Author: Jon

Awestruck son of the Sovereign of the universe, from whom all rights and responsibilities of men derive.

Steadfast of Mind

 

The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock. – Isaiah 26:3-4

Me:
Good morning Father!

ABBA:
Good morning Jon!

Me:
It is not easy being steadfast in mind.

ABBA:
I spoke to you about that yesterday by My Holy Spirit.

Me:
You said to be mindful of what I focus my attention on.

ABBA:
I did. I Am able to see all. I see the beginning and the ending, for I Am the Alpha and the Omega; the First and the Last (Revelation 22:13). I Am unconstrained by time, for time is of the physical realm and I Am Spirit (John 4:24). I do not look only on the outward appearance, but upon even the thoughts and intents of the heart (Psalm 44:21).

You do not see as I see. I designed your mind to be able to focus. I am mindful that you are but dust (Genesis 2:7, Psalm 103:14). I Am not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Instead, I bring order out of chaos (Genesis 1:2).

I intend You to seek Me for today (Hebrews 3:15). I gave a picture of this when I provided manna for the Israelites. I satisfied their hunger in the wilderness. They were instructed to gather what they needed for the day, plus some extra the day before the Sabbath, when they were to simply rest in Me. If they tried to store it up, the manna would spoil (Exodus 16).

Jesus told you not to worry about tomorrow, for each day has enough trouble of it’s own (Matthew 6:34). That does not mean you should not plan, only that you should not worry. Worry is focused on trouble. Proper planning focuses on achievement (Luke 14:28).

Me:
Thank You Father! Help me keep my eyes on Jesus my Example and my Savior (Hebrews 12:2) and to set my mind on things above (Colossians 3:1-2). Let my ears be attentive to Your Word and my hands ready to do your calling from the heart! I love You!

ABBA:

You are welcome! Those are prayers that I Am willing to help with, obviously, for I have told you to do these things for your own benefit; because I love you!

Rejecting Poison, Accepting Healing

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. (Romans 12:4-5)

 

15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. (1 John 4)

 

Me:

Good morning Holy Spirit!

 

Holy Spirit:

Good morning Jon!

 

Me:

These two passages are all over that mysterious spiritual transformation whereby we become one with You and with each other. It is so different from the spirit of division and dissension that the enemy has been working so hard to foment among all. I lament the complicity of the news media and even the downward-accelerating effect of so many negative voices that make use of the various social outlets available to everyone on the Internet. These seem to be whipped into a froth with anger and worry and even despair. So contrary to Your message!

 

Holy Spirit:

Consider these words of Paul: (Philippians 3:17 – 4:9)

Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

I Am telling you what you need to know and to do to counter those tactics of the enemy, of which you lament. Healing of wounded relationships does not take place by changes to society, but by love and by making peace between two, as this example given of strife between Euodia and Syntyche. Society is made better when the two of them return to love. This strength is not in them, or in you. I Am near. Let your requests be to Me. Let your attitude be marked by thanksgiving. The change will be so striking that it will not be comprehensible by human understanding.

 

About that media. Whatever you fill your attention with gets control of your thoughts and attitudes. The message of the enemy is destructive by design. How much poison do you think it is prudent to ingest? You will hear his message, for it is pervasive. [They sharpen their tongues as a serpent; Poison of a viper is under their lips. Psalm 140:3] Do not volunteer your time to it. Do not fear it either, for that is part of his purpose, to engender fear. He feeds on it. When you hear the negative message, recognize the source and that is simply not the truth. I Am true. My Word is true. Fill your attention with that, and peace will be yours and you will then not be weakened by a steady diet of poison.

 

Instead, see yourself with this calling: These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18) The prevailing “tongue” of the media is like George Orwell’s “new speak”; designed to control by lies. Your new tongues shall not be so, but shall be truth and light and love. Speak these things and live. Rescue the perishing by the truth. Free the captives with the Word. Look to Me and be empowered.

 

Me:

I am continually rendered in awe of You, Holy Spirit! Thank You for your encouragement and for Your healing Word. I love You!

 

Holy Spirit:

You are welcome! Walk with Me and take My Word upon your lips and keep My vision before your eyes and in your heart!

Instructions by Night

Psalm 16
Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.
I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
I have no good besides You.”
As for the saints who are in the earth,
They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those who have bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.

The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.
I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Me:
Good morning Father!

 

ABBA:
Good morning Jon!

 

Me:
“Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.” That phrase is key to the very existence of this Psalm isn’t it?

 

ABBA:
Look it up in the Hebrew concordance. “Mind”, does not capture the fullness of it.

 

Me:
O.K.

chilyotai_3629.htm

 

ABBA:
ḵil·yō·ṯay – the innermost part, deep enough to actually control what you do (hence “my reins”). This is “mind” only if operating in the Spirit by the power of the counsel given by Me. A purely intellectual approach to the scriptures – that is, apart from Me – will come up short. Toward the other extreme, it is unwise to try to rely on inner promptings except by also testing them against the scripture. You need need My whole counsel (Acts 20:27) and comfort (John 14:16).

 

Me:
I am grateful that You are willing to give all these helps to true communion with You. Left to what I can attain with only mental processes, I am prone to talk myself into an endless loop, able to make many sides of an examination seem plausible (Proverbs 18:17).

 

ABBA:
That is why I give them. I do not want you to be unaware of My love or of My provision for you. Neither do I want you to be deceived. I Am the Truth, I want you to walk in the truth.

 

Consider also, that this Psalm was penned by David, as in the night, he heard Jesus nighttime prayers in the garden, “…You will not suffer Your Holy One to suffer decay…”, twenty-eight generations forward. Do you think David would have been able to accurately see all these revelations of the Messiah, except by My Spirit, who is unfettered by time? I made them known to him and gave him a heart to record what he saw in the watches of the night, that when these things came to pass, there would be no doubt that that there is salvation in Jesus and that your redemption was planned from the outset.

 

Me:
Truly, I cannot read these words without recognizing they are a perfect fit for what is revealed of the heart of Jesus, expressing His confidence in You while staring a gruesome death in the face. I cannot forget that the death He suffered was not due Him. The suffering He endured was earned by me. I see in these words his faith being expressed that You would show Him the path of life. Not that You had already made it known, but that You would.

 

ABBA:
To you also, it has been revealed that He is the path of life (John 11:25). In faith, also, you rely on this promise.

 

Me:
Yes I do! And, I am more grateful for that fact than I can adequately express! Thank You! I love You!

 

ABBA:
You’re welcome! I love you!

 

Me:
Obviously!

Truth vs Death

1 John 5:1 – Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  6  This is the one who came by water and blood – Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Me:
Good morning Holy Spirit!

 

Holy Spirit:
Good morning Jon!

 

Me:
This passage contains yet another of those affirmations that You are One; Father, Son, and Spirit. Jesus said I Am the truth (John 14:6), and here, John is pointing out that You are the truth.

 

Holy Spirit:

Remember, Jesus also said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; (John 14:16)

 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

 

The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. (Psalms 119:160)

 

Truth is corrupt in the earth. Even the understanding of what truth is, has become corrupt. Every man goes his own way, thinking he gets to choose what he will believe to be true. He is even taught to think, “what is true for me”. There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. (Proverbs 14:2) The ones who teach this relativistic abomination are not of Me. There is an accelerating move in the world to revise history. The truth is often uncomfortable. It does not support the lie that man has become more enlightened and has evolved into a state that does not need a redeemer. The truth is often uncomfortable. It points out that it is you that needs to change, without regard to what the other fellow is doing.

 

Note carefully how this Word in 1 John 5 connects Truth and Life from the positive side, while Proverbs 14:2 explains the consequences of not taking the Way of Truth.

 

Me:
Thank You, Holy Spirit! I love You explanations and Your exhortations! I love You!

 

Holy Spirit:

You’re welcome! I love You!

Truth in Flesh Appearing

The sum of Your words is Truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. Psalms 119:160

 

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6.

 

In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. James 1:18

 

Me:
Thank you Father, for the Truth that You have bestowed upon us in the Son! I look around me and the planet is filled with those who are concerned with their “messaging” and with “controlling the narrative”. I suppose this is due, in part, to the narrow perspective from which what they are saying can reasonably be claimed true. It is not so with You. Whatever the perspective, seeking in adoration or railing in denial, what You put forth simply is. I love the stability of Your Truth and therefore the reliability.

 

ABBA:
You are welcome! I bestow because I love. Yes, I Am. I will be found true, though every man be found a liar (Romans 3:4). Let My word be in your mouth for My word will never return void but will accomplish that which I sent it to do (Isaiah 55:11). Jesus told you this (John 8:28,38). Follow His example.

 

Me:
Thank You Father! I love You!

 

ABBA:
You are welcome! I love you!

Unfolding Words for Light

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Genesis 1:3; Psalm 119:105,130; John 1:1; 1 John 1:5
Me:
Good morning Holy Spirit!
Holy Spirit:
Good morning Jon!
Me:
Thank You for speaking to Me in these verses!  I am grateful for the Light that You are shedding abroad in my life; illuminating mysteries, revealing marvels of Your hand, comforting and guiding!  I am also thankful that no dank corner of self is immune to the purifying rays of Your love and that You give grace to let the Light do, well, what Light does.  I love You!
Holy Spirit:
You are welcome!  I love You!

Of Such is / Belongs to Such …

But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. [KJV]

 

But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” [NASB]

 

Me:
Good morning Father!

 

ABBA:
Good morning Jon!

 

Me:

I was comparing these translations to the Greek concordance on the Bible Hub web site. It seems to me, after doing that, that neither captures the full intent of Jesus’ words.

 

ABBA:

It is a little like efforts to mentor one who is still a long way from “full” understanding. He may get some of his teacher’s points – which will help him grasp more later – but not really see the whole picture. On the earth, for now, the kingdom of heaven is found in the hearts of those who come to Jesus with eager hearts. The KJV captures this idea. Does the kingdom of heaven “belong” to such? In the sense that they are citizens of the kingdom by choice. Because the kingdom “is” of such ones, there is just as much a shade of meaning that the ones who come to Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit “belong” to the kingdom.

 

Me:

Thank You Father! I love You!

 

ABBA:

You are welcome Jon! I love you!

Be Perfect?

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48

Me:
Good afternoon Father!

ABBA:
Good afternoon Jon!

Me:
When I read this verse that came during Jesus’ discourse to the crowd on a hill near the sea of Galilee, it has often awakened dis-ease about my own tendency toward perfectionism. The wisdom of today is that perfectionism is not good. It seems to lead to a lot of criticism, both of self and of others. Also a lot of dissatisfaction and unfinished projects, as work is seldom accounted good enough to be called complete. I know it is behind my difficulty in putting away the tools and trappings of a task; it is obviously not quite done. I can certainly observe these negative effects of trying to be perfect. I know that sinking feeling when a mistake I have made comes to light, even when I am the discoverer of the problem and know I have to report it to those affected. I also know, though, that Your Word never gives bad advice and that no unwholesome directive ever crossed Jesus’ lips. How should a recovering perfectionist view this passage?

ABBA:
I Am the example Jesus gave to emulate. Like so many of the standards that Jesus cited, it is simply not possible for man who is decaying in the ravages of sin to attain the mark. That was His point. He was preaching against the prevailing way; do all kinds of dark things, don’t spend any time examining whether they are right or wrong, then bring a sacrifice at the prescribed time to atone for one’s wrongdoings. Much of that sermon on the mount was aimed at trying to get the people to understand that their way of looking at their deeds and God’s way of assessing them were not the same.

Today, the prevailing way is to compare oneself to one’s friends and neighbors, or even the evildoers heard about on the news, saying, “I am better than that, so I must be OK”. Jesus is still speaking in this sermon: I Am holy and I Am not impressed by self-excusing attitudes. Jesus wanted it to become obvious after his crucifixion and resurrection that placing faith in Him as having suffered in place of all was the only way out from under the condemnation that was due to all, for all had fallen short. (Romans 3:23)

So it is with “being perfect”, with My perfection as the standard to meet. Let’s say, from today forward, you never executed another flawed action or entertained a motive or thought that failed to live up to everything you were created for. You would still only have to turn around an look to yesterday’s failures to prove that you were already disqualified. This is why Paul explicitly points out that under the law, no flesh is justified. (Galatians 2:16) The Gospel is one of grace. We know you cannot pull yourself out of the mire of sin by your bootstraps. That is why Jesus came as an unblemished lamb to be the sacrifice for all who would trust in Him and rely on His provision for them.

Back to your question about being perfect. Now you know that you are not under the standard of the law any longer but are under grace instead, you can examine your deeds and grow to be mature and complete in the things I have designed you for. Even the negative programming you have operated under, with regard to perfectionism, you can recognize as falling short of how I Am. Wanting to be like me, you make adjustments and grow as a result. Now you strive for better because you love Me and you rely on the Holy Spirit to enable you. It is not the misguided basis for justification.

Me:
Thank You Father! I love You!

ABBA:
You are welcome! I love you!

End of Perfection

I have seen a limit to all perfection;
Your commandment is exceedingly broad. Psalms 119:96
Me:
Good morning Holy Spirit!
Holy Spirit:
Good morning Jon!
Me:
I have wondered about this verse in the Psalms.

Holy Spirit:
Do not neglect to consider that it is a line from a song; meant to be meditation-provoking, memory-aiding, and beautiful. Fluency in Hebrew would help somewhat with appreciating the beauty of the verse. But, as you have found, there are helps for considering what is behind the translation to English. The Psalm came through David. But you know that I was surely making the heart of the Father known in the heart of David. So this is more than a song reflecting the cleverness of David, it is a song given from the heart of God to enlighten the heart of man, especially those with Me in their hearts to aid in enjoyment. So, I will help you. Let’s paraphrase this verse!

Me and You:
Of the things that are made, that which I can see with my eyes, I can appreciate the unanswerable perfection of them. Everything is made to relate to every other thing; each particle of the cosmos depending on others of every kind and and affecting all in ways that I will probably never comprehend in this life. These are coalesced into every astounding thing in an array of great beauty and complexity and swirl and pull with strange and unimaginable forces. A lifetime is insufficient to consider all the magnificence of the things that God has spoken into existence and that You, Holy Spirit, have brooded over, and that Jesus has authority over. Even so, at the last, these things are temporary and the time of their physical existence is running out. Your Word, with its instructions and power and lessons and majesty, though, will never come to an end. Time cannot measure the extent of the perfection that has come by Your voice, eye has not seen nor can the mind of man even begin to encompass all that has been made known by You. Your heart is carried to me by contemplating these things with Your help and I come to understand that I am loved by You and am blessed by You in ways that are exceedingly broad, even unmeasurable.

Holy Spirit:
How is that?

Me:
Thank You! You are magnificent beyond understanding! I love You!

Holy Spirit:
You are welcome! I love you!

All the Fullness

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; Colossians 2:9-10

 

Me:

Good evening Father!

 

ABBA:
Good evening Jon!

 

Me:
This is an astounding passage, Father.

 

ABBA:

What do you find remarkable about it?

 

Me:
However much I meditate on the incarnation of Jesus, however reverently I search the scriptures, however much I attune my heart to hear, I am still overawed by the notion that in Jesus the fullness of God could reside! Not that I doubt; more that I have difficulty picturing how such a thing as Infinite Deity could be localized in a man or plopped down in a feed trough. And, it does not say part of, or the nature of, or the essence of; it says the fullness of.

 

ABBA:

I Am Spirit. (John 4:24) The physical limitations of a body are not a limitation to Jesus. You marvel also that the passage says in Him you have been made complete.

 

Me:
I do.

 

ABBA:
This is not less than fact. He is no more limited in you than in His own body. See too, He is head over all rule and authority. As you are in Him, praying daily for President Trump and Vice President Pence, never doubt the effectiveness of that, and don’t expect to get a good progress report from the world system.

 

Me:

Thank You Father! I love You! Thank You for reminding me to keep walking in faith that You are at work.

 

ABBA:

You are welcome! I love you!