Author: Renee Faul

October 12

To Him Who Overcomes

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What is there in your life that causes you to feel so bad, sad, and mad?  Is it the belief that you are unacceptable, unloved, unworthy, or unwanted? Know that these negative, destructive beliefs from the father-of-lies, along with their accompanying emotions, cause certain temptations in your life—temptations that need to be overcome.

HE THAT OVERCOMETH, THE SAME SHALL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE RAIMENT; AND I WILL NOT BLOT OUT HIS NAME OUT OF THE BOOK OF LIFE, BUT I WILL CONFESS HIS NAME BEFORE MY FATHER, AND BEFORE HIS ANGELS
(Revelation 3:5).

Know that the Lord Jesus regards overcoming as something very valuable.  If you live a life of overcoming, your name is so commendable that it will appear in the book of Life, and the Perfect Father, the Most High, the Creator of all things, will know your name, personally.

BECAUSE THOU HAST KEPT THE WORD OF MY PATIENCE, I ALSO WILL KEEP THEE FROM THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION, WHICH SHALL COME UPON ALL THE WORLD, TO TRY THEM THAT DWELL UPON THE EARTH
(Revelation 3:10).

Precious One, do not try to fight temptation by yourself, in your own strength. You will fail, each time, because the one who is tempting you is more cunning than you will ever be. But, I, your Savior, came to keep you from the hour of temptation, for I will tell you the Truth about being unacceptable, unworthy, unloved, and unwanted. But, before I do this, you need to ADMIT how you feel and SUBMIT the negative, destructive beliefs that accompany your feelings, to Me. Then, I will COMMIT to you. My immediate Presence in your life will keep you from the hour of temptation, each time.

TO HIM THAT OVERCOMETH WILL I GRANT TO SIT WITH ME IN MY THRONE, EVEN AS I ALSO OVERCAME, AND AM SET DOWN WITH MY FATHER IN HIS THRONE
(Revelation 3:21).

Be patient during temptation.  Do not run to sinful defense patterns to escape the pain of being unloved or unwanted.  Do not hide the pain of unworthiness in your heart by pretending that you are okay, or wear a mask to pretend that you are not who you are.  Do not blame others for your pain of non-acceptance.  Instead, run to the Lord Jesus.  He will let you sit with Him on His throne…to reign over the temptations in your life.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, how good to know that You can keep me from the hour of temptation…IF I come to You. My Lord, teach me to deal with temptation Your way, instead of trying to deal with it through my own defense mechanisms of running, hiding, and blaming others.

Maintain an Awareness

And here lies the root to all our problems: not the FACTS we experienced during our childhood circumstances…but the CONCLUSIONS we made in response to these facts.

The Two Counsels
October 11

He Answered by Setting Me Free

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One of the mistakes I often make is to expect my husband to be my Truth.  I expect him to talk to my heart and solve the lies the father-of-lies has been dumping there, since childhood.  I expect him to be my Comforter when I feel comfortless, my Hope when I feel hopeless, and my Love when I feel unloved and unlovable.  I do this because I want the pain in my heart to disappear as soon as possible.  I do not want to take the time to talk to God about the anguish in my heart.

HE SAID TO ME: ‘IT IS DONE. I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END. TO HIM WHO IS THIRSTY I WILL GIVE TO DRINK WITHOUT COST FROM THE SPRING OF THE WATER OF LIFE’
(Revelations 21:6).

Understand that human counselors, friends, and your spouse hold a certain place in your life.  They can encourage, instruct, and admonish you.  They can teach you the ways they were taught, sharing with you the beliefs they believe.  They can give you advice—opinions suggesting the proper course of action.  They can pray with you.  However, they cannot be the Truth in your mind, the Hope in your spirit, and the Love your heart so desperately needs. They cannot fix you from the inside-out.

IT IS WRITTEN: ‘MAN DOES NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT COMES FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD’
(Matthew 4:4).

Beautiful Child, cry out to Me, Jesus, when you feel unloved and unlovable. Talk to Me about your feelings. If you expect an answer from Me, I will come into your heart and furnish you with the Love you so desperately need, from the inside-out.

Run to Me when you feel hopeless.  Tell Me what is on your heart and why you feel such despair.  I am the Beginning and the End. If you invite Me, I will come into your spirit and supply you with a drink of My Living Hope, from the inside-out.

Come to Me when you feel lost and confused.  Share your troubles with Me.  Wait for My answer.  I am the Alpha and the Omega. If you are patient, I will come and dispense Truth into the most confused parts of your mind, from the inside-out.

IN MY ANGUISH I CRIED TO THE LORD, AND HE ANSWERED BY SETTING ME FREE
(Psalm 118:5).

Be determined to cry out to Jesus whenever your heart hurts.  Your friend, counselor, or spouse can encourage, instruct, and admonish you, from the outside.  But the Lord Jesus can set you free, from the inside-out.

To whom do you run to receive your hope, truth, love, and comfort?

PRAYER: Lord God, call me to You when I feel unloved and unlovable. Remind me to run to You when I feel hopeless. Teach me to seek You when I feel lost and confused, because You alone are able to furnish me with Truth, Hope, and Love, from the inside-out. You alone will set me free.

Maintain an Awareness

Do not go to the Scriptures to read them only. Go to them with the intention to seek and experience the Light through them.

The Two Counsels
October 10

The Guilt of Experiencing Pain

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Sin does not stand alone.  It does not happen by itself.  It sits on a pillar of beliefs, suggested by the father-of-lies: beliefs of abandonment, condemnation, rejection, and shame.  Understand that these beliefs cause anguish: anger, animosity, jealousy, fear, disappointment, confusion, guilt, and despair.  Know that these painful emotions are interconnected with the disheartening beliefs of abandonment, condemnation, rejection, and shame. You do not experience one without the other. They are both part of the OLD MAN, the body of sin that came to live its life in each of us.

 KNOWING THIS, THAT OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DESTROYED, THAT HENCEFORTH WE SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN
(Romans 6:6).

I used to feel very guilty whenever I experienced painful emotions in my heart.  I always thought these painful emotions of anger, animosity, jealousy, fear, disappointment, and despair rendered me bad; therefore, I concluded that I had to flee from them as soon as possible.  I did not know that these painful emotions were merely an indication that a negative, destructive OLD MAN belief, planted in my heart by the father-of-lies, was being triggered. What a revelation it was when I realized it was not the PAIN in my heart, but my REACTION to it, that rendered me sinful.

THEREFORE DO NOT LET SIN REIGN IN YOUR MORTAL BODY SO THAT YOU OBEY ITS EVIL DESIRES
(Romans 6:12).

Blessed One, be patient when your heart is aching. Do not react to your pain. Do not hide from it, run away from it, or blame it on someone else. If you do, this will cause sin to reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Instead, cry out to Me, Jesus, your Savior. Find the negative, destructive OLD MAN beliefs that are associated with these painful emotions in your heart. Then, ask Me to crucify these beliefs for you. I will answer you by setting you free.

IN MY ANGUISH I CRIED TO THE LORD, AND HE ANSWERED BY SETTING ME FREE
(Psalm 118:5).

What will you do with the current pain in your heart: will you react to it sinfully…or will you submit it to the Lord Jesus?

Did you know that your painful emotions are not really a result of your circumstances, but a result of the negative beliefs, instilled in your mind by the father-of-lies? Your pain serves as a temptation to obey the father-of-lies…or as an opportunity to surrender to God. Which one will it be for you?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you that You came to set me free from the OLD MAN, the body of sin that came to reign in me through its negative, destructive beliefs and its associated emotions. Call me to You whenever I feel like reacting to these painful emotions, Lord Jesus. Crucify the OLD MAN in me, so the body of sin in me might be destroyed.

Maintain an Awareness

Therefore, do not despair of the evil done against you: the insincerity…the depravity…the immorality.  They might have meant evil against you; BUT GOD will cancel the effects of any evil done against you, in the past, in the present, and in the future, if you submit to His discipline.

The Two Counsels
October 09

The New Is Here

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SO GOD CREATED MAN IN HIS OWN IMAGE, IN THE IMAGE OF GOD HE CREATED HIM; MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM
(Genesis 1:27).

What was man like right after God created him?  What was it like to not only be created in the image of God, but to be living in the image of God and acting in the image of God, as well?  It must have been a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

But, something changed. The father-of-lies instilled an OLD MAN in us. This OLD MAN, the body of sin, consists of its own beliefs, its own nature, its own desires, its own emotions, its own will, its own deeds, and its own purpose. The OLD MAN lives in us and through us. He uses our minds as the tool to think his negative, destructive beliefs of abandonment, shame, condemnation, and rejection. He uses our emotions as the catalyst to feel his feelings of disappointment, shame, fear, anxiety, hatred, jealousy, and resentment. He uses our hearts as the vehicle to execute deceitful desires that only benefit him. He uses our personalities as the mechanism through which he lives his nature—the pitiful, pathetic victim-nature, the guilt-ridden, unworthy blame-nature, the negative, lamenting doom-nature, and the fake, alluring show-off nature. He uses our wills as the launcher of his own spiteful, rebellious will. And he uses our bodies as his instruments of unrighteousness—the sinful deeds of the OLD MAN. The image of God in man was forever distorted…maimed…disabled when the OLD MAN body of sin moved in, because when the OLD MAN moved in, God moved out.

 AND HAVE PUT ON THE NEW MAN, WHICH IS RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE AFTER THE IMAGE OF HIM THAT CREATED HIM
(Colossians 3:10).

But then, God sent us a NEW MAN—the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son. Not only is He created in God’s image, but He also lives in God’s image and acts in God’s image, as well. And He came to live His Life in us—His Beliefs with His Emotions, His Nature, His Desires, His Will, His Purpose with His Deeds.

THEREFORE, IF ANYONE IS IN CHRIST, THE NEW CREATION HAS COME: THE OLD HAS GONE, THE NEW IS HERE!
(2 Corinthians 5:17).

Invite the Lord Jesus to replace the old in you with the new. Then, you will finally be able to live a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I desire for everything in me to become new. I desire a new nature, a new will, new desires, new beliefs, new emotions, and a new purpose with new deeds. I know that the only way to change is to be exchanged—the old for the new. Therefore, come and live Your Life in me, Lord Jesus, in the place of the OLD MAN…and make everything new in me.

Maintain an Awareness

God wants you to desire to be good, because He wants to fill YOU with His fruits of Righteousness.

The Two Counsels
October 08

Do Not Wander Off

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I USED TO WANDER OFF UNTIL YOU DISCIPLINED ME; BUT NOW I CLOSELY FOLLOW YOUR WORD
(Psalm 119:67 NLT).

I used to wander off, following the voice of temptation.  For a long time, I did not understand where the voice of temptation came from.  Who was tempting me…and why?  But, I have come to understand that the voice of temptation comes from the father-of-lies. His bait? Thoughts of condemnation, abandonment, rejection, and shame. His goal? Drawing us into hopelessness, hatred, and hard feelings.  Why? The father-of-lies knows that if he can get us to the place of hopelessness, hatred, and hard feelings, we will wander off, away from God’s Presence, to find our own escape routes of relief.

THOSE WHOM I LOVE I REBUKE AND DISCIPLINE. SO BE EARNEST, AND REPENT. HERE I AM! I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK. IF ANYONE HEARS MY VOICE AND OPENS THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN AND EAT WITH HIM, AND HE WITH ME. TO HIM WHO OVERCOMES, I WILL GIVE THE RIGHT TO SIT WITH ME ON MY THRONE, JUST AS I OVERCAME AND SAT DOWN WITH MY FATHER ON HIS THRONE
(Revelations 3:19-21).

God disciplined me.  He taught me to stop wandering off in pursuit of my own remedies to heal my heart and fix my life. Instead, He taught me to overcome the temptations of the father-of-lies through His Presence. He showed me that He was constantly standing at my heart’s door, knocking. Whenever I heard His Voice and opened the door, He Himself would come into my heart to defeat the thoughts of shame, to conquer the thoughts of condemnation, and to subdue the thoughts of abandonment and rejection. He Himself would bring me out of the place of hopelessness, hatred, and hard feelings, if I let Him.

I bless you to listen carefully when you are tempted—when you are lured into hopelessness, hatred, and hard feelings through negative thoughts of condemnation, shame, and abandonment.  Pause!  Pay attention, and you will hear another Voice knocking at your heart’s door—the Voice of God Himself. He is asking to come into your heart, just the way it is, so He may spend time with you, moment-by-moment. If you let Him in, He will show you how to overcome the voice of temptation. He Himself will heal your heart and fix your life.

How far have you wandered away from God’s Presence in pursuit of escape routes of relief? Are they working for you…or are you ready to try something, or rather, Someone different?

PRAYER: Lord God, I admit that I have been wandering off on my own in pursuit of finding a way to heal my heart and fix my life. But, I hear You knocking at my heart’s door, today. Come in, Lord Jesus, and make Your Presence known to me. Discipline me, so I may closely follow Your Word, instead of the voice of temptation.

Maintain an Awareness

Know that you cannot be a friend of the Light and be a friend of darkness, at the same time. Darkness and Light do not mix. They are incompatible. You are either in the dark, or in the light.

The Two Counsels

Beliefs/Emotions associated with this blessing.
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Bitter Hopeless

October 07

Obedience That Liberates

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WHOEVER HAS MY COMMANDS AND OBEYS THEM, HE IS THE ONE WHO LOVES ME. HE WHO LOVES ME WILL BE LOVED BY MY FATHER, AND I TOO WILL LOVE HIM AND SHOW MYSELF TO HIM
(John 14:21).

I have learned the secret of OBEDIENCE. But, I am not talking about obedience to the Ten Commandments or a different set of rules and regulations. I am not talking about a method. That kind of obedience constricts, chains, and chokes. I am talking about a reciprocal relationship of submission and revelation. This kind of obedience liberates…unshackles…disencumbers. This kind of OBEDIENCE requires you to “lean not on your own understanding,” so God may show you His Infinite Understanding.

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING
(Proverbs 3:5-6).

This kind of obedience opened the doors of Heaven to me.  You see, each time I obeyed God by not leaning on my own perturbing perception, but allowed Him to exchange it for His Perspective, He showed me the Truth about a person, a situation, and me, just like He promised He would do: “AND I TOO WILL LOVE HIM AND SHOW MYSELF TO HIM.” And once I knew the Truth about something or someone, it set me free to love my Self…and my neighbor as my Self.

TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ALL BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES
(Mark 12:33).

In the end, through the reciprocal relationship of submission and revelation, God fulfilled His Law in me. I stopped hating my enemy, because I knew the Truth about him.  I stopped coveting my neighbor’s stuff, because I knew the Truth about me.  I stopped giving false testimony against someone, because I knew the Truth about the situation. God showed me the Truth when I obeyed—when I opened my mind to His moment-by-moment revelation.

DO NOT THINK THAT I HAVE COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW OR THE PROPHETS; I HAVE NOT COME TO ABOLISH THEM BUT TO FULFILL THEM
(Matthew 5:17).

I bless you to discover the OBEDIENCE that liberates—a reciprocal relationship that exchanges your perception for His Perspective.  It will change your life, because you will come to know the Truth about the people in your life, the situations in your life, and about your Self.  Most importantly, you will know the Truth about God. Therefore, you will be able to love Him with all your heart, all your strength, and all your understanding…and your neighbor as your Self.

What kind of obedience do YOU know: the kind that constricts…or the kind that liberates?

PRAYER: Lord God, teach me OBEDIENCE—to have a reciprocal relationship of submission and revelation with You. Remind me, moment-by-moment, to stop leaning on my own way of thinking, but to ask You for Your Perspective, in each situation, during every occasion.

Maintain an Awareness

Sin is not something mysterious…something unexplainable…something that happens to you. Sin does not stand alone. It does not happen by itself. Sinful solutions have a source—the source of the OLD MAN.

The Two Counsels
October 06

Grace Abounds More

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BUT WHERE SIN INCREASED, GRACE INCREASED ALL THE MORE
(Romans 5:20).

I bless you to understand that God’s Grace covers your past…because it is MORE.  God’s Grace covers the present…because it is MORE.  God’s Grace covers your future…because it is MORE.

Believe that God’s Grace is MORE than any sinful action anyone has ever committed against you and more than any sinful deed you yourself have ever committed against yourself or anyone else.

FOR SIN SHALL NOT BE YOUR MASTER, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT UNDER LAW, BUT UNDER GRACE
(Romans 6:14).

I bless you to know that, during your present life, right now, God’s Grace abounds MORE.  Do you wrestle with a sinful habit or defense pattern of distraction or destruction?  God’s Grace abounds MORE.  Do you often become angry, fearful, or jealous?  God’s Grace abounds MORE.  Do you struggle with depression, bitterness, anxiety, or guilt? God’s Grace abounds MORE. Do you have a problem with being prideful, boastful, and self-seeking? God’s Grace abounds MORE. Do you control, criticize, or complain? God’s Grace abounds MORE. Are you confused? God’s Grace abounds MORE.

Understand that sin does not stand alone.  It does not happen by itself.  It sits on a pillar of oppressing beliefs suggested by the father-of-lies: beliefs of abandonment, condemnation, rejection, and shame.  And these beliefs cause anguish…misery…distress.  Not only does the father-of-lies suggest these beliefs to you, but he also offers the solutions to still the pain these beliefs cause—SIN.

Blessed Child, you need to know that you do not have to run to sinful defense habits of escape to dampen the abandonment in your heart, because there is enough Grace to cover the pain and beliefs of abandonment. You do not have to resort to bitterness to spite your enemy, because My Grace is available to you, even now. You do not have to blame others for the shame in your heart, because My Grace is yours, if you want it. But, in order to experience My Grace, you need to stop fighting the beliefs of abandonment, shame, rejection, and condemnation in your own strength and in your own way. Instead, you need to surrender these negative, destructive beliefs to Me, Jesus Christ, and ask Me to cover you with My Grace. You will find that My Grace is always sufficient.  It is always available.  It is always MORE.

What sin is there in your past, present, or possibly in your future for which you need the Grace of God to abound?

PRAYER: Lord God, I thank you for Your Grace that abounds MORE than my sinful actions and reactions. Thank you that Your Grace abounds MORE than my jealousy, my animosity, and my anxiety. Thank you that Your Grace abounds MORE than any accusatory belief in my heart that makes me feel ashamed. Thank you that Your Grace abounds MORE than my sinful actions of the past, present, and future. I place all of these under Your Grace…to abound for me.

Maintain an Awareness

Our relationship with God is not just one-sided—us praying to God. When we pray, God also needs to talk to us…and He WANTS to.

The Two Counsels
October 05

The Veil is Taken Away

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FOR I AM CONVINCED THAT NEITHER DEATH NOR LIFE, NEITHER ANGELS NOR DEMONS, NEITHER THE PRESENT NOR THE FUTURE, NOR ANY POWERS, NEITHER HEIGHT NOR DEPTH, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION, WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD
(Romans 8:38-39).

Although nothing and nobody can separate me from the Love, Truth, and Hope of God, I have found that I do not always experience those attributes of God in my life.  They exist, but they are not part of my world. It is as if these attributes of God had been taken hostage and hidden behind a veil.  I know about them, but I cannot reach them…and they cannot reach me.

I have discovered something that makes God’s attributes accessible and part of my daily world.  The veil can be lifted by OBEDIENT SURRENDER—laying down my own perturbing perceptions at the feet of the Lord Jesus in exchange for His Perspective.  Whenever I am willing to surrender my own understanding of a situation to Him, the veil is lifted, and God’s Love, Truth, and Hope become accessible to me, to take the place of the bitterness, sadness, jealousy, fear, and confusion in my heart. During this time, beliefs of rejection, shame, condemnation, guilt, abandonment, and unworthiness leave.

BUT THEIR MINDS WERE MADE DULL, FOR TO THIS DAY THE SAME VEIL REMAINS WHEN THE OLD COVENANT IS READ. IT HAS NOT BEEN REMOVED, BECAUSE ONLY IN CHRIST IS IT TAKEN AWAY. EVEN TO THIS DAY WHEN MOSES IS READ, A VEIL COVERS THEIR HEARTS. BUT WHENEVER ANYONE TURNS TO THE LORD, THE VEIL IS TAKEN AWAY
(2 Corinthians 3:14-16).

Beloved, believe that I, the Most High, yearn to reveal My Love, Truth, and Hope to you in the smallest and biggest of your situations, but you need to surrender your own interpretation of your situation to Me, first, in order to experience these attributes.  Know that your FACTS about your situation are most likely correct, but your INTERPRETATIONS of your situation are most likely false. Why? Because the father-of-lies has pulled a veil of deception over your understanding.

WHOEVER HAS MY COMMANDS AND OBEYS THEM, HE IS THE ONE WHO LOVES ME. HE WHO LOVES ME WILL BE LOVED BY MY FATHER, AND I TOO WILL LOVE HIM AND SHOW MYSELF TO HIM
(John 14:21).

Which perturbing perceptions are you willing to lay down at the feet of the Lord Jesus, today, in order to experience His Love, Hope, and Truth?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I yearn to experience Your Presence in my life, today and every day; therefore, I lay my own perturbing perceptions down at Your feet, so I may see You, clearly, without the veil of deception.

Maintain an Awareness

The goal of the father-of-lies is to fill us with a system of beliefs, so that we would fill our Selves with another system of beliefs that would correct the first system of beliefs.

The Two Counsels

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Abandoned

October 04

I Gave my Heart to Jesus

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I hear many people say, “I gave my heart to Jesus!”  Well, I did too.  I gave my heart to Jesus…but then I took it back again.

Today, I do not view my heart as only one entity, as a whole, but as an entity that exists of many compartments.  In my spiritual heart there are compartments that belong to Jesus.  They are filled with the nature of Jesus, because He lives there.  I have given the Self-nature that used to live there to Jesus.  I have surrendered the negative, destructive beliefs of the father-of-lies that used to live there to Jesus.  When I am required to respond from these parts of my heart, I respond with the Love, Truth, and Hope of Jesus.

CHRIST, WHO FILLS ALL THINGS EVERYWHERE WITH HIMSELF
(Ephesians 1:23).

However, I still have compartments in my heart that are not filled with Jesus, yet.  They are still filled with the lies from the father-of-lies.  When I am required to respond from these parts of my heart, I react with anger, jealousy, hatred, and bitterness.

THE LORD YOUR GOD WILL CIRCUMCISE YOUR HEARTS AND THE HEARTS OF YOUR DESCENDANTS, SO THAT YOU MAY LOVE HIM WITH ALL YOUR HEART AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND LIVE
(Deuteronomy 30:6).

I bless you to give your heart to Jesus, even if you have done so before.  This time, do not only give your heart as an entire entity, but do it one compartment at a time…one lie at a time…one negative thought at a time. By doing this, the Lord Jesus has the opportunity to fill each part of your spiritual heart with His Self.

Therefore, next time you experience the painful feelings of fear, anger, contempt, resentment, or jealousy, know that the Lord Jesus does not rule in that compartment of your heart, yet.  However, this is an opportunity for you to invite Him in.  Know that He will come in and circumcise your heart, obliterating the negative, destructive beliefs of the father-of-lies that live there.  Then, He will fill this compartment of your heart with His Self, too…and you will live!

Which parts of your heart belong to the Lord Jesus? How can you tell?

Which parts of your heart do not belong to the Lord Jesus, yet? How can you tell?

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I desire to love You with all of my heart and with all of my soul. Therefore, I invite You into every compartment of my heart, so You may cut out the parts that do not belong to You, and exchange them for Your Self.

Maintain an Awareness

Discipline, the training to enter God’s Holiness, cannot be exercised AFTER we have already entered a route of escape to resort to a sinful solution.

The Two Counsels

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Angry Bitter Fearful Jealous

October 03

Persecuted, but Not Forsaken

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THE GOD OF THIS AGE HAS BLINDED THE MINDS OF UNBELIEVERS, SO THAT THEY CANNOT SEE THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST, WHO IS THE IMAGE OF GOD
(2 Corinthians 4:4).

Be aware that you have an enemy: the god of this age…the accuser of brethren…the father of lies. 

Be cautioned that the god of this age loves to darken your understanding, so that you would not recognize the Light of the message concerning Jesus Christ—that He offers Himself to you in times of need.

WE ARE HARD-PRESSED ON EVERY SIDE, YET NOT CRUSHED; WE ARE PERPLEXED, BUT NOT IN DESPAIR; PERSECUTED, BUT NOT FORSAKEN; STRUCK DOWN, BUT NOT DESTROYED
(2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

Recognize the voice of the deceiver, the father-of-lies:

When you are hard-pressed, he will demand that you have been crushed.
When you are perplexed, he will declare that your circumstances are hopeless.
When you are persecuted, he will proclaim that you have been forsaken.
When you are struck down, he will claim that you have been destroyed.

Be encouraged that the Lord Jesus came to save you from the father-of-lies and his oppressing beliefs.  But you have a responsibility—to submit your perturbing perceptions to the Lord Jesus when you feel crushed, hopeless, forsaken, and destroyed, so He can tell you the Truth about yourself and your situation.

DO NOT OFFER ANY PART OF YOURSELF TO SIN AS AN INSTRUMENT OF WICKEDNESS, BUT RATHER OFFER YOURSELVES TO GOD AS THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BROUGHT FROM DEATH TO LIFE; AND OFFER EVERY PART OF YOURSELF TO HIM AS AN INSTRUMENT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
(Romans 6:13).

I bless you to stop offering your mind to the father-of-lies to be used for his wickedness; but instead, offer your thoughts and reasoning to God as instruments of His Righteousness.

What makes you feel crushed, hopeless, forsaken, and destroyed, today? EMBRACE these feelings, EXPOSE your interpretations to the Lord Jesus, and ask Him to EXCHANGE them for His Truth, Hope, and Love.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I embrace the perturbing perceptions that cause me to feel crushed, hopeless, forsaken, and destroyed. I expose these perceptions to You. Please exchange these oppressing beliefs for Your Truth, Hope, and Love, so I may live by Your glorious Light and stand against the god of this age.

Maintain an Awareness

How often do we find ourselves doing “good deeds,” just to find out that our “good deeds” were not really good, but merely a reaction to the OLD MAN belief “You are bad”?

The Two Counsels

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Fearful Hopeless Sad