Tag Archives: Bill Cloud
We Humans
We Humans
(#180 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Is it only the humble who take great pleasure in Your Sovereignty? It is the wise among us who freely surrenders his will back to You, oh Yahweh. Was it ever his to give? Is it only the contrite who hand everything over to You to do as You wish? Was it ever his to hand back? Who are those that understand fully what You intended for Your children Israyl? We fail to discern our own steps, though we try so hard. We humans can only hope for what lies ahead. However, You Yahweh have full knowledge of the end of all things. Will the plans we establish in our own hearts (intellect) ever be exactly as we hoped? Do only the little ones leave the end results up to You? Who are those that won’t even plan without Your permission? Are these the ones You seek out? Are all paths Yours, even those that bring pain, even those littered with sin? Is it only the devout who consider Your will? How could a Sovereign One have multiple wills toward mankind? Who understands that all things fall under One will? Because this is so, even when the foolish speak, moments of truth can be detected. Who ponders realities not yet disclosed? But we [the mature] speak the wisdom of Yahweh in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which Yahweh ordained before the ages for our glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7)
Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess Yahshua, and all for Your glory Yahweh (Philippians 2:10). Only the obedient understand that all things are useless apart from Your glory? How can we attain more than what has already been given? How can we not partake of the milk and honey when Your Son sealed it for us?
Here we are, we humans. We are placed on Your path. Some of us know the answers to all the questions here. How much do the answers matter? Here is what I’ve learned from the vanity I’ve experienced; these two things I often consider. As I am walking either the road less traveled, or the busy highways of man, Yahweh has taught me to give thanks and rejoice. Could this answer EVERY question? Could it be? If I do these two things, could I then choose my own path? It is only the prudent who acknowledge that, even then, the decisions were Yours all along!
Things Left Unsaid
Things Left Unsaid
(#179 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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And Isaiah the prophet went to Sovereign Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you? And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a distant land, from Babel.” And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” And Hezekiah said, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is not an object among my treasures that I did not show them.” So Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of Yahweh of hosts: ‘See, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have stored up until this day, shall be taken away to Babel; not a matter shall be left,’ declares Yahweh. ‘And they shall take some of your sons who are born of you, whom you bring forth. And they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the sovereign of Babel.’” (Isaiah 39:3-7)
A word for you about our intimacy loved one. Some things I share with you are for your benefit and for your ears alone. When you gain increase through our relationship, don’t shout everything from the rooftops. Some things birthed through the righteous life are, instead, intended to radiate a subtle steady light.
Man often fail to recognize My true intention. The unredeemed heart of man is wicked and deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9). And even after a saving encounter with Me, a great majority tend to nurture “the old sin nature” and will neither appreciate, nor understand My revelation. Therefore, you must be careful to discern the purpose of My intimate moments with you; are they private or to be publically shared?
Listen to Me loved one; so much of what I reveal to you will never be acceptable even to those who call themselves brothers and sisters in the faith!
I speak things of a Kingdom that is not of this world, to those who have their minds (hearts) set on things above. Stay quiet at times loved one. Keep some things private; I like having secrets with you. Be still My precious one. Time will reveal to all the depth between us. And yes, you must trust that I also control time as well.
Trouble?
Trouble?
(#178 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Define “trouble” for Me child. Perceive what troubles you, and speak to Me about it. And then consider that it is only your perspective that is truly troubled. Yes indeed, the only real trouble for you are your thoughts that have you convinced My children have any troubles at all. In other words, the cure for your troubles is faith, and the cause, a lack thereof.
This is a new dimension added on the path to your full stature in Me; as narrow as it is. Faith in and of itself, is the substance of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1), and part of that substance is choosing to believe a truth that defies human wisdom. What more defies your own wisdom than this: My children truly have no troubles; that’s correct, no troubles!
When I told you that “You will have tribulation in this world,” was it because I was concerned or worried, or that you should be? Of course not, “I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) I speak to you in a language you can understand; “You will have tribulation.” But, I also speak a spiritual language; “I have overcome the world.”
The flesh (carnal nature) cannot perceive spiritual words, as no flesh can stand in My presence (Romans 8:5-9). If you would put on the spirit-man, when trials come you would have no choice but to declare, “I will rejoice always” (Philippians 4:4) and “I consider it all joy.” (1 Peter 1:6) Listen My child; there is no trouble in My Kingdom and I have purchased you to live with Me in My Kingdom. The only trouble you are having is belief that all I say is truth.
I Am Abba Father. You have no troubles today! Cast your all your cares and anxieties upon Me! Have I not told you to give Me all that hinders you? (1 Peter 5:6-7) Step over, My child. Your inheritance waits for you. I Am love and so it is written, “I can never fail.” (1 Corinthians 13:8)
Your Whole Heart
Your Whole Heart
(#177 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Tell Me My child, what do you think I intend when I tell you to seek Me with your “whole” heart? Do I merely mean to seek Me with your might? Seeking Me with only your own strength will invite problems. Have I not told you, “Not by might nor by power, but only by My Spirit?” (Zechariah 4:6) Seek with the power that comes from My Spirit.
The seeking part is that which will draw you closer. The whole heart (mind or center of intellect) is the circumcised heart that, while seeking, confesses that My commands are not too mysterious or difficult (Deuteronomy 30:6, 11). Can you be bitter and seek with a whole heart? Can you be greedy and seek with a whole heart? Can you never read My words and still seek with a whole heart? Can you lack faith and still seek with a whole heart?
The wholeness comes through correct application of what My Word teaches, especially the pattern of My Words. Have I not told you to “Consider correctly how you listen? Therefore, take heed how you hear: for whoever possesses, to him more shall be given…?” (Luke 8:18) The wholeness comes only with obedience. You must apply all parameters of My word in order for your heart to be whole in the first place. Seek Me as I wish to be sought. Seek without anxiousness, fear, timidity, and with no shrinking back (Hebrews 11:6).
I am not asking for immediate perfection, but rather, commanding that while you seek Me, you do so in a whole and reverent manner. Come in humility, a willingness to learn of My love, and with an expectation to receive what My will has caused you to ask for. Come with a whole mind that sees Me as I Am, and not per personal preference of who you might “like Me to be.” Yes, I Am Abba Father and you will only love Me because I have first loved you (1 John 4:19). Remember this; you can only love Me because I have allowed you to do so. This is the humble part of seeking Me in a wholesome way. “I can only love You because, by Your love, You give me permission to love!” This is a perfectly correct mindset child, and in this you will meet Me, and thus, find yourself.
Think it twice
Think it twice
(#175 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“For look, I Am beginning to bring evil upon the city which is called by My Name, and should you be entirely unpunished? You are not going unpunished, for I Am calling for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares Yahweh of hosts. (Jeremiah 25:29)
Woe to you who call Me “The Lord of Hosts,” in place of Yahweh of hosts, you who cry for help from your enemies. Do I need to remind you of My patterns before you heap judgment upon yourselves, before its time? Have I not told you that judgment begins in My house? Judgment begins with My people, My people named Israyl. Sit silent and consider your ways before you act. Are you not calling judgment upon yourself by scorning your enemy? Have I not told you to pray for those who persecute you? (Matthew 5:44) I need to remind you that when you call down for My wrath, My wrath will come. Yes loved one, it will come right to your doorstep and reveal all that is in your heart (mind). Why must you provoke My long suffering? Why do I perceive a broken child in you, yet you stand in firm defiance towards all whom might oppress you?
Humility child! Think before you pray. Think while you pray. How can the Spirit I placed in you defy My patterns? It is not possible. It cannot be. Are you so pure in your own mind that you use such harsh measures? Can you no longer relate to a consciousness that would consider sin? It is you child who will be corrected while you call down vengeance upon another.
Oh, loved one, do not misunderstand, sinlessness is the call for My perfected ones. I do strongly desire that you arrive at this place. A thought for you to consider: can one who possesses all power have any enemies who can do any harm to them? Though one may deem himself an enemy, can they have any effect on the perfected one? Think child, and ponder. Humble yourself. Many times, a man’s only enemy comes from within. Yes, judgment begins with My people. Perhaps you might offer the mercy that you will soon long for?
“For the time has come when judgment [sifting using Yahweh’s standards] must begin in the House [Temple in your conscience] of the Almighty [Yahweh], and if first with us [the redeemed minds], what will be the end of those [unredeemed minds] who do not obey the good message [perfected mind patterns] of the Mighty One [Yahweh]?” (1 Peter 4:17)
Me in you
Me in you
(#173 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Listen to Me loved one. How could I not see only but the best in you? Do you realize it is My Spirit in you that I connect with? It is the Me in you that I call out to. When we fellowship, it is My very own Spirit that is in fellowship. And now, it is no longer only My Spirit but your Spirit! Those who have ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying (Revelation 2:7, 2:29, 3:22)! Think of it as Me connecting with Me within you, and you are now able to enjoy the benefits, unless, of course, you do not hear this. Only then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! (Matthew 13:43)
It might make sense if you stop to realize that I do all of this for My Covenant’s sake. Like My words teach you in Deuteronomy 7, I Am a Covenant keeper. I will finish My covenanted plans for your life. I Am the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). Of course, I enjoin you to participate, for My Covenant guarantees good fruit with your participation, and bad fruit if not. It is when you participate that I release My gifts called joy and peace. When you lack these things, and therefore suffer, it is only because you fail to participate in the work being done. Non-participation would be as if a wonderful party was going on all around you, yet you choose to sit in in the corner alone and sulk. Everything around tell you, “Get involved, have fun,” yet you decide to stay in the same isolated place.
My words of encouragement, the reason I speak life and peace over you, are because My Son permitted it to be so. I accepted His sacrifice once and for all. What He did for you enables Me to ensure My Covenant with you. I have sealed My Spirit inside of you, and this is what is continually made to grow in you. Yes, I will continue to advance inside of you, with or without you, but beware of resistance; it can be very painful for you. I implore you to get out of the chair and come from the corner and join the party. Don’t you know by now that the party goes on into eternity? Get up! Dance, rejoice, and enjoy! I Am inside of you and I demand that you give Me glory. You can expect all of My precious gifts after that.
I have so many gifts for you My child. Rejoice, I say rejoice!
Love’s Attributes (15) Love endures all things
Love’s Attributes (15)
(#169 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Love endures all things!” (1 Corinthians 13:7)
Love endures all things, and therefore, Yahweh endures all things!
To dwell or to remain, that is the picture endurance paints in word art. This is the embodiment of, “I shall never leave you, nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 4:31) Because Yahweh’s decision to love the unlovable is a unilateral Covenant (Yahweh alone vows to it), then the decision to remain with you during your shedding of the self is meant to be a comfort of Heavenly proportions. For those who make the conscious decision to come under the 1 Corinthians 6:19 command that “your life is not your own,” the work of sanctification then roots out the deepest layers of the ego. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your rolling waves and breakers have gone over me. (Psalm 42:7) Within this deep washing, resentment towards Yahweh comes first, and then as the cleansing continues, a deep abhorrence for all that you once stood for. You begin to despise your own carnality and are amazed at just how much depravity really exists within you.
From, “Why are You not helping me,” to “I cannot believe You even loved me and chose to save me.” This is proof of the handing over of the carnal intellect, and submitting to the transference of His perfected mind implanted in you.
His Love endures all your resistance to love, until you receive His love, and then become love. This is what your salvation is, a perfect mind of love.
I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]. (John 13:34-35)
Love’s Attributes (13) Love Believes all things
Love’s Attributes (13)
(#167 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Love believes all things!” (1 Corinthians 13:7)
Love believes all things, and therefore, Yahweh believes all things!
It’s elementary really. Love believes all things that Yahweh says! This is never a license to conjure up personal hopes and desires as, “your life is not your own!” (1 Corinthians 6:19) It is the mature believer who comes to the conscious revelation that it is easy for man to receive the hope of the blessings; but the wise follower also receives the path to the blessings. The path of obedience (complete mind discipline) and removal of the ego (opposition to the mind of Messiah).
Do you believe that suffering furthers perfection? (James 1:4) Do you believe Yahweh’s rod is a tool of righteousness? Do you believe that life on earth, as it is today, will never be the Kingdom that Yahweh demands allegiance towards? Do you believe Yahshua’s death actually guarantees yours?
If so, we step further into love’s realm. Once we believe “all” things Yahweh says, then we believe we will be transformed into His likeness. Is this not the end goal of His love, to be One with Yahweh?
Son’s and daughter’s believe that what Yahweh claims to be truth, is truth, and what Yahweh says is a lie, is just that. They entertain no carnal fantasies about earth life, and particularly, earth love, just simple truths leading to One love. This is the way, walk in it!
I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]. (John 13:34-35)
Love’s Attributes (12) Love does not betray
Love’s Attributes (12)
(#166 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Love does not betray!” (1 Corinthians 3:7)
Love does not betray, and therefore, Yahweh does not betray!
Betrayal, the twelfth pillar of love’s opposite, embodies the very deception that is at the root of “false” beliefs about love. How is that? Because to betray is to forsake love itself. You have learned to justify such behavior by erroneously categorizing love into individual types such as, friendly love, intimate love, and brotherly love. This is a delusion as there is only one love, and it is defined solely by its Creator, Yahweh! If you are willing to accept it, redefining love is really an attempt to justify watering down Yahweh’s love into some imposter like “human love” or “natural love”. Any diluted and cheapened version of love will always lead to failure.
How so?
Anything that claims to be love, yet fails at any of the sixteen pillars (attributes) of love is a sham. Your willingness to dilute love because of your unwillingness to accept Yahweh’s standard of love will only keep you from experiencing the purity of His love. This compromise is a delusion; and this delusion is the ultimate betrayal and is why betrayal itself embodies the great deception.
“What can you do to remedy this delusion?” You confess your rebellion to Yahweh, of course. “I am an imposter Yahweh. I’ve attempted to redefine love so it fits my standards and makes me ‘feel’ like I am doing what You desire.” Repentance will then release His love over you, so you can then give it away to others. Repentance is the path back to knowing His true love.
I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]. (John 13:34-35)
Love’s Attributes (11) Love rejoices in the truth
Love’s Attributes (11)
(#165 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“Love rejoices in the truth!” (1 Corinthians 13:6)
Love rejoices in the truth, and therefore, Yahweh rejoices in the truth!
And Pilate, representing personal will, said to Yahshua, who represents mind salvation offered to men, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Is this not the foremost question? For if it is knowing the truth that sets you free (John 8:32), then it is imperative you know it!
The Hebraic origin of truth describes this: stability, trustworthiness, certainty, to build, support, and foster. Truth takes us from the foundation (beginning phase of spiritual perception) to the mountaintop (exalted consciousness). This truth of Yahweh is a journey.
Yahshua is the example of a life lived in and by the truth. We also know that He was set free and set the standard for those who would also be given the chance to find this perfect freedom within. “Whomever the Son sets free is free indeed.” (John 8:36)
“And whoever does not carry his yoke [mind stake], and walk [in truth] after Me [the mind saver], cannot be My disciple.” (Luke 14:27) The “self” cannot comprehend Holy truth, and it is this personal will that must be nailed to the stake daily. The torture stake is the meeting place of the Spiritual and the carnal. We have been given the pattern; do not attempt to perceive truth with your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). You must daily, hourly, and even moment by moment, eradicate any desire of the “self” that attempts to hinder the Truth.
“Not my will, but Your will” (Luke 22:42) is the pinnacle of truth, and therefore a Holy pillar of love.
I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]. (John 13:34-35)