Father – Page 2 – Missionary Sojourn

Bride of Christ – Post #6

Taken from my handwritten journal, dated Sunday, January 12, 2025

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2-3

I am grateful for the salvation that allows us to be referred to as “chaste”, Jesus exchanging His own perfection with our corruption!

Me: Good morning, Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Me: In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul is writing to the Corinthians who are being led toward the legalization of Judaism as it was practiced (formerly by Paul!). Would you help me understand more about this bride-of-Christ verse?

Abba: Paul is relating his (and My) affection and sense of fatherly responsibility toward the Corinthians. In the culture of the day, fathers arranged marriage for their daughters. The daughter was expected to respect the wisdom of her father to act/choose in her best interests. The method you are used to has the daughter choosing a mate for herself, often based on how she feels about it emotionally. In Paul’s culture, the daughter would not have been regarded as having enough experience to make a good decision and the emotional aspect would have been seen as obscuring potential trouble, due to the rationalizations that can accompany strong desire. You should see, therefore a sense of the father’s responsibility to protect his daughter. Paul is expressing this same desire for protection of the Corinthian believers from being deceived. Paul is reflecting My jealousy that my children have an unsullied relationship with Me.

Not all fathers are wise. Not all arranged marriages were truly in the best interest of the daughter. There were marriages to establish political (and other) alliances. I AM not like that, which Paul knew well.

Old Covenant expressions of this desire incorporate an aspect of punishment for disobedience (Exodus 20:5, 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9, 6:15, Nahum 1:2) but the aim is for relationship:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (Deuteronomy 6:5)

All the punishment for sin has been borne by Jesus. Yet, those who are determined to stand on their own righteousness, can have whatever they say (Mark 11:24, Romans 3).

Me: Thank You Father, that the New Covenant offers a way through Jesus to break the natural “passing down” of iniquity to children (Exodus 20:5).

Abba: In Jesus, this generational contamination is broken for those who accept salvation and walk in it.

Me: Thank You Father! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

How We Walk

I am grateful to have found places for all the new barn signs!

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Ephesians 5:28-30

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. Ephesians 1:22-23

Me: Good afternoon, Father!

Abba: Good afternoon, Jon!

Me: Clearly, we can walk “after” the flesh, even if we are “in” Jesus.

Abba: You are slave to whomever you obey (Romans 6). You need your body in this life. You are to be a good steward of it. Your body, contrary to popular opinion, does not belong to you.

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Your body: you feed it, exercise it, rest it, and otherwise take care of it that it may serve the purposes I Am giving you to fulfill. Your body is not intended to be in charge. The desires of the flesh know no practical limitation. Driven by unfettered desire, you will overeat because I generously made food to taste good to you. Left to the body’s own choice, work and exercise will fall by the wayside and laziness will assert control. You will be tempted to stay up late, then to sleep in. The body’s desires always seek the most instant gratifications. But I Am calling you to be steward over your body, as I said before.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25

[Temperance: ἐγκράτεια (eng-krat’-i-ah) Self-mastery, self-restraint, self-control.]

Please note that though this is, in human terms, called self-control, it is a gift of the Spirit to Christ followers. What does this mean? Remember that statement about yielding from earlier, that came from Romans 6? Your will is in play here. If you decide to yield to My Spirit and follow My word instead of fleshly desires, if you seek the strength to walk in My ways from Me, then you will see freedom from the domination of fleshly desires in My power. The cravings of the body can then be relegated to fulfill the functions they were created to fulfill with full enjoyment. Most get the proverbial cart before the horse and seek to control the flesh in the power of the flesh, using willpower instead of My power. The natural result is that the flesh (that wants no control) will have made you its slave and you will remain locked in a vicious cycle of serving it.

Me: Thank You Father! I love you!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

Worn out by your vicious circle?

Undead Yet?

I am grateful, Father, that You have enabled me to be in Jesus and to be raised with Him!

2 And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you once walked. You were following the ways of this world [influenced by this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the air (Satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, who fight against the purposes of God]. 3 Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind]. 4 But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment). 6 And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus, 7 [and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption]. 8 For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; 9 not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation]. 10 For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]. Ephesians 2:2-10 AMP

Me: Good morning, Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Me: Seems this revelation that we are dead unless regenerated, born again, in Jesus is mysterious to the still dead.

Abba: I told Adam, beforehand.

So the Lord God took the man [He had made] and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely (unconditionally) eat [the fruit] from every tree of the garden; but [only] from the tree of the knowledge (recognition) of good and evil you shall not eat, otherwise on the day that you eat from it, you shall most certainly die [because of your disobedience].” Genesis 2:15-17

Eve was lied to, in Adam’s hearing, and the two of them bought what the deceiver was selling.

Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent (Satan) said to the woman, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, except the fruit from the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God said, ‘You shall not eat from it nor touch it, otherwise you will die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God, knowing [the difference between] good and evil.” And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Genesis 3:3-7

The serpent countered My message to Adam, “On the day that you eat from it, you shall most certainly die” with “You certainly will not die!”

In disobedience, stepping away from the Author and Sustainer of life is death. Spiritually in the moment, physically in due time. The serpent told a perverted “truth”. Though man’s spiritual connection to Me perished with the sin, his lungs kept filling with air and his heart kept circulating corpuscles to be aerated. Eventual physical death is a mercy to the spiritually dead.

Consider the “sons of disobedience”, who fight against My purposes. Contrary to what the serpent said, My will for man is only for good. Still, the disobedient spiral down into twisted decay. They seek to fill their cadaverous emptiness with anything they think will bring them pleasure or benefit of any kind. They become wholly self-absorbed. They harm others (even children) because they have no idea what the truth is. They call that which is evil, good. They call that which is good, evil. (Isaiah 5:20) The Devil comes but to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10) and they are sold into bondage to him.

Me: The redemption You have provided in Jesus is such a stark contrast to the ever-deepening darkness that follows sin! Thank You for the grace You have lavished upon us! What You have done is beyond comprehension. Yet we can enjoy freedom in the new life and express thanksgiving where there was only taking before. Thank You! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

Before the Cart

I am grateful for the provision Jesus has made for citizenship in the kingdom of God.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
John 14:1

Me: Good morning, Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Me: In English, the first word in John 14:1 implies that the state of my heart is under my control. Is that the intent?

Abba: It is, but I want you to understand more carefully, because you take the “Let not” as the primary instruction in the passage.

Μὴ (Not, lest) ταρασσέσθω (let be troubled, disturb, agitate) ὑμῶν (of you) ἡ (the) καρδία.(heart).

The first word has more depth than simple negation. If you take “let not” as a command, you are not wrong, exactly, but not seeing My full revelation. I do want you to have peace. The heart is where peace resides. Consider carefully the “lest” aspect of Μὴ. The sense is more explanatory. Jesus is saying, “Lest you be disturbed or agitated, you believe, in the Father and in Me.” The thing that is commanded, because of My loving desire for you, is the “believing”. The “letting” is taken care of in the “believing”, more accurately, in the object of your belief. I Am precisely NOT saying, “Get control of your heart’s condition by some nebulous means, and that will help your believing”. Nor, “Get peace in your heart and belief in Jesus will come.” That would be “putting the cart before the horse”, so to speak.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27

Verse twenty-seven repeats verse one, in reverse order. Lest (See what I did there?) you miss the point, Jesus is making it clear that peace is in Him. Further, that He is giving it to “believers”. The “let not” language is exactly as in verse one: “I am giving you the same peace that is in Me lest your heart be troubled or afraid”.

So, the question is whether the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7) is the dominant state of your heart. If it is not, what unbelief is blocking the promise?

Me: Thank You Father! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

Graphic depicting some aspects related to the mind, heart, and spirit.

Cart image from Michael Porter, Pexels.com

In the Heart

I am grateful for the magnificent glory of Your creation, how it speaks of your limitless wisdom and power!

The transgression of the wicked saith in my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. Ps 36:1

Wrongdoing speaks to the ungodly within his heart… NASB

I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked… NIV

To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David, the servant of YAWEH. An oracle concerning the transgression of the wicked within my heart: [There is] no fear of God before his eyes. [Hebrew interlinear translation from Bible Hub].

Me: Good morning, Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Me: Father, it seems to me that this is one of those passages where the New American Standard Bible takes liberty with the translation in the attempt to adhere to more modern English. There are, according to the Englishman’s Concordance, seventy-eight instances of libbî. From a quick survey, all these instances appear to be translated “my heart”, except this one verse by the NASB. At least there is a footnote which admits “another rendering is my heart”.

Abba: While it is true that the heart of the offender is bent, (Ps 14:1 – The fool says in his heart there is no God”. Even this Psalm (36) says, “he plans wickedness on his bed”.) The translation “my heart” makes clear that in the heart I revealed this truth to David (and to you).

I Am Spirit (John 4:24). It is in your (redeemed) spirit that you hear what I Am saying to you. Look at James 1:14 – A man, however, is tempted by his own desire, being drawn away and enticed… What is he drawn away from? Is it not from what I Am saying to him? Is it not from My will for him? Is his own desire not doing the speaking? Does he not first have to come to the state where there is no fear of Me before his eyes?

Rather, let your desire be for Me. Turn your heart to My words and walk with Me. Let My words fill your heart and proceed from your mouth. I will develop your faith and make your way prosperous (Joshua 1:8).

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. Mark 12:30

Me: Thank You for these insights, Father! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

Wind and Fire

“Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock;and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Matthew 7:24-27

I was a little behind and I am grateful for a good night’s rest!

Me: Good afternoon, Father!

Abba: Good afternoon, Jon!

Me: I read a blog post from Nicola in the UK this morning that contained a prophecy of a mighty wind of Your holiness coming, that it would blow also against every house that has Your name associated with it. With that, You caused me to think of the passage above in Matthew seven.

Abba: Here is another passage on purging:

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1 Corinthians 3:12-13

There is a picture of surviving this fire in Daniel, chapter three. Here is another passage from Jesus about purging:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
John 15: 1-14

I Am holy. I made you to be holy, as I Am holy. (Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:26; 1 Peter 1:15-16) My purging work in the lives of My children is an expression of My deep love. My pruning results in bearing the fruit of righteousness: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These traits are the expression of My rock-solid nature in you. If you permit My Spirit to do this work, you will be transformed as Jesus, the exact representation of My nature.

Standing on the Rock, here is a description of the needed change:

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
2 Corinthians 5:1-4

Jesus spoke of this move from earthly tent to spiritual house in this way:

In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
John 14:2-4

Clothed in My righteousness, standing upon the Rock of My Son, you will fear neither wind nor fire when they come, as they surely will.

Contradiction

I am grateful You have adopted us!

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards [“illegitimate” sons, cruelly ignored by their shirking father], and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13 And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.
Hebrews 12

Me: Good afternoon, Father!

Abba: Good afternoon, Jon!

Me: It is humbling to admit the truth of Hebrews 12:2 while at the same time an incalculable blessing to receive as a gift the faith in which we are now called to walk. Oh, the price paid to secure that gift for us! We have neither initiated it, nor are we capable of finishing the journey.

Why does the third verse speak of enduring the “contradiction of sinners against Himself”?

Abba: The word is ἀντιλογίαν (antilogian). It conveys opposition to His word, His message. This opposition persists today, even escalating as the end of the age draws neigh. Do not miss that Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf – on behalf of all men – is timeless. He bore your sin, which at the time of the cross was yet future. He bears the opposition to His message in every time. Yet I am not willing that any should perish, but desire that all come to repentance (2 Peter 3) by accepting Our message. I want you to grow up into the fullness of what I designed you to be.

Isaiah saw and wondered, who would believe?

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4 Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken. 9 And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53

Jesus reinforced the importance of believing and explained the inoculation of the “world” against the truth. Only the ones who desire to see, will see.

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
John 14:6, 12-20

Me: Amazing, Father, how from the before Jesus’ incarnation, You were bearing witness to the message of Your love, demonstrated in Him! More remarkable still that you have given the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the truth in us! I love You!

Abba: I love you! Whatever you ask to convey the Truth I desire to convey, I will do. In fact, I Am doing. No matter the level of contradiction.

Body, Heart, Soul & Spirit

I am grateful that You have redeemed those of us who have accepted your gift of salvation, that in our spirit we are all that the scripture says we are.

Keep the heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23

A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones.
Proverbs 14:30

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
– Proverbs 23

Me: Good afternoon, Father!

Abba: Good afternoon, Jon!

Me: Can you help me understand these references to the heart? How does the heart relate to the spirit, to the mind, our will, even our emotions? After all, we have the expression, “I love you with all my heart!” There seem to be lots of opinions out there. What do You say?

Abba: Here are some New Testament scriptures to look at to go with the proverbs you have quoted:

20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
2 Corinthians 1

13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4

So, you see, the heart contains the earnest (awareness) of the Spirit. Your born-again spirit is sealed (kept, preserved, protected) by My indwelling Spirit. You mentioned at the start the common understanding of emotions as being in the domain of the heart.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 6:5

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
Psalm 139:23

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Matthew 15:19

This verse in Hebrews 4 shows you two things. First, thoughts and Intents (plans, will, desires) are in the domain of the heart. Second, My word helps you sort these questions out.

Here is something else you might meditate on:

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Matthew 12:34

Even as My words tell you what is in My heart, so do yours.

Here is another example of My Heart:

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
John 3:14-21

And one example concerning My Will:

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

Me: Thank You Father! These are awesome assurances! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

Grapic mine. Needs more development, as it is hard to depict these relationships.

Health & Healing #12: Redeemed!

Twelfth installment in a series talking about what the Bible reveals about health and healing by spiritual means.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Galatians 3:13

What is the curse of the law? From what have believers been redeemed by Christ?
Deuteronomy 28:15-68 graphically answers this question. For our purposes, let’s take a survey of those parts of the curse that are obviously related to health:

1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
Deuteronomy 28

The first fifteen verses enumerate the blessing that would accrue to the one who listens to God and does what He says. From verse fifteen on, the consequences of going the other way are detailed as “curses”. It is best to remember that we are looking at forms part of the basis of the Old Covenant and that Moses was preparing the surviving generation of the nation of Israel to pass into the promised land and was giving some final instructions, since he was not going in. The Excerpted below are some of the curses that specifically affect health, since that is the subject of this series.

15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

27 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:

35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.

60 Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.
61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the
LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.

65 And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:
66 And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life:
Deteronomy 28

Some of these words might be unfamiliar to modern readers and it would be hard to be dogmatic about the exact maladies meant. Merriam-Webster defines “botch” as an inflammatory sore. Some non-specificity is not too surprising. The ancient Hebrews wouldn’t have known what you were talking about if you mentioned the flu to them. At least some of these were clearly “terminal” (vv 27 & 60). Verse 66 lets us know the unease (disease) would result in doubt about survival. Verse 61 tells us no sickness is left out of the curse.

David looked forward to redemption in Psalm 103. I take this as one of those “Messianic ” Psalms that project to the work of Jesus in setting us free. The language is majestic, and the worshipful tone can hardly fail to uplift the troubled soul that gazes upwards.

1 Bless the Lord, my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, my soul,
And do not forget any of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your guilt,
Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with favor and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Psalm 103

Let us circle back to our opening passage, since we have looked at some of the curse of the law. The New Covenant in Christ is good news indeed. It ought to make us soar with the eagles to recognize that Jesus has borne all these that, in Him, we might be redeemed from them.

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Galatians 3:13

Resistance is Not Futile

I am grateful that You speak to us and have equipped us to hear, if we want to.

In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:4

Me: Good morning Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Me: I was reading in the beginning of the book of Job, the last day or so. There are these instances where You explicitly allow Satan to have his way with Job, or is it that You let him have Your way?

Abba: Does that seem out of character for Me? There is nothing I have made that I cannot use, even rebellious angels.

Me: It seems contrary to Your name as Jehovah Rapha that You would make Job sick, even using/allowing Satan to do it.

Abba: Then that would be an important issue for you to resolve, since the world is full of sick people. You often rightly say that sickness is of the Devil. That it came into the world by Adam deeding his authority over to Satan. That is why you see him on the earth:

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” Job 1

You see from the notes in your Bible and the interlinear part of BibleHub.com that the word translated “Satan” throughout this passage in Job is “adversary, one who withstands”. It is what he does. And surely you know the text in written from a human perspective. Satan did not have to appear in a particular location to speak to Me about what was on his mind, like the members of a human extended family assembling to talk or Job’s friends coming to see him. When the scripture talks about My sitting on My throne, it is a statement about my positional authority; not my physical location, since I Am everywhere all the time. I Am Spirit (John 4:24).

Think about what you know about strength training. Straining your muscles against a force that withstands or opposes your efforts makes them stronger. Straining your brain against a challenge makes it more able. Even fighting against a virus equips your immune system to overcome it if it attempts to invade again. Do any of these seem pleasant in the moment?

Me: No. If experience did not teach that these things bring improvement, my natural inclination would be to shy away from them at all costs.

Are you saying that we need Satan that we may resist him (James 4:7) to develop our “spiritual muscles”?

Abba: I am saying that I work all things for your good (Romans 8:28). Since Satan is your adversary, it makes sense for you to be strong in Me (Ephesians 6:10-18) and put on the full armor I have given you.

Me: Thank You Father! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States

(Post featured image from Pexels, Fascia of the previous Newseum, mine. )

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