that was full of disorder
and madness. It was like the more that I held to the counsel of those two
precious words from God, the more chaos, madness, confusion, and wrath Satan
attacked me. I really felt like I was experiencing this attack just like it is
written, “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil. We do not war against flesh and blood, but
powers, and principalities, and rulers of darkness, and wicked spirits in the
high places of our mind.”; and I was now under attack from all of these
forces at one time. I took up my cross and battled against all of these
thoughts, refusing to bow my heart to believe any one of them, lest I should
allow the darkness to take my heart and mind. I immediately called out on God,
but he did not come right away; and the battle in my thoughts grew greater and
greater against me. Seeing that the Lord was not coming at that moment, I then
called out and asked the Lord if he would be my strength so that I could endure
this attack until he came. I battled until around 5 AM, when I finally just fell
asleep out pure exhaustion from the battle. Psalm
30:5 “…Weeping
may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” I
only slept for about an hour when again I woke up with the confusion and madness
still tormenting and troubling me with it’s “just” reasons to disobey God.
It felt like all of hell was now abiding in my mind because I had long since
passed the boundaries of madness, and confusion, and torment that I thought I
was able to bear. I just got out of bed, went to the other end of house, fell
down on the floor, and cried out, “Lord, if you do not come and save me, then
there is no way that I can endure any more of these attacks that have come
against the very counsel that you gave to me. I desire to do you will, but if
you do not come, then I do not know if I will be able to resist submitting to
the will of these reasonings any longer.” I had hardly gotten through praying
these words when the Lord came; and when he came this time, it was not just to
silence these voices, but it was to completely deliver me from ever having to
hear them in thoughts ever again. Psalm
116:2-4 “Because
he has inclined his ear unto me, therefore I will call upon him as long as I
live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell had gotten a hold
on me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD; “O
LORD, I beseech you, deliver my soul.” Psalm
25:2 “O my God, I
trust in you: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.” Psalm
86:12,13 “I will
praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify your name for
evermore. For great is your mercy towards me: and you have delivered my soul
from the lowest hell.” When
a war ends, it is generally followed with peace; and I only on one other
occasion have I ever experienced the greatness of the peace of God like I did
after the Lord came that morning. I had sweat blood to die to the will of my
enemies, the old thoughts of my carnal mind. The Lord God almighty had just
delivered me from all of the multitudes and multitudes of reasonings that had
come against the counsel of his word. This event occurred around 7 years ago,
and to this day, not one of those lying reasons has ever returned into my
thoughts, to judge, to accuse, or to condemn. or to remind my daughter of the
sin that she had sinned. The disorder in the high places in my mind had been
removed, and all that was left was the number one: the counsel of God to love my
daughter through this matter. Because I held fast to his word, the Lord came and
gave me his love, the love that is able to forgive and forget that such a matter
ever happened at all. Truly, all things will work together for good to those who
love God and are called according to his purpose; and his purpose in this matter
was for me to love my daughter; and I love my daughter. Psalm
41:2 “The LORD
will preserve him, and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth:
and you will not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.” Psalm
54:7 “For he has
delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye has seen his desire upon mine
enemies.” Psalm
41:11 “By this I
know that you are well pleased with me, because my enemy does not triumph over
me.” A
few days after this trial was over, I was praying one morning when the Lord came
to me and said, “Mitt, I want to show you what I did for you when I delivered
you.” I was then immediately taken by the Lord into the Spirit,
and I found myself standing in the bottom of small valley that was
entirely surrounded by hills. The hills and valley were completely covered with
lush green grass. There was not any kind of tree or shrub anywhere to be seen,
just grass. Suddenly, a dark horse appeared at the top of one of the hills, and
the rider on this horse was dark shapeless spirit. He did not have many features
to describe because it was like he had no face at all, but he was very ominous
and threatening; and he was carrying a banner that said, “She hurt her
husband.” Then from behind this rider came up hundreds, if not thousands of
other riders that also appeared as the first rider. They seemed to be all united
in purpose under that banner, “She hurt her husband”. They just all stood
still at the top of the hill, and everyone of these spirits was completely
focused on me. I then understand that the rider with the banner, he represented
the spirit that first brought into my thoughts the reason that my daughter
should be judged and accused for the pain that she had caused her husband,
rather than to love her like the Lord had instructed me. I also knew that all of
the riders behind him were all of the other reasons that I had entered into my
mind that heard agreed with the counsel that was written on that banner; and
they were all prepared to fight for that purpose. Then
on the hill just to the right of this first hill, there came another rider on a
horse that in appearance looked identical to the first riders. He was also
carrying a banner with him that said, “No Christian Sins in this Manner”.
And then immediately, just like with the first rider, there came hundreds or
thousands of other dark spirits riding up from behind him. And just like the
first rider, everyone of these dark spirits was totally focused on me. Again, I
knew that all of the riders behind this lead rider were all spirits that had
brought with them their reasons that tried to convince me that my daughter
should be judged and accused for the sin that she had committed. Then on the
hill to the right of this hill, the same scene played out all over again, when
another rider appeared carrying a banner that said, “The Shame &
Embarrassment She has Caused.” And of course, behind this rider came the
hundreds or thousands of these other spirits of darkness that all agreed in
purpose with that which was written on the banner; and like all of the rest of
the riders, they were all prepared to fight for that purpose. This scene played
out on every hill that surrounded me. I was standing in the middle of this small
valley, and I was completely surrounded by these thousands and thousands of dark
spirits, and everyone of them was ominously staring at right at me. Deuteronomy
20:1 “When you go
out to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and people more
numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God is with you,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt. And
when the priest shall say to them, “Hear, O Israel: Today you are on the verge
of battle with your enemies. Do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and
do not tremble or be terrified because of them; for the LORD your God is He who
goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” Then
suddenly, they all began to attack at once, and when they did, I was led to look
up. And when I looked up, I saw Jesus ascending down from heaven straight
towards me. He was clothed with a long flowing white robe, and he had a sword in
each hand. I watched as he descended right on top of me; and before I knew it, I
found myself completely inside of him. Even though I was in him, I could still
clearly see everything that was happening around me. It certainly brought a new
meaning to me of the words that say, “If any man “be in” Christ…”
I then wondered if I was spiritually in the valley of Megiddo because at that
moment, I was in a valley that was filled with all of these spirits of darkness.
Luke
21:28 “Now when
these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your
redemption draws near.” Psalm
55:18 “He has
redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, For there were
many against me.” What
I saw Jesus do in the next moment absolutely amazed me. He began to swing his
swords in a manner that reminded me of someone who is an expert in the martial
arts. But everyone of his movements was more graceful than any ballet that I
have ever seen. As the spirits approached us, Jesus began cutting each one of
these spirits perfectly in half. If these dark spirits tried to move quicker,
then Jesus would effortlessly seem to move twice as fast as them. No matter what
these spirits did, Jesus would always move faster and more graceful than before.
This battle, if you could call it that, took only a few seconds; and when it was
over, the entire valley floor was covered with nothing but these motionless dark
spirits. I then completely understood why it is written, “The weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to pulling down of strongholds
and casting out every imagination (or reasoning) that does not agree with the
counsel of God’s words. I now also understand why I have not once heard any of
these wicked counsels since the day the Lord came and delivered me from them.
Truly, when Jesus makes you free, you are free indeed.
Exodus
14:13 “And Moses
said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of
the LORD which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians (any
captivity that we have to the reasonings of Satan thoughts) whom you see
today, you shall see again no more forever.” Romans
8:2 “For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and
death…6
For to be carnally
minded is
death because the
carnal mind is enmity (reasonings) against God: for it is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be…13,14
For if you live
after the flesh, you shall die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the
deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God.” John
8:36 “Therefore
if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Psalm
78:8-11 “Do not
be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that
did not set its heart aright and whose spirit was not faithful to God. The
children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of
battle. They did not keep the covenant of God and they refused to walk in His
law. They forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.” End
of Second Testimony In
November 2000, I was praying one morning when he Lord asked, “Mitt, would you
sell your business and your house because I would like to put you into the
ministry full time?” The interesting thing about this question was that the
Lord did not bring this forth as a commandment, but as a request. I felt like
the Lord had been preparing me 20 years for that very purpose. Though the Lord
had greatly increased my faith in his love and my belief of his words over those
20 years, I still answered and said, “Lord, if you will give me a willing
heart and a willing mind, then I will do it.” After 20 years of diligently
seeking after the Lord, I had learned that if I tried to do the will of God
through the power and the zeal of my own will, then it will ultimately fail in
time. Also, I asked the Lord to give me a willing heart because I had learned
that man cannot do the will of God of himself, because if were able, then it
would no longer be the will of God, but the will of that man. There is a reason
that Jesus said, “You can do nothing without me.” I had also learned that if
I was to try and do the will of God by my will, then it would simply be standing
in the temple of God, denying Christ and showing myself as God. Though I had
learned that I could do nothing of myself, I had also learned that I could do
all things through Jesus Christ, who God made to be for us the spirit of
willingness. II
Corinthians 8:12 “For
if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a which a man
has, and not according to that which he does no have.” Psalm
110:3 “Your
people shall be willing in the day of your power…” Philippians
4:13 “I can do
all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Isaiah
40:29-31 “He
gives power to the faint and to them that have no might he increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall,
but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and
not faint.” Even
though I had agreed to that which Father had asked me, I made no attempt to sell
either my business or my house until the Lord first came and gave me a willing
heart and a willing mind to do so. I had learned that if I tried to do things
through the strength of my own zeal, then that zeal will evidently fade and lose
it’s strength, and then the word that the Lord had given to me would just fade
away from my remembrance. Before I had learned these things, always failing to
do that which Father had asked of me, I would then wonder why he was not asking
me to do anything else. But now I have learned to ask him to give to me a
willing heart and a willing mind, because when it comes, it will not only be
easy to do, but also a delight to do it. Is there any greater burden than to try
and do anything that you are unwilling to do? Is there anything that can bring
more delight than to be able to do those things that you will to do? Matthew
26:41 “Watch and
pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak.” John
1:11-13 “He came
to his own, and his own did not receive him. But as many as received him, to
them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his
name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the
will of man, but of the will of God.” Psalm
40:8 “I delight
to do your will, O my God: yea, your law (see next verse) is within my heart.”
If
God is able to remove the enmity of reasoning from our minds, then what would be
left that could oppose the instructions of his word? From where comes the
unwillingness but from the reasons of Satan’s will. If God is able to
overthrow Satan’s reasonings, then is there anything that the Lord could ask
of us that we could not do, if we just first believed to ask for him to give us
a willing mind and a heart? Where would the resistance to his then come from?
Did he not say that if we called on his name, then he would show us great mighty
things that we do not know? I waited on the Lord for about three weeks, and then
I just woke up one morning, and all of reasonings that brought forth fears, and
unwillingness, and doubts that were hindering me from following the counsel of
God were completely gone. He had come when I was not even aware of his coming,
and he had removed all of the resistance that came forth from the enmity of my
carnal mind. I even tried hard to think on fear or unwillingness, but the Lord
had removed all those thoughts from my mind. He truly is an awesome God. Proverbs
16:3 “Commit the
work unto the Lord, and your thoughts shall be established.” I
then put my house up for sale, and the first person that looked at it bought it.
My maintenance business was so unique and diversified that I thought that I was
going to have to divide my company at least in half to sell it because there was
not another company in Charleston that had the experience or the knowledge to do
all that we were doing. I was praying about this when the Lord spoke to me the
name of a man that I had never heard of. It turned out this man had a company
that did almost the same type of work that my company did. The only problem was
that his company was located a hundred miles away, on Hilton Head Island.
Nevertheless, I called this man that day, and I told him my name. He said that
he knew who I was and that he knew a lot about my company. I then asked him he
would be interested in buying my business, and he answered by saying, “How
much?” Needless to say, he bought my company, and much to my delight, he gave
all of my employees a raise. It is amazing what the Lord will do in matters when
we let him show himself to be God rather than trying to do it ourselves. When
the Lord had asked me to sell these things, I simply turned back to him and
asked for him to do it for me; and he in turn did that which was exceeding above
that which I was able to think or ask of him to do. With my house and business
then sold, I was then eager to see what kind of ministry the Lord was going to
put me into. Jeremiah
33:3 “Call unto
me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not
know.” Psalm
57:2 “I will cry
unto God most high; unto God that performs all things for me.” It
is written that we should not judge ourselves by ourselves, but that we should
ask the Lord to judge us with his seeing, because the truth is, no man knows the
darkness that is hidden behind the reasonings that lead the carnally minded to
do what they do and to speak the words that they speak. But it is written that
when the Lord comes to those who are asking of him, he will bring to light the
hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. I have written
these three testimonies to declare to you the great and mighty works that Father
has done for me in removing from me all of the carnal thoughts and the intents
of the heart that war against his will. Every man has a fear in him that desires
to keep his sins, his mistakes, and his weaknesses hidden from God and from man.
But what he cannot see is that fear is the work of one of the most powerful
spirits that comes forth from the darkness. God did not create man with this
wicked and unclean spirit within him. When I started asking the Lord to judge
me, I saw the wickedness of the wicked in the last place that I was fearful of
seeing it, in my own thoughts. And then I saw the most evil of the evil in the
last place that I wanted to see it, in my own heart. Yet, I also saw that it was
during these times that I witness the grace of Father’s love abounding towards
me; and he never once chastised me, or left me, or ridiculed me, or pointed the
his finger at me, or belittled me, or threw anything in my face, and not
once has he even been disappointed with me. God is not like a man, and he does
not treat us like men treat during these times. I have only seen the greatness
of his love; and that is what I bear witness to all, that the love that Father
has for us is much, much greater than anyone us can see with our eyes or hear
with our ears. John
9:39 “And Jesus
said, “For judgment I am come into this world so that they which do not see
might see; and that they which say they see might be made blind.” And when
some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, they said to him,
“Are we blind also?” Jesus then said to them, “If you were blind, you
would have no sin: but now because you say, “We see (seeing that which is
right according to their human understanding and reasonings)”; therefore
your sin remains.” There
is no man that I have ever met that could come close to showing me the grace and
mercy that Father’s love has shown to me during the times of my carnal mind.
But so also have I seen that I myself could not yet show to others the same
grace or mercy that Father has shown to me either. And neither shall any man be
able to show forth the awesome grace and mercy of Father’s love until the Lord
comes to be glorified in his sons with the perfection of his love. I now walk
free from any fear of being judged, whether it be by God, who I know will show
me mercy, or by men who judge and accuse, and desire to throw stones. I no
longer walk in any of the fear of what darkness Father might bring into the
light from out of my heart or mind, because I know that brings nothing into the
light except that which he desires to free me from. From the moment it is
brought into the light, it’s days are numbered before the Lord comes to
deliver me from it. And that which I might see today, I will no more see within
me now, or forever. I now know that if I hear Father say, “Follow me”; there
is no more enmity of reasonings left within me to resist or contend with him. He
is now first in my heart and mind. Through
his works, Father has been reconciling us unto him. He has been cleansing and
sanctifying his temple; removing from us the enmity of our enemy from our
thoughts so that he can call us his friends. The Lord has been preparing his
bride so that she may be able to receive the fullness of God in the beauty of
holiness, the righteousness and power of eternal life, and the perfection of his
love. This glory of God that is coming is a far greater glory than that which
Jesus walked in when he walked this earth in the flesh. The Lord told me that
when he came into this world, he was despised and rejected, but when he comes
this second time, to be glorified in his elect, then the world is going to see
the fullness of the glory of God manifest in his sons. End
of these three testimonies Back
to the Dream: I
was still considering that which Father had been revealing to me concerning the
dream that he had given to me where I saw the heavens filled with enlightened
numbers instead of stars. Then the Lord brought into my remembrance that which
Jesus warned us about, “Take heed that the light that is in you be not
darkness.” I was not surprised at all when the Lord then opened my eyes to
see that the darkness that appears as the light is the reasonings of that come
forth out of the carnal mind; for carnally minded man esteems, relies on,
believes, obeys, trusts, and honors his own reasonings above all things, even
above the words of God. It is for this reason that it did not surprise me when
the Lord showed this dream where the thoughts of man’s reasoning comes from.
If the thoughts in our minds were so righteous, then why did the Lord say,
“Your thoughts are not my thoughts”? Or why did he say, “The Lord knows
the thoughts of man, that they are vanity”? Or why did he say, “Be you
transformed by the renewing of your mind”? Or why did he say, “And the Lord
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thought of his heart was only evil continually”? Or, why
did he say, “to bring every thought into the obedience of Christ”? Or, why
did he say, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”? Is not
the answer found in that scripture that says, “A man is as he thinks?” If a
man wants to know who he is, then let him examine his thoughts. Just as it is
written that all things will work together for good for those love God and
follow him, so also does Satan deceive men into believing that good things will
surely happen to them when they follow after the counsels of their own
reasonings. The reasonings of Satan’s lies are the mortal enemy of all those
who trust God and walk by faith. Jeremiah
16:12
“And you have done
worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the imaginations of his
own evil heart, so that no one listens to me.” Jeremiah
13:10 “This evil
people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their
heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even
be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.” Wow…..!
Without any expectation, the Lord came and took me in the Spirit. It happened so
suddenly and so fast that if the Lord had not later repeated it back for me in
slow motion, then I would have never been able to comprehend what had happened
to me. The best way that I know how to visually describe what happened is to use
a scene from an old TV series called “Star Trek”. It seemed that in every
episode there would come this moment in which the starship “Enterprise”
would have some kind of need for it to greatly accelerate it’s speed, whether
it be to answer some emergency or to flee from an enemy. If I remember
correctly, the captain of that starship would call for “Warp 7” speed, which
was the maximum speed that this space craft could travel at. Then the very next
scene would show you that this starship accelerated so quickly to such a great
speed that all that it left behind it was a trail of light. That is how it was
for me, that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, I here, then I was gone;
and I felt like I had left the earth behind me. When
the Lord repeated this experience for me in slow motion, I was expecting to see
myself quickly departing from planet earth, but that was not the case at all.
What I saw was that I was not departing from this earth, but rather I was
departing from this world; the world that is identified in I
John 2:15 “Love
not the world neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all
that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father but if of the world. And the world is
passing away, and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abides
forever.” When
I literally saw the world that I was leaving behind, my present world, I was
stunned to see that my world was still so full of darkness. This stunned me to
see this because of all the many wonderful works that the Lord has performed in
my heart and in my mind. Also, he has blessed with so many, many gifts of his
Spirit. He has delivered me from every fear that I have asked for him to deliver
me from. He has cleansed me of unforgiveness. He has purged me of many
iniquities. He has removed my old temper and anger. He has humbled my pride. He
has taken away the judgments and accusations I have had of others. He has opened
my eyes to see the foolishness of my wisdom the error of my understanding, and
the vanity of my opinions. He has
corrected me of so much of my unbelief, my doubts, and the enmity of reasonings
that have contended and rebelled against him, and his words. Still, even with
all of these mighty and wonderful works that the Lord has performed in me, I was
seeing myself leaving a world of
darkness behind me. How
could this still be? Then the Lord brought into my remembrance the dream where I
saw the heavens of darkness filled with all of those numbers, which represented
Satan’s reasonings in my
thoughts. I then thought to myself, “Have I been in this old heaven, and am I
now finally entering into that which I have been so diligently seeking for, a
new heaven and a new earth where there is no darkness at all?” Then the Spirit
of the Lord quickened to me of that which is written in Isaiah
60:1 “Arise,
shine; for your is light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon
you.” For
the past 5 years, Isaiah 60 has been one of the chapters throughout the
scriptures that Father has referenced to me, so I was excited when he again
brought forth into my remembrance. I have thought on this chapter of scripture
many times, because the Lord has revealed more to me about what the sons of God
are going out of this chapter than any other chapter in the scriptures.
Then the Lord asked me a question concerning this one scripture that I
never before considered. “Will the light of God arise in those who are
light?” I was shocked when I realized what the Lord was really asking me. I
thought that I was already light in the Lord. Then
the Lord said, “Until now, I have given you the light of my knowledge so that
you could come to know me; for he who knows me, knows my Father. I have also
taught you my judgments so that you could come to know the truth about your own
heart; for only my judgment is a able to bring to light the hidden things of
darkness and the true motives of your heart. I have brought my judgments to
light so that you could discern the spiritual from the natural; the true light
from the darkness that appears as the light; and the way that seems right from
that which is right; and truth from the lies that appear as the truth. I have
enlightened your eyes with my knowledge and my understanding so that you could
put a difference between the truth that my spirit reveals and letter of the word
that is established on man’s opinions of the scriptures; for opinions keep you
in bondage to the enmity of Satan’s reasonings, while the truth of my spirit
sets you free from your bondage to sin and death. I have also given to you my
light so that you could know the death that inhabits the carnal mind from the
life and peace that inhabits the spiritual mind. Though you have walked in my
light, thought on my light, tasted my light, and seen my light, you have not yet
been made to be one with the light of my divine nature. I am that light. I am
the light of the divine nature of the fullness of God. I am the light that will
arise in you. I am coming to be glorified in you. I am coming to make you one
with me; and my Father and I are one.” John
1:4,5 “In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Psalm
119:105 “Your
word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto
my path.” Ephesians
5:13 “But all
things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes
manifest is light.” I
Corinthians 4:5 “Therefore
judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring
to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts.
At that time each will receive his praise from God” John
8:12 “Then Jesus
spoke to them again saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me
shall not walk
in darkness, but
have the light of life.” I
Peter 1:2-4 “Grace
and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have
been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these,
you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is
in the world through lust.” II
Peter 1:18-20 “And
so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light
that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in
your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any
private interpretation (opinions of men).” Revelation
22:16 “I Jesus
have sent my angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the root
and the offspring of David, and the bright and morningstar.” Then
the Lord brought into remembrance that which is written in II
Corinthians 4:6,7 For
it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence
of the power may be of God and not of us.” With this passage of scripture,
the Lord opened my eyes to see that though his light is shining out of me, it is
shining from out from the things of darkness that is hidden in me. Then the Lord
allowed for me to understand that the light that is about to rise upon his sons,
it shall not be able to come forth in our earthen vessels; for God is holy, and
the temple that he is coming to must be holy, without any darkness at all. It is
like this, the light of the Lord has been manifesting itself to show us the
straight and narrow path. His light has also shined in our hearts to reveal the
truth about Father’s heart and mind, as well as the truth about the heart and
mind of man. His light shines upon us to correct
us, to cleanse us, to purify us, and to cleanse us; to shake lose all things in
us that are not of God. Those
who have seen, and heard, and tasted, and endured seeing the light of his truth,
they are the ones who are hungering and thirsting for the righteousness of the
truth and the holiness of life that dwells in the new heaven and the new earth;
a new heart and a new mind, God’s heart and God’s mind; which is the only
place you will find the divine nature of God. Then shall the two become one.
Only The children of the light are they that are ready for a new wineskin, to
completely come out of that earthen vessel so that they can be filled with the
new wine. Then suddenly, I perceived that I was not leaving this literal heaven
and earth, but I was being completely divorced from the world that has dwelled
in this earthen vessel of mine. Ephesians
5:13 “But when
anything is exposed and reproved by the light, it is made visible and clear; and
where everything is visible and clear there is light.” I
John 2:15-17 “Love
not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of
the flesh (the lust to do your will), and the lust of the eyes (the
lust to be right), and the pride of life (the lust for one‘s own glory)is
not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust
thereof: but he that does the will of God abides forever.” James
4:4 “Adulterers
and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with
God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy
of God.” I
Corinthians 15:51 “Behold,
I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed. For
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” As
soon as I realized that I was divorcing my world, the Lord then brought into my
remembrance a visitation that I had previously experienced when he showed to me
the Darkness that compasses the earth, as well as that which the Darkness
consists of (The
Darkness and the Light @ http://etpv.org/2006/ tdatl.html). It was during this visitation
that I first saw the Darkness as a lifeless and very heavy cloud that descended
upon the earth until it had completely covered it. I saw that as this Darkness
descended upon the earth, it easily pushed the earth’s atmosphere aside
because of it’s heaviness; and once it had pushed the atmosphere aside, men
began to breathe in the Darkness instead. Once men began to breathe in the
Darkness, great heaviness was brought upon their lives, and it
and it completely corrupted all of their senses. Because their senses
were corrupted, men began to see and perceive that they needed the Darkness
because it was now that which they lived their lives according to. I saw that
men once the Darkness had corrupted senses, they were brought into bondage to
live their lives trying to satisfy the pleasures, the desires, and the
affections of the Darkness. The Darkness had blinded men so that they could not
see that it was the source that brought upon them all their torments, worries,
miseries, contentions, anxieties, confusions, distresses, fears, hatreds, and
bitterness. Men were also blinded to see that it was by reason of this very
heavy Darkness that man had become alienated and separated from the abundant
life that God created men to be partakers of. Ephesians
2:1-5 “And you
has he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past you
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience: among
whom also we all had our
conversation in
times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of
the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins has made us alive together with Christ, (by grace are you
saved).” Ephesians
4:17,18 “This I
say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the
rest of the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having their
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the
ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.” Ephesians
5:8-11 “For you
were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” It
was then that the Lord began to open my eyes to see what the Darkness consists
of; or rather, to see what the air that breathe consists of; the same air that
men breathe because they believe that it is necessary for one to live his life
in this fallen world of Darkness. It was then that the Lord increased the vision
in my eyes until I felt like I was looking at the Darkness through a microscope;
and I saw that the Darkness consisted of multitudes and multitudes of very tiny
microscopic spirits, and each spirit was a single word. I would have at first
doubted that the Darkness consisted of words until the Lord brought into my
remembrance the following verses : John
1:1 “In the
beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God; and the Word was God…14
And the Word was
made flesh and dwelled among us.” John
4:24 “God is
Spirit”. John
6:63 “The Words
that I speak unto you, they are life and they are Spirit”. Then
the Lord taught to me that as he himself is the word that is full of life and
spirit, so also is the Darkness those words that are full of death and the
spirit; the same death that inhabits the words that dwell in the carnal mind.
Before their was ever a thought in man, their were words. The difference is that
the Lord’s words bring forth the life and peace that inhabit the carnal mind
while the words of Darkness bring forth the death that reigns over the carnally
minded. Then the Lord reminded me that when the scriptures themselves are
corrupted with the darkened understanding of man’s carnal thoughts, then come
forth the letter of the word, the letter that kills rather than give life, just
as those who were using the letter of the word to stone the woman caught in the
act of adultery. The Lord reminded me of that which is written in Proverbs
18:21 “Death
and life are in the power of the tongue”. Then the Lord said, “Are not
the words that men speak a reflection of the words/thoughts that that he is
thinking? Just as it is impossible for a evil tree to bring forth good fruit,
and a good tree to bring forth evil fruit, so also is it impossible for those
who are carnally minded to speak anything other than dead words; words that that
are designed to keep men from the love of God and to turn you away from the true
faith to serve dead religious doctrines and the commandments of false teachers
and false prophets. The carnal or natural mind is the habitation for this
Darkness; and where you find the habitation of Darkness (words/spirits) there
you will also find the sin and death that rules over the thoughts of men.
Likewise, those who are spiritually minded speak words that bless and give life.
Proverbs
21:16 “The man
that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of
the dead (carnally minded Christians).” Matthew
12;33-37 “Either
make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit
bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil,
speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A
good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an
evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you
that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day
of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will
be condemned.” Matthew
7:18-20 “A good
tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree
that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by
their fruit you will recognize them. I
Corinthians 3:1-3 “1
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal,
as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with meat; for until now you
were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are
still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you
not carnal and behaving like mere men?” Psalm
94:11 “The Lord
knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity (empty and futile--only a
breath).” Then
the Lord said, “In this fallen world, the darkness is that life form which
that is natural to fallen man, while the true light is a life form that is
completely alien to natural man. When I came into this world, I was not esteemed
but despised and rejected. The Light shined into the Darkness, but those of the
Darkness were not able to comprehend it. The light of God’s life cannot be
discerned by the senses of man that have been corrupted by the Darkness simply
because the light does not seem right or appear good to those whose senses have
been corrupted. An evil tree had no desire to bear good fruit, and those who
love the death of the carnal cannot love the life that the Spirit gives. That
which is natural to the Darkness is the life form that fallen man is familiar
with. Those who are of this fallen world, they speak the words of Darkness, and
the world hears and understands them. God is Spiritual; and that which is
spiritual is contrary to that which is natural. It is for this reason that it is
written that the things which are highly esteemed in the sight of men, they are
abominations in the sight of God. Man is so accustomed and familiar with his
life in the darkness that there are none who are able to comprehend the goodness
of that which my life consist of”, says the Lord. “There is no goodness in
this worldly realm because all of the thoughts of this world are controlled and
ruled over by these words/ spirits that the Darkness consists of.
Luke
16:15 “And Jesus
said to them, “You are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knows
your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the
sight of God.” Galatians
5:17 “For the
flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary one to the other…” Romans
3:12 “As it is
written, “There is none righteous; no, not one. There are none that
understand. There are none that seek after God. They are all gone out of the
way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that does good; no,
not one.” Matthew
19:17 “And Jesus
said to him, “Why do you call me good? There is none good but one, that is
God.”
Jeremiah
13:23 “Can the
Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then can you do good that
are accustomed to do evil.” While
I was mediating on the great depth concerning this revelation, the Lord then
opened my eyes to see clearly the words that formed the Darkness. I saw that
whatever the word/spirit that I saw, that was the name of that spirit; and
whatever the name of that spirit was, that was also it’s nature and character.
I saw that though there was no two spirits that were a like in name, they all
had the same word prefixed before it, which was the word “SELF”. I was then
truly able to perceive that which is written, that a man is that which he
thinks; and if his thoughts come forth the words/spirits of Darkness, then he
himself is darkness. Then the Lord opened the eyes of my understanding to
comprehend just what the nature of the Darkness was; a nature that possesses man
with nothing but thoughts that think only on “SELF”; and it is this nature
and character that keep
men constantly mindful of seeking for ways to satisfy the desires, and
affections, and pleasures of “SELF”. It is these desires, affections,
conveniences, and pleasures of “SELF”, that motivate the heart of man and
give him purpose to live in this fallen world; the world that I was now feeling
in moment that I was divorcing. Philippians
2:21 “For all
seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.” The
following are just a few of the identities of the words/spirits that I saw that
the Darkness consists of: self-glory, self-sufficiency, self-will, self-doubt,
self-pleasing, self-contempt, self-righteousness, self-reliance,
self-consciousness, self-defense, self-esteem, self-preservation, self-loathing,
self-protection, self-disgust, self-gratification,
self-reputation, self-condemnation, self-justification, self-confidence,
self-inflicted, self-seeker, self-trust, self-motivation, self-exaltation,
self-assured, self-indulgence, self-deprecation, self desires, self-denial,
self-control, self-expression, self-deception, self-dependency, self-importance,
self-help, self-destruction, self-promotion, self-reproach, self-gain,
self-existent, self-denial, self-complacent, self-recognition, self-improvement,
self-government, self-opinionated, self-awareness, self-mutilation, self-pity,
self-made, self-discipline, self-affliction, self-hate, self-acceptance,
self-regard, self-image, self-interest, self-identity, self-wise,
self-perception, self-taught, self-conceit, self-respect, self-criticism,
self-greed, self-devotion, self-love, and of course, self-worship. Then the Lord
said, “No man can serve two masters; for every man’s religion is found
rooted in the words/spirits that he bows his heart to honor, to believe, and to
obey.” James
4:5 “Do you think
that the scripture says in vain, “The spirit that dwells in us lusts to
envy?” Then
the Lord gave me another vision that added to this other vision; and in it I saw
one more of these words/spirits that the Darkness consisted of, but it was not
one that I had see in the first vision. The name of this word/spirit was
“Self-centered”. The Lord then took me back into this vision where I saw
this same heavy cloud of Darkness possessing the thoughts of men. I then saw
this entire cloud of Darkness as it began to revolve in a circular motion. It
was like I seeing all of the universe revolving around one star at it’s
center, except in this vision, all these words/spirits of “SELF” were moving
and revolving around the word/spirit: “Self-Centered”. I saw that it was the
work of this one word/spirit to keep “Self” as the center of all it’s
life. I also saw that the work of this self-centered spirit was to keep men
always mindful of all the other words/spirit of “SELF”; to keep men focused
only on the thoughts and counsel’s of all these other “SELF”
words/spirits. If a man did a good deed, then this self-centered word/spirit
would have this man thinking on self-exaltation. If man failed at what he was
doing, then this self-centered word/spirit would have this man thinking on
self-condemnation. If a man made a mistake, then this self-centered word/spirit
would then have this man thinking on self-justification. If a man excelled at
what he was doing, then this self-centered word spirit would have this man
thinking on self-importance. I then understood how it is the work of this one
word/spirit that keeps all of men’s focus on the being of “SELF”. The Lord
also allowed for me to understand that all of this focus on “SELF” was the
greatest form of idol worship. I then saw that it is by reason of this
self-centered word/spirit that men are deceived into believing that the purpose
of their life is found in living to and satisfying all of the desires,
the pleasures, and the will of “SELF”. I
Corinthians 4:5 “Judge
nothing before the time until the Lord comes and brings to light the hidden
things of Darkness and the secret counsels of the heart.” Luke
8:17 Jesus said,
“For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing
hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.” Then
the Lord said, “SELF” is the life form of Darkness; and as the Darkness is,
so also is the life form of all they who dwell in the Darkness. In this fallen
world of Darkness, men are conceived in sin and brought forth to work iniquity,
to live a life time daily seeking to satisfy the desires, the will, and the
pleasures of “SELF”. Fallen man is familiar with the life form of “SELF”
that there is no eye that has seen, nor has there been any ear that has heard,
nor has there been any heart that has been able to perceive that there is
another form of life that is without any of these desires, or will, or
pleasures. Have you not carefully considered that which is written that says (I
John 3:2) “Now we are the sons of God,
but it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he appears,
we shall see him as he is, and be like unto him.” God is love. God is
perfect in love. God never changes. God is the perfection that is coming. God is
the love that never thinks on “SELF”, because that is the nature of the
perfect love. Until this day, it has not been given to any man to see, or to
hear, or to perceive that which he shall see of me when I appear. When I come, I
am coming in the fullness of God, the perfection of his love; and those who have
laid down their lives for me are they who I shall give my life to. No man can
know the thoughts and ways of God except he that has been perfected in love. If
any man “thinks” within himself that he knows anything of the perfect love
of God, then let him be assured that he knows nothing as he yet ought to know.
Even so, “Self” always thinks within itself that God is like unto
“SELF”; and “SELF” will continue to try to show itself to be as God, but
without any of the nature of love. It is this corrupted thinking that caused
Lucifer and his angels to fall from the Light into the Darkness. Do you now see
how the Darkness and the Light are contrary one to the other? I
Corinthians 13:1- “If
I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have
become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and
know all mysteries and have all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to
remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my
possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do
not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not
jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it
does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong
suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth. Love
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away;
and if there are tongues, they will cease; and if there is knowledge, it will be
done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect
comes, the partial will be done away.” II
Timothy 3:1- “But
realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be
lovers of “SELF“, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient
to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving,
irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
holding to a form of godliness (without the love of God), although they
have denied its power. Depart from such men as these.” Do
you now see and understand how the Darkness of “SELF” has completely
corrupted my creation? Yet, despite man’s bondage to the Darkness of
“SELF”, I still love all men, lest my love would be imperfect. When the sins
of “SELF’ increase and abound, then the grace of my love will increase and
abound even greater. Only my love is able to set men free from their captivity
to the Darkness and their bondage to “SELF”. Worship me as the God whose
love is able to cover all of your sins. Worship me as your Savior. Worship me as
the only one who is able and willing to deliver from all of these lying spirits.
Worship me as the God who loves and cares for you. Worship me as the God that
delights in mercy and forgiveness. Do you now see how the being of “SELF” is
at the heart of all idolatry: false worship, false doctrines, and the false
religions that focus only on the abilities, the efforts, the righteousness, the
strengths, and the goodness of “SELF”? Do you now understand how great the
Darkness is that has blinded the eyes and hearts of my creation? Do you now see
how Satan keeps supplying the lies that deceive and corrupt so that he might
keep all of the inhabitants of this entire world in bondage to “SELF”? It is
only in this fallen world of Darkness that the inhabitants live, and move, and
have their being with “SELF” always at it’s center”, says the Lord.
Romans
1:21 “Because
when they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, and neither were they
thankful. But they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts
were darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and they
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like unto man, or
birds, or four-footed beasts, or creeping things. God then gave them up to
uncleanness (Isa.64:6:“self-rightousness“) through the desires of
their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves; who changed
the truth of God into a lie, and they worshipped and served the creature more
than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen”. I
was mediating and trying to digest all that which the Lord had shown to me when
the Lord spoke and said, “Have you now considered that it requires the
Darkness for you to walk in self-confidence, just as it requires the Darkness
for you also to walk in self-pity? Have you considered that it requires the
Darkness for you to walk in self-justification just as it requires the Darkness
for you to walk in self-condemnation?” Then the Lord gave me another vision;
and in this vision I saw a tree that the same fruit on them, but they were of
two different colors. About half of the fruits were white while the other half
of the fruits were black. I then moved closer to this tree, and when I did, I
saw that all of the fruits had
names on them; the same names of the words/spirits of “SELF“. I saw that the
white fruits had the names written on them like self-esteem, self-confidence,
self-glory, self-righteousness, self-reliance, self-justification, and
self-love. I then saw that the back fruits were the ones that the names written
on them like self-loathing, self-pity, self-criticism, self-deprecation,
self-condemnation, and self-hate. . Then
the Lord said, “These are the fruits from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil”; and those who eat these fruits are those who live unto “SELF”.
When a man eats the white fruits of this tree, he thinks that he himself is
good; and when a man eats the black fruits, he thinks that he is evil. This is
the tree that men eat from that desire to be their own lord and god; sitting on
their own throne, judging all things according to that which seems right to
“SELF”, that appears good to “SELF”, and by that which pleases and
satisfies the will of “SELF”. No matter whether they eat the white fruit or
the black fruit of this tree, you will not find any fellowship or communion with
God in their thoughts because they are all the fruits of Darkness. The same
Darkness that keeps man alienated and separated from the abundant life that God
created men to be partakers of; a life of fellowship, communion, and oneness in
the love of God. The white fruits of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
are fruits of “SELF” are the spirits that deceive men into believing that
they have no need for God or for a Savior because they see themselves as good
and righteous. The black fruits of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
are the fruits that deceive men with fear to approach unto God, as though God
could not love them in the state that they are in. This is how the Darkness
works in it’s attempts to keep the creation separated and alienated from the
Creator. The
Lord then gave me another vision in which I saw a very tall and large idol; one
that was so tall that it’s head seemed to be hidden in the clouds of heaven. I
then saw an inscription written at the feet of this idol, and inscription simply
said, “SELF. I saw this idol was designed, formed, and made completely by
those who were filled with the wisdom of this world (the exact opposite of
the wisdom that was given to those who built the temple in Jerusalem). I saw
that at the bottom of this idol was an inscription that said, “SELF”. I saw
that it was this worldly wisdom that brought forth all of men’s affections,
desires, and pleasures to satisfy his own righteousness and the will of
“SELF”. I then saw this idol stand on the feet of all that “SELF” was
able to do for itself. I then thought on that slogan that the U.S. Army uses to
advertise itself which says, “Be All That You Can Be.” I then saw that on
the head of this idol were many, many small crowns, and I knew that all these
crowns represented the different words/spirits of “SELF” that rule over the
thinking of all those who are carnally minded. Isaiah
29:13,14 “Wherefore
the Lord said, “Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and
with their lips do honor me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and
their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Therefore, behold, I will
proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a
wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of
their prudent men shall be hid.” Philippians
2:21 “For all
seek their own (SELF), not the things which are Jesus Christ’s”. Job
19:9,10 “He has
stripped me of my glory and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on
every side, and I am gone.” Jeremiah
13:17,18 “But if
you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and
mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock is
carried away captive. Say to the king and to the queen, “Humble yourselves,
sit down: for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of your
glory.” Isaiah
28:1-7 “Woe to
the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a
fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valleys, to those who are
overcome with wine! Behold,
the Lord has a mighty and strong one, like a tempest of hail and a destroying
storm and like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, who will bring them down to
the earth with His hand. The crown
of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, will be trampled underfoot; and the glorious
beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valley, like the
first fruit before the summer, which an observer sees and he eats it up while it
is still in his hand. In that day the LORD of hosts will be for a crown of glory
and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people.” SMALL
STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns -- February 11, 2010: “Prepare
to emerge from darkness and uncertainty into the light of My presence and glory.
Even though there have been difficulties along the way, you will find yourself
unexpectedly strengthened. And, those times when you felt like such a victim of
situations, circumstances, and people will melt away and become a vague memory.
The break through that you are about to experience will far outweigh the trouble
that it took to get to this point, says the Lord.” As
I was looking at my world of darkness fading quickly away, I realized that my
world was not being destroyed, but rather I was divorcing myself from it. What
happened next happened so quickly that it still stunned me even when I saw it in
slow motion; for in the twinkling of an eye, I was changed. I have had a couple
of visitations where I have seen God, and in both of those cases, God was God,
and I was me. But what happened this time was completely different than anything
that I have ever experienced with him. In fact, what happened was simply put,
inexpressible. Let me say that I entered into that life form that that had no
“SELF” anywhere in it. It was so different that there just are no human
understanding can comprehend it, much less try to write it in words. Even so,
here is my best attempt to describe what I could comprehend. The
first thing that I became aware of was that in almost the same moment that I was
that my divorce from my world was over. Then in the next moment, my marriage to
the Lord was completed, and I was transformed into oneness with the Lord. It is
this oneness with the Lord that is inexpressible. You could take the moment in
your life that you felt like you experienced the most love, and then multiply it
by a billion. Then, maybe, you might feel that which I was feeling at that
moment. You could multiply the most joy, the most peace, or the most excitement
you have ever felt, and multiply them also by a billion. If this alone was all
that I experienced, it would be far greater than anything that I could have ever
imagined in my most desirable dream. But the next thing that I experienced was
just as incredible; for when I married the Lord, and became one with him, then I
also became one with every living thing that God is one with. I felt like all of
the creatures of heaven came to rejoice with me, not because they were commanded
to but because the love in them led them to come. It was so amazing. I still had
my own identity, but a part of my identity was also the identity of every
creature that God is also one with. It was like a little of me was in them, and
little of each one of them was in me. Inexpressible. Let me just say this, the
joy of the Lord within me at that moment was like multiplied by a billion over
any joy that I had previously experienced in the Lord. But there is more, in
that I also like the joy of every heavenly creature that was around me was also
added to me. It was so contrary to the “SELF” nature of this fallen world,
where the only oneness is the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I.
Isaiah
51:11 “Therefore
the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and
everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy;
and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” I
was made one with everything that is in God, from his goodness to his
fellowship, from his peace to his communion, from his health to his creativity,
and from his power to his holiness. I had never considered that the marriage was
going to be anything like that which I was experiencing; yet even the scriptures
define the purpose of marriage as “two becoming one.” The closest
description that I can come up with are these, and obviously these examples can
really do no justice in explaining what I experienced. I am only writing these
examples to try and explain a little but of the oneness that I experienced.
The joy that a parent and son share after the son has just hit a homerun
to win a baseball game; that even though they are two individuals, that just for
that brief moment, they both share in the same joy. The grief that both a sister
and a brother might experience when their beloved mother passes away; that even
though they are two individuals, they also for a time will both experience the
same grief. In both of these instances, the parent and the son were made one
through the same joy that they experienced, as well as the sister and the
brother that were made one through the same grief that they each suffered. I
only use grief as an example of two sharing the same emotion or feeling, but
thanks be to God, in his kingdom there is no grief, or sorrow, or pain, or
suffering to be found or shared with one another. Another
example that just barely describes the oneness that I was experiencing would be
the like-mindedness of anger and rage that everyone in a mob might feel towards
him who had committed a perceived injustice; or the fear and panic that all may
experience that are caught in a powerful earthquake or some other kind of
impending doom. Though everyone is different, in those situations, they all
experience a oneness in like feelings and emotions. I suppose the best example
that I can use is the happiness that a team and all of it’s fans would
experience after they had just won some kind of major championship, but even
this does not begin to compare with what I experienced because in this instance,
after only a short period of time, that happiness fades, and then everyone
returns to their own little “SELF” world. It is not so in the kingdom of
God, for the oneness in the kingdom is everlasting; a continual fellowship in
everlasting joy and love. I truly wish that I there was some kind of example
that I use that could at least begin the like-mindedness and the oneness of joy,
and peace, and excitement, and love, and life that I was experiencing with every
creature that God is one with in his kingdom, but there is nothing in this world
that can come close to the awesome fellowship and communion that I was
experiencing with the family of God; the family that I just married. When one
rejoices, all rejoice; and it is an everlasting joy. I then realized that I felt
like I was at a wedding reception, full of festivity and joy. John
17:11 “Jesus
said, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I
come to you. Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given
me, that they may be one, as we are.” I
Corinthians 1:10 “Now
I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all
speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be
perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (the
judgment that is good, and right, and true in the sight of God).” I
then wondered, and turned to the Lord and asked him, “Lord, what about the
wedding ceremony and the wedding vows?” He answered and said, “When you were
you in your flesh, confronting circumstances and situations where you heard
Satan’s reasonings counseling you to do that which was contrary to my words;
and you refused him and called out on me saying, “Father, not my will be done,
but your will be done”. It doing these times that heard the “I will”, or,
the “I will” as your wedding vow to me. No man that cries out these words
desires anything other than for my will to be their will; or rather, that the
two should be made one. For in this vow, you showed yourself faithful to me and
to my words. I then I showed to you the vow of the faithfulness of my love when
I sent the spirit of my word that enabled you to delight in doing my will.”
Matthew
26:39 “And Jesus
went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed saying, “O my Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as
you will.” Hebrews
12:2 “Looking
unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right
hand of the throne of God.” Psalm
40:8 “I delight
in doing your will, O God, for your law (the Spirit of life) is in my heart.” By
reason of this oneness, I then understood why Jesus said to those that he
healed, or those that he cast demons out of, or those he gave sight to, that the
kingdom of God had come to them. Jesus did not say that he did, nor did he say
that God did it, but he said that the kingdom did it; that is, that this miracle
or good deed was performed by all of those who have been made one in the kingdom
of God. It is this oneness of love that leads all of the angels in the kingdom
to rejoice together when one of us repents of a sin. The
scripture does not say that when Jesus comes, or when God comes, the will of God
will be done, but it says that when the his kingdom comes, then God’s will
shall be done on earth as it is in heaven; and God’s will is to love and to be
loved. God’s love not only desired to forgive and save sinners, to heal the
sick, to provide for the poor and the needy, to teach the ignorant, to cast out
demons, to give sight to the blind, to give grace abundantly in the times of
need, to protect us against our adversary, to help us in the times of distress
and trouble, but so also does his love desire for every creature to become one
with God and with his kingdom. Just as the transgressor who commit’s the
injustice is the object of all the hatred and rage of the mob, so also are all
of the children of this world the object of affection of all the inhabitants of
those who dwell in kingdom of God. John
3:16 “For God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in
him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Matthew
5:3 “Blessed are
the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Luke
10:8,9 “And into
whatever city you enter, and they receive you, then eat such things as are set
before you: and heal the sick that are therein and say to them, “The kingdom
of God is come near to you.” Luke
9:11 “And the
people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spoke to them
of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.” Matthew
12:28 “But if I
cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come to you.” It
is written that the end of the commandment is love; and again these words really
did not mean that much to me before “my marriage”, but now I know. When I
was made one with the Lord in my transfiguration, I was perfected in love; and
once a man has been perfected in love, he will no longer have any need for any
commandments, or doctrines, or laws, or even a word from the Lord to instruct
him in what to do because perfect love always knows what to do. When Jesus
healed the sick, and told them that kingdom of God had come to them, he was only
acknowledging that all those who are one with the kingdom would have all done
the same as the love of God did through Jesus. And because love believes all
things, then it also means that the power to perform all things will accompany
those who have been filled with the fullness of God’s love. Nothing shall be
impossible to those who have been perfected in love. Not once did Jesus have to
ask his Father what he should do when the blind came to him asking for sight
because the love of God knew what to do. Now on one occasion, the creativity of
God’s love healed a man of his blindness when Jesus put mud on his eyes; while
on another occasion, the creativity of God’s love led Jesus to give two men
their sight because they believed that he was able to do so; and then on another
occasion, the creativity of God’s love lead Jesus to just touch the eyes of
two other blind men, and sight was given to both of them. The
freedom that I experienced when I became one with Father’s love was like no
freedom that has ever entered into the thinking of any man on this earth simply
because that which is perfect has not yet come on the earth. There are no
reasonings, or pride, or fears or any desires of “SELF” present that could
hinder the love of God from continuously flowing through out his kingdom. There
is purpose in every moment and in everything that is done in the Lord’s
kingdom because as the Lord once told me, “If I cannot love, then I would have
no purpose of being.” In this fallen world of darkness, the purpose that men
daily live their lives to is to satisfy some kind of pleasure, or desire, or
affection, or the will of “SELF”; and it is these pleasures, and desires,
and affections, and will that men are kept in bondage to. Every day is just déjà
vu, waking up captive to try and satisfy the same desires and pleasures that you
tried to satisfy the day before, and the day before that, and the day before
that. Everything in the kingdom of God is made new at every moment; there is
absolutely no boredom present every where because of the constant creativity of
God’s love, and the power that accompanies that creativity. There are no
limitations or boundaries that can be placed on what love will for others.
Truly, the number of perfection is one; and love that does not think on self
makes all things to be one. Amos
3:6 AMP “Surely
the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the
prophets.” You
cannot have God without having love, and you cannot have love without having
God. God is perfect. God’s love is perfect. Jesus said in Matthew
5:48,
“Therefore, you be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The
thought of becoming as perfect as God seems so unattainable to those who are
carnally minded that this verse is never even comes to mind to those who think
serve the idol of “SELF”. But to those who know and understand, putting
their hope in the Lord alone, they know that perfection cannot come until that
which is perfect comes to us; when Jesus comes in the fullness of God to be
glorified in his saints. Those who are made perfect are those who hold fast to
the blessed hope; the hope that when Jesus appears, they shall see him as he is,
and be changed into the perfection of his likeness. We are the children of God
through faith in God’s love and belief of his words; and it is this faith and
belief that allows us to place all of our trust and hope into the hands of God,
that alone is able to perform his words for us. That which is impossible for man
is possible with God, because there are limits of what God will do for those who
believe on him. Galatians
3:26 “For ye are
all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Galatians
4:28 “Now we,
brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” Romans
4:20,21 “Abraham
staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he
was able also to perform.” Psalm
57:2 “I will cry
to God most high; to God that performs all things for me.” Philippians
2:5,6 “Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” I
John 3:2,3 “Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is
pure.” No
man can be perfect without first being made one with God because God alone is
perfect; and what God joins himself to in love is then made to be perfectly one
in his likeness. It is impossible for God to become one with that which is
imperfect because then God himself would then be changed into the likeness of
that which is imperfect. God does not change. Where there is imperfection, there
is not any oneness. The kingdom of God is coming. Love is coming. Perfection is
coming. The perfect will of God is going to be done on this earth as it is done
in heaven; and the will of God is to love and be loved. God is coming to recover
his creation. There will be no limits or boundaries on what the love of God
manifested in his sons will do for the world that God so loves. The last thought
that I had concerning this word was a word that Father told me to me while I was
in a meeting with some brethren in Houston, Texas. The first word that Father
spoke in that meeting was word that he gave to me in which the Lord said, “You
can take every book that has ever been written that has attempted to interpret
the book of Revelation and throw it out of the window because not one of them
has been able to show the effect that the Sons of God are going to have when
they are manifested.” There is a reason that the entire creation has been
moaning and groaning for the manifestation of the Sons of God but it is this
event that is going to change the world. For the manifestation of the Sons of
God will bring to earth the kingdom of God, and all of the creatures that one in
his kingdom. Be there, my brethren of faith, hope, and love. Word
given to Mitt Jeffords CatsmittIV@aol.com |
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