Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his soul (psuché) loses it, and he who hates his soul (psuché) in this world (kosmos) will keep it to life (zóé) eternal. If anyone is serving Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone is serving Me, the Father will honor him. John 12:24-26.
את everything He has made beautiful in its time. He has also set את eternity in their heart, yet no man can fully grasp the את work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. Ecclesiastes 3:11.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
I always talk about beautiful things. I make everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11. I beautify you with salvation. Psalm 149:4.
To Me each one of you is a masterpiece of My hand. I call every one of you, but many do not respond. I stretch out My hands all the day to you but many live lives that I did not plan for them and these lives never become beautiful during their appointed time. Like a bud that never blossoms and thus the fruit never appears. Like the unfruitful fig tree that cluttered the ground and cut its time short.
Jesus told you the heart of the matter, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his soul (psuché) loses it, and he who hates his soul (psuché) in this world (kosmos) will keep it to life (zóé) eternal. If anyone is serving Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone is serving Me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:24-26.
He spoke My Words and is My Word from the aleph to the tav (את).
He who loves, (the word used here in the Greek language in which it was written is phileo, not agape, and phileo denotes personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling; while agapao is wider, embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety with or without feeling) his own soul loses it. Such a one, becomes a slave to his mind, will and emotions and the ways of the world, which is the Babylonian system of greed and taking rather than giving, i.e., seeking your own glory rather than a greater good.
But, in comparison, the one who hates (miséō – properly, to detest (on a comparative basis); hence, denounce; to love someone or something less than someone (something) else, i.e. to renounce one choice in favor of another) his own soul in this world (kosmos: world system) will keep it to life eternal.
Here the key is IN THIS WORLD. The one whose god is his belly lives only on the level of his own soul. The soul is your mind, will and emotions and it can be ruled either by your flesh or by your spirit. If you mind is set on the flesh, it will end in death. But if your mind is set on the spirit, it will end in life in peace. Why? The soul ruled by the world, the flesh, and the devil, is ensnared into serving the emotions and reasoning of the flesh, and your flesh will make you its slave trapped into anger, bitterness, selfish ambition, seeking always to gain more for its satisfaction. You see this most fully manifest in those who live in addictions such as gluttony, alcoholism, drug addiction, and pornography, where these things that the greedy flesh is seeking make the person who has been trapped slaves of their dominating flesh and takes as prey into slavery all those they attach onto seeking care and shelter. It can also be less obvious, however, such as those glorified by the world as great intellects that teach as if true godless philosophies and scientific theories that say there is no God and exalts the flesh devoid of the spirit. It can also be those in authority in government, in educational institutions, or in workplaces that exalt human power and deny My existence. These are often cruel and ruthless and lead people into immoral lives and seek only the gratification that comes from flesh. All of these people from the disabled drug addict to the admired intellectual do not become beautiful in their appointed time UNLESS they find the Savior. For I take pleasure in MY people and will beautify the afflicted with Salvation. Psalm 149:4.
The grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to grow and bear fruit. If it will not die, it remains alone. By dying here I mean opening to eternity. Turning aside from the lusts of the world to the love that is true love. And that love is not just seeking self or to enslave others to its flesh.
But let Me go on for there is MUCH MORE here.
Jesus continued, “If anyone is serving Me, he MUST follow Me and where I am there will My servant be also; if anyone is serving Me, the Father will honor him.” John 12:26. Do not just pass over this. Think about how you follow Him who is My Word and where He is. And Jesus explained this to you or you could not be expected to do it.
Jesus told you how to be a follower of His. “If you continue (abide, dwell, remain) in My Word you are truly My disciple, and then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32. And He went deeper, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:34-36. A person who lives only according to their feelings and wants, that is, the flesh, will sin, for sin is lawlessness, and the flesh wants no restraint. But what people do not understand is that not restraining their flesh will turn them into slaves of their flesh until they are so fat or so addicted or so emotionally ill that they cannot function unless someone else cares for them. This can be to greater and lesser degrees but people who live only for themselves, ruled by the world system (which is the devil’s realm) are not happy or free. Jesus, My Word, sets you free from that to be more than a conqueror that has entered My rest in victory over the desires of the flesh. And it is there I can entrust you with your heart’s desire and make all things work together for your good. I can entrust My secrets to you and you will not trample them underfoot like a dog or a swine.
But what I want to stress here is that Jesus told you that where He is there His servant would be. Do you know where He was while on earth? He told you in His prayer to Me, shared with His followers and all who would believe in Him through their word, “I have given them Your Word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world (if you were of the world, it would love you as its own) EVEN AS I AM NOT OF THE WORLD.” John 17:14. And He said again, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17:16. And yet He and they were sitting physically in the world. So He is giving this another dimension. And so should you.
Remember when He told Nicodemus, “No one has ascended to Heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” John 3:13. And yet as He stood with Nicodemus, Jesus was standing right before him in the world.
Have you never read that you who believe I have seated with Him in Heaven? Ephesians 2:6. And yet you are very much on earth. Ah, do you see? You have access to another Kingdom, of which you are a citizen by being born again of Spirit and truth (the seed of My imperishable Word and fell to the ground in Jesus and died to produce much fruit, the firstborn of many brethren). You can go in and out and find pasture. The Kingdom is within you. You access it by My Spirit. You can live constantly in connection with Me as Jesus did.
My Son taught the crowds, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 5:10.
Worldly, idle chatter—gossip, lying, boasting—will defile you. By your words you are declared righteous and by your words you are condemned.
It is not what goes in you but what comes out of you that defiles you. Mark 7:15. Jesus explained, “There is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him. But only the things which proceed out fo the man are what defile the man.” Let Me stop here a moment. Nothing in the world that the devil sends your way can make you unclean if you reject it when it comes in and do not let it plant in your heart. He will give you thoughts of vengeance, unforgiveness, impurity, immorality, offense, bitterness, anger, lust, self-pity, fear, despair, anxiety, self-righteousness, and a host of other negative emotions. But you do not have to take them in and adopt them as your own. Do not hire them as your employees, so to speak. What you take in, process, and produce is what will proceed out of your mouth, for the mouth speaks from the heart’s abundance. That is why I often warn you to guard your heart, for from it flow the issues of life.
It really all depends on what vine you have attached to, what you dwell on, think on, and set you mind on. This is what will fill your heart and flow out your mouth. But from the vine of Jesus flow rivers of living water and abundant fruit that endures and feeds a starving world and quenches the thirst of dying world. For the world with its seductions is passing away. And if you are hanging on only to the world you will be left with nothing to hang on to in the end.
Take care what you listen to. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you and more will be given besides. Mark 4:24. Faith comes by hearing, why not listen to the Words that are Spirit and life? The Words that pull you into heavenly realms. Set your minds above and not below where you are seated with Christ.
It is all about walking in heavenly realms where it is beautiful and majestic beyond all you can ask or imagine. And I have clothed you in beauty, majesty, and honor. You are the work of My Hands.
The servant of Jesus will be where He is, even now. You are in the world but you do not have to be of the world. It will limit you becoming beautiful in your appointed time.
I love you. Each one of you is special and unique to Me. A treasure of My grace. You are all just as called and chosen as Mary in your own time. Christ bearers in the world, each in your unique and beautiful way. Come out from Babylon. Your flesh will leave you in the end and will take you to an early grave if you let it. And when you stand before Me, what will you say? I will have to wipe the tears from your eyes for the beauty you did not become in your appointed time. But do not fret if you have wasted years on the flesh, there is still the millennium for you who have received My Son as your Lord. Think on these things. Bright and beautiful. I beautify My afflicted ones with Salvation. I clothe you in Christ. Shine in the dark world as luminaries offering it the Word of life. He is the Light of the world. No follower of His will ever walk in darkness but will have the Light of life. Are you unwilling to come to that light? Those who love darkness because their deeds are wicked are reluctant to come and yet it is so much better out of the darkness living as kings and priests in My own marvelous light. What is holding you back?