Hopeless

June 29

The Light of Life

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YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE PATH OF LIFE; YOU WILL FILL ME WITH JOY IN YOUR PRESENCE
(Psalm 16:11).

I often hear people say, “Pain is part of life…and needs to be accepted.”  But, the Perfect Father has made known to me His Path of Life: that pain is a part of life…and needs to be exchanged.

Precious One, pain is a result of the OLD MAN beliefs in your heart from the father-of-lies: that you are not needed here on earth…that you have no value…that you are not worthy to be celebrated.  If you react to your pain, you will walk in darkness. This will cause you to stumble and die.

FOR YOU HAVE DELIVERED ME FROM DEATH AND MY FEET FROM STUMBLING, THAT I MAY WALK BEFORE GOD IN THE LIGHT OF LIFE
(Psalm 56:13).

Beloved, I, the Perfect Father, sent the Light of the World to redeem the negative, destructive OLD MAN beliefs of the father-of-lies, and to exchange them for the Truth.

Your path of life is not only filled with pain, but with the Light of Life. But you have an obligation: to find the OLD MAN beliefs that are causing your pain and submit them to My Son, the Light of the World. He will fill you with joy in My Presence.

WHEN JESUS SPOKE AGAIN TO THE PEOPLE, HE SAID, ‘I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. WHOEVER FOLLOWS ME WILL NEVER WALK IN DARKNESS, BUT WILL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE’
(John 8:12).

Child, walk in the Light of My Presence.  Do not accept your pain of abandonment. Do not comply with your pain of shame. Do not submit to your pain of condemnation. Instead, follow the Light of the World into the Light of Life.  He is My Answer to your hopelessness, helplessness, and powerlessness.  He will turn your heart’s belief “I am not worthy to be loved” into “I have value.” He will exchange “I am doomed in my darkness” for “I have the Light of Life.” He will deliver you from death and your feet from stumbling.

Do you want to enter a new path?

Realize that if you want to BE someone different, you need to DO something different. Otherwise, you will always end up on the very same path, as before, and be the very same person, as before. Therefore, be ready to try something new, every day, moment-by-moment: find the beliefs that cause your pain, expose them to the Lord Jesus, and let Him take you on a new journey.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I am tired of stumbling along on my path of darkness. Please bring me onto Your Path of Life. Help me to follow You, daily, moment-by-moment, one belief at a time.

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
June 28

The Presence of God

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YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE PATH OF LIFE;
YOU WILL FILL ME WITH JOY IN YOUR PRESENCE
(Psalm 16:11).

Precious Child, why do you feel hopeless? Do you not know that I am mighty to save? Invite My Presence into the circumstances that have filled you with dread, doom, and despair. I will show you the Path of Life.

Beloved, why is your heart trembling with sadness and loneliness? Do you not know that I am with you? Come to Me. I long to fill you with Joy in My Presence.

THE LORD YOUR GOD IS WITH YOU,
HE IS MIGHTY TO SAVE.
HE WILL TAKE GREAT DELIGHT IN YOU,
HE WILL QUIET YOU WITH HIS LOVE,
HE WILL REJOICE OVER YOU WITH SINGING
(Zephaniah 3:17).

Beautiful One, why is your heart filled with rejection and condemnation? Do you not know that I rejoice over you with singing? Come, let Me quiet you with My Love.

My Child, why is your heart sizzling with shame? Do you not know that I take great delight in you? Let Me fill you with My Joy when you come into My Presence.

JOY IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF TROUBLE,
BUT THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST
(William Vander Haven).

What do you usually do with your heart when it feels abandoned, hopeless, or condemned?

Are you willing to try something (or Someone) new, today? Would you pause before succumbing to your usual remedy, and invite the Presence of God into that empty place in your heart, instead? The only words you need to use are: “Help me, Lord Jesus.” Do this often…and you will notice a remarkable difference in your heart.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, please help me. Please help my empty heart. Please remove the shame, the rejection, the loneliness, the sadness, the hopelessness, and the doom and dread, and fill me with Your Presence.

Maintain an Awareness

Truth comes to us when we speak to God…and when God speaks to us.

The Two Counsels
June 26

More than Conquerors

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I live in Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island, with the ocean in my back yard.  This means beauty, awesomeness, and excitement, but it also means sea breezes, gales, and hurricanes, and because of this very reason, there is a story about an apple tree in my back yard that built its own defense.  Because of the exposure to the sea storms, the apple tree had a hard time bearing fruit, so it used most of its limbs on the windy side to build a shield against the storms.  Those limbs did not bear fruit.  Then, it grew a few limbs on the wind-protected side of the tree.  Those limbs blossomed and bore fruit. Year after year, we have watched the crooked old apple tree only bear fruit on one side.

HERE ON EARTH, YOU WILL HAVE MANY TRIALS AND SORROWS
(John 16:33).

Precious Child, here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows—storms of life that will come against you.  You will be tempted to build your own defense mechanisms: shelters to cover your heart against pain…shields to ward off the accusations from blamers…barricades to keep yourself safe from gossip.  You might be so busy building walls of defense that there is no energy left to bear fruit.

BUT TAKE HEART, BECAUSE I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD
(John 16:33).

Take heart, Child.  I, Jesus, your Savior, have overcome the world.  Do not be sidetracked when you discover a storm raging towards you. Do not hide. Do not run away. Do not blame. Instead, stay where you are and embrace the storm. Expose the beliefs of your pain-filled heart to Me. Submit the trials and sorrows that the gossip and accusations cause, to Me. Accept Me as your defense against abandonment, shame, and rejection, so you may bear fruit…on all sides. 

‘AND I WILL REBUKE THE DEVOURER FOR YOUR SAKES, SO THAT HE WILL NOT DESTROY THE FRUIT OF YOUR GROUND, NOR SHALL THE VINE FAIL TO BEAR FRUIT FOR YOU IN THE FIELD’, SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS
(Malachi 3:11).

What mechanisms of defense have you built against the storms in your life—techniques that have kept you from bearing fruit?

What will it take for you to make the Lord Jesus your method of defense, so that you do not have to use your own energy to create a defense mechanism against your enemies? Know that, if you ask Him, the Lord God will rebuke the devourers for your sake, so they will stop destroying your fruit. 

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, become my Defense…my Protection against the storms…my Safeguard against the father-of-lies. Rebuke the devourers for my sake, so that they would not destroy my fruit. Hallowed be Your blessed Name!

Maintain an Awareness

Truth is not something logical we can produce from our own minds; instead, Truth is the supernatural reasoning of the Holy Spirit in our minds.

The Two Counsels
June 24

Turn and Live!

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I HAVE SET BEFORE YOU LIFE AND DEATH, BLESSINGS AND CURSES. NOW CHOOSE LIFE, SO THAT YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN MAY LIVE AND THAT YOU MAY LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, LISTEN TO HIS VOICE, AND HOLD FAST TO HIM. FOR THE LORD IS YOUR LIFE
(Deuteronomy 30:19-20).

Did you know that a big hard hailstone starts with a speck of dust?  Under the right circumstances, a layer of ice builds up around the dust speck.  Then, as the little ice pellet cycles through the thundercloud multiple times, more and more layers accumulate, until a huge stone the size of an egg forms that can do a lot of damage.

This is the way a stronghold is built in your life.  It starts innocently as a speck of a thought, “Why did he betray me?”  Then, as you dwell on these thoughts, layers of beliefs build, each one more potent than the one before, “He betrayed me, because I am not worthy. I am not loved. I am bad.”  Following that, these beliefs billow into the pernicious POWER of HOPELESSNESS. Thus, a stronghold is formed that will keep you captive for the rest of your life…unless you allow God to set you free.

‘FOR I HAVE NO PLEASURE IN THE DEATH OF ONE WHO DIES,’ SAYS THE LORD GOD. ‘THEREFORE TURN AND LIVE!’
(Ezekiel 18:32).

Grasp that if you want to get rid of the strongholds in your life, you need to reverse the action.  To break down the stronghold, you need to peel it back one layer at a time…one belief at a time…one lie at a time, until you can find the speck of dust that started it all.

FOR I WILL SURELY DELIVER YOU, AND YOU SHALL NOT FALL BY THE SWORD; BUT YOUR LIFE SHALL BE AS A PRIZE TO YOU, BECAUSE YOU HAVE PUT YOUR TRUST IN ME,” SAYS THE LORD
(Jeremiah 39:18).

What set of oppressing beliefs from the father-of-lies is causing the stronghold in your life? What are you going to do about this? What will you choose: life…or death, the blessings of God…or the curses of the father-of-lies?

I bless you to choose LIFE! Turn and live! Find these beliefs and expose them to the saving Power of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will redeem you. He will deliver you from the stronghold.

PRAYER: Lord God, I choose Life. I choose to surrender my stronghold to You, for I cannot get rid of it by myself. Show me the various beliefs from the father-of-lies that comprise this stronghold, so I may hold these up to You for deliverance. Work Your Obedience and Love in me, Lord Jesus, so I may hold fast to You and listen to Your Voice as You lead me out of my stronghold, one belief at a time.

Maintain an Awareness

We have all eaten from the fruit of deception—believing and accepting negative, destructive beliefs about ourselves, God, and others that are not true.

The Two Counsels

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Hopeless Worthless

June 15

Lord Jesus, I Can’t

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APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING
(John 15:5).

I usually do not know that I have been trying to do something in my own strength, until I discover I was not able to carry it out.  Then, I know it is time for me to stop dead in my tracks and look to someone else to take over.  It actually feels good to surrender to someone else’s Power to get the job done, on one condition—that Person is Jesus.

Lord Jesus, I can’t;
You never said I could.
Lord Jesus, You can;
And always said You would!
(Major Ian Thomas)

If you have been trying to go forward, but have been going backwards instead, you have probably been trying to accomplish things in your own strength.  I bless you to give up trying.  Throw in the towel.  Call it quits.  Apart from Jesus, you can do nothing.

NOW TO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US, TO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH BY CHRIST JESUS TO ALL GENERATIONS, FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN
(Ephesians 3:20-21).

 Know that He who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that you ask or think, wants to do it in you, for you, and through you. How? He will use your body…but His Power!

Have you been trying lately to live a holy life?  Have you been trying to think all the right thoughts?  Have you been trying to live a life filled with hope, joy, and trust?  I have only one more question.  Have you been failing?

Confess to the Lord Jesus that you are not able to trust, nor able to be joyful, nor able to be holy.  Declare to your Savior that you are not able to keep the negative thoughts at bay, nor able to overcome your jealousy, nor able to forgive.  Admit to your Redeemer that you are not able to keep your emotions positive, nor able to stop hating your enemy, nor able to stop worrying. Then, ask Him to do it IN you, FOR you, and THROUGH you. He will.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, come and do in me that which I cannot do myself. Be my God. Be my Savior. Be my Deliverer.

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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Hopeless Worthless

June 10

Take Time to Wrestle with God

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THEN JACOB WAS LEFT ALONE; AND A MAN WRESTLED WITH HIM UNTIL THE BREAKING OF DAY. NOW WHEN HE SAW THAT HE DID NOT PREVAIL AGAINST HIM, HE TOUCHED THE SOCKET OF HIS HIP; AND THE SOCKET OF JACOB’S HIP WAS OUT OF JOINT AS HE WRESTLED WITH HIM.  AND HE SAID, ‘LET ME GO, FOR THE DAY BREAKS.’ BUT HE SAID, ‘I WILL NOT LET YOU GO UNLESS YOU BLESS ME!’
(Genesis 32:24-26).

I often wrestle with God and tell Him, “God, I will not let You go until You bless me: until Your Hope penetrates my hopelessness…until Your Truth permeates the accusatory voice in my mind …until Your Presence fills my loneliness.”  God has blessed me countless times because of my persistence.  I have noticed that the reason I need to wrestle with God is not that He is reluctant to meet my needs, but that the deception of the father-of-lies is so extensive in my life that it stands between God and me. God speaks to me, but I cannot hear Him, because of the negative, destructive beliefs of abandonment, shame, rejection, and condemnation in my heart.

THE LORD LOOKS DOWN FROM HEAVEN ON THE SONS OF MEN TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY WHO UNDERSTAND, ANY WHO SEEK GOD
(Psalm 14:2).

Beloved Child, you need to realize that I am looking down from Heaven to see if anyone is seeking Me.  I am always checking to see if you need My Comfort, My Power, or My Light. 

 Child, I encourage you to wrestle with Me about anything and everything that bothers you, so you can get past the lies of the father-of-lies.  Take time to engage in deep fellowship with Me.  Stay with Me until the voice of the father-of-lies is silenced and you can hear My Truth and experience My Presence. I long to reward you for seeking Me, but you need to pursue Me until I bless you.  I want to set you free from your belief of feeling like a disappointment. I want to help you come to grips with your fear of death. I want to show you that you are special. But you need to wrestle with Me and not let Me go…until I answer you.

HE REWARDS THOSE WHO EARNESTLY SEEK HIM
(Hebrews 11:6).

What has been bothering you lately? What is on your heart, weighing it down? What heavy burden are you carrying on your shoulders?

I bless you to seek God with all your heart. Know that the real burden is not the circumstances, but the negative, destructive beliefs of the father-of-lies in your own heart. Engage your feelings. They will lead you to the beliefs in your heart. Then, wrestle with God about this burden, until it lifts.

PRAYER: Lord God, I want to see You. I want to hear Your Voice. I want to experience Your Love, Your Hope, and Your Truth. Help me to look past the circumstances, as I connect with the real burden in my heart. Help me, Lord, to understand what You want me to know. I will not let You go, until You bless me and release me from this burden.

Maintain an Awareness

Temptations are all about WORDS…and what we DO with these WORDS.

The Two Counsels

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Hopeless

June 09

Your Dead End is God’s Starting Point

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I WILL REJOICE IN DOING THEM GOOD AND WILL ASSUREDLY PLANT THEM IN THIS LAND WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL
(Jeremiah 32:41).

I often run into situations where circumstances become too hard for me: where too many things have gone wrong, where I have messed up too many times, or where the darkness is too dark or the fear is too severe.  In times like these, I tend to think I have come to a dead end.  My resources have dried up. I have no more power, nor skills, nor talents. I have nothing to offer. I am at wit’s end.

THE HUMBLE WILL SEE THEIR GOD AT WORK AND BE GLAD. LET ALL WHO SEEK GOD’S HELP BE ENCOURAGED
(Psalm 69:32).

God wants you to know that a dead end to you is a starting point to Him.  He wants you to capture that His Goodness is waiting for you at the dead end, to make a way where there is no way. You do not have to bring your own resources, your own power, or your own skills to the table. He will supply His own. You only need to seek His help. You only need to supply yourself, just the way you are. Then, you will see your God at work.

THAT I MAY KNOW HIM AND THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION
(Philippians 3:10).

Child, a dead end is not an obstacle to Me, but an opportunity to show off My Power, My Love, and especially My Goodness!

SURELY GOODNESS AND LOVE WILL FOLLOW ME ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE
(Psalm 23:6).

Therefore, come to know Me and the Power of My Resurrection, whenever you feel defeated…whenever you feel trapped…whenever you have come to a dead end.

Are you at a dead end in your life: an end without an exit, or a position, situation, or course of action that seems to lead to nothing further?

I bless you to believe that God’s Goodness and Love are following you wherever you go.  His Goodness, Love, and Power are on standby whenever you get to the dead ends of your life, to make a way where there is no way…if you invite Him to do that for you!

PRAYER: Almighty God, I have toiled so hard. I have obeyed everything that You have asked me to do, yet I have come to a dead end in my life, where there is no exit. Open the gates, Lord, and create a way—Your Way. I am watching and waiting in expectancy for You, so I may know the Power of Your Resurrection.

Maintain an Awareness

God sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to become the NEW MAN Truth in the place of the OLD MAN deception in us.

The Two Counsels

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Hopeless

June 04

My Words Are Sharper Than Any Sword

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FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND ACTIVE. SHARPER THAN ANY DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD, IT PENETRATES EVEN TO DIVIDING SOUL AND SPIRIT, JOINTS AND MARROW; IT JUDGES THE THOUGHTS AND ATTITUDES OF THE HEART
(Hebrews 4:12).

Precious One, how I love to communicate with you through My written and spoken Words, when you invite My Counsel into your own mind. 

My Words are sharper than any sword. They have the ability to penetrate deeply into the many voices of your mind, dividing good from evil. My Words show, sort, and sever the words of the father-of-lies from your heart, before they kill, steal, and destroy.  But, you need to allow My active Words to enter into the negative, destructive thoughts of your mind…and cut them out. You need to invite My living Words to access the abandonment, shame, and rejection in your heart from the father-of-lies…and slice them out.  You need to let My powerful Words infiltrate the sorrow, despair, anger, and jealousy in your emotions…and carve them out.

BUT JESUS ANSWERED HIM, SAYING, ‘IT IS WRITTEN, ‘MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, BUT BY EVERY WORD OF GOD’
(Luke 4:4).

Child, you need to become dependent on My daily Words to you.  Then, the Sword of the Spirit will slice the darkness from your mind, cut the hopelessness from your heart, and sever the brokenness from your life. 

TAKE THE HELMET OF SALVATION AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD
(Ephesians 6:17).

Which place in your heart would you like God’s living and active Words to penetrate? What do you need severed by the Sword of the Spirit?

Know that the living and active Words of God will affect anything with which they come in contact.  They will determine and detect, estimate and evaluate, and sever. They are effective, sufficient, and practical. The Sword of the Spirit will cause a miracle in your heart.

PRAYER: Sword of the Spirit, come and penetrate my heart and my mind. Evaluate my emotions and search them for negative, destructive beliefs from the father-of-lies that leave me hopeless, helpless, and powerless. Then, do Your severing work in my heart, so I may be set free to worship You in Truth.

Maintain an Awareness

Discipline yourself to get Understanding.

The Two Counsels
June 03

Be Still…Listen

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BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD; I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE NATIONS,
I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH
(Psalm 46:10).

I bless you with absolute stillness before your Father…complete silence
Leave behind the noise of your circumstances
Cast aside all activity from the father-of-lies
Quiet all the voices in your mind.

Become still
Listen
Become acquainted with God’s voice
Be a detective
Perceive His Perspective
Become aware of His choice.

BE STILL BEFORE THE LORD AND WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM
(Psalm 37:7).

Wait patiently…quietly
After presenting your imaginations to your Perfect Father
After offering Him your emotions
After laying before Him your interpretations
Remain in readiness and expectancy before your Creator.

THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU; YOU NEED ONLY TO BE STILL
(Exodus 14:14).

And your Perfect Father will fight for you!
His Truth will prevail
His Hope will bring Joy to you
His Love will never fail.

What do you do when all the voices in your head talk to you at the same time?

Sometimes, you need to quiet all the voices you hear. You need to clear your head. You need to start over. After you have done this, you can let them back in, one at a time…but only the ones that are in tune with God’s Perspective—the Voice of Truth.

PRAYER: Speak, Lord God, I am listening. Teach me Your Perspective. Tell me the Truth. Show me Your ways. My heart belongs to You.

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
May 29

Obedient Surrender

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Would you like the Lord Jesus to show you what you should do about your affliction: about the person who has been persecuting you, about your marriage that is on the rocks, and about the pain in your heart?

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).

Revelation comes through obedient surrender: submitting your persecutor to the Lord Jesus’ Love…turning your failing relationship over to the Perfect Father’s Power…yielding the pain in your heart to the Most High’s Authority.

COMMIT TO THE LORD WHATEVER YOU DO, AND YOUR PLANS WILL SUCCEED
(Proverbs 16:3).

Does the word SURRENDER baffle you?  Do you wonder what it means, how it works, and what it feels like?

Beloved Child, SURRENDER means to acknowledge your dependency on Me and to admit that you cannot fix your problems by yourself. This attitude will leave Me as your only Provider. It means that what needs to happen is impossible for you, but completely possible for Me, for you are helpless, powerless, and hopeless without My Presence and Participation in your daily circumstances.

SURRENDER means to place your affliction under the Authority of My Son, Jesus Christ, because all Authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him.

SURRENDER means to allow the Holy Spirit access into the places in your heart that are too hard for you to access and give up on your own.

AND I TOO WILL LOVE HIM AND SHOW MYSELF TO HIM

And the end-product of obedient surrender? Revelation from God: an answer…a miracle…HOPE!

Do you desire a Revelation from God?  Would you like to receive divine Truth from your Perfect Father for the affliction in your life? 

I bless you to learn obedience through surrender. I did. It changed my heart, my circumstances, and my life.

PRAYER: Teach me how to surrender my afflictions to You, Lord God, so I may receive Your Revelations.

Maintain an Awareness

Often times, we use the same defense mechanisms we saw our parents or other authority figures use, during our childhood lives. If they hid behind a smile to pretend that everything was OK, we learned to do the same.

The Two Counsels

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Hopeless