In this video I talk about what I feel God has taught me about The Day of the Lord, I go over a chapter in Isaiah and a poem I posted a couple weeks ago. Pray it stimulates some “stirring the deep” for this Day is significant to all of us and is upon us.
by Rachel 5 Comments
Obviously we can’t fully see as God sees, but as we draw near to Him we start to see life more from truth and spirit, thus from God’s perspective. One of the most transcending outlooks is seeing others from a framework of love, God’s love.
Each one of us is a beautiful creation of God. We are precious to Him whether rebelling or walking in His will, thus we should be valued to one another. Certainly God doesn’t like it when we rebel for it creates extensive harm to us and others, and conversely it delights Him for us to walk in truth, but His love is for all. 3 John 1:4 John 3:16 We are cherished children beloved by God no matter the mud (corruption from going our own way) covering us.
Luke 15:10 “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
We are to love others as God loves us. John 15:12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” When we see others from a perspective of God’s love, it testifies to His love in us. His love is merciful, forgiving, void of pride, rejoices in truth, unchanging, not self-seeking, pure, patient, thinks no evil, and everlasting. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
As we treat others, so we treat Christ, their Creator. As we treat others is how we treat ourselves.
Matthew 25:40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
In Christ all is forgiven. As we abide in the Truth (discipleship), the corruption or mud is washed away, and God’s magnificent creation starts to shine through. Wherever we are in our “deep cleansing”, God sees past all the corruption to the soul He created to be a reflection of Him. He sees us this way because He has already dealt with the corruption in Christ. Though a very important process, becoming restored in His righteousness is simply a fulfillment of who we already are in Christ. Colossians 2:10 Hebrews 13:21 Phil 1:6
John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
Today, pray and seek to know God; to know how He sees you, others and His love for us. It will change you and the world around you. Pray to be able to look past the mud and to the souls loved by God and needing to be free, thus needing to know His love. Seek to be filled with God’s love to give those souls a love of mercy, forgiveness, kindness, and patience. Don’t judge for there is no condemnation in Christ, He paid it all. Romans 8:1 Don’t condemn you or others. And there is no room for pride, for we are all the same, God’s workmanship, just at different stages of becoming truly clean.
By God’s counsel, as you start to see yourself as you are, you become who you were meant to be because the lies fall away. Give others this same gift.
1 Timothy 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
Mark 12:30-31 ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
by Rachel 8 Comments
Being a disciple of Christ, the Truth, is fundamental and essential to life in Him and becoming the temple of God …
My dear children,
I love you with an everlasting love. It will never fail as My will and My ways will never fail. How I’ve longed to have you close in my bosom, but you’ve rebelled. You wanted someone between us ruling over you just as your Fathers did. I wasn’t enough. Though you’ve rebelled following the traditions and commandments of men and have neglected to seek Me as I’ve commanded, my love remains still. You’ve settled for far less. You’ve been happy to dwell in the pit ruled by one who wars against your soul. I’ve come. I’ve made a way out of the darkness. Come into my marvelous light. Stop putting copycats of My love and truth as head in your life. I’m the head. Put all aside and seek and follow Me. I’ve given you all you need to know Me and My ways, My Spirit.
Stop looking to this world and your own strength. Look to Me to show you truth and to fill you with all the strength you’ll ever need.
I have only desired good for you. My wrath kindles against wickedness and its dominion over you, but not you. Know the difference.
How I long to be the perfect Father, Husband and Friend. Come to Me and learn from Me and this is who you’ll find. Put all other traditions and works that keep you from Me aside and seek Me and live.
My presence is here. The Kingdom has come. Look and you’ll see I am very close to you.
Forsake all other philosophies that lead to emptiness and bondage and seek truth from My lips. Be still and listen, and My words will fill your mind and heart to renew your broken and damaged souls. I am the Healer, the Deliverer. I am your God. There is no other and no other who loves your soul as I do. I am here. Open your eyes to see Me and you’ll find heaven has come to earth.
Your Heavenly Father
by Rachel 6 Comments
In my past, I had a pattern in my relationships of judging, rejecting and walking away. But I thank God for showing me, and reworking this pattern in my life.
Luke 6:37 Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Over the years, God has shown me the extent of my judgment of others, which was crafted in and by my flesh nature. It was derived from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thus playing my own judge, instead of eating of the tree of life in which only God is judge and we are governed by His Spirit, not our judgments.
Like most areas requiring “purging the dross”, it amazed me how blind I was to my judging thoughts … even after years of seeking God. The web of lies we craft is vast, and the lies are deeply intertwined so that the renewing of our mind is a process that requires much patience. Romans 12:2 To break this bondage in my life, the Holy Spirit had to address other lies first. There may be more to come, but when we are receptive to His instruction, we move forward. And remember, we don’t even judge our own path. Leave all judgments to God who abounds in love and mercy.
1 Corin 4:3-4 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 the Lord.
I never saw my thoughts as God revealed them to be because as Jeremiah says our heart is deceitful and most of all to ourselves. Jeremiah 17:9 This is why we need One greater than us and beyond us to reveal and renew. This is the work of the Holy Spirit; to build in us new frameworks to think by that are established in Truth. Our part is to receive those frameworks by engaging His work in us by listening, praying, abiding in the Word, and submitting to His counsel as He directs.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We are to love not judge. Judging entails condemnation. Loving entails forgiveness and mercy.
Take the example of children. Running into the street can cause harm; they could get hit by a car. So if a child is headed into the street, we tell them no and redirect them. We don’t judge them in condemnation because we know they are acting based on what they know or don’t know. They are acting on their prior experiences and level of understanding. They are acting in ignorance, so we don’t judge, we teach and help.
All those under the sway of the evil one, which is the whole world, are as children who don’t know. People are blinded by the lies, and therefore they live by them as if they are truth. If they knew the Truth their actions would be different. Each one of us acts based on our personal experiences and understanding; whether good or bad, right or wrong. We need to give others and ourselves the same mercy, love and care we give children. Thus, when people act in harmful ways, we are to love and exhort them, not condemn.
Projecting our Mindset onto Others
Matthew 7:4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
An interesting aspect to this issue is beyond the exterior, the only judgment we can really have is our own interpretation of a situation based on our particular framework. All we know is our own mind, not another’s. We’ve never experienced another’s mind. So when we judge, we are really judging ourselves. When we judge we are assuming we know another’s mind because we are projecting our framework onto them. We think … if I acted that way this is what it would mean. But it isn’t us but them. Everyone’s perspective varies to some extent because no one has lived the exact same life. We can warn people of harmful situations, behaviors, modes of thought, we can help them from having walked certain paths ourselves, but we can’t judge them.
Romans 2:1 Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
The Apostle Paul constantly corrected the young believers in the Bible, but he didn’t condemn them. He warned them of the dangerous paths they were walking. His heart broke for them. He loved them. We are to follow that example. This flows right into the concept of speaking evil of no one. (video) Would you speak evil of a child running into the street? Regardless of the actions of others, there is no need to speak evil of them. It doesn’t accomplish anything and yet has harmful ripple affects. We aren’t helping anyone. Now, we can warn others of people. For example, if I have a friend listening to a one teaching false doctrine, I need to warn them that their words aren’t in accordance with truth. Yet, that is very different than slandering them and judging them as a person.
Imagine if no one judged another, not even themselves but exhorted in love. If this post struck a chord in you, seek instruction from the Holy Spirit and see what He speaks to you about this area. Seek for Him to renew your mind and spirit to release all judgment and instead love and help others; to do to others as you would have them to do you.
Who do you give “authority” to?
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
Above is one of the most popular childhood rhymes that needs a little dissecting, because most of us have been corrupted, damaged, and lived a life of pain because of the words of others, words spoken by those we gave and still give “authority” to.
People speak and act according to how they are not according to the object of their words and actions. Yet, far too often we’ve internalized the damaging words and actions of others. And God wants to free us.
There are many forms of this truth, but let’s take someone lashing out at another. When someone delivers a verbal barrage of negativity, it’s about them not the recipient. The problem is most people own other people’s words when it aligns with concepts spoken to them in the past by “authorities”. When someone lashes out then the recipient thinks something is wrong with them or it’s about them, when the painful delivery has nothing to do with them. How a person acts is all about them; not the recipient. But if their actions and words line up with what an authority figure in their lives spoke, especially a parent or an influential figure of their childhood, they will believe it and internalize the other’s baggage making it a part of who they are.
For example, if someone lost the car keys … I could call them an idiot for being so careless, or not even say a word but in my mind think what an idiot for being so careless. Either way, they would feel the condemnation because people respond to what we give off, not just our words. Matt 5:28 OR I would know we all do forgetful things, help them find the keys, and develop a strategy so they won’t lose them in the future. Consider the impact of the two responses on the recipient. The first would probably make them feel bad about themselves because most people incorrectly own others negative reactions toward them, especially if it was in line with what an authority figure said. The second would be uplifting and helpful.
The greatest impact of this dynamic is with children, which we all were at one point so consider what “baggage” you’ve owned from others. With children, the parents usually have the greatest authority in their lives, what they say the children believe without question and own it as their truth. Whatever they say, the children believe and manifest in their lives. If the parents said they were a loser, then that is how they will grow up unless or until they have a higher authority tell them differently at some point. This is just what children do, they believe their parents. Children don’t have the experience to realize that how their parents speak to them is about them and not the child. They don’t have a more powerful authority in their lives to tell them otherwise. Calling a child a loser has nothing to do with himself, and everything about the parent, which at one time it had nothing to do with that parent until he heard it from his parents and so on. This is an example of how sin spreads like cancer, because most people own other people’s baggage. 2 Timothy 2:17
You see how lies are passed along. How faulty frameworks about who we are formed. We all grow up with lies by owning others’ baggage. Lies make a train wreck of our lives, but Christ came to rewrite our lives and who we are. He came to show us who we truly are; beautiful, bountiful, blissful, boundless, bold, beloved, and blessed. What we believe we manifest. Many are manifesting the pain of others because they took ownership of their pain by believing their words. Christ came to set us free. John 8:32
As we mature spiritually, we realize that God is our authority, therefore we listen to what He says. When we do listen to Him, our framework changes and we learn that all the negativity spoken to us was about the speaker’s pain and baggage, and had nothing to do with us. If they were different and didn’t have their own bondage they would have never spoken that way to others. This understanding of their bondage is key to forgiveness and love that covers a multitude of sins.
Words are incredibly powerful when they come from someone we’ve given authority to. Who we give authority to dictates our life, because authority manifests belief. What we believe in we create as our reality. If we give someone authority, then we trust what they say and make their words are truth. Consider the authorities in your life, parents, doctors, PHDs, field experts, spouses, friends, political talking heads, and religious leaders. What kind of path have they led you on? This isn’t blaming, but taking responsibility for what we hold as truth and who we’ve placed as authorities in our lives who shouldn’t be.
If you still have misplaced authorities, it’s time to dethrone them. Psalm 1:1 THE authority in our lives should be God. Others can confirm what He tells you, but He should be THE authority – because He will speak ONLY truth to you. When He is your authority, you are on the path to tremendous freedom. Freedom from all others’ judgment, opinions, comments, and actions. Thus, freedom from others’ pain and bondage. Freedom from the lies. Freedom to be who you were created to be, someone magnificent because that is the kind of creator God is. Freedom to live a new life and a new reality. We are simply covered in the mud of lies so that is all we can see of ourselves. As mud washes off, God’s truth washes us clean. Putting people as authorities in our lives is putting our lives in the wrong hands. If you truly want to live free, then your authority must be God.
Consider Jesus did anyone alter what He thought and knew about who He was? No. He knew the Truth and His authority was God.
So as long as people are putting others in authority who shouldn’t be the lies spread generation to generation. Misplaced authority manifests false beliefs, and false beliefs manifest a life of suffering and bondage. Our beliefs determine our lives.
Instead of owning the baggage and lies of others, find your identity in Christ and respond with love. In love, tell them it’s not acceptable and look beyond the surface to that bound soul from which came such anger, bitterness, resentment, pain, self-pity, blame, criticalness, and judgment. They need deliverance too. They need love. We all do.
John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Eternal life is knowing God … what this means for our journey on this earth.
Living Light