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Chapter
6 “Is
that all there is to it, Lord? Is that all you have to do is open our eyes?”
The
following are a couple of testimonies of how the power of God has opened my
eyes to see his love, and his love then cast out the fears that had been
blinding my eyes and greatly haunting me. Remember, the Lord told me that the
reason that he desires for me to testify of the works of his love and his power
is so that if there is any who will hear and believe, then turn to the Lord and
ask of him, he will also do the same for them. Needless to say, these are just
two of testimonies that the Lord has given to me that have been life changing
experiences because when the Lord opens your eyes to see as he sees, then your
even your life in this fallen world of darkness changes. God has been opening
my eyes so that I no longer see with the vision of fear, but through the eyes
of his love. If there is no fear, then there can be nothing to be afraid of. Psalm
90:8 AMP “Our
iniquities, our secret heart and its sins [which we would so like to conceal
even from ourselves], You have set in the [revealing] light of Your
countenance.” Romans
7:20 NIV “Now if
I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin
living in me that does it. 24
NIV “What a
wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to
God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” That
morning, when I had just got through praying and acknowledging before the Lord
that I now agreed with his words, the Lord suddenly came and took me in the
Spirit for the first time. It was not a vision that I was taken into and
neither was it a dream, for I am very familiar with what it is like to be taken
into both of those. No, it was as if he had had taken my entire consciousness
out of my body and transported me into another realm. I found myself walking
through fields of grass that were surrounded with gentle, rolling hills.
Everywhere I looked I saw patches of flowers of all different varieties. All of
my heaviness and burdens had instantly disappeared. My heart and my mind felt
like I had just stepped out into the first wonderful day of spring after a
really long and harsh winter. I found myself to be just strolling along
enjoying all of the beautiful scenery that was around me. Suddenly I felt
someone take my right hand and very tenderly place it in his hand so that we
could walk hand in hand together. I immediately knew that whoever had my hand,
he was much taller than I was because his height was so much greater than mine
that it made me feel as though I was a little 5 year old boy holding his
daddy’s hand. I then stopped and looked up into his face so that I might know
who this was; but it was like the sun was directly behind his head, and the
brightness of it’s light was blinding me so that I could not see his face. So
I then tilted my head to the right, then to left, then up, and then down, as I
was trying to find a position where this man’s head would not be between the
sun and I. But no matter where I shifted my head to, I could not find a spot
where the brightness of the sun was not blinding my eyes. Then suddenly I
realized that it was not the sun that was blinding me at all, but it was the
glory of the Lord on his face, and that meant that I was holding hands with the
Lord himself. I knew instantly that it was not the sun at all that had been
blinding my eyes, but rather it was the brilliance of his glory shinning from
his face. Immediately I began to feel his love penetrating into my heart and my
mind. Psalm
67:1 “God, be
merciful to us and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us. Selah.” II
Corinthians 5:8 “We
are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be
present with the Lord.” I
was completely overwhelmed in that moment as I stood there realizing that I was
really standing there holding
hands with my heavenly Father. I was just looking at him in awe when he turned
and looked down at me and said, “Now that we agree, we can walk together.”
Then we just started walking, or rather, strolling along holding hands. Then it
was like I had not heard what he had said, but I suddenly realized what he
said; and I said with myself: “Agree? What in the world is he talking about?
What is that we agree on?” Suddenly I remembered that the very moment before
I was taken in the Spirit, I had been in prayer acknowledging before the Lord
that I agreed with his word, that I saw that my heart and mind were exactly
like that which the scriptures had testified of. I was simply in shock and awe
when I realized that this was the agreement that the Lord had just spoken of.
The only thing that I was able to say in that moment was, “Wow. Who could
have ever imagined this? How could this be? How could the Lord take me by my
hand and treat me with such tender love at a time that my own thoughts had
convinced me that all that I was deserving of was for the Lord to treat me with
some kind of harsh punishment, or rejection, or condemnation, or banishment?
How could the Lord come and take my hand to walk in fellowship with me at a
time when myself was so repulsed by the wickedness I had seen in my own heart
and the vanity in my own thoughts? Lamentations
2:14 “Thy
prophets have seen vain and foolish things for thee: and they have not
discovered thine iniquity, to turn away thy captivity; but have seen for thee
false burdens and causes of banishment.” I
do not know how to describe how I felt in that moment but it was like a
building that was imploding in on itself; and what was imploding in on me was
all the lies that seemed to be crashing down within me. Just as Eve believed
the lies that Satan had told her that God had been lying to them, so also had I
believed his lies when he deceived me into believing that God was surely going
to treat me for my sins and weaknesses in the same evil and condemning manner
that I had been treating myself. In the twinkling of an eye, my eyes had been
opened to actually see the love of God that I had been hoping to be true.
Without any doubt, I knew that the Lord had just brought me into a new realm in
my relationship with him. Up until this moment, I had been holding on to the
belief that the love of God that scriptures testify of was true, but now I was
experiencing that love in my heart like nothing I had ever experienced, and it
was now my reality. To this very day, this is the single most wonderful, most
powerful, most awesome and most loving moment that I have ever spent with the
Lord; and it came in just a twinkling of an eye from the worst and most fearful
dark moment in my entire life. Talk about shock and awe! My Father loved me.
Romans
5:20 (AMP) “But
where sin increased and abounded, grace has surpassed it, increased the more,
and superabounded.” We
were still just strolling along when Father looked down at me and said,
“Mitt, why were so fearful to see the truth about how I see your heart and
your mind? What I have opened your eyes to see concerning your heart and mind,
it may be new to you, but it was not new to me. I have always seen and known
that all of these things were in your heart since the day that I called you. I
have loved from the beginning just as I do now. My love never changes. I have
never been fearful or intimidated by any of your sins or your weaknesses; and I
do not desire for you to be fearful or intimidated by them either. The grace of
my love is far greater than any work of darkness; and it is the work of
darkness to intimidate you, and to make you fearful to see the truth about your
sins and weaknesses. My love for you today is the same perfect love that I have
always had for you. I am love. I am the being of love, and I my being does not
change. It is only lies that have deceived you and blinded you to the truth
about my love. I do not love your self-image that tries to deny my truth, but I
do love you. I do not love lies because there is no truth in lies. I love the
truth; and I especially love those who love my truth. Now remember my word,
that if and when sin may abound, then the truth is that the grace of my love
will abound more and more unto you. My grace will always be sufficient for you,
as long as you continue to diligently seek to know me. Just confess your sins
and ask for me to cleanse you of them, and my love for you will do it, and my
mercy will come to free you. Hold fast to the truth concerning my love for you,
lest you let your fears direct you to flee from me and deny my grace. Let not
your heart entertain any of these lies that would try to separate you from
me.” II
Corinthians 12:8-10 NIV “Three
times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me,
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I
delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I
then knew that the Lord had not just changed my relationship with him, but that
he had also changed my world. My life would never be the same again. Never in
my life have I ever felt as secure, cared for, comforted, and loved by the Lord
as I did in that moment. The
darkness had given away to the light, and my life had been restored. Much joy
and peace had returned to me. A few days later, the Lord again spoke and asked,
“Mitt, do you still see the same sins and weaknesses in your heart as you did
before?” My life had been so filled with peace and joy from our little walk
together that I had not really thought about any of the sins or the weaknesses
that I had previously seen in me. I then considered what the Lord had just
asked me, and much to my surprise, I could still see that many of these same
sins and weaknesses were still there. “Yes, Lord I do see them”. Then the
Lord asked, “If they are still there, but your heart is filled with such joy
and peace, then what has changed?” I thought to myself about what a great
question this was. I saw the same sins and weaknesses in my heart, but there
was no self-condemnation or fears of any kind about what I was seeing. Then
suddenly I knew. “Lord, it is my vision that has changed. I no longer see my
sins and weaknesses through the eyes of fear, but I see them through the eyes
of the grace of your love. Lord, I now believe in my heart that the grace of
your love is sufficient for me.” In the twinkling of an eye…. I
Corinthians 15:5152 NAS “Behold,
I tell you a mystery: We all shall not 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. Then
the Lord said, “The light of the body is the eye. Take heed that the light
that is in you is not darkness, lest you respond to your sins and weaknesses
with self-condemnation and fear, instead of looking for my mercy, my
forgiveness, and the grace of my love. Can darkness work anything other than
darkness? Can death bring forth anything but death? It is the lies of these
fears that were directing you into believing that it was right for you to be so
disappointed in yourself and to condemn yourself. If you believe that it is
right and true for you to condemn yourself, then condemnation will become your
reality, for that will be the light that is in your eye. If you believe that is
right for your to be disappointed and to condemn yourself for your sins and
weaknesses, then you will be believe that it is right for me to treat you in
the same manner. If you believe that it is right for me to treat you in that
manner, then you will also receive condemnation from men when they are
disappointed with you or when they condemn you. And finally, you believe that
it is right for others to be disappointed with you and to condemn you, then you
will be disappointed and condemn when you see their sins and weaknesses. If you
believe that condemnation is right, then condemnation shall be your reality.
All of these works are nothing but the works of darkness that torment and
trouble your soul with the fears and dreads of condemnation. Fear is always
fearful of condemnation, because fear is of the darkness, and the darkness is
condemned of itself. There is no fear in love. I am the grace of my Father‘s
love and I am perfect in love. There is no condemnation in me, and neither is
there any kind of condemnation to those who are in me. The woman who was caught
in the act of adultery, from who did she receive threats of condemnation? From
whom did she receive the grace of my Father’s love? He who walks in grace
walks in the light of my Father’s love. He that walks in darkness walks in
condemnation because the darkness condemns itself. Is it not written, “By
your own words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be
condemned”? As the darkness cannot comprehend the light, neither can those
who walk in condemnation understand the grace of Father’s love. If I do not
condemn you, then who will? Romans
8:1 NASB “Therefore
there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (They do not
condemn themselves; God does not condemn them; they do not condemn others; and
neither does the condemnation of others have any effect on them).” John
8:3-12 NIV The
teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery.
They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman
was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such
women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in
order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to
write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he
straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him
be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the
ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones
first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus
straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned
you?” “No one, sir," she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,"
Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin.” When Jesus spoke
again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever
follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Romans
1:17-25 “For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, “The just shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the
truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God (the grace of
his love) is manifest in them; for God has showed it to them. For the invisible
things of him (the love of his grace) from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they
knew God (the grace of his love), they did not glorify him as God, neither were
they thankful. But became vain in their imaginations (their fears), and their
foolish heart was darkened; and professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools. And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made
like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping
things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness (the righteousness of
their fears) through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own
bodies between themselves (judging one another/fearing each others fears), who
changed the truth of God (the grace of his love) into a lie (condemnation), and
they worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed
for ever. Amen….
2:1 NIV “You,
therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at
whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you
who pass judgment do the same things.” Jude
4 NKJ For certain
men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this
condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny
the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians
3:7 NAS “Whereof
I was made a minister, according to the gift of that grace of God which was
given me according to the working of his power.” I
Peter 4:10 “As
each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of
the manifold grace of God.” Colossians
4:6 “Let your
speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought
to answer every man.”
Romans
16:24 NASB “The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” Then
the Lord said, “Are you enjoying our walk through these rolling hills and
valleys fashioned with lush grass and beautiful flowers? Is it a delight for
you to be walking hand in hand with me?” I answered, “Lord, you know that
it is. If it you left it up to me, I would choose to stay here and never leave
this valley if I could spend all my days walking with you.” Then suddenly I
realized that I was actually walking with the Lord in the same manner that Adam
walked with God on a daily basis. I then remembered that this is exactly what
the Lord had taught me, that he created all men for this very purpose, to love
him who loves us so that we might commune and fellowship with him on a daily
basis. I then could not help but think how utterly miserable Adam and Eve must
have felt when all they had ever known was this daily fellowship with the love
of God, and then the darkness came upon them. And seeing that there is no
fellowship or communion between the darkness and the light, they had to depart
from the garden of God’s presence. fear and love. Can you have any real
fellowship with someone who is always seeking to hide from your presence? Then
the Lord asked, “Do you know the name of this valley that we are presently
in?” I then thought that this might be actually be the garden of Eden, but
there were trees in the garden, and there were no trees here. So I answered,
“No, Lord.” The Lord then said, “It is the valley of the shadow of death.
Just as the darkness was able to enter into the Garden of Eden with it’s
haunting fears and dreads, so also is the light of my love able to enter into
the Valley of the Shadow of Death to deliver you from these same fears and
dreads. Do you see any sin or death among these hills and valleys?” I
answered, “No Lord; none at all.” I then realized that my sins and
weaknesses were still with me, but it was the fears and dreads of them that had
departed from me. I then also realized that I was walking through the valley of
the shadow of death, hand in hand with the Lord, and just like the psalmist,
there was no fear of seeing in evil within me.
Psalm
23:4 NIV “Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, The
Lord continued, “You know that the garden was the place where Adam walked
with God, communed with God, fellowshipped with God, believed and trusted God,
and where he shared his love for God, and God shared his love with Adam. But
when Adam and Eve chose to believe Satan, desiring for his lies to become their
reality, then in the twinkling of an eye, their vision was changed from light
to darkness, and their eyes were opened to see as the spirit of fear sees. In
the twinkling of an eye, the darkness was able to take away all of their
fellowship and communion with God. Just as there is not any agreement between
the light and the darkness, so also is there not any agreement between fear and
love; for there is no fear in love, nor is there any love in fear. Is it not
written that two cannot walk together except they agree? It was not the garden
that changed, and neither was it that God had changed, but it was their seeing
that had changed. In the twinkling of an eye, they became fearful of God, as
well as fearful of all of those things that they imagined and perceived to be
evil. It was the darkness of fear that counseled them to do that which they had
never done before, to cover themselves and hide from God. This darkness is now
that wall that alienates and separates man from the life that God created man
to be partakers of. Amos
3:3 NKJ “Can two
walk together, unless they are agreed?”
Ephesians
4:17 “This I say
therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other
Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their heart.” When
a man sees as the darkness of fear sees, then the Garden of Eve can become as
the hell of the Valley of the Shadow of Death; and when a man’s eyes are
opened to see through the vision of Father’s grace, then the Valley of the
Shadow of Death can become as heavenly as the Garden of Eden. As fear is able
to blind the eyes so that the love of God cannot be seen, so also is God able
to open the eyes of the blind to the works of his love. Those who see through
the eyes of fear have no desire for me to draw near to them because the spirit
of fear has deceived them into believing that I will treat them for their sins,
for their mistakes, and for their weaknesses in same manner as the darkness
treats them: with accusations, or with guilt, or with finger pointing, or with
disdain, or with condemnation, or with feelings of failure, or with false
banishments, or with disgust, or with hopelessness, or with disappointment.
Those who see through the eyes of my Father’s love, they see the truth, that
I will treat them for their sins, their mistakes, and their weaknesses with
mercy, with comfort, with forgiveness, with compassion, with help, with hope,
and with grace. The darkness has no power to separate any from my love, but it
can receive power if it is able to deceive one to surrender his heart to
believe the counsels of it’s lies. It was not I”, says the Lord, “that
sought to flee and hide from Adam’s love, but it was the darkness of fear in
Adam that led him to flee and hide from my love. Psalm
116:3 “The
sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found
trouble and sorrow.”
Isaiah
9:2 “The people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of
the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” Luke
1:76-79 NIV “And
you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
Am
I like the darkness?” says the Lord. “Those who believe that I am
condemnation, they are those who will flee from me, or shut their ears to my
correction, or that will seek to cover their sins, weaknesses, and mistakes
with the fig leaves of self-justification, or that will try to hide themselves
from me behind the works of their hypocrisies. All these things are nothing but
the works of darkness because darkness condemns sins, and mistakes, and faults,
and weaknesses. I am not like the darkness. Those who love the darkness fear
evil because they believe I am like them, that I will condemn or reject them in
the same manner unmerciful manner that they condemn and reject others who do
evil in their sight. These are blind to see that they are only defending their
fears and hiding in the very darkness that condemns itself. Adam and Eve were
both naked in the garden, and neither of them were ashamed; but in one moment,
the darkness came, and their vision became as the vision of fear, and they were
ashamed of their nakedness and sought to cover it up. It is not so with those
who see their sins and weaknesses through the eyes of my love because they know
the truth, that my love will treat them for their sins and weaknesses with much
compassion, with much mercy, with much longsuffering and much patience, with
much forbearance, with grace that abounds, and with much forgiveness”, says
the Lord. Then my spirit returned to my body. I then knew that a man could have
20/20 vision and still not be able to see anything as God sees it. Hypocrisy:
“play-acting; pretend” I
had seen his glory. I had seen him face to face, though I could not behold the
actual form of his face because of the brilliant glory of his love. I had seen
the face of him whose love towards me is perfect; the perfect love that cast
out my fears and dreads. I had seen the face of his love that brought death to
the impatience, the disappointments, the disdain, the self-condemnation, the
disgust, and the unmerciless way that I had been responding to my own sins and
weaknesses with. I had seen the face of his love that brought immediate death
to the lies that had deceived me into believing that God would treat my sins
and weaknesses in a manner that was outside of the boundaries of the grace of
his love. I had just held the same hands that made the heavens and the earth,
and all things within. I had just heard the gentle and tender voice of his
love, the voice that is able to shake the heavens and the earth. I had been
compassed in the safety and security of him who is sovereign over all powers
and principalities, whether they be in heaven or on earth, or whether they be
of the darkness or light. I had been filled with the fullness of joy and peace
that only comes from being in his presence. I was loved. I was forgiven. I was
cared for. I was cleansed. I was the object of his affection. I
Kings 19:11,12 NIV The
LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for
the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the
mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not
in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in
the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the
fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” As
long as I draw breath in this life, I will never forget this walk with the
Lord. What was really interesting to me was to still see the same sins and
weaknesses as I saw before prior to this visitation, but they were now
powerless to influence me in any way concerning my relationship, my communion,
and my fellowship with my heavenly Father. I had just endured the most powerful
attack that Satan has ever brought against me, using my own my own sins, my own
faults, and my own weaknesses joined together with a legion of fears, to draw
and separate me from my Father’s love. If another man had attacked me with
accusations, or with disgust, or with condemnation, or with disdain, or
pointing that judgmental finger at me, then I could have just departed from his
presence and freed myself from his lying words. But when Satan attacks you in
the imaginations of your thoughts, appearing as counsels that desire to condemn
yourself, or to hate yourself, or to be disappointed with yourself, then where
can a man go to escape these miserable and relentless thoughts that torment his
entire being? The last place that Satan wants a man to go to escape his attacks
is into the arms of Father’s grace and love, because that is the only place
that he will find escape and freedom from the lies that torment and trouble. I
then knew that never again would any of my sins or weaknesses be accompanied
with any of these tormenting fears that either tried to condemn me, or that
tempted me to cover myself with the fig leaves of self-justification, or that
tried to lead me to flee from my Father’s love. I now know that the love of
God is always with me, even when I am in the valley of the shadow of death
where sin abounds; knowing that the grace of my Father’s love will abound
greater. Romans
8:35 NASB “Who
will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is
written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE
CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we
overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created
thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Isaiah
65:2 ASV “I have
spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, that walk in a way
that is not good, after their own thoughts.” I
was reading one morning in the scriptures where Jesus said in John
15:15 “Henceforth
I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I
have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have
made known unto you.” I
then asked, “Lord, am I your servant or am I your friend?” The Lord
answered and said, “If you know that in your heart that I love you, even when
you do not love me, then you are my friend. If you know that all the thoughts
that I think towards you are always thoughts to do you good and to give you
peace, then you are my friend. If you know that when you sin or err, that I
will not condemn or be disappointed with you, but ready to show you the grace
of my love, then you are my friend. If you are allowing for me to be your Lord
and your God, then you are my friend. If you believe that all power belongs to
me, and that I will do all things for you that are impossible for you to do,
then you are my friend. If you believe on me for all things, then I am your
friend. What more can I say but that the Lord has changed my relationship with
him; for I am no longer in a servant relationship, but that of a friend.
Proverbs
29:21 “He that
delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son
at the length.” James
2:23 “And the
scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed
unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.” I
now know in my heart that for one to say that the Lord cannot love them because
of their sins, or their unrighteousness, or their weaknesses is like saying
that no parent is able to love his or her child because that child is not
perfect. I can now walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and I am not
longer afraid of the evil of any sins, or faults, or weaknesses that I may see because the grace of my Father’s
love is written in my heart. Though my love for my heavenly Father may not yet
be perfected, I know that his love for me is perfect; and that his perfect love
is always with me to cast out my fears when I offer them before him. Though it
was grievous for me to see the things that were hidden in the dark places of my
heart and mind, I now know that I could never have known the greatness of his
love, and his mercy, and his forgiveness, and his power, and his grace had I
not asked for him to search my heart, to open my eyes to see my heart as he
sees it. If I had not seen sin abounding, then I could never have known that
his grace abounds more. I have said, and I will say it again; my heavenly
Father has won my trust, my belief, my respect, my trust, my honor, my love, my
life, and my heart. I now shutter to think what it would be like to live the
rest of my life, here or in eternity, separated and alienated from the only
being that truly loves me. It is now even hard for me to even imagine that I
had once believed that God was going to treat me with the disdain and
condemnation that these unclean spirits of fear had deceived me into believing,
that the image of God was like unto their lies. Luke
7:40 NIV Jesus
answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.” “Tell me,
teacher,” he said. “Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed
him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to
pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him
more?” Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt
canceled.” “You have judged correctly,” Jesus said. Not
long after this visitation, I was meditating on this wonderful experience that
I had with our heavenly Father when I came to realize that not once in my
entire life had I ever been treated by anyone as wonderfully as the Lord had
treated me. I even thought to myself how my natural dad, who loved me about as
much as a fleshy dad could, yet many times I had disappointed or provoked him
to condemn me for my failures, or my mistakes, or for my weaknesses, or for
offending him; and it was also in those times that my dad would also remind me
of my past failures, mistakes, weaknesses, and offenses. The more I thought
about it, the more I realized that I have never been a member of any church, or
bible study, or home group that would treat me or anyone else any differently
than my natural dad did if I sinned against them as I saw how I had sinned
against my heavenly Father. In fact, in most of the groups that I have been
apart of, confessing one’s faults or sins was almost taboo. I suppose that
this was one of the reasons why I was expecting for the Lord to treat me with
disappointment, or with condemnation, or with disdain, or with ridicule, or
with blame, or with rejection, or with disgust was because that is how I have
seen Christians treating other Christians. In that moment, I also realized how
wonderfully surprised that woman caught in the act of adultery must have felt
when she, just like me, was probably expecting to Jesus to join in with the
crowd and stone her to death. No doubt she had to be about as surprised as I
was when the all that came upon her was the grace of God’s love. No wonder
those sinners loved Jesus so much, seeing that he did not accuse, or judge, or
point the finger, or condemn any of the them, but instead he openly loved them
with much mercy and forgiveness. Thanks be to God that he has granted me
repentance, and turned my heart from condemnation to grace. I still could not
hardly believe the depth and greatness of Father’s love that had come to take
my hand to walk with me in a time that I was not expecting any love whatsoever.
I then knew in my heart that not only were all of these scriptures true that
defined the wicked and evil condition of my heart and my mind, but so also were
all those scriptures true that define the greatness of Father’s love, and
mercy, and kindness, and forgiveness, and his grace that he shows towards us in
those times. Matthew
25:40 “The Lord
of that servant shall come in the day that looks not for him, in the hour that
he least expects him.” II
Corinthians 12:8 NASB “Concerning
this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to
me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness
" Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that
the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with
weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. Not
long after this, the Lord once again reminded me of the Castle Vision, bringing
into my remembrance how the Lord had shown to me that all that which I believed
to be right and true was that which my heart treasured. He also reminded me of
how crafty Satan is because it is by reason of his lies that I was defending
and guarding the very fears that did nothing but trouble my thoughts with such
things as worry, stress, impatience, confusion, anxiety, and evil suspicions.
Now the Lord had opened the eyes of my heart to see how Satan had again been
greatly tormenting me when I saw my sins, my faults, my mistakes, and my
weaknesses through the eyes of fear. It is almost embarrassing for me to admit
that though deceit, I had allowed for self-condemnation, self-disgust,
self-disdain, self-scorn, self-chastisements, self-blame, as well as all of my
disappointments and failures to fill the treasures of my own heart, believing
that this was the righteous way for me to treat myself. If this was not
embarrassing enough, it was even more shameful for me to have been deceived
into believing that my Father in heaven was also feeling the same way about me
as I was feeling about myself. “Lord, I open the door of heart; please come
in and cleanse my of all the unrighteousness of my self-righteousness.” Proverbs
21:2 “Every way
of man is right in his own eyes…” Proverbs
16:2 “All the
ways of man are clean in his own eyes…”
Jesus
said that if any man chooses to follow after him, then he must first be willing
to take up his cross, and deny (disown; dispossess) himself, and follow after
him. To follow after Jesus, a man must be ready to disown that which the
natural man values the most, the treasures of his own righteousness. This
almost seemed impossible for me until the Lord began to open my eyes to see
that the very things that my heart had been treasuring were also the things
that had been haunting me daily in my thoughts with some manner of worry, or
confusion, or uncertainty, or stress, or evil suspicions, or anxiety. I was so
familiar with and used to these miserable thoughts accompanying me on a daily
basis that I thought that they would always be with me. I never even had a
thought that said that the Lord could make me free from all these thoughts that
were haunting me. As much as I hated the idea of having unclean spirits in me,
I was ecstatic to learn that Father’s love yearns to cast all out all of them
so that he might free me from all their haunts. It
is written in Philippians
3:8,9 that
the death that Paul suffered was the loss of his own righteousness; the
righteousness which came by the law. I know that at first, Paul counted all of
this righteousness to be according to the works that he did that he had
performed according to the law of Moses; which also meant that he suffered the
loss of his glory, his own honor, the name he had made for himself, his own
goodness, and his own respect. I know that Paul suffered the loss of these
things of these things because the Lord has led me down this same path. But
then the day came when the Lord gave me this castle vision, and he opened my
eyes to see I had so accounted my fears and dreads to be right and true, that I
was allowing for these unclean spirits to have control over how I was living my
life. Then the Spirit of the Lord quickened to me that the law that Paul was
speaking of in Philippians
3:8,9 was
not actually the law of Moses had all, but it was also the righteousness of the
law that Paul spoke of in Romans
8:2,
the law of sin and death that he also suffered the loss of. It was not the law
itself that Paul suffered the loss of but, but it was the righteousness of that
law. The righteousness of sin is self-justification and pride; the
righteousness of death is fear, and every other miserable thought For God did
not create man to be in bondage to serve or be a slave to, the law of sin and
death. No man is in bondage to any law except that which he sees and believes
to be right and true. Now
when I see any fear coming into my thoughts in any form such as anxiety or
worry, as quickly as I possible can, I take up my cross deny that any of these
haunting thoughts are right in the sight, and I ask for the Lord to cast them
out, and fill me with the Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus; the Spirit
that allows for the peace of God to rule in my heart because it knows that the
almighty God is in complete control over all the situations, and circumstances,
and cares that arise in my daily life. Now the Lord has opened my eyes to see
with eyes the righteousness of his love; his grace, his goodness, his
forgiveness, his provision, his mercies, his faithfulness, his blessings, his
truth, and his fellowship. These now have become those treasures that my heart
greatly values to be right, to be good, and to be true. What more can I say but
I now value these blessings of Father’s love so greatly that I am more than
willing to dispossess and die to the sin and death that did nothing but deceive
me and haunt the castle of my heart. Thanks be to God, his love and his peace
have now become my reality. Philippians
3:8,9 “Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord (the grace of Father’s love) for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win
Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law (the law of sin and death) but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” II
Corinthians 1:9,10 But
we have the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in
ourselves, but in God which raises the dead: who has delivered us from so great
a death, and who does deliver us: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver
us.” Luke
18:9-14 The
parable that Jesus speaks to all who think and trust that they are righteous. Take
heed that no man deceive you by any means…It does not say be fearful of men I
suppose that there are many ways that these spirits of fear are able to find an
entrance into our hearts that we are not even aware of. When I was a child, I
used to be fearless when it came to climbing trees. If my parents were not
around to see me, then I would not hesitate to climb as high as I could in the
biggest trees in our neighborhood. Then one night I had a dream, and in that
dream I was standing on top of a high rise building. I then saw a man fall off
the side of it, and I ran over to the edge and looked down just in time to see
that man hit the sidewalk. When I woke up from that dream, I found that I had
this terrifying fear of heights that I previously did not have. It’s impact
was immediate because I never climbed another tree again because of that spirit
of fear that had come in me. Thanks be to God, that is now one of the many
fears that the Lord has delivered me from. Now I can, and have done, walked
right up to the edge of tall buildings, looked down, and there is no fear at
all. I can now fly on an airplane without any fear whatsoever. Because there
are legions of fears, all having a different name and a different nature, I
suppose that there are many different doors that one can unwittingly open that
will allow these unclean spirits in. I
continued to ask the Lord to search my heart, to open my eyes so that I could
clearly see these fears that had so cleverly hid themselves in my heart behind
some illusion of righteousness. The Lord then opened my eyes one day to see a
spirit of fear that I had actually allowed to enter into my heart through the
very scriptures themselves. As I have testified of, I was an atheist when the
Lord first came into my life, I knew that I had finally found the real thing;
and by no means did I ever want to lose him. So when I starting reading in the
scriptures those verses that warned us saying such things as, “Take heed
that no man deceive you”, I then allowed for that exhortation to be
joined with the fear that I had in me of losing the Lord, the only real thing.
The fruit that started coming forth from this union was that I became very
fearful that I was unknowingly going to allow for another Christian to deceive
me. Then the Lord said to me, “Mitt, my word just says “Take heed (listen;
pay attention)” that no man deceive you”; it does not say, “Be
fearful (afraid) not to allow for any man to deceive you”. Up until
that moment, I really thought that it was right for me to be fearful of other
brethren so that I would not be deceived.
It was then that the Lord opened my eyes so that I could again see how I had
perverted his word again because I was “seeing” his word through the eyes
of the spirit of fear; and when you see the word through the eyes of fear, then
the only interpretation that can possibly come forth is that interpretation
that is right in the eyes of that spirit of fear. Then
the Lord began to open my eyes so that I could see the evil fruit that was
coming forth from this perverted interpretation of his word. I began to see
that I was responding towards all of my brethren with evil suspicions; and when
you have evil suspicions of your brother, then that is all that you are going
to do is to seek to find evil in your brother. This fear had so deceived me
that I actually thought that I was doing that which was right in the sight of
the Lord. What I was blind to see was that once I allowed for these fears to be
my righteousness, then I also found that it was right to judge my brethren;
which is exactly that which Jesus instructed us not to do. As fear is only able
to work evil, so also was it working in me to find evil in those who I was evil
suspicious of. I saw that I had become so fearful that if I heard a brother
speak a word that did not agree with that which I believed to be right and
true, then I became suspicious of him and convinced that he was only trying to
deceive. But the Lord was now opening my eyes to see how this fear was doing
nothing but bringing madness into my thoughts. If I saw my brother sin, then my
fears were direct me to go out of my way to keep my distance from him, just as
Adam tried to distance himself from God. I also saw that my fears had me
judging that some of my sinful brothers were really not Christians at all. I
forgot that Jesus said that he came to save sinners and not the righteous. My
fears had perverted my vision so badly that I was seeing this all backwards;
just as the self-righteous Pharisees did. I
Timothy 6:3-5 “If
any man teach otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine (love your brother), which is
according to godliness (being like God, who is love) he is proud, knowing
nothing, but doting about questions and arguments over words, from which comes
envy, strife, railings, evil
suspicions,
perverse disputes by men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth,
supposing that gain (riches of this world) is godliness. From such withdraw
yourself.” Nahum
1:11
“There is one that comes
out of you, a
wicked counselor that imagines evil against your God.”
Again,
it is shameful for me to admit, but I am so thankful that the Lord, in his
mercy, has allowed for me to repent by opening my eyes to see the truth; and
the truth is how God sees. I was so blinded that I had allowed for this madness
to lead me to judge many of my brethren to be evil deceivers; and once I had
judged a brother to be evil, I would then seek to break off all communion and
fellowship, thinking of him to be nothing but a
child of the darkness. But the truth was that I was the acting like a child of
darkness because I was the one who had been deceived by the spirit of fear to
have evil suspicious against my brethren. Thanks be God for the blood that
covers us, even when our conscience is given over to the do the dead works of
darkness. I thought that I was the righteous one who should be departing from
the presence of the unrighteous,
when in truth I was the unrighteous one that they should have sought to depart
from. Then the Spirit of the Lord quickened to me that we are indeed to try and
to discern the spirits that our brothers are speaking by. If we see them
speaking in error, which may be by the spirit of fear that is in them, then we
are not to judge them to be wicked, or evil, or corrupted, but rather we are to
treat them in love and speak the truth in love to them at all times. I was
amazed to see how my fears had so deceived me that I had been in a complete
state of disobedience concerning how I should be treating my brethren. Later,
after the Lord had removed this beam of fear out of my eye, I was able to
observe how many responded to 9-11. Seeing that all of these terrorist were
Arab, many became fearful of Arabs. Then their fears led them to be evil
suspicious of all Arabs; and then their evil suspicions were perfected when
they came to hate Arabs. Jesus said, “Love your enemy”. But fear cannot
love your enemy because there is no fear in love.
I
Thessalonians 4:9 “But
as touching brotherly love, you need not that I write unto you because you know
that God himself will teach you to love one another.” James
4:11,12 “Do not
speak evil one of another, brethren. He that speaks evil of his brother and
judges his brother speaks evil of the law (the law of love), and judges the
law: but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law (loving your
brethren) but a judge. There is only one lawgiver who is able to save and to
destroy: so who are you that judges another?” Matthew
25:45 Then Jesus
answered them saying, “Truly, I say to you that inasmuch as you did it not to
one of the least of these, you did it not to me.” But
thanks be to God for his loving correction; and that correction came when the
Lord opened my eyes and revealed to me how I had been so deceived. I am still
amazed that all that the Lord had to do to correct me was to open my eyes so
that I could see my brethren with the same vision that Father sees all of us
with. The Lord showed to me that by reason of my blindness, I was treating my
brethren like I was some kind of oppressive father who would be continually
looking and waiting for one of his own children to make one mistake so that he
could find just one reason to reject them, or to condemn them, or to even kick
that child completely out of his house. Again, I was ashamed to see how this
spirit of fear had deceived me so greatly that I was now judging my brethren as
to who, and who should not be, in the house of the Lord. But then the Lord in
his mercy said to me, “Love your brethren; but know that there is no fear in
love. Love does not think evil of, nor is it suspicious of any. But know this,
that as long as you are surrendered to believe the righteousness of your fears,
then it is not possible for you to love any of your brethren because there is
no fear in love. Love forbears with all. Love is patient with all. Love is
compassionate towards all. Love is kind. Love is full of grace, and love
rejoices in forgiveness, even when a brother speaks in error. When Peter
allowed for fear to speak through the words of his mouth to tempt me, did I
banish him or cast him out of my house? No; and neither should you. Matthew
16:21-25 NIV “From
that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to
Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and
teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised
to life. Peter (Fear) took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never,
Lord!” he said. "This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and
said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do
not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus said
to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” Then
the Lord said, “Those who are blinded by fear look for the good in man so
that they may find a reason to accept that man. The love of God does not look
for good in a man, and neither does love look for God to be in a man, for that
would only mean that God is only able to love himself because there is none
good but God. It is the blind fallen man that loves himself, and those who are
like unto himself. There is no blindness in the eyes of love. Love sees a
man’s sins, sees his faults, sees his weaknesses, sees his offenses, sees his
transgressions, sees all of his iniquities, and sees all of the mistakes that
he makes, and yet love still continues to love him. It is not possible for love
to do anything other than love. Love just loves. I am love”, says the Lord.
Glory be to God! The Lord had now taken the beam of fear out of my eyes,
I could now clearly see that the only right way for me to treat my brethren, or
my enemies, was in the righteousness of Father’s love; the love that does
good, that forbears with, that is merciful, that strengthens the weak, that is
patient with, that edifies, and that always shows itself in grace during times
of darkness and weakness. Love does all these things without any reason to do
it because love just loves. Luke
6:27-36 NIV “But
I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless
those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on
one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop
him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes
what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them
do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even
“sinners” love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are
good to you, what credit is that to you? Even “sinners” do that. And if you
lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even
“sinners” lend to “sinners” expecting to be repaid in full. But love
your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get
anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most
High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as
your Father is merciful.” II
Peter 1:5-9 NIV “For
this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to
goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control,
perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly
kindness; and to
brotherly kindness, love.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you
from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he
is nearsighted and blind,
and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. II
Corinthians 10:12
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some
that commend themselves: for they measuring themselves by themselves, and
comparing themselves amongst themselves are not wise.”
Yes,
yes, yes; take heed that you do not allow yourselves to be deceived, but do not
for one moment entertain the lies of that unclean spirit that desires to
deceive us all into believing that it is right for us to be fearful by our
brethren; for the fear of man brings a snare. I then knew that before the Lord
could teach me to love my brethren, I first had to die; to die to the righteous
of these fearful spirits that had been instructing me to be suspicious of my
brethren. I had to die to the belief that any of theses counsels of fear were
right, or good, or true. When I called on the Lord and asked for him to deliver
me from this fear, he came. And when he came, it was suddenly like a huge black
heavy cloud lifted off of me, and I could clearly see my brethren for the first
time without the vision of fear in my eyes. Though I could still see evil where
evil was, there was a total absence of evil suspicions, and neither has there
been any fears in me that I was going to be deceived. Here I had been fearful
that I was going to being deceived by men when all along it was the spirit of
fear within that was deceiving me with it’s vision. I
John 4:1 “Beloved,
believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God, because
many false prophets are gone out into the world.” Acts
17:11 “These in
Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the
word with all readiness of mind (not in fear of being deceived), and they
searched the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore,
many believed…” I
Corinthians 15:36 “You
fool, that which you sow is not made alive unless it dies first.”
The
Lord has now delivered me from every fear and dread that I have confessed and
offered unto him. He is cleansing his temple. I am now not afraid to see if
there are any more of unclean spirits dwelling in me because I know that the
love of God will cast them out of me as soon as I present them before him,
asking for him to deliver me. Then the Lord spoke to me and said, “You have
seen me deliver you from the lion (fears) and the bear (dread), and now watch
me deliver you from the Goliaths that are about to come.” For More Information: Mitt Jeffords South Carolina, USA You can cut and paste this email address to send money via Paypal
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