The Lord of truth cannot and will not fellowship with those who honor the lies of the Devil

 The Lord continued speaking, “When I came into this world, the world did not know me and my own people did not receive me. When I came to my own, they rejected me because I did not come to praise, or to honor, or to exalt, or to glorify any man for his words or his works. And neither did I come to walk in a show so that I myself could be praised, or honored, or exalted, or glorified by men. I was despised (taken lightly) and rejected because I did not respect any man’s person. Is it not written, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God?

What then is there for me to respect? Is it not  written, “There are none who are good; no, not one”? What then is there for me to respect? Is it not also written, “There are none who understand or know God?” What then is there for me to respect? Is it not also written, “There are none who are righteous; no, not one?” What then is there for me to respect?

Should I have given respect to those who were deceived and thought that they were righteous because of their own good words and works? Why should I have given man any respect for doing the very same things that caused Lucifer and his angels to fall from heaven? Are not these the same works that provoked God to wrath?

Those who walk in a show only do so that they may win man’s approval, man’s acceptance, man’s recognition, and man’s glory. If I had respected any man’s person, then I would have had respect a man for those the words that he speaks and works that he does to please men; and it would have required for me to give honor and respect to the same lies that bring nothing but the curse of darkness and death upon all who are deceived into thinking that they are something that they are not.”

 Luke 16:15  “And Jesus said to them, “You are those who justify (to make righteous) yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

 Psalm 39:5,6 “Behold, you have made my days as an handbreadth; and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Truly, every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walks in a vain show…”

 I Corinthians 8:2 (This is the apostle Paul speaking to the church at Corinth; a church that had the gifts of the Spirit) “If any man thinks that he knows anything, then he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.”

 II Chronicles 19:7 “Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it. For there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.”

 Galatians 6:2  “But of these who seemed to be something, (whatsoever they were, it makes no matter to me, because God accepts no man's person) for they who seemed to be something in conference added nothing to me.”

 Psalm 40:4 “Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust, and respects not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”

 Philippians 2: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God (God is love), but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men (the likeness of sinful flesh). And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the death, even the death of the cross.”

 Galatians 5:24 “Those who are Christ have crucified the flesh of it’s affections and desires (to show themselves to be as God)…26 Let us not be desirous for vain glory…”

 “I know those who are mine because they are those who take up their cross and follow me. Mine are those who have crucified the wisdom of pride, that corrupt wisdom that ny nature desires to show itself to be as God, and that does so because it desires to be glorified and recognized as God is.

 The wisdom of pride is that wisdom that corrupted Lucifer with it’s love for self; the ungodly love that corrupts the entire order of God’s love. Those who have crucified the wisdom of pride are those who have mortified the flesh of all it’s worldly desires for it’s own glory, and honor, and praise, and recognition.

 All of the lies that the Devil speaks, he speaks to arouse the desires of this world: the lust of the flesh (the desire for one do his own will), the lust of the eyes (the desire for one to be right in his own sight), and the pride of this life (the reputation that a man makes for himself). Those who are of this world, they will hear the lies of the Devil that tempt them to show themselves to be as God by their righteous works and good words; and they will speak of these things so that they may receive the glory that the wisdom of pride desires to have.

The world will hear them and reward them with glory and recognition they desire to have. But it shall not be so with those who have followed me; for their heart’s desire shall be to worship only God. It is his words and works that they will speak of to glorify the one and only God. It is impossible for the love of God to flow freely through any man while the wisdom of pride remains his heart’s desire. It is only through the daily cross that the fullness of my wisdom can come forth without being mixed with the wisdom of pride.”

 I John 4:4-6 “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world; therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us, and he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”

 Obadiah 3 “The pride of your heart has deceived you…”

 Matthew 16:23-25 “But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

 Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and desires…26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

 I Corinthians 1:18,19 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”

 Isaiah 29:13,14 “Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the commandment of men. Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”

 Philippians 1:15-17 “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.”

 Again, the Lord gave me another pause in this vision, I when he did, I began to feel a great increase within me of the same fear and trembling that I had seen in the thoughts of the angels. Then all of sudden, much of works and blessings the Lord has done for me began to come into my remembrance. I first remembered how precious I regarded my calling and my relationship with God as I remembered the time before the Lord called me, when I had this world’s recognition, and fame, and wealth, and glory offered to me when I was offered an opportunity to not only work on the New York Stock Exchange, but to own a seat there also.

To many, this would have been the an opportunity of a lifetime. While I was there, I literally met, and became briefly acquainted with a few of the richest and most powerful men in the world. All of these men all obtained to some degree or another the best of what this world has to offer in recognition, glory, wealth, and fame, yet there was not one of them that I had personally met that had obtained any of the satisfaction, or peace, or contentment, or joy that my heart desired to have at time. In fact, I saw that many of these men lived some of the most miserable lives that I have ever witnessed, but at the time, I did not understand why.

I know that many would think that they were miserable because they did not have God in their lives, and that is very true. But the Lord later revealed to me why the wealthy of this world are really so miserable.

 A poor man, or a man of medium income, who is not content with his life, he carries with him the hope that some day, he may hit the jackpot or win the lottery, so to speak. That is, he carries with the hope that he can come into this world’s wealth because he believes that money will pretty much solve his problems and free him from all of his worries. Well, these men certainly had obtained that wealth, but they discovered the truth about wealth, and fame, and glory, that it is only an illusion that lasts but for a brief time, and it is impossible for money and fame to give to you any of the things that the heart truly desires to have.

These men were miserable because now that they had obtained all that which the flesh could desire to have, they found that it was powerless to bring any lasting joy, or peace, or contentment that their hearts desired to have. What made these men become so miserable was that they had all lost hope that they could ever find any of these precious gifts in this life because they had hoped that their money and fame would have brought these things unto them.

There are not many things that I have seen that can bring a man to a more miserable state of existence that he who becomes hopeless. It is a lifeless and empty existence, almost exactly like the life that is lived by those have been deceived by false doctrines and false religions.

 Any business or religion whose lifeblood depends on the works that men do and the words they speak, it is lifeless and empty. But those who walk in the true faith, they are so full of hope because of the precious promises that God has given to us that reveals the wonderful works that his love is going to perform for all those who believe them. By faith and hope, God begins to fill them with the treasures of abundant life with that which there hearts truly desire to have: peace of mind, faith, joy, contentment, purpose of being, love and satisfaction.

 Again, I was never more thankful to be where I am in the Lord than I was in the moment of remembering all that which the love of the Lord has done for me. It gives me a chill to think that I could have ended up on Wall Street, hopeless to obtain anything other than that which money and fame can get you: nothing but fleeting glory. It goes without say that we all know that there is only one source of abundant life, and that is Jesus Christ.

 Romans 15:13 “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

 II Peter 1:1-4 “Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature (abundant life), having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

 Luke 12:15 “And Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness (lust), for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”

 I Peter 1:24 “ All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers,

and its flower falls away.”

 Matthew 16:26 “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

 Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.”

 Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

 Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you.

 I then remembered how it felt when the Lord first saved me and gave me the gift of his Holy Spirit, and how in one instant I went from being a being a very hopeless and depressed atheist into the belief that Jesus Christ and God were real: Priceless. I also remembered how I marveled when the love of God first blessed me with his the gift of his Spirit, and how all of my hopelessness and depression just disappeared, and after 21 years, neither has ever returned to trouble me.

Even so, I also remembered how troubled I was in those early years when I remembered how fearful and concerned I was because many so-called Christians around me did not approve of the things that the Lord was teaching me, but the Lord has now delivered me from all those fears, and I am no longer concerned how any man thinks of me, for my fellowship and my life is with the Lord God who called me for his purposes.

 Now all that this fear and concern is gone, my heart is free to treasure all that the love that God desires to give to me and bless me with: Priceless. I also remembered how the love of God had completely delivered me from my very mean and short temper: Priceless. And how he instantly delivered me from an 18 year, 2 ½ pack a day cigarette habit: Priceless. I then remembered how I first went to church, and I was presented with two doctrines that I was told that I had to believe, but the Spirit stirred within me to trouble me about these words.

So I began to pray and seek the Lord to see what he had to say, which I had never done before that time. In just about a week, the Lord had come and taught me his truth about both of these false doctrines.: Priceless. But even with this, I then remembered how I had allowed myself to be deceived by leaning on my own understanding for interpretation of the scriptures. I went astray and became very religious, self-righteous, and very dead in my relationship with the Lord.

My error had led me to separate myself from all of the joy, the peace, and the fellowship that I had been experiencing through my faith with the Lord; but the Lord of truth cannot and will not fellowship with those who honor the lies of the Devil, which is what I had done. But when I realized that all my joy and peace was gone, I also realized that I must have erred and departed from the Lord somehow, because I know that his love and joy would not have departed from me. So I turned from my works, and turned back to the Lord, and his love not only corrected me how I my error, but his presence returned to me also: Priceless.

 Proverbs 21:16 “The man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.”

 I then remembered when the Lord showed to me that when he had given to me the gift of his Holy Spirit, that he had given to me the very same spirit that is in God and in his son Jesus Christ: Priceless. I remembered how he has written my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life: Priceless. I remembered how his love, since the day he called me, has kept all of my sins and iniquities covered under the blood of his love, until the time that cleanses me of them, which he has already done with most of them: Priceless.

 I remembered how he has repeatedly delivered from the cursed spirits of darkness and death that once ruled over my thinking with such evil thoughts as depression, frustration, hatred, confusion, lust, vengefulness, loneliness, self-condemnation, impatience, unforgiveness, insecurity, discontentment, envy, bitterness, uncertainty, and worry: Priceless. I remembered how his love has cast out all of my fears that were accompanied with anxiety, despair, stress, dread, and worry: and how he has now given to me his peace to rule over the thoughts of my heart: Priceless.

I remembered how he has taken away the judgments that I once used to judge others to be evil, or to accuse others, or to blame others, or to point the finger of disapproval at, or criticize others with, or to find fault with others, or to condemn others with, and even to justify my ownself with: Priceless. He has given me his name to call on whenever I am troubled or whenever I have a need: Priceless.

 He has corrected me of my doubts about his love and my unbelief of his words: Priceless. He has opened my blind eyes and taught me intimate secrets about his heart and he has revealed his mysteries to me: Priceless. He has given to me understanding so that I could learn the truth about his words: Priceless. He has made given to me his promises, and then made them to be my inheritance and my future: Priceless.

II Timothy 4:18 “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

 Zephaniah 3:15 “The LORD has taken away your judgments, he has cast out your enemy. The king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of you and you shall not see evil any more.”

 Matthew 13:10-11 “And the disciples came and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Because it is given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given…13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables because they seeing, do not see; and hearing, they do not hear, and neither do they understand.

 I then remembered how the Lord had shown to me how he has given to us the gift of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, and that if we are willing to lay down our cursed life, then his Spirit is not only able to free us from all sin and death, but to remove all things that have alienated and separated us from the precious love of God: Priceless. It has been around twenty years since I have woken up in a bad mood: Priceless.

He has also given to us that blessed hope that believes whenever he appears, we are going to see him as he is, and then we are going to be changed into his glorious image: Priceless. At that moment, my heart was filled with the most gratitude, and appreciation, and thankfulness, and praise, and love that I have at any other time since the Lord had called me. It was funny that as I remembered many of the things that the Lord did for me at the beginning of my walk, I was remembering them in an entirely different manner than when they actually occurred.

As I considered why this was so, the Lord quickened to me that when they occurred, my heart was still blind to see that it was his love moving upon doing these things, and I was more fearful that if I shared these things with others, I might be scoffed at or rejected for what the Lord had done. But now the Lord has cast out the fear of man, as well as any desire that I had be accepted by men, so that I can enjoy the remembrances of what the Lord has done regardless of how others may receive or reject it.

I could now so clearly see how the works that the love of God had done for me in the past that I was now thanking, and praising, and glorifying him with more joy than when they actually occurred. For now the Lord has given me a pure heart that is free from man-pleasing and the fears of man: Priceless. My heart was never so thankful to have the love of God in my life as it was when all of these remembrances came flowing out of my own memories. His love has always been there for me, even when I have sinned or erred: Priceless. He has proved to me how much he passionately loves me, and how he has given to me the hand of his love: Priceless.  NEXT PART 5/11