The LORD’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
For those of you who really are interested in pressing in, drawing very close, to know Me, there comes a point when you realize you need to humble yourself and start at the beginning again.
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5-7.
If you have begun to give in to unrest, unforgiveness, offense, anger, sadness, and confused thoughts it is time to repent and start building again from the foundation up. There is a time to tear down strongholds that are not of My building and not in keeping with My Word and start again with the cornerstone and lay the rock foundation. And then build by a plan purposefully, like a wise contractor, and not by a wandering imagination that haphazardly erects an inconsistent structure. It is time to get rid of the clutter and encumbrance of sin that is weakening the structure of your life and begin to build the beautiful edifice that Jesus will help you to erect as a member of His body, the glorious church, without stain, wrinkle, or blemish.
For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 1 Corinthians 3:11-13.
What is the rock on which I build My church? The revelation that Jesus is the Messiah and My Son, the rock of your salvation. And I built the whole world on that foundation and that is why I so loved the world that I gave My only begotten Son. The entire universe is held together by the revelation of My Word in Jesus Christ.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens (first, second, and third) and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. Colossians 1:15-18.
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:1-3.
Unless I build the house with you, you labor in vain for anything not of Me as your source is not built to last but to fall in the shaking of all things that are not of Me.
And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:26-29.
My Word is truth and anything that is not built on truth cannot stand the test of time because lies are corrupt and perishable. Sin, not nipped in the bud, blooms to death. Death is the fruit of sin.
So today, let us begin, for each morning My mercies are new, great is My faithfulness, it is your shield and buckler for it is the truth. We begin with the precious cornerstone that holds the entire foundation and the house built upon it in correct alignment.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2:19-22.
Each day, each thought, each word you speak you are building. Stay focused and do not be framing your world, your edifice, to be a place of torment, darkness, bitter roots, jealousy, fear, anxiety, and depression. Instead learn to be like Me and sit and laugh at those unclean spirits that try to enter to destroy your rooms as you build them.
And the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Messiah, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Psalm 2:2-4.
If you are sad and crying and you do not want to be that way, then just don’t be that way. Use your faith and stand up like an overcomer and start laughing at the evil spirit that is trying to come in to steal your joy. Don’t let that spirit have your joy. Remember they come to steal, kill, and destroy. Just say “Oh no you don’t, not with Me!” and laugh. Rejoice always in Me, again I say rejoice! That is a command and it is for a good reason. It is much more pleasant than crying in grief and pain when you really have no reason to do so when you have Me. Jesus took your pains and sorrows, sickness and dis-ease, and carried them away, and gave you His peace, John 14:27, and His joy, John 15:11. If you don’t want the torment of being unforgiving of others, then don’t be unforgiving. Take charge of your thoughts and forgive.
Your happiness is based on your relationship with Me and not on how others treat you (although it helps to be in an atmosphere of love and that is why I surround you with love and compassion, and never let you be tried beyond your strength but give you a way out). You must come to know Me as the One you run to immediately for help, and not just for help while you keep the burden but to cast all your cares on Me and no longer keep going over it (rehearsing it) in your mind. Learn to outsmart and control your emotions by turning to Me as your source of peace and joy. But always remember your part, which is you are not to let your heart be troubled or afraid, but just keep casting that care on Me with confident trust that I am and will take care of it.
One of the most difficult things for people to do is forgive. But I went to very great lengths to forgive you justly by putting all your sins on Jesus and then He paid your judgment and satisfied your sentence. I tell you that each of you must forgive as I do, and that is from the heart.
My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. Matthew 18:35.
Forgiving from the heart means to treat the sin that has been done against you not like you have forgiven it but as if it had never been. There is a difference, you know. What you have forgiven keeps coming up in your mind and it will still bother you and give you unrest in your soul if you permit yourself to dwell on it, but what you have forgiven from the heart, and you can only do this with the help of My grace (My love poured into your heart by the gift of My Holy Spirit), is treated by you as if it had never been. Which means when it comes back up to your attention, which it will, you refuse to play with it in your mind and stop rehearsing your answer to it. It means you stop telling other people about it, even in just a mental conversation, even if after talking about it you say that you have forgiven it. To Me, forgiven means forgotten in the since that it no longer divides you from that person so you treat them in a disdainful way that brings that memory back and you do not continue talking about it, even to yourself. As far as you have taken control over that, it means you no longer entertain it but take that thought captive immediately and cast it down to the obedience to Christ.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
One of the things that is more subtle but is a cause for offense is when you think someone should have come to you for a service you provide or as a source of some need they are experiencing and they go to another over you. Especially if you have relationship with that person and they go to a stranger. This can be caused by your pride but I want you to know that I have experienced this with those who are My people in relationship with Me who turn to strange gods or to other people thinking they can get their needs met there rather than coming to Me. This started with Adam and Eve and with Satan himself as well. All of them had what they were looking for and needed in Me but all of them sought to find it in others rather than Me. They disobeyed Me who was their source and their supply, and sought another source for what they wanted. This is the mistake of treating a creature as able to give you more than your Creator. You sin to take advantage of a lesser good that you are seeing at the moment as the greater.
This is a violation of our sacred trust and relationship, that is why it is the first commandment that I gave when I wrote the ten. And it also is what Jesus called the greatest of the commandments, that is, to love Me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. It makes Me the one you turn to when you have a need. You do not break My commandments just to get benefits from the government, such as living with another in sexual immorality as if man and wife when you have no covenant commitment because you wish to receive medical or monetary benefits from the government you can only receive if single. You do not treat promotion at a job or in an industry such as the movie industry, as more important than keeping My commandments. You do not accept evolution and agree with it just because you want to pass exams to obtain the position of a medical doctor. You do not teach children what I abhor as perverted and evil just to keep your job with the public schoolboard. If you follow Me, I will promote and provide for you better than any person or human institution.
With the Israelites I brought into the promised land it had to do with setting up “high places” and sites to sacrifice to other gods than Me, putting up altars to the Baals and building Asherah. I likened it to adultery, which is similar in a marriage, going after another as a source to meet your needs thinking the true one cannot.
Daniel did not have this problem. He kept all My laws and worshipped Me in a pagan nation that did not know Me but I promoted him. His peers in the government service would try to punish him but I just kept promoting him above them. The empires fell but he remained on in his high position of governance.
When Solomen divided the kingdom of Israel by his worship of idols, a split occurred whereby the ten tribes that went with the northern kingdom of Israel turned to idols, building calves to worship and never returned to worship Me even though My prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, tried to call them back. Because the temple was in Jerusalem and because David’s line was the line of kings therein, Judah was saved along with the tribe of Levi and much of Benjamin. But the northern kingdom refused to return to Me and went too far. You do not find the tribes of Ephraim or Dan in the book of Revelation among the tribes that are saved. They led the apostacy of the northern kingdom, set up, and were the priests of, the idols, and were the kings and leaders of that realm and they never came back but lived evil lives like those who never knew the truth.
In Jesus, I have forgiven you all your idols but you must return to your source to be saved. You cannot stay with idols and Me. Repent, return, rejoice, restore!
I have forgiven everyone in Christ and so must you but if you do not want to come to Me to receive that you do not have to do so, but then you will die in your own sins.
“Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” John 8:24.
Forgive does not mean you need to keep them with you and share your heart with them if they did not repent. Forgiving and confidentiality are two different things.
The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant. My eyes are continually toward the LORD, for He will pluck my feet out of the net. Psalm 25:14-15.
Joseph forgave his brothers and took care of them, but he kept himself apart from them as they were not like-minded.
But I want you to understand how deeply I am hurt when you have Me and you go to another source to meet your needs that is not of Me and turn your back on Me and My commands. I have given you life and offer you eternal life, My Son and I have gone through the grave and hell for you and yet you go for other counsel, even to astrology, palm readers, horoscopes, and the like. When David took another man’s wife thinking she would meet his needs do you remember what I said to him?
Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. I also gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 2 Samuel 12:7-9.
David immediately repented. And My response?
And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.” 2 Samuel 12:13-14.
And what did David know about that baby when he died?
“I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” 2 Samuel 12:23.
And that baby grew up in Abraham’s bosom and when Christ opened the gates of Heaven he and David came to My throne together, along with Bathsheba and Uriah. I make all things ultimately work together for good for those who love Me and are called according to My purpose. Your sins and offenses I remember no more. All are alive for Me. Same for you.
I love you. Others will fail you but I never will. I will never leave you or forsake you. I am loyal forever. No matter how much you deny Me, I am faithful, for I cannot deny Myself, I am the faithful and true. Permit no worry, no fear, no torment, no jealousy, no unforgiveness, no offense to rule you. It is time to build a house you are comfortable living in within you. Clear out the rubbish and begin new. I make all things new. Including you. Say “amen” to that so I can bring it to pass.
Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. Proverbs 127:1.