Tag Archives: Blessings vs. Curses

A peace beyond our understanding

Greater Measure

(#145 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. (Psalm 18:19)

Father, you said seek Your face and I have sought. You know all of my thoughts and all of my intent. You are even teaching me more about myself than I ever knew. You knew it all when You thought of me before the foundations of the earth (Jeremiah 1:5).

I must verbalize this cry of my heart, this thing that burns within me. I will not let it go dormant. I need this record of it. As I have sought Your face, it has been with the understanding that all things are in Your hands. The timing, the journey, and the end result, everything is in Your hands. My cry to You Father is that I might see Your hands. What do they look like? When I am touched, are they Your hands that touch me? As I step over into “finding” You, how will I know I have found? Is there an event, an epiphany? Is the process of seeking the actual finding? I still desire more Father, which leads me to believe that there is so much more. There is so much more Father; isn’t there? I must confess that the “peace that surpasses understanding” (Philippians 4:7) is not what I feel. Is it even a feeling Father, or is it a state of being? Or is it both?

Father, I know I cannot strive for these things with impatience and worry. I know there is a proper pattern to finding You when I seek. At least I believe I know. There are moments when I fight for the peace and joy. There are moments I praise and worship even while in great pain. I believe I have figured out the difference between striving and obedience. I know that all that I am, or ever will be, depends on finding You. Would You grant me permission to go to a deeper place with You? I am now asking You Father; would You open more doors to Your garden of love and acceptance? I know I cannot receive unless I ask (Luke 11:10). So, I ask and am reminded that, all the promises of the Mighty One in Him [Yahshua] are “Yes”, and in Him “So be it,” to the glory of the Almighty through us. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

I know that You are already pleased with me, as You see me through Your Son’s resurrection, but I am not pleased with myself Father. I do not condemn myself, but I know I must seek until I find. I am not seeking to earn Your love; You have proved Your love to me. I know there is more of You, so I am seeking to find more. My obedience in this brings me power Father. It is in that power that I seek You now. Please Father, come to me in greater measure.

Who Is Blessed?

Break it Down

(#143 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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Note from the editors: take a breath; clear your mind; and enjoy the ride!

Psalm 84:5-7

Blessed [favored] are those [the ones who follow the pattern] whose strength [power, provision, purpose] is in You [Abba], who have [without guessing, moving forward] set [like in concrete, steadfast] their hearts [minds] on a pilgrimage [advancing, moving, no rust, no moths]. As they pass [yes, they leave and move on] the Valley [low places] of Baca [weeping], they [the ones operating in Abba’s power] make it [create a new thing] a place of springs [life, abundance, real reality]; the autumn [falling] rains [Spirit outpouring] also [as well as, doubly] cover [sustain] it [the mind in the valley] with pools [abundant blessing, overflow]. They [the blessed ones] go [keep moving] from strength [trust in Yahweh] to strength [more trust in Yahweh, closer to perfection] till each appears [kneels] before the Mighty One [Yahweh] in Zion [un-obstruction, perfection, a pure mind].

Here is a powerful paraphrase for your edification:

Favored are the ones who follow the pattern, whose provision and purpose are in the Father, who move forward without guessing and with steadfast minds advance. They leave the lower place of weeping by operating in Abba’s power and create something new, a place of abundance; the Holy Spirit pouring out in double portion is what sustains their new thinking with abundant overflow and blessings. These blessed children of Yahweh continue to move from trusting in Yahweh to even more trust in Yahweh as they approach perfection, until each kneels before the Mighty One with a perfect, un-obstructed, pure mind.

A Slave To Yahweh

No Options

(#140 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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One option! That is all you have. Freedom is having no other options. Is this not the true freedom I have for you? You have one choice, and that is to obey My commands! How quickly you test Me. I can hear your thoughts. “If I choose not to do Your will, then I can simply make my own choices, right?” It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? But, you would never think like that, would you? Yes, My child, every day; every day you say this to Me. Your disobedience says it all. The death of My Son says it. What do you think the shed blood was for?

Fill in the blanks in the scripture I have given you. Are you ready?

“Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient [____________], you are [____________] of the one you obey—whether you are [____________] to sin, which leads to death, or [____________] to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Romans 6:16)

Yes, slaves, slaves, slaves, and slaves! Read it aloud to Me. Fill in the blanks and read it over and over.

Because I know you and because I created you, I offer this consolation. My slaves are free! My slaves love! My slaves hope! My slaves grow! My slaves learn to adore their Master with all of their being! My slaves learn what freedom truly is! Won’t you come and learn from Me? Won’t you be My slave?

Yahweh Wants Your Heart

I Cry Out For the Little Ones

(#138 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” All men are like grass and their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of Yahweh blows on them. Surely people are like grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the words of the Mighty One endure forever. (Isaiah 40:6-8)

Your Word shall endure forever Father. Yes, You have said to me, “Those who hope in Me will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

I listen to Your whisper Abba; You say, “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths; I will guide them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)

My soul clings to these words, these words of life, these words of redemption. I too am a dad. I need Your atonement so that I might return to my young ones. As I need You, they need me. As You are teaching me to need only You, I too will teach them that they need only You. So many things You need to teach my soul. So many things I need to teach theirs. As I finally come to You in a truly authentic way, a way like never before, bring me back to them to show them how to also be authentic before You. I know that You know what it means to be a Father who gives the only kind of love possible, the love that never fails. How will the little ones know what it looks like lest their dad teaches them? Because Your love never fails, I know that You will allow me to teach my children what that looks like. I rest in that.

Self-Sufficiency

Self-Sufficiency

(#135 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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I must become perpetually weak (not reliant on “self”) to become perpetually strong (reliant on Him alone). Weak and meek equals strong! (2 Corinthians 12:10) However, the natural inclination (ego-centered desire) is to say, “I need to be strong!” This is not the proper pattern, however. Look to the One who was spat on, bruised, afflicted, and murdered. And He endured all of these for the “joy set before Him.” (Hebrews 12:2) To redeem men, He became nothing. He did not become strong in the flesh, but mighty in the Spirit!

But, what of my “natural talents?” Aren’t I to use my gifts? The better question to ask yourself is about the motivation of your actions. Is the power you have been given to fulfill your own agendas? Here is the crux of the issue; are your agendas meant to satisfy your “self”? Dare we slowdown to be certain that our agendas line up with our Creator’s? They have always been His talents, His gifts. In the past, quick and decisive actions were taken without considering a question such as this; “Father, what do You want me to do with the abilities that You gave me?”

He took everything from me in order to perpetually sear this question into the center of my intellect. Everything that was not of Him was shaken to the core, removed! It did not need to happen that way. It did not “NEED” to happen that way! Get it? Anything not done of and by Him, fails. It will be removed; it will backfire. “The removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:27)

Judgment begins in His house (the center of your conscience). Yes, that means you; before anyone else is judged, you will be judged. You will be first in line. (1 Peter 4:17) So much was given and so much is expected. Take me seriously. Stop! Slow down! Reconcile! Be repentant! Then, He promises to dine with you in a love feast of perpetual rejoicing (Rev 3:19-21). Turn back now. You will do so either way, forced or willingly. His love promises you will.

I know that everything the Almighty does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. The Mighty One does it so that people will fear Him. (Ecclesiastes 12:14)

When We Lift Our Hands

When We Lift Our Hands

(#134 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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When we lift our hands to You Abba, what do we really intend? Are we worshipping? Do we really mean it? Is it possible to be filled with fears and doubt, and yet worship? Do You receive the worship of doubting people? How can we say we worship and adore You, but not trust You?

So very few of Your children live a life filled with power and grace. Is this why they hold up hands to You? Are they trying to pull something down from You, something deeply lacking in themselves? I ask again Abba; how can we worship You, but not truly trust You? Find me the man who says he does. Yes, Your Son is our comparison. How many raise their hands begging for mercy? This seems an appropriate reason to hold up holy hands. Is that worship Father? It seems like desperation. Is desperation power Father? Do we really believe Yahshua died for us? At times, it ironically seems more tangible to believe it was for Abraham, Moses or even Paul. Is it really for us?

Where are the ones who are anointed by Your touch Father, the ones who have lost their lives and found You? There are so few. Why Abba? Why? Your promises are for all of us who say we believe, correct? Forgive us for the mixed message we send, as we raise hands with doubt in our hearts. Help us believe, to believe in Your promises through Your Son and Your Ruach (Spirit). Grant us the faith of a mustard seed Abba (Matthew 13:31-32, 17:20). Birth belief in us Father, true belief. Make it real to us so we can move mountains (Mark 11:23). Prepare our hearts (minds) to suffer well for it. Help us to die to “self” so that we might offer genuine worship, for worship’s sake, and also for those who wonder about the faith of all who claim to believe what they so passionately preach, and seemingly, so strongly affirm.

I Will Follow

Psalm 22

(#125 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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But You took me from my mother’s womb; You made me trust in You, even from my mother’s breast! (Psalm 22:9)

So many words, so much idle chatter, and so much babbling. Babble on? Babylon! Sit still My child. Rest your soul. Rest your tongue and listen! You need to receive this. This needs to break into the matrix of your mind. A paradigm shift is what I offer. I Am Spirit and you must choose who to serve (Joshua 24:15). Will you serve your flesh or the Spirit?

What speaks to you most about Psalm 22:9? Does it matter? Does it speak to you at all? May I now tell you what I Am saying here? Yes, David wrote it, but I told him to. “You brought me out of the womb.” Yes, you are here by My choice. Long before you were birthed from the womb, I birthed the thought of you; I set all of your days in order. I Am the beginning and the end of all things. This includes your beginning and end. “You made me trust in You.” And herein, you have My greatest gift to you.

This is My plan: I CREATED YOU and MADE YOU TRUST ME! It then begs the question; why do you continue to fight Me? Love is what established this irreversible pattern, a pattern emphasized in Ezekiel 11:20. “Then they will follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws. They will be My people, and I will be their Mighty One.” Just the first four words are needed for this lesson; “Then they will follow.” Does it say, “Then they might follow?” or “Then they could follow?” or “Then they should follow?” No, it says, “Will follow!” Do not turn My gift of life into your vain quest for personal independence. You are My earthen vessel. I will finish the work I intend for you. It is My life inside of you.

This is the promise I have made to you. The Refiner’s fire always begins in My house. (1 Peter 4:17) When I bring this fire into My house, My Temple, your body (1 Corinthians 6:19), you will be very pleased then, for Me to take over all aspects of your life. When this fire comes upon you, I Am quite sure you may even rejoice for Me to take over. Be of good cheer though My child, you were never in control anyway.

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of the Mighty One; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the good news of the Almighty? (1 Peter 4:17) Or do you not know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from the Mighty One, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)

Again, the question is, why do you fight Me in this? Do you really believe that if I had left any of it to you that you would ever be able to be joined to Me as One? It’s time for the arrogance, the foolishness, and the lust for death to end. You will trust in Me sons and daughters. You will.

Who is Double Minded

Who is Double Minded?

(#124 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Do you recognize this verse as it is commonly translated? John 3:16 might be the most misused verse in the entire Bible. To clarify, let’s read John 17:14-17.

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Now tell us who is double minded, the Creator or man? John 17:14 states that “they [believers] are not of the world.” Is this not the same world that so many of you say John 3:16 describes, the world Yahweh so loves? Let’s highlight John 17:16 for the moment. “They [believers] are not of the world, even as I [Messiah] am not of the world.”

We ask again, who is double minded? The common mistake when interpreting the scriptures is trying to understand Hebrew thought forms with a Greek mindset. The Hebrew, a language of adjectives and verbs, promotes action. It is a “hear and do” language. The Greek, on the other hand, is a noun based language, a “sit and contemplate” language.

Let’s look again at John 3:16 and John 17:14-17. What’s the deal? How can Yahweh so “love” a world that Yahshua clearly states we are not of? They are two different worlds, correct? Right!!!!!! Yet, the Greek interpretation makes no distinct difference. It uses the same word, Kosmos (Cosmos) in both verses. This creates double mindedness!

Satan (ego, self) rules this world (carnal desire) we live in, the world we are NOT of. Yahweh does not love this world of Satan’s; as a matter of fact, it is set to be destroyed. The “John 3:16 world” that He so loves, is His world, the world we are headed back to. The Hebrew language describes it as a place of absolute purity: socially, morally, governmentally and spiritually. It is a perfect place, His Garden of love. He sent His Son to take us back to that place.

If you are still struggling with this paradigm shift, these verses should help you. Oh, and pray for truth (John 17:17). Know the truth! It will set you free (John 8:32).

* John 15:19—If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

* 1 John 2:15-16—Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

* 1 John 5:19—We know that we are of the Mighty One, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

The world that is coming is the world He loves, not the one that we are leaving. Be of good cheer, He has overcome the [this] world. (John 16:33).

This I Know

This I Know

(#122 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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When can you truly be “free?” It’s complex, yet so very simple. It’s merely a matter of “self” realization. Freedom can only come from the realization that the ego exists as part of your carnal nature, and that the carnal nature is one of total wickedness. Couple the awareness of this with the implantation of the Spirit of Yahweh into the conscience, and therewith, the idea of freedom becomes a realization, but not yet realized.

Paul speaks of “flesh vs. Spirit” and reveals, in part, the answer that is being elaborated here. Yes, the answer lies in this simple thought: “So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please the Almighty. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of the Mighty One dwells in you.” (Romans 8:8-9) I now realize that everything about my “self” (carnal nature) must decrease in order to become everything He desires for me. I must decrease! (John 3:30) This is most certainly a key component to the pattern of freedom, and must transform every thought within; but it is not the totality of the pattern.

The next step comes from obedience to step one; the realization that “On my own I shall never be good, ever!” By continually acknowledging this portion of the pattern, a new reality is birthed into consciousness, and it will sound something like this:

“Father, I am ready for the transformation, a complete shift from carnal to spiritual in all areas of my thought life. I believe that what first qualifies me is the presence of Your Spirit in me. And then when You do transform me and set me free, that the persistent recognition of it stirs this confession within; ‘I could have never done this, nor would I have ever wanted this goodness and purity apart from You.’”

It’s so very—perfect!

Whom do you serve?

Enticement to Slavery

(#119 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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Where in My word have I given you dominion over another? From where do you fabricate these ideologies that imprison all mankind? Of course you are void of answers, as there is no spiritually intelligent answer for these questions. Any answer, well thought out, should leave one ashamed for falling into such a matrix of human error.

Have I asked you to be kings in the way you interpret kingship? It is you who asked for kings (carnally dominant mindsets) to rule over you (1 Samuel 8:5). I honored your request so you would experience the absolute foolishness of your desires. Yet you failed to see it! To this day you continue to feed the very system you asked for, when all this system does is keep you in slavery (Read all of 1 Samuel 8). It is simply fear that drives your man-made device, and yet you embrace it as if this system protects you. I will certainly show you the end result of your desire to be ruled over. My word discusses it. It is called the eighth beast empire (Revelation 17:8-11). It is the worst man has ever seen. It will come to swallow up even those who believe such rulership and government is of Me. It will destroy all those who follow after it, including many of My own children who failed to heed My revelation long ago that it would happen.

In your crafty design of governing authorities, you have managed to produce paupers and dictators. Both feed off each other in fear and have come to be comfortable in this way of life. You have convinced yourself that it is My will for you. Oh My dear little ones, how could I ask you to submit to something that bears no resemblance of My rulership? Although I use wicked men for My purposes, I never asked you to honor them! I command that you give honor where honor is due, not where it isn’t! (Romans 13:7)

I wish to reveal a secret for you. This matrix in your mind is easily corrected if you would just look at My family for a moment. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit have only one way of interacting. We only seek the best for and of each other. There is no other way with Us. There is only perfection and the beautiful blend of all that emanates from perfection. Why would I change perfect government? Perfect government satisfies each soul completely. It does not rule by majority, has no opposing parties, and nothing but complete individual freedom, all while giving every other “family” member the same freedom. Oh My children, I will bring you back to perfect government. I only wish you would have realized yourselves what I offered all along. Now, free your mind. The matrix is easily solved if you just remove the fear. Ask Us to help. We are always willing. And might We remind you that Our government (the perfect conscience; the mind of Yahweh) is the same yesterday, today and forever? (Hebrews 13:8)

“Be careful, or your hearts [minds] will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)