Tag Archives: Blessings vs. Curses
Giving up your life to pray and read your bible
Here is the full report about the Martyrs’s widow https://youtu.be/OD16TqLaZe0
Here is the full video about this man risking his life for the bible https://youtu.be/9zRUVtlcdUs
Here is the video for Pastor Richard Wurmbrand for 14 years. https://youtu.be/9zRUVtlcdUs
Please see all the videos and support Voice of the Martys ministry This is their youtube page https://www.youtube.com/user/VoiceOfT…
Here is the movie trailer for Tourtured for Christ https://youtu.be/IIeKSrVdET0
Do You Follow and Obey God?
What?
(#035 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Congregation member 1: We shouldn’t argue!
Congregation member 2: Of course not and we won’t; let’s be like the Bereans in Acts 17 and figure out the truth.
Congregation member 1: Well, I feel like it’s an argument.
Congregation member 2: Not at all. What can I do to make sure you don’t feel that way and still continue this discussion? You know there can only be one answer, so we can’t both be right, and perhaps we are both wrong. But, let’s find out so we can both honor Yahweh, in all we say, do and believe. Does that sound okay?
Congregation member 1: Nope! I’m not going to fight with you about this.
Congregation member 2: I agree! So how can I assure you that a fight is the furthest thing from my mind, and that I have nothing but love and admiration for you?
Congregation member 1: Jesus is love and that’s all that matters.
Congregation member 2: I agree, Yahweh is love, and therefore His Son Yahshua is love, and obedience to Them is what proves our love. And that’s why we, if we are brothers, should be able talk about such things. I would like us to make sure we are following His ways as commanded. If one or both of us is incorrect, then we can change by seeking His word and making sure, together, that we are on the right path. Doesn’t Proverbs 27 encourage us to sharpen one another? It says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” (v. 17)
Congregation member 1: Yes it does; but I’m still not going to debate this with you. Jesus is love and that’s all that matters. That’s what my pastor preaches all the time.
Congregation member 2: Hmmm, so much for being a Berean.
“Then the brethren immediately sent Shaul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Yehudim. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:10-11)
Brothers and sisters in the faith are called to inspire each other to search the Scriptures daily to find out if what they are being taught is true. Do you?
Deny Yourself – Today – Suffer Well
Today
(#034 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
Today
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“Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:15)
This will help you beloved. Yahweh has already told you that the unredeemed “carnal mind” will always be at enmity with His Divine mind (Romans 8:7). “So, if the carnal mind will never perceive His mind, how can I rejoice?” you might ask. Within this brilliant question, which can only be generated from a renewed mind, is the key to understanding the answer. It is not by your own intellectual understanding, nor by human might that you can rejoice. The carnal mind can’t ever rejoice. However, as the redeemed of Yahweh, you do not have to identify with the carnal mind any longer.
How do you get there? The way is to decrease! Your “self” will always be at enmity with Yahweh as it (the unredeemed mind) always desires to increase its influence and domain. “Father, allow me to decrease and may it be Your Spirit that praises and rejoices in and through me.” This is the mindset that dominates the conscience of the truly redeemed.
A predominant blueprint throughout the scriptures from “In the beginning,” in Genesis 1:1, to, “So be it,” in Revelation 22:21, is the recognizable pattern within the repeated warning to “lose” oneself. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life [carnal mind] for My sake will find it [the Divine mind]. (Matthew 10:39) For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world [carnal pleasure], and is himself [Divine mind potential] destroyed or lost? (Luke 9:25) Yet, for many, their proclamation that “I believe and therefore I rejoice,” comes across with a smug pride, as if there was anything good enough in them to inspire such a declaration. The arrogance simply screams “I.” To the contrary, it is only “Messiah in you” that can rejoice and be glad; any claim otherwise resounds of “self.”
Why then can the mind on its way to expressing its full redemption praise and rejoice? Because once the indwelling of the Spirit (Ruach) has commenced, the consciousness of sin (Hebrews 9:14) comes face-to-face with a competitor; it no longer has “unobstructed” rights to itself. This idea is further elaborated on in Romans 8:5-9; “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. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against the Mighty One; for it is not subject to the law of the Mighty One, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please the Mighty One. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of the Mighty One dwells in you.”
This is the day Yahweh has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24) In other words, this is the day Yahweh has made; and only the redeemed can be glad in it.
The Spiritual Battle
The highest calling we have in life from our Creator is to learn what love is and then to love the people who don’t deserve to be loved. In this video I explain why and how to do that.
Ephesians 6:12 We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Revelation 2:10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.
Handed Over
(#032 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is Yahweh. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Master comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from the Mighty One.” (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)
How quickly you handed me over,
Not even one question asked.
Turn your back; write him off; trust deception;
Thinking otherwise is too much a task.
“If they have him, he must’ve done something,”
Your words like a noose on my heart.
My captors, they thrive on their scandal,
His blood drips, but they have no part.
They bank on my “brothers” to abandon,
Wicked whispers plead, “Please don’t defend.”
But, no greater love is this,
Than to “lay down one’s life for a friend.”
How quickly you handed me over,
I pray now with new eyes you will see.
They devise to seek, kill and destroy,
I refused to believe you’d agree.
Don’t accept, “He must’ve done something,”
Instead, seek all truth from the start.
There is no truth in my captors,
His blood drips, but they have no part.
I warned you to trust no man (Jeremiah 17:5). They even abandoned the Son of the Most High. And if man would persecute and abandon Him, they will do likewise to you (John 15:20). I, therefore, give you this key to the Kingdom; love them anyway (Matthew 5:43-44). How did My Son forgive His murderers, you and the others? It is simple, I and My Son are One (John 10:30), and I Am love (1 John 4:8)! This love requires nothing in return you see; in other words, it does not seek its own (1 Corinthians 13:5). It is My plan, to love the loveless. Who can resist that? And so you must also forgive those who persecute and abandon you, for you too have betrayed your brothers in this. You also have fallen short of the Divine standard, to love the loveless.
Because your love is possible only because I first loved you (1 John 4:19), there is an expectation that comes with this gift. I demand that My children to understand it. Here is My expectation; because it was a gift to you, you are expected to give it as a gift to others. Do not consider it from the perspective that you owe Me something; instead, consider it from the position of what you were made capable of. I merely want you to understand your own new heart, the heart that has been transformed. You see, your carnal heart, the heart that rejected and despised love, was removed.
My child, I took out your heart of stone (Ezekiel 36:26). All I ask in return is that you appreciate your new heart and use it as directed. Love the loveless; this is a key to My Kingdom. Someone might be willing to die for a righteous man, but for an enemy, only the King of Righteousness (Romans 5:7). And now that you have His heart, won’t you join Him?
What Our Father Would Say
What Our Father Would Say
(#030 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Without faith it is impossible to please [Me]. (Hebrews 11:6)
Your only true concern in life should be whether or not you are pleasing to Me. And to do so you must live by faith. However, you consistently demonstrate a lack of faith by letting other concerns dominate your priorities. You do this in few key areas.
The first would be your concern for maintaining your rigid schedule, in other words, YOUR plan for your life. You fix your schedule in advance as if I am not interested in guiding the details of your day. In this, you leave no room for Me to lead you to My highest and best. Are you more beholden to your schedule than the prompting of My Spirit? Are you willing to be flexible, open to shifting what you thought were the day’s priorities? Will you interrupt your plans, both short and long term, at a moment’s notice from Me, even if it’s inconvenient, even if it’s hard?
The second would be your consideration for others. And by this I’m not referring to “Christian charity.” I’m speaking about your concerns regarding My plan for those you care about. In other words, your fear that I will disappoint them or not provide for them, as if your worries can supersede My providence. It masquerades as genuine concern, but is really anxiety fostered by a lack of faith that My plan is for their best. Do you trust Me to provide for you? Are My ways higher than your ways? Is My plan better than yours for your life? If I won’t fail you, will I fail them? Can you then trust Me for others? Won’t I protect and provide for those you commit into My hands, even if you cannot?
Once you value instruction over comfort, you will be better able to see all circumstances through spiritual eyes. With this type of vision, you can then experience instruction and still remain comfortable (resting all in My hands), regardless of the challenges you face, or see others facing. Self-preservation and striving to protect others always rejects suffering. Yet, suffering is an instrument of grace, allowing My Spirit to minister in painful situations. It is all to bring to fruition My Sovereign plan for you and those you care about.
So, let go of your frozen schedule and trust Me; and while you are at it, take down your mask. Once you faithfully hand over your life to Me, it will become much easier to trust that I have your and your loved ones best interests in mind.
“Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.” (Hebrews 5:8)
True Love Is Choice Not An Emotion
I’ve done thousands of videos. Many lessons learned. Figuring out what love is, makes this message one that I would put at the top of my list as one of my most important videos ever made. The understanding in this video will truly set you free.
Heel Marks in the Sand
(#027 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“It was then that I dragged you My child!”
Stop trying to see or feel your way into My Kingdom, for it is not a Kingdom that comes by way of sight or sensations, but rather, a Kingdom of knowing, knowing the My mind deep within. The Kingdom of the Mighty One does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the Kingdom of the Mighty One is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21) My Kingdom is Hebraic, not Greek. It is truth, not philosophical theory. And it is of the mind (the Hebraic heart), not the emotional heart (the Greek heart).
When your faith is built on emotions, you set yourself up for failure loved one. Emotional faith is built on a shaky foundation; sinking sand if you need a more picturesque description (Matthew 7:26). It wavers depending on what you feel in your “heart,” as if your heart remains uncircumcised (Greek). The uncircumcised heart is “wicked above all things!” (Jeremiah 17:9) It is subjected to human thoughts and emotions, as opposed to the circumcised heart, which loves and obeys Me no matter what it feels like (Deuteronomy 30:1-6).
In the original Garden I gave only commands, yet you, as they did, continue to live as if My intention was to give you “free will.” When did I give you a choice about which trees were “yes” and which tree was specifically “no”? Where did I imply that they, and now you, should choose “what you think is best?”
Your redemption, that which sealed your place in eternity, was My Sovereign decision. It was not a walk along the beach during which I carried you when things were rough and you walked on your own when all was good. Before your redemption, NOTHING was good. But, once that was finished, you were required to learn how to pick up your own torture stake and prove that you love Me (Luke 9:23). How? Those who love Me “Keep My commands?” (John 14:15) It is not a choice to do so, however; that is where the deception remains. You cannot declare that you love Me and disobey My commands? Tell Me if you think otherwise.
Listen to Me loved one; if all of your choices apart from My supernatural intervention brought death prior to your redemption, then how can you believe My purpose was to give you “freedom” to choose now? Are you starting to see it? If you choose anything apart from My will, you are not free; that is bondage. True freedom is having no choices. When My way is the only way, then you are truly free.
If you attempt to “choose” otherwise, then I must drag you.
Who Made These Things?
Who Made These Things?
(#023 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17)
Love, peace, joy, contentment, patience, goodness, faithfulness, humility, wisdom, integrity, tenderness, and all other good things come down from Me, the Father of lights. You might be tempted to apprehend these things through your own selfish desires (James 1:14), but do not be deceived (v. 15); do not be enticed to believe they come from anywhere but Me.
What exactly are these things that your soul longs for? Yes My child, ask yourself. And in a sober moment you will realize that they all belong to Me. Each one was created to entice My children to enter My domain, to be as I Am. In other words, to search for the Kingdom of Heaven that is in you. (Luke 17:21) It is very risky to think you can gain access to any of these apart from Me? If you could, if anyone could partake apart from Me, then what did My Son die for, and how are your desires different from the pagans? No My child! These things are only for My children and obedience is the key that releases access to them within you.
Can a wicked man enjoy peace? Never! I will not allow that man to experience real peace (Isaiah 48:22). Can an adulterer have love? Never! I will not allow that perversion to stain My love. Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with [Me]? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of [Mine]. (James 4:4) Can a greedy man know contentment? How could he when greed takes the life of its owners (Proverbs 1:19)? Only the one who prospers in Me will know true contentment. Can a contentious woman know tenderness? It can never be, as she is like a continuous dripping that cannot be contained (Proverbs 27:15-16). My tenderness is for the contrite, which is a blessing reserved for My obedient children.
All things were made through [My Son], and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:3) And He has become the open door that you might attain them. Those who do not know Him, and therefore Me, will never experience these spiritual blessings. They are reserved for My children only. But you cannot stand at the doorway; you must walk through it.
Do you need help? Ask and you shall receive. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. (Luke 11:10)
A Little Leaven Suffer Well
A Little Leaven
(#021 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed the Messiah, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. (1. Corinthians 5:6-7)
A Little Leaven…
Mom and dad fight and use angry words
The Lump
The children hear the fight and fear enters their hearts.
The fear turns to anger and then bitterness.
The children act out with rude behaviors toward friends.
Friends feel unloved and insecurity enters their hearts.
Friends tell their parents how they were treated badly.
They don’t want to play together anymore.
Even the friend’s parents build unhealthy mindsets towards the children.
Offenses destroy friendships!
The Lump
Mom shows impatience with store clerk due to anger at dad.
Store clerk gets upset, as she is tired of being treated badly by customers.
Store clerk yells at mom in frustration.
Boss hears of the account and fires store clerk on the spot.
Store clerk was a single mom who can no longer support her family.
She develops unhealthy fear, self-condemnation, and regret.
Fear destroys future opportunity!
The Lump
Dad neglects to show up at a vital business meeting due to frustration with mom.
Dad’s business partner takes over the meeting in a pinch.
The business partner is not prepared for meeting and loses a big account.
The partner becomes angry and bitter because the dad missed the key meeting.
The dad becomes angry and bitter because the partner is ill-prepared.
They have a huge blowout.
The future of the company and income for partners and all employees are in jeopardy.
Bitterness destroys lives and futures!
…leavens the whole lump!
It only takes a little leaven to leaven the whole lump (Galatians 5:9). That is a very dangerous thing if you use the leaven of the Pharisees: bad doctrine (Matthew 16:11), and hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). Therefore, purge out that old leaven. Instead of the leaven of the Pharisees, sprinkle the “leaven of the Kingdom” on your lump (Matthew 13:33). The Kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). Kingdom leaven will restore and preserve friendships; it will eliminate all doubt and fear; and it will neutralize bitterness with the sweet Fruit of the Spirit. Purge out that old leaven and hope is restored!
Two of You. Take Action!
Two of You
(#020 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
“Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:21-25)
It is in love that I come to both of you. Yes, although you are one person, your heart is certainly divided; you often forget what you look like in the mirror. I do not; I see both faces! And it might come as a surprise, but My mature children can see both faces as well. They can spot you through the mask and cannot be preyed upon like My younger sheep. Know this; I Am a fierce Shepherd and will not excuse the fleecing of My flock, especially My young defenseless ones.
Woe to you who praise Me before the multitudes and then steal from My people. And I don’t just mean money, but even more insidiously, the theft of truth. Woe to you “desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what you say nor the things which you strongly affirm.” (1 Timothy 1:7) Woe to you who use Me to market your goods and increase the scales in your favor. Woe to you who use your “righteousness” to ravish My elect.
Who told you My punishment would be immediate? Who told you that My rod only manifests in ways you can perceive? Did you not believe Me when I warned, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, and again, Yahweh will judge His people. It is a fearful thing, to fall into the hands of the living Mighty One?” (Hebrews 10:30-31)
Yes, I do desire mercy over sacrifice; however, I judge every wrong, as this is what I promised My Son I would do. And I will not shame His sacrifice as if I were a man and as if He were an animal. Let it never be said that I did not warn you that His shed blood only guarantees your eternity. That’s right, His blood has secured your eternity; but your daily choices secure My favor while you live. As it is written, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” (Romans 6:1-2) If you insist on living in sin, being a hearer and not a doer, My chastening is perfect and well deserved. When My right arm moves against you, it will correct your wrongs. Will you not repent and return to Me before then?
“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of the Almighty rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6) Yes, mercy over sacrifice is pleasant to your ears; of that I Am certain. It is your acknowledgement of all that I Am that is in question. If you had, you would be doers and not just hearers.
Broken Cisterns Equal a Broken Life
What fills us? What drives us? What helps us? The only answer we should have it, it’s not about what we want but what Yahweh wants. We must learn to deny ourself and follow Him.
Broken Cisterns
(#019 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“My people have committed two sins [evils]. They have forsaken Me, the fountain of Living Waters, and they have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)
Am I not I Am who points out transgressions in order to save you? Am I not I Am who sent My Son so that you would return to Me in repentance? Consider this before you readily entangle yourself with the world’s delicacies. My Son was sent to manifest My desire and to redeem a people unto Myself. This could only be done through a demonstration of My power (Ephesians 1:19-20). And, it is only by that power that you can overcome your disobedient choices to continually eat from My forbidden tree, the carnal desire for “free will.”
Stop! Listen! Think! Remember! It is I who draws you back to Me (John 12:32). It is I who chose you (John 15:16). Are you really so dull of mind to think you can fill your own cisterns and be satisfied? The abundance you long for, what will truly fulfill your soul’s desires, can never be “self” generated. I will ultimately dismantle anything that does not align with My will. The vessels I fill have no leak and no lack, and do not desire more than I freely give.
Loved one, I cannot be housed in unclean vessels. Dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14) will be your reward apart from Me, nothing but whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23:27). How joyful you were the day I found you. Now, you must count the cost of every thought and action (Luke 14:25-33); this is what I require from My children.
I call Heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. (Deuteronomy 30:19) Stop trying to fill your own cisterns; they can never hold Living Water. Instead, choose life.