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?

Do you believe in Yeshua? Truly believe?

Define “Believe”

(#031 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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Spirit man: Let’s read Romans 10:11 “For the scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'”

Carnal man: But I see Yahweh’s people put to shame all the time.

Spirit man: As the scripture says: “Anyone who trusts in Him (Yahshua) will never be put to shame.”

Carnal man: I don’t get it. Maybe I should pray and seek wisdom.

Spirit man: “Yes, wisdom is in here; it is carried in His vessels. Please define “trust” for me.”

Carnal man: I can’t.

Spirit man: May I take over then?

Carnal man: I guess.

Spirit man: Thank you. To trust Yahshua, and therefore prove belief, is to leave behind your own agenda and defer to His and your Heavenly Father’s will at all times.  This pattern of thinking always takes into account Proverbs 14:12; “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,” as well as Hebrews 11:1; “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  You see, you must learn to believe in what you do not understand and cannot see; all the while trusting you will not be put to shame. In order to reach the fullness of what the Father and Son have planned for your life, you must step into the unknown like a child who knows his Father will catch him if he falls. Give in and let the work of the torture stake have its way in you. Either way, at some point you will have to step into the promise of Daniel 9:24; “Finish transgression and make an end of sins.” Start trusting now and receive today’s reward. Don’t delay; today may be all you have.

Carnal man: Can I just watch?

Spirit man: I expected no less.

A Bridge You Can Cross

The evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)

There are times in our lives when

Something happens which does not make sense.

“Why Father, why?”… We cry.

“I will drag you where you refuse to go, My child,” He answers.

“Lay down your burdens at My feet.

Although there appears to be no bridge,

Leap with faith across the span

And you will find your foot touches solid ground.

For I Am the Rock upon which sits the lighthouse.

The beacon in your heart sounding through the darkness,

Calling to your soul at the very times you cannot see the way,

When you are blind to victory you have in Me.

Oh My child, My ways are not yet your ways

For they are as high as the stars.

All that happens in your life is to glorify Me

Should you choose the truth.

For I Am the truth!

And the truth will set you free.

Free to cross even the bridge you cannot see.”

Jessica Simpson – TRAGIC LIFE – Family Shepherds

Father’s need to lead their family with their God-given responsibilities to be a shepherds. We cannot overestimate the importance of the family and that of fathers in particular.

Jessica Simpson – TRAGIC LIFE – Family Shepherds

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)

Love Defines You

It Defines You

(#029 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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“For You formed my inward parts [innermost being]; You covered me [knit me together] in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)

Yes, My child, I Am love (1 John 4:8) and I designed you as a vessel to both create and receive love. It is precisely because you were created in My image (Genesis 1:27) that love is the very thing that defines you. You were literally created for love. I know this because I formed your innermost being. And, I orchestrated everything in your life that would bring you to love’s full expression, and I did so before the foundations of the earth. I saw the pleasure and the joy; and I knew the pain and the disappointment you would experience. It was all My plan. In light of this, you should meditate again on this reality. “I Am love and you were created in My image.”

And so you would be without excuse, I have defined love for you (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). I need, or rather, demand that you grasp that you have since created your own definition of love. Nevertheless, My definition remains the only true definition. Love is My emotion; I intimately crafted it to define Me and I do not give anyone permission to alter its attributes. Have I not told you that “love never fails” and that “love keeps no record of wrongs?” The pain you choose to carry is simply because you have all failed one another and likewise have kept records of such. You fail to love like Me because you fail to forgive like Me. First, forgive yourself for defining love by your own perverted standards, and then forgive others for doing the same. It is in this place that I will heal you.

Lastly, don’t be discouraged by your failure to love as I intended, My child. It will happen, for I have given you a new heart [mind] (Ezekiel 36:26) and the capacity to love as I love. Yes, the work has been completed (John 19:30; Hebrews 12:2), the veil torn in two (Mark 15:38). You have been granted full access to My Kingdom of love. Remember, I love you and I have created you to love like Me, for My glory. I will use your pain and redeem you as a choice vessel for My honor. Give in to Me, and let love reign.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Life and Death – My Dreams For You

It makes no sense to throw a life preserver to a dead man right? How can a person die and still be be born again if he died? I talk about this in this video as we ponder Yahweh’s dreams for us.

My Dreams for You

(#028 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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Come and hear, all you who fear the Almighty, and I will declare what He has done for my soul. (Psalm 66:16)

Listen to My voice; I know it will soothe your soul, for this is what I have planned. What desires have I put in your heart (Psalm 37:4)? What passion do you have for My will? You can run from Me, but you cannot hide forever. You cannot ignore your longing for Me indefinitely; it is ultimately inescapable.

Although you may backslide, you will return, for who has resisted My will (Romans 9:19)? I share the dreams you have for your life because they are My dreams for you. I created them specifically for you. I will give you your heart’s desires and not withhold, from you, the request of your lips (Psalm 21:2).

Remember, as My servant, you cannot serve two masters (Luke 16:13). My Son redeemed you and forever changed your future. When you resist your calling, your ego speaks to Me. “I can find comfort in serving another!” That is like putting My Son back on the torture stake. Your ongoing sinfulness is My evidence that, if left to your own devices, you would murder again. In this you indict yourself.

Surrender, My child, to the desires that I have for you. If you do, you will have all you dream of. I Am One whose promises can be tested and always found true.

I Am not like a man that I should lie (Numbers 23:19).

All My ways are perfect (Psalm 18:30).

I will make all things known to you (Ephesians 1:9; 3:5).

I will not leave you or forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6).

My love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8).

I Am here. Will you have Me?

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.

From Prison to Praise – Sing In Darkness

The End from the Beginning: a Journey into Faith

(#026 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that the Almighty does from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

I worship nonstop and I endure. It’s all about His will for me and yes, the unknown of that is mysterious and sometimes it can even seem overwhelming. I am learning to trust more in the process every day and am comforted by that fact. Yahweh knows the truth of all this you know. Do you know? He has declared the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” (Isaiah 46:10)

“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; 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. (Isaiah 54:16-17)

I am comforted by the reality that the weapon that now wounds me so very deeply is formed by His hand. Its intent is to heal, and yet, it profoundly does so through loss. My experience has made me know what it means to fix my gaze upon Him. Because Sovereign Yahweh helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. (Isaiah 50:7) Yes indeed, I set my face like a flint, and I determine to suffer well, for my life, my true life, my spirit life, is found in the suffering.

As for blessing those who harm me and praising Yahweh in the process, they are keys to effective Kingdom living. Yes, blessing others and worshipping through pain; that’s what He’s looking for, I am quite sure.

But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. (Matthew 5:44)

Burdened with Blessings

I am Jewish – Provoke Me

I’m a Jew

(#024 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)

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I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke THEM to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness! (Romans 11:11-12)

Your testament that causes you to become most zealous,

Your goal of which it testifies is to make Jews so jealous.

You tell me you have the scriptural truth;

And yet, you rename our Messiah “Hey Zeus!”

If that’s not enough, let’s look at your Sabbath,

Pick a day, any day; is that what you have for us?

Have you not studied your feasts and celebrations?

They’re filled with traditions from demons and pagans.

Some of us sense what’s missing; it’s sad;

That you sell your savior like a marketable fad.

I am a Jew; and I wait for the Hebrew Messiah;

How can I trust that to Him you will guide us?

Perhaps you’ll consider and listen to me;

I have things to offer, a rich history.

Does your own book teach you were sent the man Saul;

Who was transformed by Jesus who He then renamed Paul?

If the Jewish Messiah was sent to your people,

Did He teach in the synagogues, or churches with steeples?

I’m a Jew and my temple and my sacrifices ceased;

So I’ve watched some of you, and I covet your peace.

I could believe based on just what I’ve seen,

The one you call Messiah is true savior and King.

Perhaps I’ll look past you and back to His days;

To make Him my savior and keep Jewish ways.

I’m “them” from your testament and I’m looking at you,

To provoke me to jealousy, but to do so…be true!