Good morning blessings, thank you for joining me today on this ROF ministry broadcast.  Today is a solemn day it would seem.  A day in which we call for an assembly to gather around, to plead with the Father to intervene when the truth of man’s hearts are revealed to surface such hatred and murder – and I often wonder how much more heartbreak my own heart can withstand.  Jesus wept, being moved by compassion and my heart weeps these past few days due to compassion, as well.  I may be dressed right now, but spiritually I am wearing sackcloth and ashes – desperate times do call for desperate measures.  These certainly are the days of sorrows, aren’t they?  At the moment I don’t find anything funny, joyful or happy – the Lord has told us to mourn with those who mourn…  Sometimes I want to just walk right out of my skin – I was saying yesterday, how I am ashamed to be a white person.  If that is offensive to anyone, I am sorry – yet, not sorry.  Because it is how I am feeling and I like to keep things real.  Most of you know me by now…  I don’t put on religious fronts or spiritual coverings to look holy and high… I’m done with man telling me how to be, how to feel or even if I am to feel…  I pray you all are getting to that place too, where the only one you desire to please or the One Who formed you, fearfully and wonderfully – just as you are and who you are, the real you – that has emotions, dreams, is raw and bare, with all layers and facades – is who you really are – I love that person in you – just YOU, before the World told you who to be and man got his unholy fingertips on you, forming you into something tainted by influences outside of the forces of love.

Those who love…. Look weak and are perceived less than all the time.  I mean those who don’t just say love, but are love.  The peacemakers, the pure, the poor in spirit, those that mourn and hunger and thirst for righteousness, who show mercy at every turn and are persecuted for meekness and seek peace with all men.  They are reviled for innocence and never seek revenge or war.  These are those who always reflect within when turmoil comes to their doorstep, not seeing through the construct of offense.  They don’t provoke, as a matter of fact they often suffer in silence and will walk a mile to avoid an argument.  These are who we are going to talk a little about today because they are a few of you – very few, as a matter of fact and believe me you do not go unnoticed.  Not by me you don’t and if others would admit it – you are admired by many who you confound.  They want to be like you and can’t, so they try to manipulate and form you into their image.  Sometimes you do give way to the pressure don’t you but it is short lived because YOU are one of the little ones Jesus will never lose out of His hand.  You are precious in His sight and He continually watches over you – You have angels guarding your every move, insuring the innocence and purity of you stays intact.  When others mess with you, they are messing with the apple of His eye and one day, the whole World will be judged by how they treated you – good or bad, rewards and sentences will be handed out on your behalf.  In some sort of way you are the temptation to do good or evil people are presented with when they come face to face with you.  What is done to you – is actually done to Jesus, Himself.  Chances are you don’t even know this about yourself because you just simply follow the Lamb wherever He goes, having no guile or rather bitterness within the inside of you – no vengeance to repay, no axe to grind or hateful or snide remark.  You will find these little ones in the most secret of places.  They are hidden as the homeless on the streets, they are in bars and behind bars, they are prostitutes and drug addicts, they sit in pews and some are fearful to venture to places where man rules over others, they are disembodied and some are disabled, they are fatherless children and single mothers, widows who have been put away by many husbands and our broken brothers.  They are red and yellow and black and white – they are the castaways, Messiah’s misfits, the rejected and nullified… The ones that are no Earthly good, tossed and thrown away.  The religious see them as lepers – which can be spiritual or physical, wounds no priest or holy person desire to touch.  Whether that be of the heart or body, we are not too pretty to be placed upon the holy alters of the religious.  Inside us is a soul crying out – Can I just be me?  And all the religious echoes chime in – take up your bed and walk…  They spit words on us as they pass by to their self-imposed synagogues while they see the obvious sins of us – like wandering stars they hide their own.   If this is you – You are the beautiful ones, the blessed ones, you are the one who Jesus leaves all 99 for to come after just you.  That is just how precious you are as His lost sheep.  Do you know why?  Because of your heart.  Your heart is precious, it is meek and lowly, moldable in His hands – You are the exact one He seeks to use to be His hands and feet.  YOU are chosen to be entrusted with something He cannot trust another with.  Do you know what that is?  The hearts of those He so dearly loves.  He knows due to your sensitive nature to love, He can send His most prized possessions to you to love and cherish.  You have gone through so much in your own life and yet you seek no one to blame.  You have seen God and died, to the flesh that is, because you know already you not worthy to be saved.  You are the ones who pick up your cross of suffering daily, the one in the crowd who would only stand up to carry the cross of another if it meant they could take another step.  You are seen by Him and not heard by the masses as competition does not rule in your ego, knowing there is only One Who is right and He is way above your paygrade.  You avoid debate and strife while your heart cries out on behalf of those caught in the crosshairs of death.  Chances are this very moment your heart is breaking for the chaos and confusion, crying come Lord Jesus come and you don’t have words to describe His appearing or dictating how – just pleading for His intervention to deliver and rescue a lost a dying World that you certainly do not belong in, but here you are.  You do not seek to save your own life and know this World is not your home, you never fit in with the ways of the World or the devices of men.  You are homesick almost every day, with a longing no human can explain and yet are shamed for it.  You are His, He is yours – you have truly found the one who your soul loves – Jesus, being redeemed out of the World, although still in it, you whole-heartedly are not of it. 

If I described you just now… I have a promise for you, found in Mathew 5 called The Beatitudes.  These are special words Jesus spoke to His very close and personal friends… His disciples, the called out ones, the chosen ones, the ones He handpicked by the gauge of their hearts – those who had a heart of a servant which reflected His own, moldable, free of preconceived religious knowledge or were wise in their own eyes. 

Before Jesus spoke the Sermon on the Mount – as many call it, the Word calls these, the Beatitudes – He passed through the multitudes of people who were following Him, going up onto the mountain, inviting only His disciples to join Him that day.  So that is what I am going to do, as well…  This message is more for my fellow disciples of Christ.  The word disciple actually stems from the word “discipline.”  A disciple of Jesus, simply has a student’s servant’s heart for Him as teacher and longs for the discipline of the Lord.  Of course, we can add a lot more to that statement, but in simplicity a disciple sits at His feet in surrendered submission inwardly of the heart. 

So He gathered only them around Himself and began to speak to them what it looks like to “reflect the mark of the higher calling.”  And with that higher calling one loses their own mind, will, emotions, desires, plans – pulled into the Kingdom of Heaven, leaving all things behind to follow Jesus.  It is not just words, it is action – a walk to lay down your life fully – no longer your own, having been bought with a price – knowing the only reward you will receive on this side of Heaven is Jesus.  It is for those who can hold onto that promise each and everyday when the boat is rockin in the storm of your life. 

One of the reasons I love the Beatitudes is how comforting the message here is to the soul.  When reading this Scripture one must let go of the mind, becoming one in heart and soul with Jesus.  With each portion of this scripture there is an anointed promise to those who follow Him and seek Him within the innermost part of our beings – which is the seat of desire – our hearts.

Only the pure in heart can see Him because He is pure.  All flesh is destroyed in His presence, no flesh is saved in the presence of holiness of the incorruptible.  The word tells us to guard our hearts because out of it flows all our issues.  I guess you could say our hearts speak the truth of us in ways words do not, our actions are led by the heart, reflective in all that we do.  Actions define what resides within us as truth.  We may say we love Jesus or even others, but our hearts are far from Him and others when our actions do not align with our speech.  This is why I do not like empty promises… the intent of something is not the truth unless it manifests the fruit promised or spoken, otherwise it is an idle word, falling to the ground, withered and dead. 

• When we are after God’s own heart – we follow after HIM, we hunger for more of Him in that we become God centric and all our desires set us apart from the World – what we hunger for, dream about, thirst for reflect His righteous ways.  The Lord desires our whole hearts to be His, not just a portion of us, but all of us.
• Rules are seated in the mind along with knowledge – to know about the Lord or His word is not definitive of a relationship of knowing HIM – knowing about Him does not replace knowing Him.  Knowledge about Him is good of course, but remember He is after the heart, not the mind.  Analytical minds are confounded by His ways, words, teachings, etc…  But those who worship Him in spirit and truth have nothing held back from them because they receive of Him fully.
• The Word tells us the Lord judges the intentions of our hearts – meaning is what we say and do sincere or for self-gain.  Is it for His glory alone because He has His rightful placement on the throne of our hearts?
• When He is on the throne – our love is deepened towards Him and others, He becomes the single object of our affection over anyone else – He stirs this awakened longing within us as we seek Him so that we may thirst and be quenched by the source of love itself – Him, so that we are satisfied, never looking for other lovers to fill that void, which only He can sustain.
• The closer we get to Jesus – we supernaturally begin to separate from all that does not align with Him – it is a freeing and breaking process that is need based as we sever all ties with unholy alliances, unpermitted in the Kingdom of God.
• Trials of this life draw us ever so nearer to Jesus so this love is genuine within us, when the heart is pure – exposure no longer is an issue because darkness cannot remain where light resides.  In this process we let go and let God, no longer seeking to hide in fear of darkness exposed.  Those with nothing to hide, hide nothing, including being exposed.  It is the deceit of the heart which seeks to remain hidden and yet all stand before Him with unveiled faces, laid bare and exposed so the truth of who we are remains.  Idols are stripped in that no self, pride or hierarchy objects have placement over Him.  Trials purify anything not of Him out of us.
• The purity of the heart is as maintained by the Holy Spirit as gills are to fish in order to breathe as everything must cross the barrier of the Holy Spirit to enter inside us after we have surrendered to Him.  To the pure all things are pure by this principal.
• The new creature is overjoyed by His presence in new ways, as who the Lord sets free is free indeed – free from all that binds and tears down, moving by and with the Holy Spirit.  Often saying no, when we want to say yes or sitting still when we want to go.  I have found the Spirit is quite often in opposition with what I want to say or do.
• Our pleasure is found secretly in righteousness, the passion of the Lord is very sweetly gentle and unmatched here on Earth and we don’t really have Earthly words to describe it to another – it is just a knowing, once you’ve tasted His presence of the Heavenly gift.  And how do you know?  Well, I can always tell who has been in His presence and touched by how they respond in adversity.  A heart that has been touched by Him, responds way differently than one which was not when faced with stressful situations.  Many speak of being in His presence, but when the pressure comes the truthful offense spills out.
• The called out ones deny men to embrace Jesus and He will not deny us before His Father in Heaven, just as He promised.
• Our hearts are the only thing of preciousness we have to offer to our Lord which is worth anything of value to Him.  Once our heart is securely in His hands it becomes the seat we sit upon in which we desire to please only Him, in order we overcome all temptation here on Earth.
• When we actually see God as He is, we begin to choose to serve Him each and everyday.  He is the first thing on our minds in the morning and the last thing on them before we go to sleep at night.  It is in Him we move and have our being.  Our eyes are then opened to see Him just as He is – present in every storm we trust He is Sovereign and all knees bow before Him whether they want to or not.  Every tongues confesses He is Lord whether they recognize it or not.  Every creature that has breath praises Him whether they choose to or not… No one or no thing can actually deny His Sovereignty, even though they try with all their might – HE STILL AND ALWAYS WILL permit all things to exist and prevail or fail by His own design.  He is God and we are not.  Period. 
• His disciples believe in the mind and worship Him with the heart – different, but same all at the same time.  Unity of the Spirit unto perfection.

The Word in Mathew 5 goes on to explain how we are the –

Salt of the Earth – just right to season, not too much – people turn away, we are too harsh and too bold.  Not too little – where we do or say nothing, non-effective and mundane.  But just right… speaking when we are to speak, keeping silent when it is time to be silent.

It also speaks of being a “light” to the World – not hidden under a bushel where no one can see but to light up the whole house.  Again – do we hide silent scared to speak the truth in love?  No, we are to let our light shine before men, so they may see our good works to glorify who?  Our Father in Heaven – not to glorify self, but only Him.  Speaking of works, He gave me a word the other day saying… “Do we have works or does works have us?”  In other words – anything we do or say should be glorifying only to Him, if we are doing or saying anything to elevate us personally – works has a grip on us.  Our works here on Earth are actually to be rewarded in Heaven where they cannot be destroyed.  Anything Earthly bound will be consumed and destroyed – including works.  Remember, He is going to reward us openly one day in view of all men.  Amen.

He reminds us in verse 17 that He did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it – which means to abide by it – many like to teach we are off the hook from the Law, no we aren’t…. We just simply have an easier way in Jesus to follow it now and coverage of mercy and grace when we can’t or fall into sin, which is practically every single day.  We now have an advocate with the Father when we fail and continually fall short of His glory.  We cannot ignore or bypass the Law, we just are covered to accomplish it now, in Jesus it is easy to fulfill the Law and when we don’t He picks us up, cleans us off and we keep walking with Him, step by step, day by day, forgiven and free for His mercies are new every morning.

Verse 18 has a severe warning we must heed – If we do break a commandment or even teach others to do so we will be the least in the Kingdom – but if we DO and TEACH THEM – we are called great in the Kingdom.  Verse 19 says unless our righteousness EXCEEDS the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  So let’s back up a minute… remember we talked at the beginning about Jesus passing through the multitudes and speaking directly to the disciples?  We are finally seeing the solution….  The Multitudes represent those who speak the righteous talk and don’t walk it out (self-righteous) – the disciples are disciplined, remember?  They do and teach the commandments and point to Jesus every single time as the covering of sin – sealed in His righteousness – we may still sin occasionally, but confess and learn by His disciplining hand, freedom to go and sin no more.  Going and sinning no more is a royalty of those in the Kingdom when the desire to sin is removed, rather than the object of the sin being removed.  One is surrendered the other is to rule over.

For example – we do not murder due to lack of opportunity, but rather due to a changed heart that never seeks to murder someone.  ALL SIN IS THE SAME.  Yes?  The Father does not grade sin, sin is sin, whether it be murder or provoking someone…  So inch by inch for some of us slow learners, we are learning to go and sin no more not because it is covered but because it is purged.  Once purged we despise that which tainted us so much we will never go back to it – that is true deliverance to be free from death and the sin which so easy ensnares us.  Once this truth is show just once – just one time – if you can see it, every temptation is surrendered to Jesus and overcome in and through His assistance to be whole in that area and fully healed.

Okay – in light of all that has recently bubbled to the surface this past week, although heartbreaking some of us have witnessed this already among the brethren to a smaller degree with heartbrokenness often going unspoken.  Let’s switch gears for a moment, okay?

We will finish up the rest of the broadcast still in Mathew 5 but in verses 21-23 but before we go there I am going to ask that everyone listening to me place within themselves a covering of empathy.  To forget your own strength of being an overcomer and to actually place yourself in the shoes of those less fortunate – the broken, least of these.  For some of us that is a natural residing place, but for many it is not.  So I am asking the Lord to help me paint a picture of understanding for those who struggle to relate to the mournful souls and castaways – I do not even know how to articulate what is seen spiritually to a carnal mind who is convinced they are above the fray, but I am going to try with all that I am.  The religious have lost all empathy at this point for the love of many is waxing colder and colder as natural affections are drying up, people are turning against one another no longer able to be compassionate enough to mourn with those who are mourning.  So let me sit for awhile with those the Worldly church has cast away and invite you to join with me for a moment.  Not to rule over or prop them up, but to anoint their wounds with your tears of love to comfort them as a good Samaritan would do on this journey called life.

The good Samaritan story in the bible I love, lets read it quick –

Luke 10

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

²⁶ “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

²⁷ He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]”

²⁸ “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

This is brotherly love.  This is empathy – feeling sorry for someone who is hurting and taking the time to love them back to health.  It is not loud, demanding, forcing one to get up and walk – but carrying someone who is broken and wounded – it is comfort, not fixing someone but tending to them – it is treating others the way you would want to be treated in your time of need but keep this in mind – the good Samaritan does not need to have the heartbreak already to have the love and compassion towards someone who is broken – they only need the heart of Jesus to be moved to assist.  Love alone covers a multitude of sins someone has, love is the healing balm we carry to apply to one another’s wounds.  Brotherly love and empathy is why right now I am ashamed to be white and is also why quite often I am embarrassed to be a Christian.  I prefer to be called a Christ sufferer, no other label seems to fit at the moment. 

The Bible tells us to be angry and sin not – it also says, vengeance is mine and I will repay says the Lord.  The truth is I am angry at the evil ways human choose to live on this Earth.  It is man’s evil ways that kindle the anger of our Father and as His child – How can you not be angry at evil, unless you are calling evil good in some small way or at the very least tolerating it operating?  Evil is not a person, it is an entity.  We also have faith the Father will invoke His vengeance in perfect timing and will – so it is not the person we are angry at, it is the acts of violence, betrayal, hatred and all sorts of murder plotted – whether carried out or not that angers me.  And it is increasing by the day.  Ungodly ways are being uplifted as the church stays unlit and silent covering their own reputations hidden under baskets, losing their savor as salt.  Anger is not forbidden, vengeance is – taking matters into our own hands, rather than falling on our knees in repentance and pleading for our Father to have mercy on us, forgiving our sins and healing us.  Operating in mercy and grace does not mean we cover a lie to tolerate evil – it means we draw upon empathy from Jesus understanding how broken another is, offering them love with a sincere heart.

Okay, to finish up – lets go back to Mathew 5 verses 21-22 ~

You have already heard thou shall not kill and if you do kill you will be in danger of judgment.  Now this is Jesus talking, by the way.  He then says – I tell you myself – “whoever is angry with his brother WITHOUT A CAUSE, shall be in danger of the judgment and whoever says to his brother raca (which was a derogatory slang word meaning worthless) or call them a fool shall be in danger of hell’s fire.

Now… This is a perfect Scripture of all that is currently going on in our Nation at the moment.  Raca is the same as a racial slur or even how women are looked upon as less than – I feel it a lot within the church myself, males who still hold a grudge against Eve are often mean to us or look down upon us… but anyway, that is not my point. 

This is Jesus talking and He is not overlooking, glossing over or tolerating then or now the derogatory speech of anyone no matter how much we like to sweep it under the rug – we better wake up out of this religious derision and quick.  I mean, my word… How much more fire needs to be released from the Heavens before we repent?  I even saw a twitter repost from our own President upholding someone who said the only good democrat is a dead one.  Are you kidding me?  Seriously?  That’s raca and it is from the top down and the bottom up… While the Church is lulled to sleep in derision, the ship is sinking while the worship band plays on.  To clump together a particular group of people and think themselves to be lower than you in any fashion is offensive to the Lord and will kindle His anger towards you, whether you hide behind a cloak of religion, status, gender, race, etc…  Do you realize how many people have to come me the past six months assuming and unable to see with Spiritual eyes that I have fallen away because I do not sit 24-7 in a chatroom?  Not realizing I am extremely busy visiting prisons with a team of servants who are not seen or heard by anyone others than inmates?  And please, do not get me wrong, I am not offended whatsoever, I get it – I used to be of a very religious mindset, humble and grateful the Lord disciplined me out of that pit.  So on a way smaller scale, I understand what it feels like to be a minority, as do many of you listening to my voice at this moment.

So, I had to go to Jesus with all this…  I had to seek Him for His peace which surpasses all my frailties and low level understanding.  I had to ask Him what would He do?  What would He say?  And of course, ask Him for His comforting hand to be upon us all.  The first thing He said to me is that He would sit us down quietly and introduce us to one another.  He actually started giving me names, like Paul this is Silas, Timothy meet your brother Mark and so forth.  He began telling me how we do not need to trust one another like we thought, but only trust Him.  He then began to show me different and diverse colors of skin tones, saying it is this they seek to destroy – the created image of man in My own diverse image.  He then told me, I would next point out to one another just how similar they are created and focus on what the commonalities are to pull us together rather than focusing on what is different to pull us apart.  He told me He would question those in His midst, asking them to share what similar traits they have in common – making long lists of each, what is the same and what is different and He showed me the greater of the two lists would be what we share as created beings….  On the list He showed me, eyes, ears, hair, hands, feet, all the internal organs and so forth.  He began to instruct me on how our differences are a construct in our minds only realized after we can perceive what we see with the natural eyes and that up until that point we understand all men/women truly are created equal until told otherwise.  He told me if we were all blind in sight the list of differences would greatly diminish to practically nothing.  He told me to walk by faith and not sight means to trust Him with how He formed us together in our mother’s womb and these characteristics are used to draw people unto Himself through us.  They were never purposed to fortify mobs of people who look the same externally into clans, one against the other and how this grieves Him, making Him very sad – so much so He repents at times for making the human race.  Lastly, before He left my Spiritual presence He told me – introduce them to one another and I said how Lord and He left… giving me no answer. 

So I have no idea what I am doing and yet I can see so clearly what is dividing us all – it feels like to me a runaway train no human can stop.  But I do believe 100% it can stop with us – individually and collectively.  That today we can make it a commitment to not be divisive in our thoughts or speech any longer.  To seek Jesus continually, in that we see one another through His eyes and actually look for opportunities to love on each other.  To increase and grow the list which binds, rather than search for descriptive tones to divide and that change begins in the one place we can control… ourselves.  And when approached to mock or tear down or even listen to a negative comment we remain silent at the least or speak up in the boldness of the Holy Spirit at best. 

The truth is the brethren is right before you – look around… those next to you everywhere you go are your mother, father, brother, sister and so forth.  Spiritually speaking, those in the Kingdom whether that be today or in a time to come are our family.  When Jesus said – let the little children come to Me…  He was saying, if someone is seeking Me – do not stand in their way – let them come and let them enter in first, hold the door open, you enter in last…  So that is where we are today, in love and peace ushering in the Kingdom, so to speak.  The harvest is plentiful, the workers are few…  so the Spirit and the Bride say… Come!  Amen.

Let’s pray the Lord’s Prayer in unison as one –

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done;
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

I pray the Lord Jesus continue to draw you close to Himself in a most precious and intimate way.  May He comfort your heart and quiet your troubled mind.  May you be quenched in your soul by the One Who loves you in a most permanent and everlasting way.  Amen.

Well, thank you all very much for joining me today – I so appreciate your time, sharing love and worship of Jesus together is one rare and priceless commodity these days.

Please continue to lift ROF Ministries up to the Lord in prayer for covering and provision to keep surrendered fully to our Father as His hands and feet healing hearts His way.

Broadcast Transcript ~ May 10, 2020

The Ways of Royalty ~ HONOR ~ May 10, 2020

Good Morning and God Bless each of you today.  Thank you for joining me on todays’ ROF Ministries broadcast as we talk about “honor.”  In light of the fact a couple weeks ago was Mother’s Day, which will tie into our teaching today, we are going to study more about “honoring” not just mothers, but one another as well and most importantly our Father in Heaven.

But first…  Do we know who we belong to?  Jesus is the King of all Kings.  Amen.  And only because of HIM are we seen just as He is…  ROYALTY – He paid His life for us to be ransomed – Jesus calls us His reward for His laying down of His life – not because we are great, but rather because He is.  This word Royalty has been so overused and misconstrued by doctrines of men to edify and puff up, which is not at all what we are going after today.  As a matter of fact in God’s Kingdom, his children and cloaked in Humility with a grateful heart of thanksgiving void of entitlement.

So we are going to study a bit…  The Ways of Royalty by Scripture, not assumptions.

1Peter 2:9-10 says ~

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Only because of our Father being so merciful towards us do we enter into His Kingdom.  It is nothing of us, all of Him, so that no man can boast.  If we do not have that point in fullness, we cannot proceed any further because when we go over “honor” today, if we don’t lose any sense of entitlement our study today will offend us.

Because our Father showed us mercy, we received His mercy – which is why we too should be merciful to every single person who crosses our path.  Or in human terms…  Give them the benefit of the doubt, not assuming the worst of others.

Today’s topic is all about “honoring” others – And we are going to shatter some myths today and the first one is:  You do not have to agree with someone or even like them to honor them. 

Jesus honored others and especially His Father perfectly.  Like always, He is our Heavenly and perfect example to follow.  Jesus honored even the least of these, the sinners, prisoners, prostitutes, the sick and the lame.

First let’s explore what “honor” even means Biblically. 

Romans 12:10

Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;

It seems we talk a lot about love, don’t we?  It also seems our actions fall way short of our mouths at times, don’t they?  We go around honoring people with our lips – but our hearts are far from them when we accuse, betray, slay them, become a fault finder, etc…  We may LOVE but do we HONOR one another, even giving preference to them over ourselves?  That is the real question.  I love the word honor because it goes hand in hand with being loyal.  If we say we love someone and yet speak against them, lie or cheat them,  or even deceive them, in truth we do not love them.  And like I always say… Love is an action word.  Honor is love in action to prove and test if what we are saying to one another is actually a façade or authentic in nature.

Honor in Greek means –

Seeing the value in something

Seeing something as being priceless

Did you know Jesus honored us with His blood to purchase us with for the sake of redemption?  You, me, all of us are so valuable to Jesus He paid a very costly price for us – His blood.

1 Corinthians 6:20 says ~

For you are bought with a price (same root word as honor in Greek) – therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We truly are no longer our own, are we?  And we are to use both our bodies and our spirits to glorify the Lord.  And yes, even our bodies.

Oh I found something very interesting I want to share quick while studying about honor…  Remember when Ananias held back a portion of the “price’ and lied to the Holy Spirit?  Would you believe the word “price” here is the same word as “honor?”  Amazing…  Dishonoring the Holy Spirit in such a way brings death, if only partly – which is the amount Ananias and Sephira held back.

Honoring others is costly, we pay a price… Ourselves, just like Jesus did, by the laying down of our egos to let love prevail in a moment of time.

When we truly believe the Lord Jesus sees all are honorable enough to die for, if we truly love then we too will honor others, counting no one out with accusations and assaults and assumptions or anything which brings them shame. 

Many people tell me they love me and I turn around and get attacked or accused and my head starts spinning…  You all know what I mean?  I know this happens to us all and its increasing.  Your brother and sister may say they love you then turn right around and slap you on the cheek.  In the past week this has happened to me numerous times, so the grace of the our Lord has to step in because honestly, I desire to have nothing more to do with those who cause me pain – but Jesus keeps telling me mercy given is mercy received and we need a lot of mercy don’t we?  Because truthfully, we have done the very same thing at times. 

Honoring someone is to cherish them to the point, you place them above yourself, considering their shortcomings.  When doing this we may be silent when we really want to speak or speak when we prefer to be silent, we may choose not to repay evil with evil, assist when we prefer to retreat, extend grace when we would like to correct and instruct – honoring another means – it is not about you, it is about the other person.  And it is also the washing of the feet Jesus left as an example – remember, He even washed Judas’s feet, knowing he was the betrayer in the group.

Godly mothers would be an awesome example we could think of here on Earth to compare with love in action by modeling honor and since it is Mother’s Day, we will do just that… Obviously, you have a mother or at least had one – so we all have this one common thread today!

They say a female is the closest to death when delivering a child.  I say go three months tending to sporadic sleep of a newborn every two hours and you feel close to death.  Maybe childbirth is so painful to brace you for all that pain which is coming for the rest of your life?  Lol…  I don’t know, but until you scraped vomit off shag carpet with a spoon or wiped butts for years that were not your own or found disgusting things under a teenagers mattress or had this tiny extension of you grow up and only to say I hate you or finally get your plate fixed finally to sit down at the dinner table and when everyone else is done…  Actually, the list is endless.  I’ve said this before… But children teach us how to love unconditionally unlike anyone else on this planet can.  The Lord said nothing can separate us as His children from His love, the same is true for mothers.  So even if you have no children, you were one… So take some time to reflect and honor the Father for those in your life right now, He appointed to you, which good or bad was by His design.  And remember… Kids don’t come with an instruction book, most Mom’s did the very best they could with what they were dealt in life at any given time.

I’ve noticed with familiarity… Honor often goes right out the window.  When you honor someone, you show them respect and treat them with dignity.  However, over the course of time the more comfortable we get with someone we often let our guards down and the truth of us is revealed.  I’ve observed this in chat for example over the course of many years.  People may come and go but their patterned traits remain the same.  When someone is new to the group they tread very lightly and honor people and are so happy to love, then overtime, they get familiar with the house and one another and even myself – and then the truth of who they really are is revealed and honor goes out the window.  Then strife comes in, not because it just randomly showed up, but because the vessels who contain strife are no longer restraining who they are…  Familiarity has set in, as they honored people with their lips but their hearts were far from them. 

My own house has a no excuse rule and I enforce it in order that love remain.  I do not allow a bad mood, sickness, pressures of life, etc…  to take precedence over love here.  If you get sick and lash out at others here in my home, there will be a consequence.  The reason I do this is because – if the accusation and assault was not in you, it would not come out when you are sick.  The same is true in all things negative.  Again, if pressure comes and you blame, then blame is in you, otherwise it would not present itself.  All will be without excuse one day – best to practice that right now.

When one is offended, one cannot walk honorable one to another.  I cannot honor someone when I am offended at them, it is impossible.  I was thinking about how often I miss the mark in honoring my own mother and how her phone calls just to even check on me and kids I so often take for granted.  And how it trickles down sometimes from her, to me, to my kids.  Well someone needs to make a change and since we can only change ourselves, lets start with us, okay?

Let’s talk specifically about The Ways of Royalty ~ HONOR.

• The Lord is restoring honor in the church He is building Himself because He is honorable and when moving in His presence, so are we.
• Honor and loyalty does not mean we are in agreement with someone’s words, actions, beliefs, etc… Daniel for example honored King Nebcaneezer but he did not bow down and come into agreement with him as a leader.  He honored him without submitting to the evil practices he enforced.
• Upon being saved we go from sinner to saint – old creature to new – entering into the Royal Priesthood with a desire for excellency from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light.  Remember, even if no one else can see the transformation, Jesus can.
• We become heirs as adopted children into the royal family of Father God, so now when we cry, its to Abba Father – we are then Princes and Princesses.
• In a Holy Nation no one is a pauper – all are children of God – there are no levels any longer, all are saved, so envy, jealousy, strife has no placement when in truth all are being perfected and equal with God – cohabiters with Him.  Co – meaning equal to one another when communing in His Kingdom.
• To restore honor inside us – He is teaching us how royalty behaves by our actions, words, thoughts – as we become set apart from the Worldly ways of the old nature.
• People in the Kingdom of God – behave out of love, honor, truth and respect one to another.  They surrender first to the Lord in Godly order and then one another.
• Trust is increased when we honor others – to whom much is given, much is expected and as a man thinketh so is he/she— If we don’t think of ourselves as royalty, we will behave as beasts.
• Royalty is spirit led, not flesh led – revealed by what are we doing with our freewill we have been granted, which defines the truth of us and our identity.
• Are we disputing and railing against others?  We are in the midst of many who are rebellious, slanderers, liars, argumentative, deceitful and provoking, who do not submit to authority – Godly authority…  We can still honor them without condoning their behavior.
• In the Kingdom we do not honor someone because they deserve it – we honor others because we do – because it is our nature to do so.
• Royalty walks in honor – because we have received fully Who Jesus is by surrendering us so He is revealed.
• The commandments have be written on our hearts…  Guess what’s there?  Honor.  So we can’t separate from it and when we do – conviction comes.
• Honoring others infuses us with wellness and a long life where rivers flow away all chaos and strife surrounding us.
• When the enemy approaches we make a decision to honor or to defame – Such as someone who disagrees with you, someone who seeks other practices or opinions.  If we honor them we will not challenge them, mistreat them, bicker with, slay or shun just to preserve our own reputation.  Royalty walks on top of water and doesn’t roll around in the mud with the swine.
• Our reputation reflects the truth of us by how we treat those who oppose us when no one is looking except the Lord.  Although, those who are dishonorable do not mind putting others to an open shame.
• Royalty honors all – so if I am honorable, I treat others with honor.
• When David cut King Saul’s garment, he felt guilty not because Saul was good, but because David was and he stooped down to evil’s level.  God appointed Saul King and anointed him to be the ruler of the day.  Since David was royalty he was above repaying evil with evil.
• We only love someone in truth to the point we honor them, otherwise it is flesh love only to benefit self.
• When we sow honor into others – what we reap is God bestowing honor upon us… this is called favor.
• Equality in the Kingdom of Heaven looks nothing like equality on Earth, which is earned based on works.
• In the Kingdom, everyone has a voice, but not everyone has a say.  Only ones speaking by the Spirit are heard by those who are full of the Spirit.  In order to be heard, we must have honor in place for our audience – whether that be one or 200 plus people.
• The Lord’s Prayer is the perfect prayer because it prays the Lord’s will be done, coming into agreement with the truth that His will shall be done regardless of man’s weak intentions.  Note:  His will is already being done, but are we honoring Him while it is being done or still seeking our wills?
• We honor God by realizing it isn’t about us but it is all about everyone else.  Sometimes we don’t know how to love God and forget He tells us to love Him by loving those who do use us, curse us, persecute us, etc… – If you can imagine yourself just looking through that person directly into Jesus’s eyes and loving Him through them it helps a lot.
• It is an honor to love the unlovable knowing they are the vessels on our paths to actually do good to Jesus.
• Sometimes honor requires we give away our seat at the table so another may be served.
• 1 Peter tells us to HONOR ALL people, no exclusions.  It often requires we remain silent, are courteous by treating others as a guest in our presence, remove our shoes out of respect, display grace through manners, being kind and generous…  BECAUSE OF YOUR IDENTITY – not because they are worthy necessarily but because you are honorable like your Father.
• Men who are honorable often – open doors for females, cherish them, are attentive, cover and protect, do honest work and know how to give and receive love and forgiveness.
• Women who are honorable often – show respect, do not interrupt, create strife or stir up contention, do not seek attention, care for others and know how to give and receive love and forgiveness.
• BOTH LISTEN MORE THAN THEY SPEAK.

I just went over a few examples out of the Bible for Godly men/women.  The list could be much longer of course.

Lastly, HONOR ~

• Sees the value of someone even when they are full of darkness, just like Jesus did us – love floods all darkness with light.  Love always hopes!
• Gives no answer to verbal assaults, securely knowing Jesus is the authority over us as He is the King of Kings.
• Is present within the servant, freeing the slave.
• Submits to authority trusting God is ruling and reigning in every situation.
• Cries with those who mourn and celebrates with those who are joyful, giving no placement to envy and strife and competition.
• Washes the feet of others with a servant’s heart, in other words – cleanses others with a loving heart.
• Doesn’t compete with those they are meant to feed or vie for a higher position.
• Makes a place with all children of God.
• Is granted by favor from God and not demanded or awarded by entitlement and cannot be earned.
• Gives to others not based on their need but with a grateful heart.

As I was reviewing this list I saw just how much I had fallen short in honoring others and even myself.  Sometimes when people are hard on us we start to believe we are getting just what we deserve.  And when we believe such a lie, we forget our placement as royalty, handing ourselves over to be sifted as wheat.  Humility and honor serve as a barrier in which the enemy cannot penetrate.  Again, honor just is… It is given, never earned.

Some people are so full of themselves they cannot serve anyone but self, while others are so empty they keep serving others to fill up themselves.  Neither one is a royal mindset.  We cannot give to anyone what we don’t have and the only thing we have to offer to honor and love others is Jesus.

Think of a time when you thought you had done all you could to love someone and yet it wasn’t enough to mend all the fences and heal all the hurts.  Consider that quite possibly you were leaving honor completely out of the mix… I saw a facebook post last night which said “Do not let pride keep something broken that your heart wants mended.” 

When we check out of honor we check into pride and sometimes the cost is high.  We may lose the very thing which we love and gain nothing but ourselves.

Now in keeping with honor, as a family we need to discuss something relevant to those who visit chat and yet can be applied to your own households as well.  We will use chat as an example for something that we all can implement in our own homes creating a peaceful, loving home in which honor has placement one to another fostering an environment where others really want to be and enjoy each other.

It goes along with honoring others… and I need to share something, it will step on some toes, so get ready…  Did you know that “elder” simply means someone who came before you?  When someone goes before us they have more wisdom in life experiences than we do – if they have a surrendered heart after God’s heart, they know the ropes, paid a price in life lessons we haven’t paid yet and can share it with us – elders are wiser due to some lumps they received.  Elders also have tended to others in ways maybe we haven’t which is why they are qualified to manage “the house.”  This is Godly order.  Say in your own homes, your five year old doesn’t rule your home does he?  If so, then it probably is full of chaos.  I know my teenagers will occasionally try to set the precedence of my house, but I don’t tolerate it because I don’t like confusion.  As the elder here, I am to lead and teach and SERVE them by instruction and correction and they as children as to learn by training so when they depart they know which way to go.  Well, the same is true in God’s Kingdom, there are elders – the ones who have more spiritual maturity through experience… they have gone before, been present longer as caregivers and overseers.  And not to worry, because as all of us age spiritually so we too will have the same placement through purging, to be qualified to lead.  This is all Biblical by the way, for example it says in Titus 2 ~

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

We sure don’t want the word of God reviled do we?

You know, I see this happening all the time in chat and hopefully most of you listened to Michael’s broadcast last week, as what I am about to share will compliment what he delivered.  We have those who are fairly new challenging those who have come before them and it is heartbreaking and worse yet, apologies are always laced with an excuse if given at all.  Such as I was sick, had a bad day, etc…  Listen, we have such a short time here to repent and be presentable before the Lord and remove all that is not acceptable before Him.  How can we say we love others and not honor them, seeing them priceless and of a greater importance than ourselves.  There is so much partiality within us yet.  To honor a leader and yet have strife with one he sets over his household is just wrong and I am sorry if this bothers you, but it is truth.  Sometimes I watch chat and think my teenagers are in there going around challenging authority, I say this in love… refrain from speaking rather than bringing in disorder into any house.  No fit throwing, slander, backbiting, jealously or envy is going to derail the vision given to Michael or even myself – as elders have been appointed already because they came before you and if you adhere to this Godly order things would go very well with you all. When we just accept and honor what has already been set for close to nine years now love would prevail and it would feel like home in many ways.  And just to remind you…  those who are elders now, were new just like you at the beginning.  In the same way your children were toddlers turned teenagers to adults…  What you entrust them with changed, didn’t it?  So just like that…  elders now were like toddlers before, I was like a toddler, Michael was like a toddler – but listen, the Lord always qualifies the called first and I promise you how we look like entering into the fire looks completely different than when we come out.

There is a Scripture I need to read, hopefully it will encourage you all a little –

Luke 14 – and it is speaking directly to guests, who were invited into a place

Then the host who invited both of you will come and tell you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ And in humiliation, you will have to take the last place. 10But when you are invited, go and sit in the last place, so that your host will come and tell you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone at the table with you. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”…

Look at this, even the word “honored” is here in this Scripture.  Guess who gets honored first?  Those who show honor to others – and believe me, that does not go unnoticed, not at all.  As a matter of fact, I see the least as great – that is who sticks out to us the most, not the ones bickering with strife and contention…. But the quiet ones who contain love and honor and respect.  The ones who do not lash out with emails hidden in secret or constantly calling one another on the phone to complain, but those that are the same every place their footsteps carry them – so to you all I just want to say with my whole heart I honor you openly today.  And thankfully we have many of those who do not challenge others, if I were you all who struggle in this area, I would pick one of them and just observe their interactions for a bit.  I sometimes feel like they get sort of lost in the mix, but are so faithful, kind, gentle with peace.

Please forgive me if that offended anyone, but it really shouldn’t offend us in anyway.  We are all growing in the Lord in leaps and bounds and this is part of it – sometimes when we study the word it instructs, corrects, mends, comforts – but no matter what – it grows us!  We should never compare ourselves to one another for the Potter knows exactly how to take unformed clay, molding it continually, painting it with beautiful colors and design and place it into the fire for perfection.  He is building a masterpiece – YOU!  Something that makes the process shorter is – to be honest with ourselves about ourselves, no fault and no blame, just laying at His feet, resting that He will do a complete work within us.  And personally, I love unrefined vessels, who just love others as they are – no competition, no lifting up self or defending or blame…  Just one who like me may be a hot mess, but sees pricelessness in the making.

It dawned on me the other day…  Many are not aware of the vision given, nor the instruction which went with it and that makes me feel bad, like we dropped the ball somehow on that one.  Think of your own homes and family, you have a vision for it, you contain by opening and closing doors of what you permit to enter and what you do not.  You are the keeper of that home, as are elders within a church body.  For example, I know some Jesus loving people who have such beautiful hearts and yet they let their teenage children smoke weed in their homes.  Now I know myself and my home if my kids tried something like that all hell would break loose, literally, as I am the keeper of my own home.  Homes are to be a safe haven, a place where you feel loved and secure – the keeper of the home gets to decide what is permitted to enter based on matched integrity and command given.  When the Lord gave us the vision, He showed us that very thing – similar to an Ark, a womb, a safe place —  What He also gave us was how many people are hurting, living a life in chaos, fearful, many in danger and walking close to the edge.  But the most important part was – they needed a safe haven, a place to run too and be comforted and loved by Jesus through us, similar to a revolving door…. It was then we went to work and it is also why at the top of chat it says – be Holy in all manner of conversation.  I feel at times we have gotten weary in doing good to a degree, not upholding the vision or the standard decreed by the Lord.  We knew He told us to build it and they will come, we also know He said for me to set the table and Michael would serve the food, among other things.  But, if you do not remember anything else, please remember this one thing – In order for you each to have a peaceful place to call home, you must do your due diligence to keep it Holy – as if Jesus Himself was there, because He is.  If you wouldn’t suggest He watch something, don’t share it, if a baby would kill themselves with it, keep it to yourself and so forth.  May we all be agreed to honor the Lord in what He has blessed us with and entreat it and one another with honor, respect and love.  We prayed and prayed…. Just one place Lord away from the darkness and the World,  an escape for those who are hurting to come and cry and be comforted.  So I just shared with you part of the vision.  I have found people usually conform or leave over time and both is okay.  Just a couple more things – When Michael says, “Just be yourself…”  I know you all quote that a lot – he does not mean come on in and smoke some weed passing it around to others, no not at all.  What he does mean is this…  Be who you were before the World told you who not to be, vulernable – come as you are and lay your burdens down, cry, ask for prayer, say you need comfort, be vulnerable – where it is safe.  It is our prayer you will find this to be in that place and that you will have a secure place to be yourself, be vulnerable with humility and actually come together to love, encourage and support one another to honor each other always. 

You want to share news, videos, conspiracies, debates and bounce them off one another by all means, please do so – no one is ruling over another one here – you will find tons and tons of chatrooms which do that very thing, but before you enter into the holy place, please shake the dust off your feet. Any residue of offense – check that at the door too, unite together in the love of Jesus and speak to one another with songs of edification.  We have so many the Lord wants to release to us…  the delay is us, not Him.

One last thing – the Lord really convicted me on this recently, how we can honor one another better – I know I have fallen short of even honoring others in my life, I thank Jesus for showing me the error of my ways – so that the change in me can be implemented today, knowing we have no power to change others, only ourselves.  

It was pretty miraculous really, but last week after I finished studying about honor the Father’s Heart Ministry team released an amazing confirmation that I want to share with you:

Russ May 12, 2020

The Father says today, there is a commandment with promise. Honor your father and mother in the Lord and it will be well with you and you will live long on the earth. To honor brings blessing within My family. The fathers in My family are instructed to nurture and admonish but not to provoke their children to wrath. Children, obey your parents for this is right, for the children in My family are called to be pleasers of God and not pleasers of men. For any good thing they do, the same they shall receive of Me. In your place of service to Me let there be singleness of heart in the spirit of unity.

Who are my parents you ask? Who are my children? Who are my brothers and my sisters? Are we not all of the same family? There is one Father of all and also fathers and mothers of the faith and many children. To you children, honor your fathers in the faith, the ones who nurture and admonish you in the Lord, honor them with the honor they are due as loving and obedient children lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubt, without anger or argument. To you fathers and mothers, let your words be seasoned with love and patience, for your words carry much weight in the Spirit. Let your nurture be greater than your admonition and let your directives be of greater glory and reflect heaven’s atmosphere of joy and peace.

So Wow – right??? 

Let’s keep praying we too will have a servant’s heart, which doesn’t demand to be served but always seeks ways to serve – honoring all others, not to rule over anyone – that is Jesus’s job as He is the head of the Body, we just simply compliment one another, following His direction, instruction and example.

Some of us are just waiting at the moment…  Waiting for many to learn to love in truth, not just with lips.  Believing that Jesus is authoring and finishing us all, none are perfect, no not one.  It with a grateful heart we see ALL needed saving, especially ourselves.  May we stop forgetting just how far we had fallen too. 

Again, an Elder is someone who has gone before us into the Lord’s presence carrying the residue of Him.  The Bible says, a little child will lead them… So here we have discovered a great mystery haven’t we?  A child of God is clothed with humility to serve from the least to the greatest seeking no placement except for placement in the Kingdom, complimenting one another with honor, words of comfort and encouragement, forgiveness, lifting up, mercy, peace and grace.  In so many ways we all are elders, meaning we came before – but sadly if we are so threatened by those who came before us, challenging them at every turn – we will miss the opportunity to be an elder to those who are coming after us in that the Lord cannot use as His servant and purpose for His will to be done.

Let’s pray ~

Heavenly and merciful Father, we come to You with hearts bowed down in thanksgiving for sending us Your Son as an example to save.  And today as we reflect upon ways to honor one another we keep our eyes focused on the ways of Jesus and how He honored those the World called not worthy.  Lord it is with a humble heart we repent and ask You to forgive us of times we stirred up strife or caused divisions in pride.  Help us Father to see Your established Kingdom has principals that only bring sorrow when we rebel against them.  We thank You for Your mercy as we learn how to be royalty for the glory of Your Name.  As we continually hunger and thirst for righteousness You are always there replenishing us each day.  Help us to mindful of others, forgiving and forgetting what harm has been caused so that when we enter any dwelling our feet at shod with peace, coming in Your Name only.  Lord I ask You to purge us of all that which brings contention into our homes, lives, workplaces or anywhere else we may venture in this World.  You are moving us from glory to glory and for the work You are doing in each of us we thank You and honor You in Your perfect ways.  May we be vessels which are usable and profitable for Your Kingdom and when we appear may others see Jesus in us only.  Lord I lift up those who are walking daily in offense and ask You to show them Your love and that they matter to You.  Lord cover their hearts with Your healing hands binding all wounds of the past, casting them into the sea of forgetfulness so they remember them no more.  Thank You Jesus for leading us, guiding us and teaching us how royalty is in Your World so we do not falter in our own.  In Jesus’s Name I pray.  Amen.

Good Morning and HAPPY late RESURRECTION DAY to each of you!  Thank you for joining me today on this ROF Ministries Broadcast and what a beautiful day it is to believe in faith this is the day the Lord has made and we shall be glad and rejoice in it, where every day is resurrection day around here.  Amen?  Thankfully, as a child of God we do not need to wait for a particular day or hour to fall on our knees in worship, do we?  For that I am most grateful, aren’t you?  Thank You Jesus – we give You all praise and glory and honor for the magnificent work on the cross which You are solidifying within our hearts and minds, renewing us each and every day.

AL righty then…  Shall we get started?  We have so much go discuss today!  I pray you are blessed, because you surely are highly favored and loved, by me of course, but more importantly by our Father in Heaven, Who sent love down in the word made flesh, His firstborn Son, Jesus.  And Jesus had many siblings didn’t He?  That is YOU!  And me – we are His spiritual family on Earth, just as it is in Heaven.  The Word tells us Jesus was the first of many brethren and my oh my, we are so thankful to be able to worship Him each and every day for only He is worthy to be praised and honored and glorified!  We love You Lord Jesus, with all that we are.

For the first time in a very long time…  I don’t know what to ramble about today… lol…  I know right?  Isn’t that funny?  I’ve been journaling for days now, since we last met and I kept looking for a common thread to all the Lord was showing me in His word.  I must admit – I see no common link here…  Except HIM of course – Jesus is our link in all we seek and love. Amen.  I would say let’s wing it today – but I am so not good at things unplanned…  We will just start at the beginning and see how He leads us to fellowship together and how all this unfolds today.

It seems very appropriate to start with…  the last three words Jesus spoke here on Earth.  Do you all remember what He said?  He said – IT IS FINISHED.  Oh this is gonna be good…  Because I bet you’ve never seen this Scripture this way before.  I know I sure hadn’t until Friday night when He led me to look up that familiar scripture.  Let’s read it:

John 19:30 –

When Jesus therefore HAD RECEIVED THE VINEGAR, he said, IT IS FINISHED: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

We are going to come back to that, but first…  What was finished?  What do those three words mean to you?

• Suffering
• Pain & Destruction
• Torment & Sin
• Betrayal
• Accusation & the enemy’s influence
• Physical beatings
• Shame
• Being forsaken – abandonment

Jesus had just gone through some of the worst 24 hours of His life…  And all of that was directed at Him, but remember He also took on all our sins, as well, if you can possibly imagine that.  I cannot.

Let’s read what happened right before Jesus said IT IS FINISHED, again.

John 19:30 –

When Jesus therefore HAD RECEIVED THE VINEGAR, he said, IT IS FINISHED: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

Vinegar is a bitter wine – and Jesus received it into Himself

All that bitterness He received into Himself, saying it is finished and then He died on the cross.

Bitterness always proceeds death.  Bitterness is like poison to the body, BUT, this is a HUGE revelation here…  When Jesus said it was finished, it means all that bitterness which tries to torment us day and night was put to death with Him on the cross and cannot be resurrected unless of course, we bring it back to life in our hearts and minds.  By Jesus taking it inside Himself, He becomes the bearer of all bitterness which attempts to have control over us and we are set free in Him.

Bitterness leads to drunkenness…  Being not sober in the mind – not thinking straight, double-minded and when drunk we do weird things, don’t we, like imagining things and accusing others?

But Jesus is our way of escape out of all that torment and yet…  We do not know Him intimately enough to drink only from Him – our well of everlasting life.  When He is not on the throne of our hearts, it shows, because we want everything and everyone else to complete us and make us whole.  Some of us have yet to approach that cross due to fear, let alone lay down all our burdens at His feet. 

Every single sin can be traced back to one thing – FEAR.  Which is why we need His perfect love to cast out all fear.  Love cannot be taught, love is a knowing, deep inside the heart and soul.  We hold onto sinful old creature ways out of fear.  And until we fear not what man can do to us, but only our Father…  Our lives are gonna be a little topsy-turvy, drunkenness. 

I repent for really asking the Lord to do more for me when He already did it all.  I feel really sorrowful how I would murmur and complain in my heart and mind about what I do not have, when He already gave me everything.  I had a “vinegar” heart for a very long time and to be honest… I didn’t care that Jesus said my old life was finished…  I wanted what I wanted and how I wanted it – Lord forgive me again.  Bitterness is like quicksand and will pull us under if we do not purposely step out of the snare of its grip. 

Our Lord is so amazing that He is not asking us to do anything to be saved, knowing it is already ready finished – He simply is asking us to RECEIVE HIM.  Will we receive Him or not?  We make excuse after excuse, like I will, but not today – today I am miserable, naked and blind… But tomorrow, yes Lord I will receive You.  We really, really say these things in our hearts don’t we?  I am as guilty as the thief on the cross next to Jesus…  As Jesus suffered and died for us to GIVE US LIFE and we say, No… I prefer to lay on my deathbed and deny Your Name over picking up my diseased comfort and walk to the healing waters of You.  Forgive us Lord.  Some of you get what I am saying and if you are carrying people around, when they actually should be walking themselves to Jesus and if they are capable of walking at all… Then you are doing them a complete disservice of hindrance to comfort them with a lie.  Jesus died for all, not some, but for all who seek Him – it isn’t hard to seek Jesus, not at all.  People just say those words to manipulate you – a child barely learning to walk can find Jesus, everything that has breath can praise Him, the grass bows before Him… Anyone who seeks Him, shall find Him. Period.

Again… bitterness proceeds death.  It did for Jesus as an example for what it will do to us.  Everyone must choose eternal life or death for themselves.  Please hear me on this – but if someone prefers death over life, it is NOT because Jesus did not do all He could to draw them to Himself.  He even leaves the 99 to go after the 1.  I really feel like people get saved in spite of us, not because of us quite often.  We often are so fearful of a little pain when the old creature dies that we will keep reviving that old nature in others, interfering and delaying their rebirthing process.  I pray the Lord continue to instruct us more in His ways and commands and raise us up to be workers during this end time harvest.  Was that too harsh?  I am sorry if I offended anyone, but Jesus truly finished all sin upon the cross for us – the problem is we just don’t believe it in our minds and our hearts deceive us to thinking repentance died when He rose from the dead three days later.  Actually, quite the opposite is true.  The new creature walks continually in repentance – otherwise, it would not be a new creature.  Make sense?

I think we’ve done the mixture (vinegar) thing long enough… Don’t you?

Pure, true and good fruit looks just like Jesus – we do produce fruit by the way – which are things that manifest at our hands, good or bad, by our wills, thoughts, actions, minds, hearts…  Anything we say or do that does not look just like what Jesus said or did is profane or bad fruit.  We often feel withered and weak when we are seeking an outside source to replenish us.

Jesus will never, ever be IN MIXTURE… Jesus vomits the lukewarm out… MIXTURE, vinegar – what HE RECEIVED INTO HIMSELF… oh boy… My heart is beating fast… You all with me?  We read earlier it was the mixture of VINEGAR (bitter wine & water) He received INTO HIMSELF then died on the cross…  Fast forward to Revelation and guess what Jesus vomits out of His mouth??? The lukewarm – mixture – hot/cold or bitter wine… those who are drunk on bitterness…  ugh… You all with me?  He took it in on the cross and will spew it out at His coming… This is huge!

Lukewarm are SHOWING CHRIST TO OTHERS but not LIVING AS CHRIST authentically. Hot and cold is being on fire for Him one minute and lethargic the next.

Some might say… they are doing outward works and uttering Him with their lips (false prophets, teachers, preachers, followers, witnesses, performing miracles), but their hearts are far from Him.  But enough about that – today is the day of Salvation for us all – to seek Him with our whole hearts, with all that we are – knowing that is enough.  He wants to break those chains in our minds that speak to us in opposition to His word, casting down all imaginations.  There is no condemnation in Jesus – He is for life, those other thoughts are just weeds sown into us by the enemy that things are still left undone… When Jesus said, it is finished.  It is a web of lies in our minds which tell us we must rise to meet Jesus by performance when He said we must bow before Him in humility.

He created us as vessels for Him to dwell in, not for works either.  Once He indwells within us His works follow, like a shadow.  The works do not announce Jesus is among us, they follow us after He is revealed.  Remember the shadow of the apostles healed?  Like I have said before – a shadow does not have a voice, it just is…  Man forces things, Jesus just is…  It is only fresh waters which heal, in which Jesus is the only source.  We do not have to make something happen, like water it flows but is not forceful and remember… Wells don’t chase people down – wells are constantly in the same place and people come to them to drink.

Jesus is so very kind and loving, desiring none perish – I mean none – not even the worst of all the sinners on Earth does He want to perish.  We need to lose that fear that He needs us to save others, which is works based.  He does use us to plant seeds of truth, grow others and comfort others, but the saving belongs solely to Him, because victory belongs to only Him – not ourselves, a part from Him – what can we really do anyway?  Jesus is that well of never ending fresh water which flows out continually and freely to all who desire to partake of Him and when we abide in Him, He pours out through us too.  To prosper as our souls prosper simply means, Jesus is established on the throne of our hearts so that out of our hearts flows Him.  We decrease in that He may increase and yielding to Him is a requirement of prospering.  If rebellion still remains within us it will serve as an obstacle to yielding completely to Him, we will not decrease as we should and continually be wrestling with ourselves, our flesh man and even God.  Remember our study on Jacob?  Until Jacob fully surrendered he was not blessed.  To be blessed resembled communing with the Lord, being naturally supernatural.

Remember the 2 trees in the Garden?  I am sure you all are tired of me talking about them…  Adam and Eve were given only 1 command, just one – which was to not eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  One simple command.  The other Tree was the Tree of Life = Jesus, of which flows waters of everlasting life.  The Father knew that knowing of evil would destroy one’s innocence – He also knew it was not a requirement to know of evil to follow the Lord.  That one simple command to keep their eyes closed to darkness – where everything was permissible, they didn’t even know they were naked, because at that time everything was pure.  They say curiosity kills that cat, well that day it killed all humanity, over just their disobedience, innocence was tainted.  We lose our innocence each and every time we partake in knowledge of evil, the mixture resembles lukewarm, don’t you agree?  Good mixed with evil has impurities in it, just like hot mixed with cold is a mixture.  And this is exactly what spots and blemishes our garments.  Anyone thirsty for righteousness drinks what?  Righteous waters gleaned from only the Tree of Life.  And remember… to the pure, all things are pure – one must have darkness within them to seek and see darkness.  We can partake of something with our eyes and ears, not just our mouth.

We know lucifer is the father of all liars.  When anyone partakes of his fruit of knowledge… guess who manifests in and through that person?  Him.  Just like when we partake of Jesus, we abide with Him through our decrease so that He manifests through us.  Don’t forget there are two types of vessels… One key indicator of just who is manifesting is who is being glorified.  Lucifer feeds the ego so that one boasts on themselves.  Jesus feeds the Spirit and we then boast on the Lord.  Again, there are vessels of honor and dishonor – depending on which kingdom you abide in, that is who you present to others.

The lukewarm right now are in the Valley of Decision, just like we spoke about last week.  During this shaking right now it is forcing a choice upon all those who haven’t made one yet.  We are either for Him or against Him and right now it is quite revealing who is who by manifested actions, no matter the words they speak.  Darkness is being uncovered by the Light and many are found naked.  Once revealed openly one can either find some fig leaves to cover yourself and hide from the Lamb or else be covered by the blood of Lamb on the doorposts of our hearts.  Everything which is hidden will be revealed in the coming days because the darker the World gets, the brighter the lights of Jesus shine.  It might be a good idea to get in placement to hide ourselves under the shadow of the almighty until this indignation passes.

Next…  Let’s talk a little about this “shaking…”  Because more is on the way and it is growing in intensity.  When the Heavens shake first, like an echo it will reach Earth and the lands respond.  There is a word He gave me in which He called what is happening – The Saving Shaking.  He is saving souls all over the place and if we get our focus off what evil is doing we shall see spiritually the fruit the Lord is ripening.

It is our merciful Father pleading with all the inhabitants of the Earth as He shakes things a bit to awaken the masses to bow a knee and repent.  Shaking cultivates an authentic and intimate relationship with Jesus to be free in the Spirit through the circumcision of the heart to repent.  I am sure you can see it now, can’t you?  It has been a very long time since people were so free and open to prayer and calling upon the Name of the Lord…  Which is just enough – that is all He asks, that His people humble themselves, pray and seek His face…  And it is happening – more people are humbling themselves and openly seeking Him since I can ever remember.  So if you look at the bigger picture right now, I would say the fruit of the Children of God are popping up all over the place.  It often takes the direst of circumstances for a heart to cry Abba Father in truth, sadly.

All superficial devices are being revealed, sheep’s clothing is being stripped from wolves, wells without water are being dried up and laid bare so people do not drink from them anymore, our own works are coming down, people are returning to their first love Jesus having sole dependence on Him and His children are now beginning to honor Him with their hearts and lips and if not remain silent.

Jesus is here to take back what is rightfully His own and it is only going to get increasingly more intense from here on out because He does not relent.  Jesus’s ultimate plan from the beginning of time was to save lost souls and with these winds of change His presence is getting bolder and bolder.  He is gathering His people unto Himself – it sort of resembles a birthing of unity in the Spirit of those who worship Him in the love of the truth.  We know His remnant will rise, although many of us have been hidden in ashes for a bit.  Those who do fall away will do so mainly because they look to another to be saved, for explanation or solutions, while seeking to save their own lives, refusing to repent from wicked ways and pride.  And those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes have faith and hope that He is our only salvation.  We fear no death, knowing to die is gain and how much better it is be present with the Lord than to be in this body of flesh.

The lost church will increasingly fall into a pit with the enemy, keeping their eyes on one another – for answers and accusations until they devour and consume each other by finger pointing and a lustful desire to be right they will eventually consume one another.  They will conform to man who gives instruction over conforming to Christ and His set exampled ways, because they are used to an instant blessing, rather than the patience of the Saints.  The Father will again decree the tables of the money changers in His church to be overturned.  Those ministries who partake in mixture right now and are first are soon to be last while the Father ushers in His remnant for the Harvesting of His own seed.

It is time to kiss the Son, lest He manifest in anger.  It is for our good that every single thing which is of a higher priority than Jesus is being shaken down, so that He has His rightful place on the Throne of our hearts.  We are at a crossroads unmatched at the moment…  a T in the road so to speak… 

First came the trembling and shaking to reveal the crossroads… We can go down one of two ways…

The Narrow Way which leads to life everlasting or the Broadway which leads to destruction.

The awesome part about this shaking is the wakeup call for those who blindly were heading down towards the broad way by wandering off the straight and narrow way – Wow, its amazing just how loving and merciful our Father is, He sent us His precious Son to give us life and all we have to do is receive Him.

Anytime someone begins to imagine a “vain” thing… they immediately begin to rebel against the Lord, they wrestle internally against flesh and Spirit. 

Remember when we learned:

Who you bow down to is who you worship

Who you worship is who you love

Who you love reveals the Kingdom you belong to.

Whether you are from lucifer’s kingdom or God’s you follow this same chain of command

Now remember… lucifer is the most subtle of all the beasts, he is very tricky and since he cannot corrupt us, he tricks us into corrupting ourselves.  The Who in this pattern we just spoke about is self/ego, because that is the fruit he produces… Remember?  He fell because he desired to be as god… I just want us to be clear here… Bowing down to yourself and desires is a form of self-worship and most certainly is the broad way.

BROADWAY –                                               NARROW WAY –

Saves flesh                                                   Saves your soul

Tares – burned up         HARVEST        Wheat – gathered together

Serves Self                                                   Serves Jesus

Each and every shaking we experience in this life is a real blessing of mercy and grace upon us, helping us to humble ourselves and seek His face.

This is so amazing – Thank You Lord for breaking off the mindsets set as chains upon us as we seek You.

Just for clarification – There is an extreme difference in CORRECTION vs CONDEMNATION and many are unaware, walking around in offense.  We may talk more about this at a later date, but correction is actually being led by the Good Shephard Jesus and is a rightful blessing of the children of God.  Condemnation says – nothing you do is good enough… well, duh – nothing we do is good enough, to save us.  You see how the enemy speaks a lie into our minds that is truth, but laden with accusation?  If offense was not present, we would receive that truth just as it was stated…  But offense which is always based in pride (fruit of the enemy) pushes us to come into agreement with his lies about us and because we hide ourselves in shame the offense has the intensity it needs to catch fire.  Freely given, freely received without offense… None is righteous, we need His.  If you are offended, then you are under condemnation still trying to pry yourself out of death by works and earn your way to Jesus.

The Father corrects His children and to His children who seek to be pleasing that is a beautiful embracing process of pure love.  The gift He is offering is repentance and that too is beautiful.  Repentance simply means admitting your shortcomings before the One who already knows them with a humble and contrite heart.  You see why we avoid it?  It is not we care for Him to know we still have spots and blemishes of sin, He sees everything we do and knows every thought but we are washed clean in the Blood of the Lamb….  We still have a prideful piece within us which seeks to save our own lives and we do not like to admit we cannot do something on our own… If the enemy can trick us that we are being condemned – we won’t even try to seek Jesus the only one who can save our souls.

We certainly are that TEMPLE made not by human hands with walls and such, Jesus is the door guarding His house, so today of all days it is a great reminder to keep JESUS at the center of everything in our lives.

Shaking is the Season we are in at the moment – Then being weighed in the balance through the choices we make to rebel against God or repent before Him – Kingdom fruit is witnessed by others – God’s Kingdom or lucifer’s – it depends on who you serve (Jesus or self).

Now please listen closely for just a minute —- The magnitude or force of shaking you personally feel is the exact measurement of rebellion which still remains in you.

Rebellion meaning, trusting man or self over God when tribulations come upon us like waves.

Please, please remember – the Father is doing this for us, not against us! 

Why?  So that when everything is shaken, only that which remains in us is JESUS, unmovable and eventually unshakeable – so that we abide continually in HIS KINGDOM.

What falls off?  Self!

Shaking rises up the Bride to awaken and heed her Bridegroom’s call.  She hears His voice above all others, she follows Him wherever He goes so that He becomes her strength and finds utter and complete JOY IN HIM above all else…  He is taking an adulterous Bride, purifying her, formulating her to be equally yoked with Him, faithful and ready to be JOINED FOR MARRIAGE at the consummation.  My guess is – if we all really knew what was truly awaiting before us we would be jumping for joy in the shaking and asking for more and a quickening.  Now I am getting excited… lolol

Repeat after me:  Jesus is for me, not against me.  I am a child of God, He watches over me continually.

Remember this next time someone who says they believe in Jesus approaches with you a complaint in their heart – remember this if I complain to you, comfort one another with these words – which are truth to override all the whispered lies of the enemy.

Really quick, let’s just point out some manna words out of Psalm 46 –

• The Lord is our refuge and our strength
• He is purging all hypocrisy out of us for our good
• There are times the Lord ordains us to rest by ceasing from our own labors
• When our hearts are one with Jesus we do His works not our own in order to be pleasing in His sight
• As His ambassadors and witnesses we point only to Jesus and His Kingdom
• And we remember just how much our actions do reflect the truth of us so that we repent when it is time to repent and press on when He leads us to forget that which is behind us – our old nature.

You see… It already is finished…  Time for us to stop resurrecting that old man and run to Jesus to free us so we are indeed free, not just talking about freedom, but walking in the freedom He has set before us.

Once we were sinners, but now… turned Saint, no longer desiring to sin – repenting as soon as we do, it surely is finished.

A sinner sins and feels no remorse or need to repent.  A saint sins and immediately goes to the Savior for forgiveness.  If your conscience is seared and you can lie, steal, slander, commit adultery, murder, rule over others, just to name a few and not feel some sort of guilt – drop everything and run to Jesus before it is too late.  Jesus finished for us all desire to sin, we are already free, we just need to believe it.  The wages of sin is death and that is exactly what Jesus defeated on the cross.

Okay… Well here we are at the end of today’s broadcast.  I pray it blesses you as you walk faithfully hand in hand each day with Jesus.

Before I go, lets pray the Lord’s Prayer together as one body of believers, the same and yet different and uniquely created and formed by His majestic hands.

Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name, 
thy kingdom come, 
thy will be done, 
on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our trespasses, 
as we forgive those
who trespass against us. 

And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from evil. 

For thine is the kingdom, 
and the power, and the glory, 
for ever and ever. Amen.

Like always, I cannot thank those of you enough who have supported ROF Ministries by covering prayers, words of encouragement or financial blessings.  No matter the gift you have, many of you do not hold back and I cannot praise the Lord enough for each of you.  Please feel free to contact me at Markedbyheaven7@gmail.com or visit ROFMinistries.com for updates, prayer requests and/or to sow into our ministry, as we keep on healing hearts His way together in the unity of love for the glory of only His Name.