Tag Archives: Yeshua Said
Heavenly Measurement
Heavenly Measurement
(#343 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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The Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent men take it by force [as a precious prize—a share in the heavenly Kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion within]. (Matthew 11:12)
We must continually climb higher. Yesterday’s thoughts should always stand under the scrutiny of today’s new heights of revealed wisdom and understanding. Yes loved one, every day should be a day of advancement, stretching vision and intertwining new realities. There is a magnificent supernatural web that connects everything, and acknowledging it brings glory to the Father.
What does it mean to know Yahweh? May we suggest that a strong indicator is that you have an understanding and appreciation for how He operates His Heavenly Court? May we also suggest that the opposite true? A lack of understanding and appreciation for His Heavenly Court limits your knowledge of the Most High.
And so as we advance, the new standards become the next highest branch on the Tree of Life. With each new revelation, yesterday’s mishaps are no longer excusable, yesterday’s ignorance is no longer tolerable, and yesterday’s increase is no longer the utmost. We climb each successive branch toward the top of the Tree of Life to the throne room of the King (the highest branch, “Keter” which means the “crown” or “I Am” branch), where His Son sits at His right hand and the Holy Spirit at His left in His Heavenly Courtroom.
And of the longest branch heading towards Keter, we find that which represents the body (totality of thoughts) that Yahweh decrees for His chosen children, and goes by the name “Tifereth.” It means “beauty; glory; or glorious.” It inspires thoughts that will cause you to proclaim the very essence of its meaning; “That is so beautiful.” Yahweh’s truth is beautiful. It is the expression of the wisdom, vision, and the new reality that you are now capable of perceiving.
In that beauty you are taken to an even higher place and deeper revelation. New doors open and you receive more clarity from the voice within, from the mind of the Messiah. “Take the next step,” it whispers. “There is another branch waiting.” Then everything changes loved one, everything changes.
Your Chance
Your Chance
(#342 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Looking back on my life and pouring out my soul, I thought, “I want it to be better for my children. I want them to have opportunities I never had.” And then my mind was overtaken by thoughts from the one who restores my soul (Psalm 23:4), thoughts circumcised by the mind of the Messiah within. “How about you; what about your second chance; what about the life you still have in front of you?” It was so simple in that instant; yet an entire lifetime of prejudiced mindsets leading up to that moment had prevented me from embracing the simplicity of His words. “Because of Yahweh’s great mercy we are not consumed. His compassions fail not, as they are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
Do you entertain thoughts like, “My time is up?” Have you surrendered to the idea that your “golden years” have passed you by? It’s a sinful mindset loved one. It’s a way of thinking that not only denies the power of Yahweh in your life today, but also rejects that your yesterday was under His Sovereign control. Long before your physical existence, Yahweh set in motion the beginning and end of every aspect of your life. And it was only after having written the script of it all, He would at some point say of you; live!
Broken childhood? Failed business? Shattered marriage? Heartache? Sickness? These are as much under His Sovereign control as His Son’s nail-scarred wrists. Your brokenness was just as necessary. Each failure a display of what your best effort awards you without Him.
You cannot succeed without Him. Your failures afford you the opportunity to grasp this monumental truth. And once truly grasped, do you think it will not have all been worth it? We have spoken about this to you before, but He sees fit to remind you today. The broken ones; the meek ones; the ones who have been humbled, all have one common theme that runs throughout their thought world daily. “He is saving me from myself!” This radical truth, impressed upon you because of your past, should give you great hope and joy for what the future holds. In front of you there exists a new chance loved one; His mercies are new every day.
A man’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. (Job 14:5)
Church and State
Church and State
(#341 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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And so we glimpse into the psyche of the evil genius, the unfettered ego, and we listen for the schemes it conjures:
“The only way to truly decimate a nation of chosen children is to separate the priests from governing and judging the nation. We must detach the congregation from those who will govern them, spiritually, morally and ethically. We must convince them that the government is not supposed to be run by the priests; priests have no place in government!”
And so this philosophy of separating church and state, one that you may have even come to support, and perhaps vehemently claimed as the entitlement of a “free people,” was always intended to mock Yahweh, and to subdue and enslave the minds of His children.
To the contrary, a Theocracy, a nation run by priests, is the commanded model for a government on earth. It most closely resembles the government of Heaven. The seat of righteous government would be a place where the priest could pass judgments, and then be confident that the outcome of each judgment would be dealt with swiftly by Yahweh Himself. We are reminded of the scriptures about righteous justice in “The Ways of The Righteous” (#338). For the administration of justice will return to the ways of the righteous and the upright in heart will follow it. (Psalm 94:15) But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of Yahweh that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of the Messiah. (1 Corinthians 2:10-16) The time is near; the administration of justice will return to the ways of the righteous!
Man’s attempts to alter this Kingdom order will always fail for one perpetual reason; Yahweh does not change! (Malachi 3:6) Outside of a theocracy, a Constitutional Republic is the best attempt to mimic the Government of Heaven. If run well, it uses an unalterable document (a constitution) against which to base and weigh every decision of man. It is meant to guard the evil heart and desires of man from corrupting what has been previously established as unmovable. The inherent deficiency, however, is that the founding document is established by man in the first place. Secondly, many will inevitably ignore what it says, citing that it was written at another time for another people who had different values and needs. Because it is man-made, it can never match the fullness of what is the standard for a true governing body of Yahweh. His word is inerrant and timeless.
The uttermost failure enters when the idea of Democracy invades the Republic. It is often couched under the premise that in order to be “fair,” a free people need a voice. The concept that a “public servant” would be selected by a majority, and that this servant should then represent the desires of the majority, is the fulfilment of the ego’s master plan. Its aim is to hide that Yahweh is the majority of One!
Imagine living is Sodom or Gomorrah and being told, “Most of us agree with this debauchery, and so it is the law and you must to abide by it.” How about living in Babylon; “Everyone knows he is our leader, and whatever he says is the law. Doesn’t your scripture tell you to obey your governing authorities?” Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which the Almighty has established. The authorities that exist have been established by the Almighty. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what the Almighty has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1-2) Ouch! How can you defend against such an obvious mandate?
Is the word of the Most High demanding we submit to every authority as if appointed by Yahweh Himself? The children of Yahweh have been seduced into accepting the idea that they too are commanded to submit, even if represented by those who do not know Him, even to those who specifically implement laws that are blasphemous. If you have preached and practiced Romans 13:1-2 as such, the following words should pierce your soul this very moment. The key to understanding authority is found in Romans 13:4. “For the one in authority is the Almighty’s servant [minister] for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are the Almighty’s servants [ministers], agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” If you study what is meant by “good” you will find it is defined as inherently or intrinsically good; what originates from the Most High and is empowered by Him in the authority’s life, through faith. If you do the same for “servant” you will learn it means minister and refers to Yahweh inspiring His servants to carry out His plan for His people.
You must follow authorities who rule for good by what originates from the Most High; and who are empowered by Him in their lives through faith; and who are inspiring the people to carry out Yahweh’s plan. Conversely, He has commanded; do not bow to other might (“gods”); put no other might (“gods”) before Him. Yet, how quickly you make masters of authorities who do not measure up to Yahweh’s standards. And how quickly does the congregation of chosen adhere to and promote such heresy. Yahweh’s people are called to be the head and not the tail; the top and not the bottom (Deuteronomy 28:13).
Yes indeed, the evil genius is very effective and so subtle. Your light was supposed be set on a hill as a witness of your Father’s glory to the world, yet it has been hidden under a basket (Matthew 5:14-16). It has been dimmed due to fear and ignorance. Wake up; the days are few and the time is near. Remember loved one; Yahshua did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; He came to fulfill them (v. 17). The fact that the church would teach you otherwise is exactly why it has been fooled into promoting submission to unrighteous authority. But do not be mistaken; the administration of justice will return to the ways of the righteous, and it is coming soon!
America is not Israel
America is not Israyl
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(#340 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
Anyone who hails from the Father will bear His name. “But it is not that the word of the Mighty One has taken no effect. For they are not all Israyl who are of Israyl.” (Romans 9:6) Israyl: it means “those who strive with Almighty Yahweh.” “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israyl, because you have struggled with the Mighty One and with humans and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28) Israyl: thoughts and therefore a people ruled by Him who then become His witnesses to the nations. If you call upon His name (Romans 10:13) and are called by His name (Acts 15:17 from Amos 9:12), then you are Israyl, an overcomer with the Almighty. Before that time you were without the Messiah, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israyl and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without the Mighty One in the world. But now in the Messiah Yahshua you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. (Ephesians 2:12-13)
This is a small sample of what is common for people in the U. S. Is this a people who have been brought near?
Popular culture over Scriptural principles;
Traditions of men supersede the commands of Yahweh;
Broken oaths sworn to nameless “gods”;
Idolization of sports and entertainment heroes;
Pick-a-day, any-day Sabbaths;
Same sex “marriage”;
“Say no to drugs”;
Billions made on “prescribed” drugs;
Children on Ritalin;
Leaders with no knowledge of Scriptural truth;
Courts without priests;
Schools without prayer;
Democracy instead of Theocracy;
Civil rights instead of Sovereign rights;
Voting and not heavenly appointments;
Not Passover, but Easter;
Not the Feast of Tabernacles, but Christmas;
Not Yahweh, but “God”;
Not Yahshua, but Jesus;
Not work, but welfare;
Not worship, but rock and rap;
“My” church, not the Body of the Messiah.
And it goes on and on. We must remember; “For they are not all Israyl who are of Israyl.”
“And the beast [ruling empire of earth that denies all that is of Yahweh] that was [seven total previous to this], and is not [now passed and onto the final one], is himself [the ruling system of evil] also the eighth [the culmination of all previous empires], and is of [compiled of] the seven [Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, Germany], and is going to perdition [ruin, destruction, damnation].” (Revelation 17:11)
Tell me loved one; what nation on earth today contains the prophetic seeds of all these past pagan empires? And then declare from what commonwealth you hail, because they are not all Israyl who claim to be Israyl.
A High Calling Indeed
A High Calling Indeed
(#339 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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It is so crucial that the mental picture to imagine is best described as “imminently catastrophic.” It is the idea that any burden you experience first affects you personally, your mind and your loss of peace and joy, rather than how it affects your obedience to Yahweh’s commands. Meditate for a moment on that concept. Now consider this; the very fact that you experience a burden is disobedience itself. And the impending disaster is that you do not see it. It is critical you receive this.
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) He has taken your burdens; any you maintain on your own is disobedience. Whether you feel burdened for someone else or yourself, any yoke you attempt to carry is not of Him.
Now consider offenses. Do you experience offense due to your utmost desire to see Yahweh alone magnified, or is it personal? For instance: if your spouse is in an adulterous relationship, who are you burdened for? Is it a personal affront; is it about your spouse; or is it about the righteousness of Yahweh? To settle this matter is detrimental for you to begin developing a steadfast, immovable mind, an unoffendable mind! (Review “Unoffendable”: Suffer Well Devotion #295)
You would do well to consider, and you might just be astounded, how little concern you have that all sinful offences are first a rejection of Yahweh. Instead, if you receive the rejection or offense, it means that you fathom yourself “more worthy” than the offender. Yet, there is only One who is worthy to receive the offense for the Father. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5:12)! Next time you are tempted to be offended, ask yourself, “Am I offended by this for You Father, or for me?” This is a critical determination to make with every offense. “Is it my personal and self perceived ‘right,’ or is Yahweh alone right?”
And so what happens when you begin this reprogramming process, the shifting of your conscious behaviors? When you consider that He alone has first rights to ALL offenses, and you submit to this hierarchy in stature, you will find that your reward is soothing, peaceful, connected, reverent, silent, and beautiful beyond anything you have ever experienced. No offense loved one. Become unoffendable.
Offenses will come (Matthew 18:7), but you do not have to receive them. I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward the Almighty and men. (Acts 24:16) A high calling indeed loved one, a high calling indeed.
The Ways of The Righteous
The Ways of The Righteous
(#338 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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“For the administration of justice will return to the ways of the righteous and the upright in heart will follow it.” (Psalm 94:15)
Justification has only one source, Yahshua the Messiah. Justified: to be right; to make right. And, what was He sent to justify? His purpose was to turn the hearts (mindsets) of the children back to the Father. (Luke 1:17 from Malachi 4:5-6) He was to justify your mind!
How often He exhorted, “You have heard that it was said…. but I say to you….” In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, Yahshua introduces Himself as the great agent of change. But, was it the Law of His Father or the words of the prophets He came to modify? Let it not be! On the contrary, He said, “I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17) Fulfill? No, not do them for you, but rather to fill them with their fullest meaning. In other words, He came to correct your wrong thinking about them.
He was the agent who came to change the paradigms of your mind, not the truth of His Father’s word. His teachings exposed erroneous patterns of thought that men were learning from other men and then applying to their own belief system. Oftentimes, the deception was from purposeful misdirection; other times, it was simply ignorance. I think the modern term for such heresy is RELIGION. Yahshua is the premier anti-religion educator who, throughout all His instructions, reiterated one overarching theme: “Not your thoughts; not your will; but the will of the Father alone!”
In the Garden (protective thought realm controlled by Yahweh alone), the first Adam was given commands, not choices. “Eat from these trees, not from that one!” Never was man intended to “think” for himself. Failure came as Adam believed that he was given a choice to do other than what was commanded. Listen very closely loved one; If everything in the garden was in its perfect state (mental of course) before the fall, then “choosing” to do other than what was already commanded was no less than a quest to change perfection! You do the same when you “choose” your own way (self). You desire and attempt to “add” to or “take” from what is already perfect. Essentially, you are thinking, “I can do better than His perfection!” This same wrong thinking is what you might describe as “free will.” Listen closely! Your covetous desire and fierce determination for free will is really a rebellious determination for a will apart from the Father. Your resistance to this reality is very likely why you return to your vomit over and over again.
Big boy and big girl talk is where we have arrived. You are no longer infants on milk, but now are craving solid food. The doctrines of the immature must give way to deep spiritual substance. (Hebrews 5:12-14)
But the Mighty One has revealed [His hidden wisdom] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of the Almighty. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of the Mighty One except the Spirit of the Mighty One. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from the Almighty, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by the Mighty One.
These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of the Mighty One, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of Yahweh that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of the Messiah. (1 Corinthians 2:10-16)
And now the Psalm makes so much more sense! “For the administration of justice will return to the ways of the righteous and the upright in heart will follow it.” (Psalm 94:15) He who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
How a Bible Woman Should Act
How a Bible Woman Should Act
I will not be ruined
I Will Not Be Ruined
(#337 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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My friend, my brother, my confidant, and the co-author of this devotional journey; I cried to him on the phone; “I lost my family Jeff. It’s my fault; I lost them Jeff.” He listened to my weeping; he always does, and then he spoke. “I kind of see it like an investment Michael. If you sell while the markets are down, then of course it’s a loss. But if you hold on… [and at that very moment the mind of Yahweh came into my conscious thoughts] …if you hold on until the market turns…” Jeffrey and I talk about everything. For me, he is that friend who sticks closer than a brother; be warned, ruin awaits those who have unreliable friends (Proverbs 18:24). But, I will not be ruined.
“Don’t sell Michael; don’t quit.” Those words resonated in my mind later that afternoon, and do so even now, as my pen meets paper. I’m still here, my body still imprisoned. But, I will not be ruined. I still have hope, I still have dreams. I have followed the patterns and I am reminded today that obedience always leads to Spiritual fruit first, and the physical shadow will appear later. I will not be ruined. I am reminded of the fear I experienced battling to be free within, even though I remain slain in my physical existence. Though my body remains in captivity, yet will I serve Him! Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him! (Job 13:15) I will not be ruined.
To grow spiritual fruit often requires significant physical sacrifice (Romans 12:1), with no concern for return on investment for your flesh. Jeffrey spends many hours each day seeking the Father in prayer and then in editing the devotions in this body of work. Through that process he decides what the final work will say, piece by piece. It’s Kingdom economics loved one. The world would never ascribe to such unsound business practices. But, my friend Jeffrey does his accounting on a spiritual balance sheet in an upside down Kingdom.
If you have been reading along with us, hopefully you have met the Father, Son, and Spirit in a more intimate way. You have certainly met me. And, today I am glad that you get to meet a little more of Jeffrey. He’s your brother and perhaps a friend. One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24) I will not be ruined.
Do not be deceived: the Almighty cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:7-10)
Note from Jeff: Michael wanted this included, so I do so humbly and with my eyes ever focused upward. It is not I who lives… JH
No Regrets
No Regrets
(#336 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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Every thought says something, and there is only One who determines what each thought means. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25) We pray you have learned well from this body of work and that you continue to do so. The core of our time together has been to arouse you to aspire to the mind of the Messiah (1 Corinthians 2:16). Our hope is that pressing on to the goal to win that prize (Philippians 3:14) would become to you as oxygen. You first learn that you must, and then how you are able, to take each thought captive unto the obedience of the Messiah (2 Corinthians 10:5). It must become as natural to you as breathing. This journey is encapsulated well in Romans 12:2; “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind!”
With this, we move forward, and we do so with no regrets. Truly, no regrets; instead, we harvest the living fruit of what we have learned together. No more wishful reminiscing, “If I could just go back and change the past,” or “If I had it to do all over again.” These toxic thoughts just feed bad fertilizer to already fatally flawed, preconditioned mindsets. No good fruit will come of it! Regrets discount Yahweh’s Sovereignty! They say that the mistakes were not intended for good, yet He says all things work together for good… (Romans 8:28). These misgivings reveal a mind that has yet to evolve to its spiritual destiny. They display a mind that has yet to recognize and accept this eternal truth; “If I had not been through that, I could have never known what I know now.”
Do not resist the truth; Yahweh spins the universe on this reality. He has specifically designed it so that the mistakes, the willful sins, and the ignorance, all of it is His plan; and all of it is perfect. You see, while all of mankind was but dust, He declared the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that were not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.” (Isaiah 46:10) Yes, the Almighty saw everything that He had made, and declared that indeed it was very good (Genesis 1:31), even knowing that sin was coming (Genesis 3:6-7). All things would work for good because He declared the end of from the beginning, and in the end, the mind of the Messiah is in you.
It has always been so, but perhaps right now in this moment, you can better embrace a simple yet profound truth. You are right where you are supposed to be loved one. From Yahweh’s perspective, the only perspective that matters, there are no “coincidences”; there is no “luck”; there are no “mistakes”. Everything was approved before you ever existed, and He declared the end from the beginning and He said; “It is all very good.” No regrets loved one. No regrets.
Facing Fury
Facing Fury
(#335 from Suffer Well Devotional Series©)
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It starts with a question. Did you know that the road to perfection (the mind of the Messiah) reveals resentment towards Yahweh? For some, the resentment is obvious; for others, it is hidden in the secret places of the heart. For all, in order to reach the high calling, this resentment must be faced?
It begins with the acknowledgment that without the Messiah your heart remains deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; and that you do not even have a chance to recognize it without Him (Jeremiah 17:9). All of your thoughts, all of your “self,” can only ever produce total depravity. Even what you consider righteous is not cleaner than filthy rags without Him (Isaiah 64:6). You can better appreciate why when you consider that in order to be deemed perfect, even Yahshua had to acknowledge, “Of My own self, I can do nothing.” (John 5:30) The equivalent of those words for you loved one, would be, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body [totality of thoughts] of death?” (Romans 7:18; 24)
The acceptance of this reality causes a deep valley experience in your conscience: “If at my best, all I could ever produce on my own is a body of death, thoughts that are horrific and depraved, then only Yahweh can set me free from this depravity.” Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank the Almighty—through Yahshua the Messiah our Master! (Romans 7:24-25)
Everything contained within this thought: “O wretched man that I am!” is upheld in the totality of Scripture, and yet, at a certain point in the valley, this thought will birth in you, a fury you had never known existed, and this ferocity towards the Almighty Himself. From, “Please don’t let my will be done Father. Please don’t let me even attempt to think for myself;” to, “Why are you letting my thoughts still enter in Father? Why is my conscience still aware of thoughts that defy all that You say is true?” Your greatest longing will become the need to not think for yourself, and to never want your personal will to even enter the equation. And yet, it does! “Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; I know of myself I can only produce wickedness, and I repent of all that I am, yet You still leave this battle within my mind. You still let this wickedness win in me, my emotions being corrupted by it. Why? Why do You leave me like this? Why are You cruel to me?” These are the furious thoughts you will have to face on the road to perfection. You must come to the place where you realize that His timing in your personal resurrection (saved mind) is as much under His control as your redemption itself. This “why” is under His Sovereign control and will be revealed in His perfect timing. This was not intended to answer why for you loved one, but to inspire you to hold on. We can relate, and we hold on with you.
Here is your meditation; “I have been impaled [because it was and continues to be necessary] with the Messiah and I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of the Most High, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)