Tag Archives: bible
Mindbreaking
Mindbreaking
(#308 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Now it is the Mighty One who makes both us and you stand firm in the Messiah. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
He put His Spirit in your heart as His seal of ownership. This says so much more than what twelve words can express. Let’s unpack this limitless promise. Shaul DOES NOT mean that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in that eleven ounce organ in your chest. Both the Greek and Hebrew language identify the heart as your mind, character, inner life, will, emotions, and intention, or in other words, your center of intellect.
Your “center of intellect” is your heart. This is a heartbreaking (mindbreaking) reality to consider. Even times when speaking of your soul, the word heart is used. “As a man thinks in his heart [soul], so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) Said in another way, as a man feeds his desires, passions, appetites, and emotions, so is he. Yahweh is who He thinks He is; and you are who you think you are. With this important distinction you can see that the Holy Spirit, the very essence of our Creator, is actually transferred to your mind as thoughts, not “put in your heart.” By placing Himself in us; into our center of thought, we then experience His essence as “The Messiah in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)
He has placed His Spirit right into the center of your mind, specifically to replace your old nature. “I will give you a new heart [inner man, mind, will] and put a new Spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone [mind of man] out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh [mind of the Messiah].” (Ezekiel 36:26) Only the transforming of thought processes could produce this renewed man. Your physical world simply serves as a reflection of what has taken place.
And, if you were made new, then how can the old you survive another day to rear its ugly head (Romans 6:2)? It is only possible because you have been endowed with the same resurrection power Yahweh used to raise His Son from the grave (Ephesians 1:18-20), and you can choose to use that power to accomplish things that would actually be separate from His will. Yes, be careful; you can exercise that new-found freedom and mistakenly use that resurrection power to raise the old you from the grave. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5) Unfortunately, it is far too common for Christians to use their freedom and power to set their minds on the things of the flesh; resurrect their old nature; and entertain mindsets which conflict with the mind of the Messiah. DON’T DO THAT!
Set your mind on things of the Spirit! Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be stubborn no longer! (Deuteronomy 10:16) If you embrace the spiritual surgery that took place, your reality becomes, “He who has waged the battle in my mind cannot lose.” And then, what Yahweh has placed in the center of your intellect becomes your chief desire. This is a mindbreaking, and now we know heartbreaking thought indeed!
Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your hearts. (Jeremiah 4:3-4)
Lean on It!
Lean on It!
(#307 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the longing [desire] is fulfilled it is a Tree of Life.” (Proverbs 13:12)
In your quest to comprehend the mind of the Messiah in you, discerning the truth of this proverb is pivotal. You must build your hope on a foundation of solid rock. If your hope is built on loose soil, when the rain comes and the water rises, your faith will be uprooted like a weed that clings to dust (Matthew 7:27).
Listen closely loved one; it is mandated that much of what you hope for (righteously desire) involves a time of supernatural testing. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings [mental tribulations and physical hardships], because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope [expectation]. And hope does not disappoint us, because the love of the Mighty One has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5) Tribulations will make you perfect and complete, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4). Knowing this sets your hope on solid ground.
If your ultimate desire is to identify with Yahshua’s words, “Not My will but Your will be done (Luke 22:42),” then you can be certain that all of your hopes are protected by His promises and come with His appointed times for manifestation. Hope will not disappoint. He who makes good promises will also comfort you even when hope seems deferred. “I won’t be long. I won’t cause you to hope and then crush your dreams,” His voice speaks to you. “Simply make sure that your desires are found in Me and your hopes will never be uprooted.”
He won’t crush your hope; He will not disappoint you. The delay is not denial, but merely a further pruning of any unnecessary branches that remain. The Tree of Life is the truth of His Life within you. When He fulfills that which you hope for, your entire being will be like a tree planted by many waters, whose leaf does not wither, nor will it cease from yielding fruit (Psalm 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8). You will be like an olive tree flourishing amidst His Holy Garden of Love. Wait for it with praise and thanksgiving. When things seem dreary, remind yourself that Abba will not push hope past His empowerment for you to believe. Lean on this truth and thrive, even while the physical world around you may crumble.
“Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him!” (Job 13:15)
Our Debt to Yeshua
Every Last Penny
(#306 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (Matthew 6:12)
Debt is what one person owes to another, whether money, goods, or services; it is what a person is bound to pay to another, or to perform for his benefit; it is a “thing” owed, an obligation, or a liability. However, on the deepest level, debt is the obligation of a righteous life owed to Yahweh. When you fall short of righteous living you become a debtor to the Almighty.
You can be zealous for Yahweh but not understand the righteousness He requires. You can display ignorance of His righteousness by seeking to establish your own righteousness, instead of submitting to the only true righteousness. The Messiah in you is the only righteousness for everyone who believes (Romans 10:2-4). This is the scriptural pattern of “within and then without.” Anything less than righteous thinking empowered by the Messiah in you is where all debt begins.
Debt has two faces: imposition and neglect. Each of these give us exquisite insight into the metaphysical aspect of what Yahweh truly intended for us to understand about both what was transgressed and what was forgiven. They both begin as mental errors and lead to scarcity thinking, which of course ends in physical poverty.
Imposition is a burden or obligation, oft described as the trespass. It is the heavy weight you carry under the burden of self-righteousness.
Neglect is the duty violated by negligence or carelessness. It is the offspring of the mind which has complete disregard for the truths and commands of Yahweh.
Although the price of “past” debts (mental misgivings and their physical ramifications) is paid through the shed blood of Yahshua the Messiah (redemption), it does not mean that restoration (mental and physical) is not a necessary process (sanctification). Moreover, any continued imposition and neglectfulness, post confession of faith and renewal, speaks volumes to your Redeemer. Why? Because accepting His forgiveness also includes agreeing to be accountable to His standards. Unless, of course, you believe your redeemed state gives you some sort “get out of jail free grace card.” If you habitually minimalize the gravity of your choice to sin, “Where sin increased, grace increased all the more (Romans 5:20),” that’s precisely what you are doing. You are ignoring His commands and the penalty for transgressing them.
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (Romans 6:1-2) It starts with the acknowledgment of personal responsibility for imposition and neglect of the standards of Yahweh. Only the fool looks at the torture stake of the Messiah and reckons that continuing sin has no consequence. Anyone who rejected the law of Mosheh died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of the Mighty One underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the shed blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:28-29)
His death settled your debts, and because of His death every debt must be settled. Tread lightly loved one; how can you who have died to sin live in it any longer?
Are you good enough?
Ed Beged
www.sufferwell.org
(#305 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
Our righteous acts are like…ed beged, in Hebrew pronounced “ayd behg’-ed”.
Don’t ever forget it; the very best you can offer is nothing more than a disgustingly dirty rag. All of us like one who has become unclean, the Hebraic perspective portraying something foul, contaminated, defiled, or utterly polluted.
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 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. (Romans 7:18-20)
Nothing good dwells in you! Without Him, all that is in you is disgustingly dirty, foul, contaminated, defiled, or utterly polluted; it is sin living in you. Why is it so very important to remember this? Because He alone saves the un-savable. The Messiah is everything! But the Mighty One demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, the Messiah died for us. (Romans 5:8) He chooses the foul ones to become sons and daughters. Nothing you did, or did not do, warranted such grace. Everything you did, or did not do, warranted His wrath.
And so He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4) Ah yes, those who live according to the Spirit. And so you are clear, the Spirit is the free redemptive gift; it was never your choice to receive it. You were kidnapped by sin and He paid the ransom without you ever asking. And somehow, after this redemption, we tend to lose sight of whose work it was. Yes you were made new in the transformation, but it is no longer you but the Messiah in you who lives (Galatians 2:20). Don’t lose that perspective and start behaving as if you had something good enough to offer to deserve it. Oh yes, you are worthy, but not on your own. It is only the Spirit in you that makes anything in you righteous.
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of the Mighty One lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, they do not belong to the Messiah. But if the Messiah is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Yahshua from the dead is living in you, He who raised the Messiah from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you. (Romans 8:9-11)
Precisely! His Spirit in you gives life because of His righteousness, not your own. Anything that you resurrect of your “self” will always be foul, contaminated, defiled, or utterly polluted. He will increase, but first you must utterly decrease (John 3:30).
Common Sense
“Common” Sense
(#304 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Common: widely or generally known; found or done often; prevalent; usual; ordinary; familiar; regular; frequent; recurrent; everyday; belonging equally to; or shared alike by, two or more or all in question.
Have you ever had someone tell you to “use common sense?” Perhaps you might inquire of such; “Please, show me how to apply common sense when I am interacting with the Creator of the universe, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine [think] (Ephesians 3:20), a Sovereign whose desire it is to reveal deep mysteries.”
But, on the contrary [to human wisdom], as the Scripture says, “What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart [mind] of man, [all that] the Almighty has prepared [made and keeps ready] for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].” Yet to us Yahweh has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even unpacking the profound and bottomless things of Yahweh [the heavenly counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny]. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)
Do you understand; do you see the depth beyond “common” that awaits you? How does one apply common sense to things beyond asking, beyond imagining, beyond man’s ability to scrutinize? It is the glory of the Almighty to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. (Proverbs 25:2) If you are sons and daughters, the blood of royalty flows in your veins!
Do not misunderstand loved one; common sense is not evil. Practicality it can be as scriptural as prophecy, dreams, and visions. When Yahshua asked His disciples to feed the five thousand, it was for a very common necessity. His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” (Matthew 14:15) And as earthly citizens, their response to Yahshua’s direction was rooted and grounded in common sense. “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” (v. 17) John’s account, however, gives us a glimpse into what Yahshua was teaching about the Kingdom. Speaking about Philip he said, “But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.” (John 6:6) Yahshua knew He was about to show His followers what it meant to bring the common into the Kingdom, in other words, what happens when the Kingdom invades the common.
The problem is that far too often the brand of “common sense” among disciples leaves little room for revelation about the Kingdom. Oswald Chambers taught, “Nothing that Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, but is revelation sense, and is complete, whereas common sense falls short.” We would add to clarify, “Common sense falls short in its usefulness for revelation about things which are beyond asking, imagining, and man’s ability to scrutinize.” That is where the privilege of being royalty grants you the rights to search out the deep things of Yahweh, things beyond common sense. “Who has known the mind of Yahweh so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of the Messiah.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)
What is common for the spirit man? These are the ideas that need to be scrutinized. What should be common for His people who are only sojourners on earth (Psalm 39:12), whose actual citizenship is Heaven (Philippians 3:20)? Exodus 23:2 warns that we are not to follow the crowd (the majority). The majority certainly have mindsets that will subject the “beyond” to common sense. Your assignment; search out what should be common for you, a Kingdom citizen. A good start would be to find out what is generally accepted among men, and run as fast as you can in the opposite direction.
Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their own evil heart. (Jeremiah 11:8)
The King’s Signet
The King’s Signet
(#303 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman [the transference of power from the wicked to the righteous], and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.” (Esther 8:2)
Signet: a small seal, especially one set in a ring, used instead of or with a signature to give authentication to an official document or decree. To give authentication, or in other words, to verify, validate, certify, substantiate and endorse that the one authenticating has the authority to authenticate.
It takes the power and authority of a king to turn a ring into a signet. Here in Esther, the Hebrew word is tabbaath (tab-bah’-ath), the simple word for ring, not chotham (kho-thawm’), which is actually the word for signet or signet ring. What turns a tabbaath, an ordinary ring, into a chotham, a seal of the king, is not the substance of the ring but the authority of the king!
When Esther took from the estate (power, dominion and wealth) of Haman and gave it to Mordecai, she was acting under the transference of power from the king. We see this demonstrated so clearly in Yahweh’s anointing of Mosheh to free His people. The Israylites did as Mosheh instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. Yahweh had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:35-36) This was not Mosheh’s authority, but Yahweh’s authority displayed through Mosheh. You too were chosen as a vessel through which His power and authority should be displayed.
Yahshua said, “All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” (Matthew 28:18) He gave them [disciples] power and authority to drive out all adversaries and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom of the Almighty and to heal the sick. (Luke 9:1-2) He has “given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy [carnal thoughts]; nothing will harm you. (Luke 10:19)
Oftentimes the signet mark is made by pressing the seal of the king into hot wax. The life of a chosen one is exactly the same. Yahshua’s signet brands you by fire and water with instant authority. Whoever bears His mark is sealed and authenticated. The Spirit of Yahweh has placed a seal on you; it seals you until your final destination. “Do not grieve the Spirit [Ruach] with Who you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30) The idea of redemption is the key here. It is the Hebrew [gheh-ool-law: the distinction and deliverance of chosen children ransomed by Yahweh.]
You bear this seal of release on your life. You walk with the authority of the Most High upon you and His Power is available to you. The power will manifest only when He who has sealed you takes precedence over he who has been sealed. Far too often we “go” instead of being “released,” hoping that His anointing will chase us. We reason, “After all, I am His child.” Unfortunately, this “going” is the attitude of prodigals.
As much as the seal says we are released, it offers and announces something far greater. It says, “I am His to be used His way and for His glory.” This fuels the great contention in the mind that believes it still has choices. A mind that opposes His will is the great obstacle of man. It trusts in the assurance of redemption while maintaining wrong ideas about salvation. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation [salvation in Hebrew is yesh-oo-aw: welfare, prosperity, deliverance, preservation, safety; yes, this is the Messiah’s name] of your souls [in Hebrew, neh-fesh: the breath and vitality of your mind and will, affecting your emotions]. (1 peter 1:8-9)
Your release was caused by the payment of a ransom (redemption) and is assured; what yet remains is the goal of your faith, the welfare, prosperity, deliverance, preservation, and safety (salvation) of your mind, will and emotions (your soul)!
Yes loved one, your eternity is secure; it’s the present welfare of your mind that’s in question.
Things Unsaid (Four)
Things Unsaid (Four)
(#300 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
www.sufferwell.org Individual wisdom (insight, revelation) for you individually:
Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech: “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? Repent at My rebuke! Then I will pour out My thoughts [the mind of the Messiah] to you, I will make known to you My teachings.” (Proverbs 1:20-23)
Here is the next step in the pattern to receiving the revelation of your calling. You must receive and apply wisdom. Wisdom is learned, earned and discerned.
Wisdom is learned from the word itself. “Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget My words or turn away from them.” (Proverbs 4:5) Apply the word from Genesis to Revelation directly to all circumstances. Constantly seek the mind and ways of the Creator Himself.
Wisdom is earned through an obedient lifestyle. “Be very careful, then, how you live your life–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16) Solomon showed his love for Yahweh by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David (1 Kings 3:3). Obedience in the natural leads to the supernatural. Obedience, first, to the elementary matters opens the door to the weightier matters of His purpose, and then to an inner knowing of His plan for your life. That inner knowing becomes the compass for all you might endeavor to do.
Look at the beauty of the pattern in 1 Corinthians 2:
1. First the elementary matters: “And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about the Mighty One. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Yahshua the Messiah and Him impaled. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might NOT REST ON HUMAN WISDOM, but on the Almighty’s power.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
2. Then the weightier matters: “We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare the Mighty One’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that the Almighty destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have impaled the Master of glory. However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived the things the Almighty has prepared for those who LOVE HIM’ [If you love Him, keep His commandments.—John 14:15] —these are the things the Almighty has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of the Mighty One.” (1 Corinthians 2:6-10)
3. And finally an inner knowing: “For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of the Mighty One except the Spirit of the Mighty One. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from the Almighty, so that we may UNDERSTAND WHAT THE ALMIGHTY HAS FREELY GIVEN US. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of the Almighty but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, for, ‘Who has known the mind of Yahweh so as to instruct Him?’ BUT WE HAVE THE MIND OF THE MESSIAH!” (1 Corinthians 2:11-16)
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7) Learn the word of the Most High; reject human wisdom; love Yahweh and obey His commands, understand what the Almighty has freely given you; and put on the mind of the Messiah. Then you can discern the voice of your Creator.
Wisdom is discerned for specific times and reasons. “So give your servant [Solomon] a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:9) Wisdom is unique to each person and each situation; and understanding her motives is another key principle. “All the kings of the earth sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom that the Almighty had put in his heart (mind).” (2 Chronicles 9:23) Read about Solomon’s wise discernment as he orders the child to be cut in half in 1 Kings 3:16-28. You are also given such wisdom in all circumstances if you are willing to learn, earn, and discern.
Wisdom denies all personal desire and prefers the greater good of another. Wisdom dies on a stake while completely innocent and forgives those who murder her. Wisdom’s heart cry is echoed so well by the words of Alfred, Lord Tennyson in The Charge of the Light Brigade, October 25, 1854:
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die,
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
Things Unsaid (Three)
Things Unsaid (Three)
(#299 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
www.sufferwell.org
A simple look at the life, and not just the words, of key figures in Scripture:
Without citing specific Scriptures, for a moment, let’s take a panoramic view at how a few prominent historical figures related to Yahweh and their calling. This is another piece to the pattern which helps unravel and reveal the calling in your life. Instead of recounting a series of scriptural narratives to reveal this pattern, we will pose questions, rather than recite verses.
A big portion of identifying your personal calling is having the ability to remove anything that hinders you from that calling. Most often it is a wrong mindset, which leads to a troubled mind. The ability to hyper focus and to ask Yahweh, and have answered, these broad stroke, yet essential questions is the next step.
• “Who am I to You Father, and what is my personal calling inside the body of the Messiah?”
• “What in my life, first in consciousness, and then in physical manifestation, would bring You the most glory?”
These questions should cause you to wonder just how many current personal priorities get in the way of you hearing the answers. Let’s take a look at just a few specific questions you might consider and how your answers affect the revelation of your calling:
1. Was Adam, before the fall (breach from perfected thinking), ever at risk of not having everything he needed to sustain his life and his personal calling?
2. Did the consequences of having to “toil” and “painful birth” remove the Father’s sovereign hand from our daily lives?
3. Is there any scriptural account that Abraham, Isaac, Israyl, Kepha, Shaul, or the Messiah Himself, were ever concerned that their basic provisions would be provided? And who provided them and why?
4. What are the common worries of mainstream American Christians today?
5. What are your greatest concerns?
These are just a few of many sample questions to help expose crucial mindsets, which will either hinder or lead to revelation about the calling in your life. If you are honest, many of the questions could be answered in a single statement. “American Christians spend most of their lives simply trying to “provide” for their families and, therefore, assume this is their calling in life.” Oh, how paradoxical this thinking is to creation. We pray instead that, at this very moment, His Holy Spirit would pierce your heart with this thought. “The revelation of your personal calling is already in you. The Messiah in you guarantees it.” If you have the courage and faith to accept that answer, it will expose all the deceptions in your own heart (mind). Then you are free to step into your destiny!
Things Unsaid (Two)
Things Unsaid (Two)
(#298 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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The Father’s supernatural use of His “vessels of wrath” to guide you personally:
Yahweh said to Mosheh, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you power to do. But I will harden his heart [mind] so that he will not let My people go.” (Exodus 4:21)
Yahweh called Mosheh for a specific reason, to free His people, and granted him the power to do so. We will call this Yahweh’s wisdom and direction for Mosheh to fulfill his purpose (calling). He tells Mosheh to deliver a message to Pharaoh and then Yahweh hardens Pharaoh’s heart so that he WOULD NOT let the people go. Knowing that this appears absurd to the unredeemed mind, Shaul writes: “What if the Almighty, choosing to show His wrath and make known His power, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath prepared for destruction? What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory…?” (Romans 9:22-23)
The vessel of wrath, in this case Pharaoh, who would ultimately be destroyed, was created to make things difficult for Mosheh. Yahweh’s intention was to make Mosheh (His object of mercy) aware of His glorious calling, and at the same time, to reveal His own glory. In other words, Yahweh used a vessel of wrath to guide Mosheh to his destiny. The pattern is this; the Father inserts objects of wrath into the path of His people to effect a fuller understanding of their calling. The purpose is to alter their course, leading them to discover the vision He has for them.
One of the keys to understanding the process of discovering your personal calling is to recognize how the tests force you to practice rest in the midst of “wrath.” Testing teaches you to fully trust Yahweh’s guidance when unforeseen events take place, even if those events are initiated by those destined for destruction. Once this is affirmed in you, you can testify, “I am always right where I am supposed to be. He will make sure of it. His sovereignty guarantees it.”
Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 18:3) The Kingdom is meant to be understood by children. The reality that Yahweh is sovereign over all is more easily accepted by a child. That He is sovereign over both the chosen and the unchosen is ONLY accepted by a child! You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in My name the Father will give you. (John 15:16)
“No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and this is their vindication from Me, declares Yahweh.” (Isayah 54:17) The weapon will not prevail; you will overcome it. Nevertheless, this does not negate the fact that it is Yahweh Himself who formed it. “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc.” (Isayah 54:16)
The vessel of wrath is His tool to test His chosen ones; it is His way of making the riches of His glory known.
So is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isayah 55:11)
The vessel of wrath is His tool to test His chosen ones; it is His way of making the riches of His glory known. Listen very closely loved one. If you reject and resist the oppressive force of the weapon that was meant to test and refine you, then you are rejecting the sovereignty of Yahweh and the predetermined plan that He chose for you specifically, in order to bring you into your personal calling. If the weapon brings suffering, then suffer well, endure, and step in to your calling!
Unoffendable
Unoffendable
(#295 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Great peace have they who love Your Law, and nothing will offend them [cause them to stumble; trap them].” (Psalm 119:165)
Imagine this offer for a moment. It is yet another supernatural exchange that comes through the obedient mindset. Love His Law and nothing will offend you! Love His precepts, instructions, commands, and testimonies. (Read all 176 verses of Psalm 119). Love His word and your mind will never stumble; obey His ways and you will always have poise and balance.
Yahshua said to His disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses [things that challenge people to stumble] should come… (Luke 17:1) Offenses will come! Those irritations that entice you to blow your witness; those annoyances that lure you to stagger are a certainty; it’s your reaction that is optional. Offense is best described by the imagery used in the original language. It is a snare or the trigger of a trap; the mechanism closing a trap down on the unsuspecting victim. Wait a minute! When you are offended it is you who are trapped? Precisely!
You need not be an unsuspecting victim. Lay claim to this promise; “For Yahweh Almighty will help me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.” (Isaiah 50:7). Of course it sounds wonderful, but many times it seems impossible for those who might have actually pondered this heavenly offer. And so what about this “exchange” that has been offered? Under what circumstance can you make such a bold claim; “He will help me; I will not be ashamed?” Profoundly, it is quite simple. “Yahweh Almighty has opened my ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away.” (v. 5) He speaks and you obey; it’s that simple!
Here are several steps you can practice. Repeat these over and over to become unoffendable. And then teach them to others:
Step one: Remember the goal; it is wise to recognize the fruit you are plucking. The fruit of the Spirit is…Peace. (Galatians 5:22) “Great peace have they who…” and then nothing will offend;
Step two: Love His Law; “Great peace have they who…love His Law.” This is the key that unlocks the fruit. The Law is the blueprint of the mind of Yahweh; it is the key that opens the door to the mind that cannot be offended. Oh, how I love Your Law! It is my meditation all the day; I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law. (Psalm 119: 97, 113);
Step three: Obey His Law; it reveals the will of Yahweh. “You rest on the Law, and make your boast in the Almighty, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent [superior], being instructed out of the Law.” (Romans 2:17-18) Desiring His will changes what you ask of Him; He alone becomes your fulfillment. “Yahweh, help me to love You more than anything. I delight to do Your will, O my Mighty One; yes, Your Law is within my heart,” (Psalm 40:8) becomes your prayer. This cry that pours forth from the obedient heart is the culmination of a surrendered will. As Yahweh becomes your everything, everything becomes yours. Loved one, when you own everything, what could possibly offend you?
Step four: Love like Him; Love is the fruit of an obedient mind, which is no longer “double-minded” but “double-edged;” no longer capable of simultaneously producing thoughts of blessings and curses (holding offense). Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? (James 3:11) The fruit of the Spirit is…Love. (Galatians 5:22)
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my Mighty One, in whom I trust.” Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers. And under His wings you shall take refuge. His faithfulness is your shield and fortress. (Psalm 91:1-4)
When He is all you need, you fulfill the command “I shall not want,” and no snare will ever trap you again!