Statement of Faith

 In March of 2013, the Lord called me to write this Statement of Faith.  I began typing it a few months later in May and finished it in July.  I sent this to members of my Baptist church.  My blog entitled "Stand in the Gap" directly relates to what occurred before and after sending this to them.  May it bless others who having been seeking the Lord in much the same way I did years before on this particular topic.

Statement of Faith Link

The Invitation

 While reading the Epistle of Hebrews today, the Lord brought my attention to a specific word in chapter 3 verse 1:

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

 I looked up the word "calling."  It is the Greek word klesis, which means "an invitation."  In this verse, "holy brethren" are being addressed - those who are partakers of this "invitation/calling".  This then led me to search for other occasions where the same word calling (klesis) was used:

Philippians 3: 14

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Above, Paul uses himself to explain that he actively pursues (presses) toward the goal (mark) for the award (prize) of the high invitation (calling) of God IN Christ Jesus.  If Paul had already obtained this prize, then he would not actively press toward the mark.  If a believer ever reaches a point of thinking he or she has already attained an unconditional eternal salvation, a distorted false Gospel has been received and great deception could lead the believer to fall into sin all the while believing "all is well" with one's salvation.

2 Thessalonians 1:11

Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: 

Similarly, Paul is speaking to believers in this verse when he shares that he continually prays for this body of believers to be counted worthy by God of this calling/invitation.  

Those who are IN the Body of Christ have received an invitation - much like a wedding invitation.  In fact, it really is a wedding invitation.  We know in the Book of Revelation that the marriage of the Lamb is the final consummation of those who will spend eternity with the Lord.  As we are told in Revelation 19:7 - "His wife hath made herself ready." 

 This would fully support the very ideas Paul illustrates in the previous verses.  The bride actively makes herself ready.  How?  Not by her works  - but by abiding in the vine of Christ.  Only by abiding in His goodness can she possibly overcome.  Is the bride pressing toward the mark or abiding IN Christ if she is willfully sinning?  Is she accepting the invitation to the wedding if she is fornicating with the world?  If she serves the idols of hate, or greed, or anger, or money, or jealousy, or worldly music, or provocative clothing -- if she pursues an invitation from the world and, therefore, cheats on her Groom, will she be a chaste bride on her wedding day?  Or will she have a soiled gown made filthy by her decision to stray from her Groom?

She cannot be arrayed in fine, white linen if she has rejected the Groom's righteousness, for only the Groom could offer such an invitation.

If the bride was loyal to her Groom early in their relationship but gradually became attracted to others, will the Groom accept her on their wedding day - an unfaithful bride?  He provided all of her needs; he extended the invitation, and for a time, she may have gladly accepted his gifts.  She may have been devoted to only Him, in fact.  However, in the eleventh hour, she proves unfaithful.  The allure of the world and the enticements of man draws her from the one to whom she had been faithful.   She was fully accepting of the invitation, but arrived to the wedding unprepared because she did not make herself ready by being completely faithful to her betrothed - to her Groom.   

I am reminded of Eve and her servitude to Adam - her betrothed.  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:

² 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.
³ 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.

If it were impossible for the espoused believer/bride of Christ to become "corrupted" (phtheiro - to shrivel, or wither, i.e. to spoil or to ruin), why would Paul directly address the church at Corinth and speak of his "fear" that their minds have been "corrupted" in much the same way as Eve's when she believed the lies of the Serpent over the Truth of God?  The Greek word used here for corrupted is the same Greek word used for "defile" in 1 Corinthians 3:17.  Also, we are not to forget the words of Jesus when He stated that man is not defiled from what is outside of him, but instead, man is defiled due to what comes from his heart (Mark 7).  Eve was betrothed to Adam, yet she chose to obey and serve the Serpent when tempted.  Paul warns the brethren at Corinth to avoid following anyone who "preaches another Jesus" (2 Cor. 11: 4).  Doing so would indicate the bride's UNfaithfulness to the One True Lord.  As Jesus Himself taught, there is one allowable reason for divorce:  Adultery. 

 2 Peter 1:10

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

 As stated above, the called or invited in Christ must give diligence in order to stabilize (make sure) the election.  Peter continues as to why the brethren must do this:  Falling is possible.  Without diligence or examining ourselves to see if we are in the faith, then a believer can fall.  Falling back into sin is an extremely dangerous point in a believer's life - one to avoid only by abiding IN Christ and obeying His Spirit's leading.

Only the chaste, faithful bride will be accepted at the wedding of the Lamb.  The bride who has valued her commitment to Christ - the Groom.  The one who has grown to know her Groom by spending valuable time with Him.  The bride who during times of her Groom's absence patiently waited for the special day of His arrival.  The bride who although presented with the enticements of the world chose to seek refuge and truth in the arms of her Groom.  This chaste bride who was weak on her own found strength from Him.

The bride's faithfulness to her Groom results in the gift of righteousness in the form of white linen.  A wedding dress unlike any other - pure and undefiled - for she has made herself ready by abiding in Him.

From the first moment of their engagement, she has greatly anticipated the moment - the marriage.  She has held the invitation - the calling - in her small hands with the passage of time.  There were dark valleys of tremendous sorrow when she clutched the invitation to her chest as she recalled the hope of the coming day - the coming marriage.  With tears of anguish, she pledged her faithfulness to Him, even when the Enemy surrounded her.  She clutched the invitation and cried out for her Groom.  She would find her strength IN HIM. 

 

^{Revelation 19:
7} Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
⁸ And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
⁹ And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

_______________________________________________________

 Testimony:
I can relate to Gideon in the Bible because when I feel the Lord revealing His Truth to me, I always ask Him to show me more than once.  Why?  Because His Word is HOLY, and I never want to speak an UNtruth regarding His Holy Word.  His Word is sacred.  I was studying areas of the Bible earlier this afternoon and felt the Lord's leading on a particular topic and a particular group of verses and realized He was calling me to complete a work for Him based on what He had shown me in the verses.  This morning, I had prayed that He would give me direction regarding my next step toward obedience to Him.  These verses brought the marriage feast described in Revelation to my mind and the bride making herself ready for this momentous event.  I pondered the revelation He had given me as I placed supper in the oven.  Kendra, my 8 year old niece, was in the living room playing with my 18 month old.  I wasn't really paying much attention to them because my thoughts were of the Lord and what I felt He was calling me to do.  As I thought of the marriage of the Lamb and the bride making herself ready, I also thought, "Lord, you haven't confirmed this revelation to me yet."  Within moments, as I stood in the kitchen, I heard my niece in the living room sing, "Dum dum da dum, dum dum da dum."  Then, she repeated it.  I stood completely still in front of my fridge as I heard her sing this two times.  I couldn't contain my praises to the Lord in that moment.  My niece walked into the kitchen and asked why I was so happy.  I told her that God had just used her to confirm His message to me!  

Oh, how I love Jesus!

A False Sense of Power

Alive, Dead, & Alive Again

Parable of the Prodigal or Lost Son

Luke 15:

11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:

    Specifically, Jesus shares a parable detailing the relationship between a father and his sons.  This is a direct comparison between God the Father and his sons (and daughters).    The Bible references believers only by calling them the sons of God.  An unbeliever is NOT considered a son of God.

12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

    living - bios - life i.e. the present state of existence, by implication the means

    of livelihood.

    The Father gave his sons life -- all that they needed in order to live.  This is a direct example of God giving believers life through Jesus Christ.  This parable is not about a person physically existing.  It is about spiritual and eternal existence.  The sons were physically existing before the father gave them “his living”.    He is giving them what they need in order to live eternally.

13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

    The younger son chooses to leave the Father after that son received his father’s

“living” or what was necessary to live.  He leaves his father’s presence and begins sinning - “riotous living”.  In other words, the believer chose to step out of the will of God, began sinning, and chose the “world” over his Father.

14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

When the son had spent all of what ?  All of his “living” - His father gave his son all that the son would need to live.  Again, these sons were already physically living, so this is a reference to a believer being given eternal life, and that believer chose to waste the gift of the Father.  The Father gives all believers LIFE through Jesus Christ; however, believers can choose to squander or waste the gift of the Father.   What happens to the son who wastes the “living” or life given to him?  He gradually begins to starve - famine in the land & be in want. There is only one land that offers eternal life, but the son chose to depart from that land, and now he is spiritually dying.

15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

The son chooses to remain separated from his father (God).  He continues “in the world” and all of the sin associated with the “world”.    The word “joined” is used meaning “to glue or to stick.”    He has firmly attached himself to a citizen of “that country.”  Notice the citizen’s treatment of the son in contrast to the father’s original treatment of the son.  The citizen puts the younger son to work in one of the most degrading jobs of the time - feeding swine.  When we think of the Jewish people gathered around listening to Jesus speak this parable, we can more clearly understand how far the lost son had fallen - feeding swine would have been symbolic of the lowest point of existence for a human being. The Jewish considered swine filthy. We do not read in this verse that the “citizen” gave the younger son “his living.”  The best anyone in the “flesh” or in the “world” can offer another is filth  - swine.  Nothing compares to the gift from the Father.  Only the Father can give us LIFE.  However, when he gives life, we can choose to waste His gift by returning to the world.

16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

    The son, who no longer has what his Father gave- life, is now so desperate that he fantasizes about eating the slop that is being used to feed filthy animals.   He wilfully chooses to remain in the world and longs for the things of the world.  The word fain is used, which is the Greek word epithumeo, and means “to set the heart upon, i.e. long for.”  He does not long for his Father here.  He longs for or covets the sin of the world.  The second portion of the verse again shows that “life” can only come from the Father.  No other man could give the younger son what he needed to live.  Again, this is spiritual.  The son is physically alive; it is his spirit that has died because he has chosen to be led of the flesh.   

17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

    He arose - He is turning from his sin.  He does not remain in sin.  The Father will not forgive a person (believer or unbeliever) until that person has a change of heart regarding the sin he or she has been practicing.

21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

    This is repentance.

22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

When the son returns to the Father in repentance, it is then that God the Father gives the repentant son spiritual life again -   The robe, when examining the Greek, is a long fitting gown that represents dignity.  Dignity is “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect.” The son is not clothed in honor until he returns to the Father.  When he is feeding swine, there is no robe, no ring, and no shoes of dignity.  There is nothing to indicate righteousness. Furthermore, the Father will not accept the son wearing the rags of the world.  He is newly clothed in royalty and clearly an heir to what the Father has to offer.  We do not read that the son, when dead/lost, was clothed with the robe, shoes, or ring while he partook in the world and its sin.  The shoes are symbolic of the protection that only the Father can offer.  Shoes offer protection to one’s feet  when traveling.  Believers have protection under the Father when we abide with the Father.   We are made righteous by abiding in Jesus.  

23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

    The Father does NOT say, “This is my son who has been alive in a far country and now has returned.”  No, the Father says his “SON WAS DEAD.”  When the youngest son was away from his Father, he was WITHOUT LIFE = DEAD.  We know that he never physically died; instead, he was spiritually & eternally dead.  Recall that earlier in the parable the son was alive when the Father gave him his LIVING.  Early in the parable, the Father acknowledged his son’s spiritual existence by giving him His “living” = eternal life.  The son died when he chose to waste the life his father gave him.    At no point in this parable is the son ever physically dead.  It is his spiritual life and death that are being described.  

25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.  

    In addition, one cannot say that the son did not receive spiritual life when the father gave him his living because the elder son’s presence would contradict that.  The elder son, like the younger son, was given his living at precisely the same time as the younger.  The elder never leaves his father.  This verse says that the “elder son was in the field.”  Whose field?  His Father’s field.  The elder son has remained faithful to his Father - the same father who gave him eternal life at the beginning of the parable.  In other words, the elder son is a believer who abides in the vine of Christ.  The younger son did not abide and was dead until he returned deeply repenting the fact that he sinned against his Father.

26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.

27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

The father reveals that only one son had access to his father’s “living”/”life” the  entire time = the elder son who obeyed the father and remained in his father’s presence.  It was not until the lost son returned that the father’s “living” was made available to him again.  The Father who represents God does not say to the lost son that he was “ever/always” with Him.  Who has all that God the Father possesses?  Only those who are “WITH” the father.  The lost son was not “with” him when the lost son chose to leave the father for the world.  The lost son was not “with” the father when he was practicing sin and feeding swine.  The lost son was not “with” the father when he chose to join himself with a citizen of another land - not his father’s land.    If a believer is not “with” - abiding in the Father, then that believer has forsaken all that the Father offers - eternal life.  If a believer returns by way of repentance, he is again “with” the Father and has all that the Father has.  

32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

    One must be born again in order to inherit eternal life.  The word “be” is a present state of existence, not a past event.    Many use the argument that a person who is “born again” cannot be unborn.  We know that nothing can be UNborn, but what is born can die.  That is precisely what happened to the younger son.  He was in a present state of being born again when his father gave him his living.  However, when the son chose to squander what he had inherited, he died spiritually. The very life given to him was wasted and no longer presently available.  If a son or daughter of God does not obey the Father, then we are no longer born again and instead, we are dead to the Father.  When the son chose to return in repentance - seeking forgiveness -- -notice that he left his sinful lifestyle - that is true repentance.  It was then that his Father forgave him and gave him life again - eternal life.  He did not have eternal life when he was wilfully sinning in the far country.  As the father said, “HE WAS DEAD.”  He is not alive again until he repents, returns, and is in his father’s presence.  Thus, the lost son who returned to God the Father is born again in that very moment of returning to the Father.   Upon the younger son’s repentant return, the Father is then able to say that his younger son “IS ALIVE AGAIN.”  We must not forget that the elder son never died after he received his father’s “living” .  Both sons received the living at the same time.  Both sons received the gift of salvation at the same time, but one chose to waste that gift and die spiritually. The elder son remained in his father’ s presence, labouring in his  father’s field.  The younger son left his Father and laboured in another man’s field -- In other words, the younger son chose to worship an idol - another master who could only place him with filthy swine.  We, as believers, must repent when we choose to sin.  If we do not repent, we cannot be forgiven, and we cannot be clothed in the Father’s righteousness.  

No one will enter the Kingdom of Heaven without repentance and faith toward Jesus.  

Stand in the Gap

Counterfeit - (Noun) A fraudulent imitation of something else; a forgery.

As I walked through my house yesterday, God continued to bring this word to my mind.  C.O.U.N.T.E.R.F.E.I.T.

 Just the night before, I stood in a church where a counterfeit message was being preached.  A message that was designed to lead the listeners astray while all the while making them believe they were following the Truth of the Word of God.  It was a counterfeit message.   "If a saved person begins to sin without repentance, then God will take them out of the world - through death - and will take them 'home'."  
"People who say you can lose your salvation do not know the word of God."  

These were only a few of the ideas spoken. 

Satan was on a rampage Sunday night at my church.  I told my husband that Satan had shown up with two double barreled shot guns and were aiming them at my husband and me.  

Why? 

The Lord had called me to complete a Statement of Faith months before - A Statement of Faith that would be sent to as many of my church's members as possible.  There was one objective in the Statement of Faith:  One Can Be in the Faith/ A Believer/ A Partaker of the Holy Spirit and Choose to Leave the Faith and Deny the Holy Spirit's Teaching.  As a result, that "once believer" will suffer damnation eternally.  Through a series of undeniable moments, the Lord called me to be a vessel through which His truth on the matter could be spoken. 

I had spent two months typing it, and through it all, the presence of the Holy Spirit was so profound that I spent many moments shedding tears of joy at His revelations.  So many nights, I found myself humbly at His feet listening as He taught me about His Word.  While others slept, I sat on my couch with the Bible and a laptop following the Spirit.  Those nights of beauty will never be forgotten.

Upon completion, the Statement of Faith was 75 pages in length, and I planned to have 50 copies made of the work for distribution to my fellow church members.  I remember using my debit card to pay for the copies that I ordered through an online company.   I will be honest in saying that financially, it was a hardship - but I knew that the Lord was calling me to carry forth this work.  So I with complete submission and hope purchased the copies. The very same day that I purchased the copies -  a letter arrived in the mail informing me that I would soon be receiving a check in the mail due to a surplus in my escrow account.  The amount of the check was very close to the amount I had just spent hours before when ordering the copies.  

Several days passed, and via Fed Ex, my box of copies arrived.  That very same day, I received the other surplus check in the USPS mail.  What timing of the Lord!    I then proceeded to three hole punch all of the copies, place them in folders and envelopes, and transported them to the post office.  Ultimately, I spent more than $60 for postage - Again, a hardship, but a hardship that paled in comparison to what my Lord was calling me to do.  I was truly thankful that He had trusted me to do this for Him.  

Within a few days, I received my monthly check as a public school teacher.  Oddly enough, the check was $150.00 more than usual.  

I did the math and realized that the Lord had allowed me to receive all of the money back that I had used to purchase the copies and to purchase postage for the copies.  Not only that, He had given me a surplus!  In fact, I have since discovered that I will receive an additional $150 on my check next month as well.  Isn't God's timing perfection?  He who knows all orchestrated perfect timing in so many matters that I was completely oblivious to in order to bless me with MORE than I gave in obeying Him!  

Members of the church I attend had received the Statement of Faith in the mail several days prior to the Sunday night service.  Satan evidently had received it as well.  He showed up with a vengeance in an attempt to destroy my husband and me by way of public humiliation and the masses pitying our "incorrect" understanding of the Bible.  The pastor used so many of the verses in his sermon that I had used in the Statement of Faith and distorted the meanings to fit into a Once Saved Always Saved mold.  I remember standing in a side room of the church with my rambunctious one year old and bowing down in the floor praying for the Lord's guidance and presence as my husband and I endured Satan using puppets to carry forth his lies.  It was a trying evening - a very trying evening.  

My heart ached for my husband who did not have the luxury of leaving the congregation as I had with a loud 1 year old.  It was a passive aggressive attack.  Nothing overt.  No hateful glares.  No one directly addressed my husband and me.  Instead, it was a cleverly coordinated event that the father of lies whispered into the ears of those willing to hear -- a group of people standing together believing  and speaking what they have always been taught in order to show this couple in their late 30s and early 40s how misled they were.

Later that night while in bed, I wept before my Lord in the darkness of my bedroom.  I wept for the state of the world.  I wept for the evil of Satan.  I wept for the confusion that he stirs.  If he can keep people confused, they can't think.  They just follow everyone else as they walk off the cliff. 

I could not sleep very well that night, so I arose early at about 2:00 a.m. and sat on my couch downstairs.  I cried some more - speaking to HIM my great King.  Before falling asleep again a few hours later, my last thoughts were thoughts of loyalty to Him.  "Guide me, Lord.  I will follow."

Not until the next day - Monday - did the Lord reveal His plans for me.  The Truth He would have me stand firmly upon - no matter what opposition comes my way.

I found myself off and on throughout Monday singing words of praise to my King - while simply performing normal household activities, I would sing praises to His perfection - His majesty - His Truth.

It has always been my heart's desire to use Facebook as a tool to spread the Gospel, so in usual fashion, I listed a scripture as my status.  It was a scripture the Lord put on my heart:

Ephesians 6:11-18

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

These verses are common to many.  I have read and studied them many times over the years, but this time, God brought my eyes to

Above all, taking the shield of faith.

Remarkably, I spent several moments examining that portion of verse 16 - in a manner unlike ever before.  After those moments of pondering the verse, I moved on with my day.  

Later that night, the Lord orchestrated a series of events shedding light on His Truth and His direction for me.  By way of a phone call, I was led to listen to a preacher that I had never heard before.  In fact, I knew very little about the man, so I was somewhat hesitant - yet I chose to listen to one of his messages.  

Early in his message, he shared a story that had occurred several years before.  A young man in his small hometown was involved in a car accident.  While in the hospital, his life appeared over.  A preacher visited the family - in particular - the mother who was beside herself due to her son's tragic and poor prognosis.  The preacher spoke these words to her:  "Because you have a chink in your armor, I am going to stand in the gap for you."

The moment I heard this part of the message, I knew the Spirit was moving.  This was a message for me.  Just two weeks prior, I had been upstairs preparing to go to bed when I very clearly heard:

"Stand in the gap.  Stand in the gap."

In that moment of being upstairs preparing for bed, I knew God had spoken to me, yet I did not completely understand what He was calling me to do when He had said, "Stand in the Gap.  Stand in the Gap." -- At least not until this moment of hearing the preacher use the very phrase God had spoken to me two weeks prior.  I continued to listen to the preacher's message.

  The preacher then went on to read Ephesians  6: 11 - 18 -- the very verses I had placed on my Facebook page earlier that day.  He even drew special attention to the same portion of verse 16 that God had drawn my eyes to earlier in the day.

He went on to describe Roman shields.  Specifically, the shields used for warfare were very large shields that spanned almost the length and width of a man's body.  It was truly a shield of protection.  He continued by illustrating how soldiers would gather together - unite and form a barrier of protection.  They would group together and place several shields in front of them, and they would hold shields above their heads.  He said that, effectually, these shields were used as a turtle shell.   Just as the turtle shell is used to protect the turtle housed inside, so did the shields.  Fiery darts could not penetrate such a barrier.

I nearly wept upon hearing these words.  Let me take you back to my life five years before.  I was led into the wilderness five years previously, and Satan greeted me with his evil there.  I was mentally and physically assaulted by the liar himself.  For more than a year, I lived under such torment. He wanted me dead.  He made every attempt to bring destruction to my life.  I drew close to Jesus.  I can recall so vividly, even now, all of the times I found myself yelling out for Jesus to rescue me while I lay in the floor being trampled upon by Satan.  The battlefield is the mind.  It is where Satan seeks to capture his victims.  And what a battle it was.  I will never forget the moment Satan lost his stronghold on me.  He was breathing down my neck thoughts of suicide.  "The only way you can escape this torment is if you die."   Even now, I do not reveal what the torment was, but his last resort was planting thoughts of suicide to escape the agony of those times. Oh, how I cried out to Jesus!  I don't think words could ever capture the intensity of those desperate times.  I fasted, I prayed, I wept, I read the Bible almost nonstop.  I went to sleep calling out to Jesus.  I woke up with inner dialogues of speaking out to Jesus.  My dreams were of Bible pages.  

There was one day in particular where Satan's whispers were wounding me, deafening me, seemingly destroying me.  All I wanted was to hear the Shepherd's voice.  That was all I needed to breathe and to live. 

 I sat on my couch and noticed a crumbled up sticker no more than an inch large on my floor.  I picked it up and saw that it was a turtle.  Although this may sound like a simple thought, the utter dejection behind my thoughts were suffocating me.  I held the turtle sticker and thought, "If I were any animal, I would be a turtle because no one hears the turtle's voice."  I said this because again, all I wanted was the Lord to speak so that I would know to follow His voice because the demon Satan's voice had been so loud and so despicable that I just wanted to hear the Truth speak instead of the liar.

I rose up from the couch, not thinking anymore about the sticker or my passing thought about being the silent turtle whose voice is not heard.  I walked outside and sat near a tree in my yard.  So broken.  After only a few moments, something other than myself moved my legs across the yard and back into my house.  I was ultimately brought back to the couch, where very robotically, I opened the Bible to a book I had never read before that moment.  

Song of Solomon. 

 My eyes began reading at chapter one, and without any control on my part, I started weeping the most uncontrollable tears of joy.  All the while, I had no idea why, but something kept urging me to continue my reading.  I found myself laughing while I read and read and then... all became clear when I read chapter 2 verse 12:

"the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."   (KJV)

My Shepherd had spoken!  He HAD heard my cries - my broken voice was heard in His land.  I weep even now years later; Oh, how I love Him!  Satan shriveled up and departed for a season.  

Just a few days before this event, a person called me and said that God had told her to tell me that I needed to purchase a KJV Bible.  I had been using another version.  It wasn't until a few years later that I opened up the NKJV I had previously used to the same verse.  I saw that the single word of the turtle was not phrased in the same manner in that version.  My, how God works!   He had heard me and knew the precise moment He would reveal himself to me!

 The same day that the Lord let me know He heard my voice, I called my sister with the news, for she had been such a sister in Christ to me during this time.  She would call me at all hours of the day during that year of torment to check on me and to speak God's Truth to me when the devil made every attempt to distort it.  Oh, the number of times she prayed mighty prayers rebuking that evil serpent while I wept on the phone line listening to her fight for me using the power of God!  I can recall a time when I was being brutally assaulted by Satan.  I knelt in my son's dark bedroom and begged my Lord to speak to me.  In that moment, the phone rang, and I heard my sister say, "I was washing dishes, and the Lord said, 'Call Joy.' "  And she obeyed the Shepherd's voice.  These are times of beauty.  These are times of the true body of Christ rising up and standing for one another.  

Again, that same day I called her telling her about the turtle sticker, and she interrupted me, "Joy, I have tell you something."  I said, "No, you have to hear the end of the story."  After I finished my story, she then shared hers.  She had spent most of the day working with a severely handicapped student - a five year old in a wheelchair, blind, and almost deaf.  She said that the little girl rarely spoke to anyone - even her family, but she went on to say that day was different.  

She stated that around 11:00 a.m., the little girl inexplicably began saying repeatedly, "Turtle, turtle, turtle."  Everyone was at a loss as to why she continued saying that.  

My sister said she now realized why she was saying TURTLE over and over again.  That little girl began saying "turtle" at the same time my Lord had shown me that He heard my voice. 

Isn't that amazing?  Isn't that amazing!!!  Jesus IS amazing!

So as I sat listening to this preacher's message and heard him use a TURTLE as an example for the shield of faith, you better know my God was speaking directly to the girl He rescued 5 years before.

First, Stand in the Gap - and now Turtle.  I was listening intently. 

The preacher then went on to describe the anointing of the shield with olive oil and water in order to maintain its strength.  

By the end of his message he was quoting 2 Timothy 3:5 to describe the enemies of TRUTH:

 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

He focused on the word power and explained that it was the same form of the word power used in Acts 1: 8 :

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Power = Original Greek DUNAMIS

Once again, God was speaking to me because the Greek word dunamis was a word that I had only recently been exposed to by way of another preacher.  

After I listened to the message, I then looked up Stand in the Gap in the Bible.  I had never looked it up before.  That exact phrase is listed in the Bible one time and one time only.  After reading those words in context, I know why He had me type the Statement of Faith.  I also know that He would have me continue to Stand in the Gap for those specifically at my church and others that He has revealed to me.  

He is calling forth people to cease listening to lying prophets who profess to hear from God when they do not - who claim that God has shown them that Once Saved Always Saved is true.  He is calling people forth to repentance and servitude to Him.  

If they do not, there will be wrath.  There will be wrath for them.  

Ezekiel 22:

²³ And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
²⁴ Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
²⁵ There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
²⁶ Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
²⁷ Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
²⁸ And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken.
²⁹ The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
³⁰ And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
³¹ Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.

The Lord had specifically told me two times to STAND IN THE GAP just two weeks prior to hearing this message.  So as I read these verses in Ezekiel for the first time, I see that the Lord was preparing me for  Satan's counterfeit message from a preacher at my church who says that he hears from God - when he does not.  It was preparation for the coming deception in these final days before the Lord's return.

Another verse from these passages caught my attention in a profound way:  


²⁵ There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey;  

About six months ago, the Lord spoke to me in  a dream.  In the dream, there were women surrounding what represented Jesus.  And these women blended into the body of Jesus in such a perfect way that a bystander wouldn't be able to tell where Jesus ended and the women began -- this is truly what the body of Christ looks like.  They never took their eyes off of Jesus.  Great light shone from this body of Christ.  

However, this dream was not without darkness.  In fact, the dream took place at the darkest point of night, and the only light available came from the Body of Christ.  

These women were also surrounded by the most horrific lions I have ever seen.  Those lions were roaring, prowling, and clawing the dirt just inches away from the women.  As they roared and clawed, dirt and dust surrounded them, but most amazingly the women NEVER took their eyes off of Jesus.  In fact, the women never seemed aware of the lions.  There was nothing but an expression of peace on their faces as they stared at this figure that represented the Lord.  The women sat with their legs tucked underneath them - in much the same way a child sits when playing in the floor.   

The lions clearly sought to kill something, but they could never  touch the women.  Their claws dug at the dirt just an inch or two from the feet of these women, but the lions could never touch the faithful women.

When I read verse 25 in Ezekiel 22, the Lord reminded me of this dream from at least six months before:  

²⁵ There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey;  

False teachers and false prophets seek to devour, but ONLY THOSE WHO KEEP THEIR EYES ON JESUS CAN SURVIVE!

I will speak my Lord's Truth -  my eyes are on HIM!  He will keep His FAITHFUL children safe.

 

 Dear Lord, help me to complete what you have called me to do.  Help all of your warriors to stand with the shield of faith in the gap as we face the adversary who seeks to devour so many who refuse to hear your Truth.  Lord, hold back your wrath a while longer as the remnant is drawn in to your glorious body!  Hallelujah! 

Harden Not Your Heart

Below, Paul is speaking to believers and explaining the absolute necessity to run and finish the race that they have begun.  He even uses himself as an illustration.

1 Corinthians 9:

24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

Believers run this race to obtain an incorruptible crown.  Notice that he does not say multiple crowns - but a single crown (the word an is singular/one).

26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

    uncertainly - adelos - hidden fig. indistinct

Paul knows why he is running this race.  There is no hidden or uncertain reason.  He fights, not to simply swing or thrash the air with no ultimate point.

27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

    subjection - doulagogeo - to be a slave-driver, i.e. to enslave (fig. to subdue)

castaway - adokimos - unapproved, i.e. rejected; by impl. worthless

Paul, himself, admits that he must actively bring his body - his flesh - into subjection.  Even in preaching the gospel to others, he understands that disobedience to Christ by walking in the flesh will result in being rejected - a castaway.  Rejection will not result in inheriting eternal life.  

Chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians ends with verse 27, and the 1st verse in chapter 10 continues with the same point.  Paul provides an example in the Old Testament to support how absolutely it is necessary that a believer continues in the faith by obeying the Lord.   

1 Corinthians 10:

1Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Notice that all of the initial steps New Testament believers are called to follow were followed by the Israelites, initially.

5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

    admonition - nouthesia - calling attention to, i.e. (by impl) mild rebuke or warning

12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Many of the Israelites did not run the race obediently, but instead sinned against Christ.  Paul, a few verses before these, uses himself as an example to illustrate the importance of continuing in the faith of Christ.  He acknowledges that not finishing the race of faith in Christ would result in him being a castaway - rejected.  If it were not possible for a believer to become a castaway, then Paul would not have used that or himself as an example.

 

The very same idea is described in Hebrews:

Hebrews 3:

6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

He is speaking to believers here.  The word IF is used to indicate a condition or requirement.  Also, we are not to hold fast for a limited amount of time- but instead “unto the end”.  

7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

This is one of the greatest dangers for a believer.  A hardened heart refuses to be taught, refuses to obey, and refuses to continue in faith.

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.

11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

unbelief - apistos - faithlessness, i.e. disbelief (want of Christian faith), or unfaithfulness (disobedience)

Paul directly addresses the brethren here (believers), but notice that he warns them not to depart from the faith.  One is not kept by the power of God through faith if that  believer departs from the faith through unrepentant disobedience.

depart - aphistemi - to remove, i.e. instigate to revolt, usually to desist, desert

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Jesus tells his disciples to deny themselves DAILY - One reason for that denial is illustrated in verse 13 above.  Even a believer can be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  When one is hardened by sin, one is less likely to repent.  Without repentance, we do not inherit eternal life.

For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence 14stedfast unto the end;

    partakers - metochos - participant, i.e. a sharer, by implication an associate

We, as believers, are called to continue in Christ unto the end - to remain steadfastly in the faith.  IF we do not, we are not a part of Him.  Without being IN Christ, we do not have eternal life.   

15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.

17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?

18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?

19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

unbelief - apistos - faithlessness, i.e. disbelief (want of Christian faith), or unfaithfulness (disobedience)

Immediately after verse 19 above, he applies the Old Testament story of the Israelites, who sinned against God through disobedience, thus not entering the promised land, to the believers in Hebrews.  He  continues,

Hebrews 4:1

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

He did not simply share the Old Testament story of the Israelites for no apparent reason.  He is exhorting believers (we must not forget that he is addressing those who believe in Jesus) to continue in the faith.  As with the Israelites whose carcasses fell in the wilderness before entering into the land of promise, we must not be hardened by sin, or we will not enter into the promised land of eternal life.  How does a believer avoid being hardened by sin?  We rely on the One who overcame sin - Jesus.  One is not relying on Him or abiding in Him if that person is continuing in sin.  We cannot serve two masters.

Psalm 95

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

To day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

It is a choice to follow him and hear his voice every day - “To day if ye will hear his voice.” Every day is the day of salvation.

John 10:

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

    them - those who hear and follow

29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

    them - those who hear and follow

Notice the precise similarities of the verses in Psalm 95 and the verses in John 10.  Both speak of the sheep being in HIS HAND.  Immediately after we read the following verse in Psalm 95, “we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand,”  the very next words are

“To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart”.   

 Do we see that the very sheep in His hand still have to stand against our hearts being hardened?  

Hebrews 3: 13-14 fully demonstrates why we, His sheep, are not to harden our hearts:

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

May  we not forget the reason we are exhorted to hear His voice “To day”  (which means daily - BEING REBORN IS A PRESENT EXPERIENCE).  If a believer’s heart is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, that believer has not continued in the faith.  That believer, therefore, has not finished the race - and has become a castaway.

Below are additional specific instances when an apostle is addressing believers regarding remaining in the faith of Christ.

2 Corinthians 6: 1-2

1We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.  

2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)

Every day is the day of salvation for believers.  The day of salvation is not a one time past experience; it is a current experience.  It is a continual faith in Christ to save us, to rescue us from every sin that so easily besets us.  In every trial, in every affliction, in every testing, in every moment, we are to understand that He awaits at the door and knocks.  The Lord will come in and sup with the person who opens the door.  This is a daily occurrence.  It is not a one time event of coming forward to the altar. Every day is the day of salvation.  We are exhorted to  teach and urge one another daily IN CHRIST.  Because as he teaches in Hebrews 3 verse 13, sin is deceitful.  If a believer does not remain steadfast in the faith of Christ, that believer’s heart will be hardened, and a hardened heart will not be penetrated with TRUTH and repentance.  

1 Corinthians 15: 1-2

1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

Hebrews 5: 8-9

Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey

him;

Hebrews 6:11-12

11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the

promises.