Allow Father to set your priorities
She speaks them to your heart
If you will only listen
The Narrow Path you will not depart.
Father knows better than anyone
The pressures you are under
The ways they pull at you for your time
And energy can be greatly numbered.
Without our Father’s guidance
The world will creep inside
Our hearts, our minds, our needs, our wants
To earthly things we’re tied
But if you stop and pray and listen
As much as you can do
You will be in the world not of it
A new heart will be given to you.
Self–restraint
Function:noun
Text: 1 the power to control one's actions, impulses, or emotions<she demonstrated a near-unnatural self-restraint during the fight>
2 the checking of one's true feelings and impulses when dealing with others<we must practice self-restraint even with people who are deliberately rude>--
Self-restraint is something that people in this world don’t always exhibit or show in great quantities. In fact, the opposite is often the case. We see excessive, extravagant, immoderate, indiscriminate, lawless, loose, rampant, riotous, unbridled, unchecked, uncontrolled, uninhibited, wanton and wild behavior from one end of the globe to the next in one form or another.
2 Timothy 3:2-4
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God
One thing we know about our Heavenly Father is that She is a Father of order and has great restraint. In turn, She expects the same from Her children. The opposite can be said of Her enemy Satan, for he wants a world where anything goes and there are no restraints or laws. But we know that his time is short and the time of our Lord and Savior’s Kingdom is drawing near.
2 Thessalonians 2
The Man of Lawlessness
1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come. 3 Don't let anyone deceive you in any way. For [that day] will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.
Matthew 13:41
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather from His kingdom everything that causes sin and those guilty of lawlessness.
Lawless, unrestrained, wild behavior will not be allowed in the Kingdom. Without laws and restraint you have no order, no control, no safety, no peace. But we are assured by our Father who keeps Her word that there will be a time of peace.
Leviticus 26:6
I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to frighten [you]. I will remove dangerous animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.
One thing I have personally noticed about self-restraint is the more you exercise, the more you have. This can be applied to parenting our children, being a courteous driver, remaining debt free… but rather than focusing on individual areas I would rather reflect on bringing glory to our God Yahweh. For me, that means using restraint in every area of my life. Now, I’m not saying this is necessarily easy for me, but it is certainly necessary. Also, I am far from perfect in this. But I know in my heart that in order to be in union with Father and Christ I must master this. This means listening to Father speaking to my heart more and making clear choices about how I act and react in any given circumstance.
Proverbs 17:27
The intelligent person restrains his words, and one who keeps a cool head is a man of understanding.
2 Peter 1:6
knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,
And finally…our Father's perfect example of how She exhibits restraint.
Isaiah 48:9
I will delay My anger for the honor of My name, and I will restrain Myself for your benefit and [for] My praise, so that you will not be destroyed.
When faced with a situation where we feel we are losing control, sometimes the best thing to do is give ourselves a time-out. Emotions and impulses can be very strong, but if you cannot exercise self-restraint then the next best thing is to close your mouth and simply walk away for a while. It is far more difficult to undo what you have done than to simply come back to it in a better frame of mind.
May Father's peace fill you this week.
Amen.
Recently my Sister Regina was given the vision of a running shoe and immediately what came to mind was a scripture written by Paul about The Race.
2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
However, after doing a search on the words the race we found another scripture that was perhaps more fitting to our ministry.
Hebrews 12:1[ The Call to Endurance ] Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us,
So what exactly is this race the authors of these letters are referring to? Well, for me it is both a symbolic and literal race of endurance and the track or course is a metaphor for the narrow path. There are times I feel very tired but will never consider giving up. It is not a race you can train for, but one in which strength and endurance are gained while running.
This race is also one in which you must use your mind just as athletes do when they run races, gauging how and when to jump hurdles, when to increase speed and when to slow….. what pace to run in order not to deplete your energy stores. The hurdles are perhaps symbolic for trials and tribulations in our lives. They might also be sin, or temptation. Are we able to jump over them completely? Do we trip on them and stumble? Do we fall down completely? If so, do we get up or just lie down and give up? All these things are part of the race/walk with Father and Christ. For me personally, I know that Father is always there and that She won’t desert me as long as I stay faithful to Her.
Looking at another part of the verse, the weight spoken of may be seen as worldly things such as materialism, vanity, pride, envy, covetousness, addiction, all the things that pull us away from Father. If we can shrug these things off it certainly makes running the race and jumping the hurdles much easier. I think it sort of gives a whole new meaning to the term “baggage”. Can you honestly picture yourself walking around with some of these things piled on top of you, having a close personal relationship with Father and Christ? Yes, its true that They will help unburden you, but you must also do the work too. You must willingly give up worldly things and turn to The Way. If any of you are interested in reading The Way we are happy to share that document with you.
Taking another look, who might this large cloud of witnesses surrounding us be? If you’ve been with this Ministry for a while you have heard us talk about holy angels and holy ghosts. You might think that the witnesses would be the holy angels, but actually it would be the holy ghost observers that hold those positions. There are 144,000 holy ghost orders, and out of those orders are made the observers. When something happens on earth or in the spirit realm that necessitates witnesses they are called upon to testify. They do not do their jobs alone, but travel in groups.
Deuteronomy 19:15
[ Witnesses in Court ] "One witness cannot establish any wrongdoing or sin against a person, whatever that person has done. A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Now, let me back up a bit. The large cloud of witnesses I believe is actually speaking not only of the holy ghost observers, but also of the spirit realm in general. The spirit realm for many people is invisible, but for others it does appear to float around them, thus the correlation to the clouds. So you see, once again The Word is many layered in Truth and meaning.
Finally, I want to address “running with endurance the race that lies before us”. This is such an important line in the scripture. I see it as first, showing believers that the journey on the narrow path is not a 60 meter sprint. Nor is it a steeplechase. But it could be seen as similar to a marathon with steeplechase elements thrown in. Yes, running this sort of race takes A LOT of endurance, but Father will not put us through anything more than we are capable of handling if we just turn to Her for strength and guidance. Does this mean we aren’t allowed to stumble or fall down from time to time? No, of course not. But it does mean that we aren’t allowed to STAY DOWN. We aren’t allowed to GIVE UP. We MUST get back up and keep running the race regardless, always moving toward Father and Christ. That, my friends, is the difference.
The Spiritual Bride of Christ has been picked for the End Times. The new Spiritual Bride is the Light of Life Ministry. Our spiritual marriage is our ministry to serving Christ by sounding the Word’s message truthfully. Those shepherds that have failed Christ will all get annihilated at Armageddon, or sent to dark realms if they cross first, for being the “blind leading the blind.” Christ has inspected his Shepherds and found that they are not revealing the truth to his flock. They have been twisting scriptures and teaching false doctrine. They are for the most part, holier than thou, power hungry, selfish to their own needs and greedy. Christ also said that they were “disloyal, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, unthankful, headstrong, disobedient to their calling, puffed up with pride and having a form of Godly devotion but proving false to the Holy Spirit. For that they were termed betrayers as well. They worship and teach their lies in vain. Always learning, but never coming to an accurate knowledge; and spreading their folklore manure on creation to their own detriment.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation—in Him when you believed—were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Ephesians 1:22-23 “And He put everything under His feet and appointed Him as head over everything for the church, which is His body, the fullness of the One who fills all things in every way.”
2 Corinthians 11:2-3 “For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, because I have promised you in marriage to one husband—to present a pure virgin to Christ. But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be corrupted from a complete and pure devotion to Christ.”
Revelation 19:9 “Then he said to me, “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”
If there is one thing I have learned about coming to an accurate knowledge of the Truth, on becoming a minister for Christ and Father, is that those who truly are footstep followers of Christ walk around with an invisible target on them. You may initially think that I am speaking metaphorically that I am a target for those who wish to do evil to those who do the Lord’s work. Actually I’m not. Yes, there are bad people in the world that would like to do me harm, but I am also a target for those who oppose the Holy side. Yes, Satan knows who I am. But I am not afraid. Because My God Yahweh has given me the strength and the knowledge and the faith that I need to stay the course. I will not be moved.
All throughout The Bible there are stories of prophets, priests, chosen ones, apostles and regular people who are persecuted in one way or another by evil. Evil seeks to pull you down, tear you apart, slowly eroding your heart like sand, piece by piece or in one big explosion. The goal is to drive a wedge between you and your Creator Yahweh. How big that divide becomes is in direct relation to how you respond to this process known as testing.
There are a number of forms of attack. Thought injection is the main form demons use against us. They plant ideas into our minds to cheat on our spouses, steal from our employers, lie to our families. They can lead us to make decisions that cause us to feel guilt and shame. But when it comes to our relationship with Father and Christ, they are on a mission like no other.
Probably one of the first things they try to do is to keep us from believing in Father and Christ at all. Perhaps instead they might try to get us to worship someone or something else or maybe nothing at all.
Next, if they can’t separate us from our Creator, their goal is to twist The Truth in The Bible and make us lean on our own understandings. I think we’ve all seen people or ministers who have done that.
Finally, they continue to work on the faith of believers in Christ and Father. Now, you wouldn’t think that would be an easy thing to do. But we all go through things that are traumatic in life that might shake our foundations. However, whatever we go through, Father and Christ remain the same. Their love and the promises They’ve made to us remain the same. However, once saved isn’t always saved and you have to work at remaining on the narrow path.
Being a Christian automatically makes you a target for testing. How you stand up to it depends on what your faith is built upon. Is Christ your Solid Rock Foundation? Or is yours made up of sinking sand?
Stop. Imagine. Visualize.
Suddenly and without warning, your children have all appeared to have died simultaneously, suddenly and without cause. The same has happened with every parent you know. Their children are gone as well.
Many of the adults you knew as family, friends or acquaintances are gone as well – only not in the same numbers as the children.
It does not appear to be the rapture, as their bodies have been left behind and have not disappeared leaving a pile of clothes as popular Christian theories or books have claimed.
But it is.
Amidst all of this, in the sky appear millions of aircrafts that are “UFO” in nature. The government tells you that it’s an alien invasion.
There is chaos in the streets. Your own neighbors are now raping, pillaging and killing one another for food and water.
Armageddon has begun and you’re one of the one’s left behind.
How do you feel? What are you thinking? What do you do?
As has been prophesied, do you curse God for what has befallen you?
Isaiah 8:21They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.
Don’t. Because: Exodus 21:17 "Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death.”
You still may have a chance, if only you humble yourself.
Proverbs 3:33-34 The LORD’s curse is on the household of the wicked but He blesses the home of the righteous; He mocks those who mock, but gives grace to the humble.
A second rapture may take place, but it is not guaranteed. If it does occur, it will happen soon after the first rapture but it is dependent on whether or not humble hearts are found.
Zephaniah 2:2, 3 "before the decree takes effect and the day passes like chaff, before the burning of the LORD's anger overtakes you, before the day of the LORD's anger overtakes you. Seek the LORD, all you humble of the earth, who carry out what He commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be concealed on the day of the LORD's anger."
Each week our Ministry has 2 Bible Studies over the weekend. They are held on Friday and Sunday evenings and all are welcome to attend. We open each study evening with prayer asking our Heavenly Father to guide us in understanding better those things She wishes to reveal, but that isn’t when Bible Study actually begins for me.
I prepare for Bible Study by having a personal Bible Study before hand. I pray to Father for guidance. I read the material we are covering and consider the deeper meanings of the scriptures. I read the questions that will be asked and meditate on the possible answers. And I write everything that Father places in my heart down to share with the rest of the attendees.
That isn’t to say that more doesn’t come to me in Bible Study. In fact, it does. My brothers and sisters share what Father has placed in their hearts also, which is usually different than (but never wrong) what I have. We all grow x the number of people in our group. But there is also something else that happens that isn’t planned….
Father grants additional Wisdom to us all by helping us make even more connections than we previously had made in preparation for the night. By this, I mean in addition to each others answers, She places even more insight into our hearts that we hadn’t considered or hadn’t seen. It is such a gift and almost indescribable except to say that it feels like your heart grows in the most wonderful way. Without Father guiding us, we would only have knowledge and understanding of the words within The Bible. But with Her, She provides the Wisdom that unlocks the deeper, hidden meanings we so desperately want and need to be in union with Her and Her son.
Proverbs 2
Wisdom's Worth
1 My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
2 listening closely to wisdom
and directing your heart to understanding;
3 furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it like hidden treasure,
5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and discover the knowledge of God.
The other Sunday I was listening to the radio while driving, and there happened to be a sermon on. I don’t usually listen for very long to broadcast sermons because I always find some ½ truth in it and then I turn it off. This happened again on Sunday.
The topic was Adam and Eve. Very briefly, the pastor was explaining Adam’s predicament after Eve had eaten the fruit. He could 1. abandon her 2. intercede for her 3. eat the fruit too. Now, this pastor thought he had this all figured out. By doing the first, Adam would be following the first, most important commandment and putting God above all else. By doing the second, he might be able to avert judgment for Eve. By doing the third, this “shepherd” reasoned, he would be following the second most important commandment and loving his neighbor as himself.
Now, to his flock I’m sure this all sounded like good, sound reasoning. But there is a major flaw in this reasoning. Adam and Eve did not have he Law of Moses. They did not have the 10 Commandments. It was very early in creation and Adam and Eve were like children. They knew nothing of sin or of sinful behavior. Everything in existence was in complete harmony and balance with Yahweh. And so, in teaching Her children their first lessons, Father gave them only one command, and that was to NOT eat the fruit of that tree.
Genesis 2:15-17 The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."
Now, it is certainly safe to say that Adam and Eve knew that they had to obey Father. She was their God, the One who gave them life and the One who told Adam about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But for the “shepherd” mentioned above to reason out that for Adam to eat the fruit he was following the second commandment is false teaching! Adam ate the fruit because he loved Eve more than he loved Father. Adam knew that Eve was going to die and he couldn’t imagine living without her. Adam chose Eve over Father. It was sinning with intent. He knew that tasting the fruit Eve was offering him was the same as committing suicide.
The simple point I am trying to make is this. Yes, The Word is a jigsaw puzzle. However… you must be careful, because the pieces don’t always go together the way you think they do at first glance. You must always pray and seek guidance from Father when pondering and meditating on scriptures.
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