Restoring Wounded Relationships ~ Instructions with Angela, Broadcast Transcript from September 23, 2020

Good Morning Blessings sweet family – How are you all holding up?  I am so joyfully blessed you joined us for today’s ROF Ministries Broadcast.  I am not gonna lie…  My body is just so very extremely wore out – and maybe that isn’t a bad thing… For some unknown reason on Friday I just got this overwhelming urge to do a deep purging and cleaning of my garage, which led to my shed, which led to my storage room in the basement.  I took a ton of things we no longer use or need to the Goodwill, made three trips actually – filling every space in my car I could each time.  My soul is so happy to pass on what we do not have need of – but my lower back is paying the cost… lol  This so reminded me of how the Lord is purging us as well in so many ways – which can be painful, like my back and yet produces the ultimate joy within us to be cleared of all the junk in our lives.  One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, so they say…  Well today my body feels like a piece of junk.  Lolol

Let’s get started right away – you all ready?  First I want to thank each one of you who sent me such precious and heart touching emails – in so many ways, your life’s journeys, joys and struggles mirrors my own and I find the Lord’s hand in our lives amazing!  I pretty much got all your emails answered, except for a couple, I believe so anyway.  It was interesting, I did notice a trend in your email flood – I am gonna share it and possibly later we can talk about it more…  The majority of you felt personally responsible, heartsick and at a loss of direction and hope – as if you let the Lord and your loved one down – because they are not on the same page as you Spiritually.  We do really need to address this as a family – but first I think we should get into our study and hopefully, some of your questions will be answered and your eyes and hearts will be opened just a little more to see by the Spirit in truth.  Oh and your hearts are precious by the way – it is evident you truly do care for those who the Lord placed in your lives, even if they have betrayed or separated from you, either emotionally, physically or both.

The other day we laid the precepts for today’s study on RESTORING WOUNDED RELATIONSHIPS and we don’t really have time to review all we discussed unfortunately.  Hopefully, you were here with us or had time to listen to the archive, so that today we can hit the ground running.  Speaking of running – we are running a race aren’t we?  And Jesus is our prize – so let’s keep moving towards Him, keeping our eyes on the Prize at all times. 

Just as a reminder, today we are checking all hopelessness, feelings of regret, pride, highmindedness and the “I can’t’s…” at the door.  Oh and the butts too – lets leave them behind this morning.  Our Lord on High is Mighty and able to do exceeding above all things we can even dream to ask Him for – He is in the continual miraculous state of operation – and the truth is not so much of IF HE CAN, BUT RATHER ARE WE WILLING.  I did get some emails of excuses “why” you cannot seek restoration the Jesus Way – and I giggled because some of you forgot how far you had fallen, didn’t you?  You remember?  You were also that 1 dirty and lost little sheep that Jesus had to leave the 99 for and go get – wandering out there in the World, doing naughty things and denying Jesus by your actions – you and me, we both had a heart which was very far away from Him.  Your invitation today, should you choose to accept it is – Will you join with Jesus – His way, to go after that one lost sheep you say you love?  Will you lay down everything for the sake of that one and simply seek Jesus for the next steps.  And if so – then lets get busy and discover more about us and quite possibly why those who have a conflict with us, actually do.

Heavenly Father – We ask that You would teach us more today on how to restore back to those we’ve drifted from and care deeply about, by the precepts of Your Perfect Son Jesus, Who is the only example we are to follow here on Earth.  We come humbly before You this day in full faith and belief that You are not only easing us into repentance in a most loving way – but also preparing the hearts of those we long to reconnect with, in that we can put the past behind us and start fresh and new.  So continue to open the eyes of our hearts Lord – it is on Your solid ground we stand, believing nothing is too great for You, believing You are the God of the impossible and of fullness of restoration in all things.  Grow us continually in Your love, so that we are a blessing to those who are in need and hurting.  Thank You Lord for Your constant and abiding presence.  We love You Lord with all that we are.  Amen.

So I am pretty sure I suggested you all read Mathew 5 to prepare for today, which just happens to be one of my favorite chapters in the Bible – since I love hearing Jesus speak to us through the Beatitudes.  It seems with all the harshness surrounding us and love running cold in many and such – Mathew 5 is like water in a dry desert for a parched soul like ours.  We touched a lot on this chapter the other day and since you hopefully read it and it is very long – to save time I am not going to read the whole thing today, be I will pull out portions to discuss as we go along.

Mathew 5 is an excellent measuring rod for us personally – helping us to see what we yet need to go to the Lord to help us on to overcome in the flesh by the Spirit and to be purged of – it also helps us to reflect more and see more easily the part we are potentially playing in the process of this severed relationship in need of a touch from the Lord for full restoration.  We always need to make sure to not assume we didn’t hurt someone when they say we did and we also should not gloss over the fact if someone is hurt and comes to us – it is our duty to drop everything and make all attempts to make amends with them. 

• When LOVE ABOUNDS – perception is everything – so if someone is not sensing love flowing from us – it matters not so much what we say – but if they perceive love
• God’s highest goal for us as His children, when we belong to Him is that OUR LOVE ABOUND – we go the extra mile, in this sense – even if we were wronged, we would go to the person who is troubled and hurt
• Remember now – in our study, this is regarding meaningful relationships in our lives – the inner circle, where you shared of the heart one to another and some hurt on both or either side has pulled you apart.  A good example is how Jesus frequently pulled His disciples aside from the masses to commune, pray, teach, eat and rest with.  Even Jesus had those He was closer to than others, yet He loved all.
• Just to review – our attempt for restoration is love and the other person – it is not to make someone agree with us or not pointing out sides or faults or who is holy and who is not – if you are in this place – then you are not pained enough in the heart to do whatever it takes to “win” your brother or sister back into your life.  This is not a “my way or the highway moment” this is “the Jesus way…”  for restoring what was lost – and He is the centric lead in this miracle joining. 
• Love abounding is loving when you disagree – to love the Jesus way you do not have to agree with someone’s lifestyle or choices – to love like Jesus is to love EVERYONE in their potential as a child of God.  And if we have the Holy Spirit abiding within – we should grieve as He does when we are not at peace whenever possible with all.  This is not about trying to get someone to see your point of view, trying to get everyone to approve of, be happy with or love you – when love abounds – it is not about you – it is about them.
• There is something that takes place before someone betrays another – and it is in the Word, it is… offense.  Offense is the pathway to betrayal.  So here is another reason we need to guard our hearts from walking in offense, because when offended we walk a path to betray.
• And like we learned last week – it is imperative we approach this person in private.  Those who state something negatively openly to confront someone want to win the fight due to rebellion within them.  But, those who go to the person privately, seek to win their brother or sister back into their life.
• This study is not about dealing with a “fault-finder” – because that will take another study and Jesus did not entertain those who find faults with others continually.  When you try to resolve an issue with someone who seeks fault within you at every turn – they will simply find another fault to lay to your charge.  Lord willing we can study that at a later date.

Today we are going to focus on – What to do when a real relationship we were in was wounded, especially when a clear injustice was done against one or both parties.

I say the relationship was wounded – because no matter what happened or who you are – when love is lost, even if you wanted the separation it causes heartache – unless, I suppose you are emotionally compromised, heartless or self-seeking – and do not have the capacity to value true relationships.  Thankfully, that is not any of you joining me today!

• Jesus said – Blessed are the peacemakers – think about this…  Jesus honors you and is with you in the process of reconciliation – He is for restoration so much so, He died so that we could be reconciled back to the Father, so like I said the other day – He takes this very seriously and so should we.
• Jesus will be with us every step of the way towards reconciling – He will help you to reconcile – just you taking the initiative is you displaying the beatitude attribute of peacemaking, whether they receive it or not – guess what Jesus said?  You are blessed, so there is definitely a release for blessing in just attempting to reconcile with another and having a heart to make amends.
• The Word even tells us, we will be called children of God by people, which is very rare these days – with all the turmoil going on, families abandoning and betraying one another, love is shallow – as most seek self-gratification and when you cannot be used any longer – you are tossed away.  So just look at you, even entertaining a step in action for reconciliation makes you stand out in many ways – especially humility, tenderness and love. 
• Being a peacemaker is not the way of the World or many self-proclaimed Christians.  Jesus said we are known by our love – so trying to reach out to someone who wants nothing to do with you – reveals you are being motivated and moved by the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth – wow!
• Side note – there are many workers of iniquity that do not know Jesus’s heart and therefore, they do not know you.  And we cannot be fooled by their words ABOUT Jesus – as they do have many words at times.  It is evident by their actions whether they actually know Him and to Know Him is to love Him and those He dearly loves, you love, as well.
• It takes time, energy and value to encourage another to walk in love – So don’t give up!

WHEN SOMEONE YOU HAVE BEEN IN A MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH HAS HURT YOU DEEPLY and some time has passed – so you’ve processed through the negative emotions with Jesus’s help, you looked inwardly for what you could have done differently, you’ve humbled yourself and repented, you’ve apologized and asked forgiveness for any vengeful thoughts – you are more at peace, washed clean by the Lord Jesus in heart, mind and soul – your purity has been restored, in the Lord’s eyes, you are innocent and yet – your heart still aches.  You know partially why?  Peacemakers always have an ache in their hearts because there is no peace continually on Earth yet.  You have a genuine love and concern for the Spiritual wellbeing of others – so much so you frequently get yourself into some compromising positions, don’t you?  Hey, I get it…  story of my life too!  So once the Lord has suffered with you through the purging process of all vengeance – rest assured your heart will be drawn to that person for reconciliation – it is the Jesus way!  And if you discern that person is hurting, at that point, all your pain doesn’t matter – what does matter is that they are troubled – which concerns you more than what they did to hurt you.  You are then at the point of being mercy motivated where you are more concerned about them than you are yourself.  When love abounds – you will walk through fire, if you have to in order to help the one who wandered off onto dangerous ground, drowning in a sea of resentment.

• When you love like this – you desire is to help them however you can by pulling the thorn of pain out of their heart, as an act of love – whether you caused them pain or not doesn’t matter anymore – all that matters is they no longer have pain of the heart – this is when it is so happy to love, by the way.
• Quick to listen, slow to speak – that’s what the Lord says, especially in this sort of time of reaching out – If we are open to hear them, we often will discover our part in their pain and suffering – patiently listening, without justifying yourself or making excuses, opens the door to reasoning together with them – yes, together and guess what you are doing?  Excelling in love!

And whether they notice this or not is the not issue here, because Jesus sees and is delighted to see us loving like Him.

Jesus told us there are so many sacrifices we can do to glorify Him while here on Earth – however, He tells us to stop and halt all of it if we are in need of restoration with someone, that we are to drop everything and go to that person who is hurt by our words or deeds – to run to them as fast as we can and do our part in making amends and then come back to sacrifice for Me.  Jesus impressed upon us an urgency to resolve the conflict and to even wait to worship Him until the attempt is made for reconciliation which conveys to us that even peacemaking is a form of worshiping Jesus and I never really considered that before until now – that peacemaking is just as valuable to Him in servitude to His kingdom in that it is an obedience before sacrifice moment expressed through tithing – a giving of yourself to another who is in pain.

• When we honor one another in a most humbling and precious way – we are also honoring Jesus to fortify the unity of the family of God – displaying a loyalty and commitment to Him and one another – like a faithfulness unmated here on Earth.  When we acknowledge our own shortcomings, asking for forgiveness we grow in love – individually and together.  Remember, what we do unto others, we actually are doing unto Jesus.
• The great fellowship of the trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, models for us how to relate to one another.  Just as 2 Corinthians 5:19 states the whole point of the Gospel is – God reconciling us to Himself as He is the Head of the family – under Him – caring for one another as the treasures of Heaven.

We read James 3 last week and studied how we should reflect and identify what actually does offend another person, in that a woe does not come upon us personally for hurting someone to the point they are offended.  As a reminder, it does not say the offended person has a woe – but the one who offends does.  James 3 also talks about the covering we receive from Jesus when we are offended and hurt by someone inside the Body of Christ.  It is self inside us – which hurts when we are targeted – therefore, we do play a role in our own offense by how respond when injured in the heart.  And that right there is where the rubber meets the road so to speak.  Do we lash out?  Fight back?  Hold a grudge?  Become bitter?  All which are not the attributes of Jesus – to lay our lives down, releases Him to intervene but also requires we take no vengeance upon ourselves – because He said, vengeance is mine – we do not repay evil with evil, but rather with good.

Some of us feel as if we have targets on our backs, because we do – some of us are very naïve and trusting – especially with those inside the church.  The truth is, there are many within the church being used as agents of satan seeking to devour us and will use the most crafty ways to inject us with their poison in order we become bitter and enraged, not letting the Lord be Lord in dealing with them.  The Lord desires us to call out to Him in our time of need, He actually commands it so that all that is hidden in darkness is revealed as He shines a light to reveal the truth of another.

• We should not become a victim so much we are actual agents/protectors of our wounds.  This is evident when we respond ungodly to the situation by participating in the offense – then we too have blood on our hands.
• The injustice against us causes pain and anxiety but should never cause bitterness or retaliation.  If we are not submissive to the Holy Spirit pain will rush upon us like a flood.
• It is a good idea not to fixate on the injustice done – but rather focus on our response to be Christ-like, trusting in Jesus to comfort us and bind up wounds to heal our hearts so that the outcome is purposed in the kingdom, not dividing it.
• The fruit of doing things Jesus’s way guards our hearts so that we glean wisdom to learn from our mistakes and not be taken into a similar snare again in the future – we become wiser to the tactics of the enemy waged against us – don’t forget he wants us to corrupt ourselves and not be triumphant. 

Galatians 5 tells us – If we bite and devour one another verbally we will consume each other – this is through slander, arguments, defending of self, accusations, seductions, etc… To be consumed means your attention and focus is captivated by the wrong doing, rather than overcoming all things through Jesus.

James 4 instructs us to avoid at all costs debates and conflicts, which frees the wounded heart.  Anyone who walks with Jesus does not enjoy or participate in such sensual activities anyway – so it should be a welcomed relief we are told to avoid them.  We also are not to cast our pearls (wisdom) before swine or they will take them and use them against us.  So let’s be real careful who we share what with, the enemy is totally prowling about right now, especially inside religious environments.

There are 2 types of wisdom –

NATURAL                                           &                                    HEAVENLY

Self                                          perspective                                God

Chaos & Disorder                        results                            Peace & Righteousness

Agreement w/darkness            response                  Agreement w/life laid down

SELF WISDOM contains ~

Self-seeking, jealousy, selfish ambition, arrogant, lies against the truth, carnal, denial we personally contribute to our own bitterness, blame shifting – all which the Lord is purging out of us so that we have a Heavenly mindset when faced with opposition in order to rest in the resolve of Him.

When we come into agreement with God, we walk as He walked, our lives are laid down in patience, love, gentleness – and what comes forth, what is both said and done – they are equal – walk matches talk and what we produce are good deeds – the evidence of that which is hoped for – Heavenly wisdom.

We either have strife in the heart or peace in the heart and what is inward, flows outward.  Being hurt is not a green light to become bitter, but a yellow one to yield to the Lord.  When we cling to bitterness it will take root and grow – we must be intentional in plucking it out continually and it begins with owning our own part in the disconnect we have with others.  Our inheritance is – to love others who do not like us or persecute us or turn away from us because we are just like our Father and Jesus is the first of many brethren, and hopefully the more we observe Him we become more like Him.  Or at least that’s the goal anyway.  Shaking the dust off totally is ridding ourselves of all residue from the harm another caused and believe it or not – leaving a village does explain certain times it is best to not engage with someone, by the Lord’s leading – if doing so is corrupting you or them.

Quarrels among us are fueled by something…  You all know what fuels a fight, rather than quenches it?  Anger – but do you know why?  Wrong expectations of others and desires which are not in God’s will.  So the Lord is purging us quickly because for way to long many of us have ended up on conflict with many people over time.  Some of these wrong desires are:  Envy, jealousy, desired to be loved/admired/worshiped, coveting – wanting what others have, etc… Anytime we are outside of the will of what God desires for us – anguish of the heart is cultivated.  Can we just admit we need the Lord to get us out of these situations we got ourselves into and then repent for complaining we are in them?  Because that is really what needs to happen for full release.  Yet, I am hesitant to even say this because I am the guiltiest of all for this pitfall.

So the whole story is… How we are treated (we cannot control) and how we respond (we can control) –

An injustice was done – then we got stuck – in self-seeking perceptions – self is always a snare.

This is not to say we cannot have pain – but rather what do we do with it when it comes?  We should be giving it to Jesus rather than holding onto it for dear life – being betrayed is not our identity – Jesus is and He was betrayed with a kiss, so it is simple – so shall we be and have been.  The closer you are to someone the deeper the pain they can inflict, because we let our heart guards down, believing they would never hurt us.  But, they did, didn’t they?  The test is – What do we do with the betrayal after it occurs?

Bitterness only has a hold on us, when we cling to it – waiting and waiting for the person to reflect and come to us trying to make amends – honestly, that may never happen – even the waiting can rule over us if we are fixated on another’s heart change.  We must do more than forgive – actually that is the easy part – we must view ourselves in truth that the pain of what occurred inflicted our souls so much we’ve become one with that heartache.  Only Jesus can change a heart and our prayer needs to be He start with us personally.  He is setting us up with wisdom because regarding betrayal by the ones we love – has barely even began to happen.  He is teaching us to cling to Him – not one who is not of us, not our hardships, not this life or anything or anyone we hold dear – just to Him.

Until the heart changes – we are not in the truth, instead we lie against it.  Victims boasting of wrongs (me guilty again) is a form of arrogance – thinking ourselves to be higher than we ought to.  IF and I am saying IF here because I am seeing I have lack in this – so IF, you really want a relationship restored you must own your part of it crumbling as the first step.  We say we want things resolved, but do we?  I am seeing a resistance in us to go all the way – to abound in love to fortify that which was lost – quite often.

Earthly/carnal/sensual thinking – embraces the negative emotions during conflicts. While residue from our past hurts cultivates confusion.  When we are willing to take an honest look at ourselves we can see into own our behaviors which do harm others.  Unfulfilled expectations prove out that which was not in God’s will for our lives and lets just admit it now – we joined ourselves with many from being loved starved and are now paying the price.  Our lack prompts us to want more of a someone than they are willing to give, we may desire to be desired, seek comfort or honor, love, to be served and easily become a taker – while those with a servant’s heart came to serve – not be served, are givers clothed in humility, are their brother’s keeper seeking opportunities to pour love outward by cultivating healthy relationships.  Most people are a mixture of both right now, but the more whole we are becoming – healed in the heart – we are moving into a place of conforming to Jesus and His ways by the fullness of His loving embrace that satisfies a longing heart.  The Lord is gently guiding us to a place of contentment whether we are in plenty or in want here on Earth, just as it is in Heaven and it is painful and glorious at the same time.

This morning the Lord was speaking to me in Scripture – He does that a lot with me, but anyway – He started telling me about me – and this pertains to you, as well.  He said – now you see through a glass dimly, but when you look into My face you will no longer know only part of the story – but all will be revealed for it is then you will know and be known just as I am…  (1 Corinthians 13:12) and I said okay Lord – He then said, don’t you want to know how you are known?  And I said yes, of course and He said LOVE…  Love is how I know you and it is love which makes Me known to you and it is love by which you shall be known.  How amazing is that?  Our identity is LOVE and until we understanding how fully we are loved, we wander around outside of the identity of who we really are – to be known as He is, is love.  You all probably already knew that – but I wanted to share, because it totally blessed my heart and quite possibly may help someone else to be known as they are known – by His love.

You know this study has stirred up some past wounds in my own life which I prefer to not even look at – I am sure you all can relate.  We prefer to just leave things as they are, don’t we?  Yet, the Lord is drawing us even more unto Himself and revealing to us all the ways in which He comforts us and sometimes He points to times in our lives where we were so hopeless or low in spirit that He was there, remaining a constant life preserving influence to sustain us through it all.

Okay, let’s keep moving, we are getting almost to the end of this study.  The Lord presses upon us how indicative our responses are to the truth of us – He wants us to be gentle, fair. Reflective, considerate, generous when approaching someone who has harmed us in some way – keeping in mind we too have weak moments of our own.  Those closest to us – unravel and reveal our shortcomings, don’t they?  When dealing with someone, it is important we humble ourselves, admitting we too are not perfect – and just as Jesus told us – a soft answer, defusing anger – humility cultivates peace in every situation.  Harsh answers fails us and fail the process towards reconciliation, revealing the contention still remaining in ourselves and others.  If things go down this road – we should stop the conversation, seek the Lord, reflect on Him and rejoin another time.

Again, the key to restoring is…. Be willing to yield – listen and hear… Don’t just hear the person, listen to them of the heart.  The Lord told us to be eager to listen and slow to speak.  We can hear every word someone says and not listen to their heartcries.  Being slow to speak is actually being yielded – a lot of people just listen – not concentrating on what is being said, only hearing enough to come back with their side in a manipulative, convincing way – we are to be open hearted, teachable – we can even ask questions to learn more of the person, rather than justifying of self when it is our turn to speak.  Ask the person to teach you – how you hurt them from their stand point.  We should be easily persuaded to recognize our own faults – because isn’t that what we are hoping the other person will be like?  Why do we think we are exempt?  Our willingness to hear and listen reveals just how eager we are to rejoin to the person in love. 

To listen is to:  set up a rebuttal in the mind, defines who is a right fighter, is focused on forcing the other person to change and defends self.

To hear is to:  talk straight to the heart of the other person and receive their point of view, to explore ways we may come together in agreement, to allow God to use you to be the change inside the relationship and to find a starting place of moving forward in love and forgiveness.

When we have internal opposition and conflict which is unresolved we are closeminded, combative, resistant, thinking highly of ourselves without faults, refusing to put ourselves in another person’s shoes – lack of compassion, mercy and love.

The Lord tells us to be full of mercy – to be generous with His love poured out to all – but it really says something about us when we treat a stranger with more mercy than a loved one, doesn’t it?

We can be extremely merciful in love and not trust someone – remembering love covers a multitude of sins, ours and theirs.  You can love someone and not trust them.

We are to be kind to our enemies who are not in a repentant state of mind – not to promote them or qualify what they are doing, but to simply be generous in our love towards them.

It is okay to agree to disagree – no one has to be right for love to prevail and both can be wrong and love can still prevail – which is how we are to have peace with all men.

This may irritate some people – but we do not have to agree with someone to forgive them.  Forgiving is simply saying in the heart – we all fall short of the glory, so I am letting you off the hook for your mistakes.

Pray to Jesus and ask Him to assist you to return to the first love with this person – the first love is when you overlooked many things prior to their flesh irritating yours.  When familiarity sets in so does offense.

And lastly on this particular portion – Everyone’s perceptions, everyone’s – are clouded by an element of self.  Remember mercy triumphs over judgment and because our hearts are liberated in Jesus, the healing process is standing ready to begin at any moment once we surrender to Him – as a role model of His ways, it will open the door for others to be mercy motivated as well.  Mercy wins every single time.  We become victorious regardless of the outcome, when we show mercy to others as mercy given to them is mercy we receive back from the Lord – so it is a bottomless gift to all who desire to attain it.

Once a relationship is restored – we must do our part to honor, protect and keep it by the purity and integrity of our Lord by word, deed and follow through.  Our heart’s intentions are not enough – it is through integrity we keep our word to both the Lord and others we value to keep in our lives.  At times we may fail – in which we should own it, apologize and try to do better next time.  The more we yield to the Holy Spirit and are yielded to others, the more rare it should be we do not keep our word and miracles blossom up all over the place, especially when those we love are hurting – integrity is an attribute of Jesus Himself.  Integrity waters a relationship to grow in love.

After all this we studied today – I am quite amazed at how easy conflict resolution actually is.  What is not easy is letting go of all pride, in order we surrender to the Holy Spirit and walk the talk.  All we have to do is remove self out of the equation…  Which is much harder than I initially thought.  It seems we are often much easier on ourselves than we are on other people – now that’s truth right there, isn’t it?  Can you see how often we scrutinize the walk of others, while desiring everyone cut us a lot of slack?  Yikes… These double standards are not good at all – so thankful the Lord is giving us time to repent. 

You see this a lot in ministry – leaders being ultra loving and patient with the flock and severely harsh and demanding on family.  I myself have to be very, very conscientious of this – using the inmates for example, look at all the mercy and love I give to them and yet…  my own children I hold to a much higher standard and demand.

This is hypocrisy really, Lord help us to be genuine, honest and sincere in our love one to another showing no partiality knowing we all fall short at times and it is not productive to deny it is so by appearing to be loving and kind openly before a crowd, while privately or around those closest to us – we are unmerciful and unkind.  Help us Lord to worship You in spirit and in truth and not be disingenuous in our interactions so that what inspires us we do for show.  Cleanse and purify our hearts Lord and help us through Your strength as we lay our lives down for the glory of You.  We thank You Lord for Your instructions on how to be more like You in faith, hope and love for the restoration of all that is fragmented in our lives.  We trust You to lead and guide us for what steps You desire we take next as You go before us to mend that which is fragmented in the relationships we value the most.  Prepare our hearts Lord and theirs so that we can make amends and become one in You in a most precious timely way.  In Jesus’s Precious and Holy Name we pray.  Amen.

Thank you all so very much for joining me in this teaching – it was a little overwhelming to the heart at times but it also gave us much blessing and hope that where love is – expect miracles and great things to come to pass for our Lord is truly the overseer of the impossible.

Please keep our inmates in your prayers and ROF Ministries as well.  We appreciate your loving dedication and faithful support and are so humbled by your giving, making it possible for us to do what we do for the Lord!

Do you all wonder why we have these topics?  You do understand that Jesus is going to marry His Bride, not His church – right?  He will marry His kind, those He is equally yoked with- when His Bride has made herself ready – ready by fully surrendering, washing our garments through repentance – purity as we are hidden in Him.  All throughout Scripture it talks about brides – but if you want to see a picture of the Bride in Scripture – read the Beatitudes in Mathew 5.  Handmaidens tend to the preparation of the Bride – the invitation has already gone out, our time of preparation is rapidly coming to a close.  So this is why we have been studying the topics the Lord desires us to have clarity on – so we are known as He is known… through the eyes of love in that we adopt Jesus’s ways, no longer seeking our own, as a wife fully submits to her husband – so will we. 

So we are blessed when all kinds of evil people are against us and when we are excluded at every turn – so was our Groom, Jesus – but what He cares more about is – Do we respond as He would in each situation?  Are we a like-minded equally yoked couple – Jesus and you and me?

We know Him well enough to follow in His footsteps by now – Don’t we?  What did Jesus do when people attacked Him?  He gave it all to the Father, displayed love to them and waited however long it required for the Father to vindicate Him.  What happens when we release this to the Father – bitterness has no seed to grow from and take root to grow within us.  There is only unity surrounding Jesus and so…  let it be so within us as well.