Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. John 13:1-5.
But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?” Acts 5:3.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
When you call on Me, forgive, otherwise you are taking the vengeance and I cannot. Be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Let others do as they have purposed if your goodness cannot persuade them differently, as Jesus did. If nothing you have done in compassion—admonish, teach, exhort, forgive, give service, turn the other cheek, pray on their behalf—has changed their heart, then you must just let them do as they have purposed in their heart.
That is what Jesus did with Judas Iscariot. But My Son held nothing against him in His heart. He was ready to receive Judas back, but Judas ended the conversation by murdering himself. But that is another story.
Never let Satan enter your heart. If you recall, I tell you that at the night Judas betrayed Jesus, the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Him. John 13:2. And Jesus knew, My Spirit in Him told Him of the things to come. So what did Jesus do? He washed his feet along with the other disciples. He served him with the same love He did all His disciples. And after He had done that, while they were eating the Passover meal, Jesus became troubled in spirit, and testified and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, that one of you will betray Me.” The disciples began looking at one another, at a loss to know of which one He was speaking. The disciple John was reclining on Jesus’ bosom during the meal, so Simon Peter gestured to him, and said to him, “Tell us who it is of whom He is speaking.” John, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Judas had been listening to the devil and allowed him to put in his heart the thought of betraying Jesus and Judas did not reject that thought. It was legal, the Pharisees and Chief Priest were seeking the person who would do this and offered payment. Their rulers were encouraging this betrayal. And when Jesus criticized him for rebuking the woman with the alabaster jar of ointment with which she anointed Jesus’ feet, Judas took offense and the devil worked on him. It had begun before that when he was tempted to take from the disciples’ common purse. So he already had stolen. So the devil had made inroads into his heart already.
And Jesus knew He had done all He could to save Judas, but now He knew that Judas had purposed it in his heart. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” Jesus did not shame Judas in front of the disciples for no one of those reclining at the table knew for what purpose He had said this to him. Some were supposing, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus was saying to him, “Buy the things we have need of for the feast”; or else, that he should give something to the poor. So after receiving the morsel Judas went out immediately; and it was night.
You know the rest. He did what the leaders had published as legal and in the best interests of society, but after he had done it and Jesus had been arrested and condemned to an unjust death, Satan now came after Judas as the prosecutor and would not cease speaking to him of his guilt and shame in betraying his teacher. Finally Judas was so riddled with guilt and regret that he could no longer bear himself and ended his life on earth. But he could not stop his existence.
Guard your heart with all diligence for from it flow the issues of life. As you purpose in your heart, you will do. So be careful what you are listening to. I say again, guard your heart. But better yet, let Me guard it by giving all your care to Me.
Judas was too concerned about himself, how he felt and what he had, and it destroyed him. If you only consider your own feelings, they will ruin you because Satan can only win if you are fighting him in the flesh. He cannot win if you fight him in the Spirit. My Spirit. And you fight in the Spirit with the Sword of the Spirit, My Word, which is Spirit breathed. And My Spirit will witness with your spirit that you are My beloved child and will testify to you that your sins and offenses I remember no more.
When Judas murdered himself, he was not listening to My Spirit but to his own emotions of guilt and regret, which the devil was fueling with lies of deceit that Judas could not be forgiven, that what he had done was unpardonable. But no sin is too big for Me to forgive because I put every sin on My Son. I made Him who knew no sin to BE SIN on your behalf so that you can become the righteousness of God in Him.
And why do people find forgiving so difficult? Again, it is based on their emotions, that is, their feelings which focus on the glorification of self. They are seeking and prizing the glory of men rather than My glory. Jesus prayed that I glorify Him with Myself. Glory together.
Let Me show you how Satan works. First, he will see what is going on in your life and look for ways to agitate or divide you. Say you are the child among the siblings caring for the elderly parent, who is difficult, and the other siblings do not help you. Satan will first start working on making you angry and resentful and feeling very put upon. But I tell you that the greatest one among you is the one who serves the rest and to honor your parents and care for them even in old age. And I tell you honoring your parents will give you a long, good, prosperous life. So really you are the most blessed and rewarded among your siblings. But instead of rejoicing and feeling most honored, you get angry and accuse them. Then you begin to resent your elderly parent who you see now as a nuisance. The parent has put you joint on their bank accounts for convenience and you begin using the account for yourself and not just the parent’s benefit, feeling you deserve it. And then when the parent dies, Satan makes sure you are told that the joint account is legally yours and, in your resentment at the other siblings, you take it all because you feel you deserve it as the one who cared for the parent. The siblings are angry at losing their inheritance and sue you in court, but they lose because it is legally yours, and then they don’t speak to you for years. And they tell their children to do the same.
And then suddenly, as you are just going about your life again, Satan begins to tell you how wrong what you did was and you are overwhelmed with remorse. You try to fix it but is never the same relationship with the siblings again unless all are willing to forgive.
And how about abortion? A woman is in a predicament and is told it is legal to get out of it by merely a simple “procedure.” She wants to be rid of the problem and there is a legal solution that is right there before her. Kind of like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil before Eve. And Satan works on the woman and sends her friends and medical professionals who encourage her to take the quick and easy way out. But once she goes through with the abortion, Satan will come after her, telling her she has murdered her child and that she will never be able to get over what she has done. He will put friends in her path who are happy with their new babies and she will feel wretched as she looks at the cuddly infants. What is Satan doing? Torturing her with the sin he urged her to do. He is trying to steal her destiny so she will never live the beautiful life I prepared for her in advance.
But I have good news for you. I have forgiven you already in Christ. But if you do not know that in your heart, your conscience will never be cleansed from that dead work and you won’t go forward like My servant Paul, forgetting what lies behind and rejoicing in My love for you that forgives you everything as if sin had never been, by putting it on My Son.
If you are feeling regret, shame, and blame, there is only one place I want you to look—the Cross. For just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so was the Son of Man lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For I so loved the world, that I gave My only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. I did not send My Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged. There is no condemnation now for those who are in Christ Jesus. He took your condemnation. It is finished. We are reconciled. Come home.
It is better to guard your heart—to treasure and store My Word in your heart so that you do not sin. It is best to be filled with the Holy Spirit and listen to His voice so He can lead you through life in the plan of shalom I have for you. It is best to pray you not be subjected to temptation and to stay alert for the tactics of the devil so that you do not enter into temptation and permit the devil to enter your heart, for once you let him in, he will wreak havoc in your life. But do not despair if you have fallen into sin, I am there to raise you out of the pit on eagle’s wings. You have all gone astray like sheep, but I laid upon Him the guilt of you all. And I raised Him up to be your good and gracious Shepherd and your great High Priest who is able to save you to the uttermost.
I love you. Be quick to forgive as I have forgiven you in Christ. And if you do not feel forgiven know that feelings put you in the realm of the devil and you cannot win over him in the flesh. You have to fight in the Spirit and that is the good fight of faith. Remember, just look at the Cross and you will know that I am with you.