(Edited by sister Cheryl Lowe.)
The Lord is speaking to me that many in the Body of Christ on Earth are facing a crossroads. Many will refuse to move on with Him due to a lack of genuine faith and needed endurance. There is a great falling away unfolding before our eyes. A day is unfolding before us that the wise virgins will separate themselves or be separated from the foolish ones…
This should not surprise us. We know that everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Only a remnant will be found on the Mount of Zion (Hebrews 12:22-28).
Jer. 6:
13 “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.
14 They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace.
15 Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the Lord.
16 This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’
18 Therefore hear, you nations; you who are witnesses, observe what will happen to them.
19 Hear, you earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law.
Those who are tested and refined, they are promised with good things- things of Heaven and of Eternal Value.
Many years ago, the Lord asked me to ponder on Jeremiah 31:15-21, saying to me that He will bring it to pass in my life. (I was without much understanding at the time.) Now I have come to understand that it is speaking of the blessing that the Lord will have on His bride (the virgin daughters of Zion), even in our age (a New Day, a day prior to His Second Coming). Just today when I read something that a brother passed on to me, I learned that the root meaning of the Hebrew word Zion actually means “signpost.” How interesting, so it is ever God’s divine plan for His people to set out on and to finish a “holy” pilgrimage! The Destination is the Holy Ground of Zion.
What will one do without finishing this journey? “They will stumble, fall in a snare and be captured (by the Evil One).” (Isaiah 8:11-22)
“The Garden of Eden”, our spiritual inheritance, is a hidden, or rather, guarded place. Only those who are proved as having died to themselves will be allowed to enter. This death of self is not by self-endeavor or religious piety according human standard, but by an eternal hope. Only by a genuine faith will this hope be deeply rooted in and springing forth from the Source of true life – Christ Jesus.
This is what the author of Hebrews says as the divinely granted step for one to enter into spiritual maturity – “if God permit”. Permit into what? Further grace and blessings from and in His Kingdom and His Household, even His wisdom and His love. By what standard? The standard of faith and obedience.
To our own carnal mind or to the world, such death enjoys no glory nor appeal. It is designed to be a broken, humiliating, devastating, and uncomfortable- if not repulsive- experience to our old soulish man. We are made to be weaklings before God and man. No comely appearance will be ours when we have endured this.
Psm 116
1 I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy.
2 Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.3 The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me;
I was overcome by distress and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:” Lord, save me!”5 The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
6 The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me.7 Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling,
9 that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.10 I trusted in the Lord when I said, “I am greatly afflicted (humiliated beyond measure, like one wearing fifthy garment in a wedding feast, or a leper in the Temple of the Lord).”;
11 in my alarm I said, “Everyone is a liar.”12 What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.
(That is- to shed our blood before the Lord as a lamb being slain. Here lies the true essence of what it means to die with Christ and be baptized into His death. Until we died or suffered in the same manner according to the Faith He appraises as Righteousness, we are not qualified to enter the fullness of the Covenant that God the Father has with His Son. Romans 6:1-14)
16 Truly I am your servant, Lord; I serve you just as my mother did; you have freed me from my chains.
17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord—in your midst, Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.
(Please compare this to Psalm 40.)
This “spiritual” death does not mean that we will never sin or fall short in the mortal body anymore. It is a death meaning that we have genuinely believed the life revealed by the Lord, and have fundamentally set our heart on this Heavenly Calling and the Hope of our Eternal Glory in Christ Jesus. We have made it our uttermost desire and endeavor to learn to overcome all things in Him and for Him. When we have truly done this and been rightfully tested and proved, we will have our heavenly destiny sealed and approved by the Father as a “Legitimate” son. This is the initial phrase of our divine discipline in the hands of the Father. He has to tear us down before He builds us up- to burn away the chaff before He plants the wheat.
Many are bewildered by this “mystical” death, as if it is an enigma or a dilemma. Their minds are veiled without true understanding. The reason is that they have set their eyes on the things of the earth or things temporal in nature, and judge as such. But this death in Christ is actively administered in and from Heaven, so it is His life for us. They should be the most simple and practical things in our spiritual experience as a follower of Christ. It is ever before us – for those who are seeking – and with us – for those who have received his or her portion. Moreover it is ever increasing (reproducing itself) – for those diligently labor or work with the Father and the Son according to this way.
Sadly, because it does not conform to man’s foolishness and to the standard of the world, man will ever despise it and draw no joy from it. The Lord speaks of such a heart as calloused or hardened, the nature of it is evil or perverted. The command to such a heart is, “Repent, and turn from your evil way!” or “Depart from Me, you evil doers!” Yes, it needs to be “pierced,” as with a sword, or “shattered,” as with a hammer.
But, this is GOOD NEWS! What a change He has ready for us if only we choose to let Him have His Fatal Blow! “No eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, yet the Lord reveals them to who love Him.” “Blessed are your eyes, for you see, and blessed are your ears, for you hear…”
Recently the Lord brought many new understandings to me about two very meaningful dreams. In a sense, it is one continued dream across the years. It is easy to detect that, in the dreams, the old Man, or the Chief (Bread Maker), is Melchizedek, representing the “ancient path,” which is disclosed through the Son of God as a new or Heavenly order in Hebrews 8-10.
As the leavens of man’s heart are exposed and dealt with; so is the leaven of man’s teaching in the House of God on the earth. Many will run to and fro to gain insight or understanding, but without His divine grace and the genuinely tested heart, it will be futile. (Daniel 12:3-4) The Bible speaks of a people that “will be ever seeking, but never understand.” God have mercy that none of us be found in such a rank.
Now, if the bread of Heaven is so good and satisfying, how our joy and blessedness would be when our cups overflow with His wine!
Be encouraged! For the season of His “unleavened bread” is here.
