Are You A Thorny Christian?

From Jesus With Love2 Comments

BrittaCagedScream

For the past few weeks the Lord has been revealing a lot of hidden sin within my heart which has been so painful at times to see and very humbling to say the least. He has also  put me in many test and trials to see my response and it hasn’t been pretty. I found myself at the beginning of this year just utterly spent and my heart so tender and guarded because of all the attacks. Not realizing that I had allowed so many seeds of resentment, anger and bitterness to take root in my heart that I was well on my to becoming a “thorny christian” one who is easily discouraged, unhappy, hurt by criticism, defensive, complaining, impatient, and easily frustrated when things didn’t go the way I desired. Bitterness its truly spiritual leprosy as the Lord describes and he wanted it out of me once and for all!

So how can one accumulate seeds of bitterness, its so easy and such a subtle attack of the enemy because the seeds land without our permission.  When we respond to any circumstance, situation or person negatively there goes a seed in our hearts. When we get offended, when we get angry, complain, become resentful seeds fall and if we don’t repent immediately they take root in our hearts and began to grow like thorns in our body. Oh how it can affect us physically too, per a prophetic message from Still Small Voice ministry which is a ministry that I am apart of. The Lord revealed that the root cause of cancer is bitterness. Listen to message how demons work! You see it a set up by the enemy which we allow and many are so unaware because many times, many, many times we don’t respond like Christ. We respond in our flesh which is almost always selfish there for the seeds fall right into our hearts and create thorn bushes. From the messages: Brambles In the Vineyard, Bitterness is Spiritual Leprosy
“This indeed is what becomes of the soul who entertains bitterness; all life is chocked out. There you will find jealousy, hatred, resentment, depression, judgment, impatience, selfishness, cruelty, retaliation, pride, and every noxious, dark thought known to man.”

Matthew 13:22
The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful

Anytime we take offense at anything or anyone a seed of bitterness enters into our hearts. You know many times I had met people who said they were believers but who where unhappy, mean, and critical of others. They would say there were fine but when they would speak they just sounded so bitter and I never thought I would get there, really never. Its by Gods mercy that he has revealed this to me so this thorn bushes wouldn’t continue to grow and choke Gods word, grace and love within me which would in-turn stifle and hurt those around me. You see when you have seeds of bitterness within it not only affects but hurts those around us. When the enemy strikes he loves not just to bring you down but those around you so when you respond so negatively by lashing out or in anger it not only offends but, hurts the person who is receiving it. Thereby causing them to receive seeds as well.  This tactic works best with those closest round you its a tactic of division the enemy has planned to attack every form of relationship at it works so well because its so subtel and we can be so ignorant of his schemes but not anymore by Gods grace!

The way to stop these seeds of bitterness from not only entering but taking root is to receive all bad and good things from the hand of the Lord with joy! We have to come to understanding as Christians that the Lord doesn’t cause everything but he allows everything and if we are called according to his purpose he will work it out for good. Its nice to throw a scripture on it but lets be honest when things happen that prick our flesh that goes right out the window in that moment lol. However, we have to mature in our christian walk to count all things as joy its a process for me but I have made a firm resolute to stand in my joy and say no more to my flesh, these devils and no more seeds in Jesus name..with the help of Holy Spirit of course! 🙂

Nehemiah 8:10
joy of the Lord is your strength!

We must guard our mouths and recognize whatever situation we may be in whatever remark that has offended us it is the Lord that has willed it. So we must receive it as joy but when we get angry it truly directed at the Lord. So lets make a firm resolution NO MORE SEEDS! With the help of the Holy Spirit we can all overcome but we must make a firm resolution to tackle this . So when we find ourselves responding to something negatively  immediately repent! Below the Lord has given us direction how to be delivered from these seeds of bitterness
3 Step Direction from Deliverance of Bitterness Daily
1)examine your actions, feeling and thoughts
2) Forgive anyone your holding resentment against
3.) Repent for ungrateful attitude because it is the Lord who allowed it
Pray “Lord please heal anyone I have offended”

May the Lord give us the grace for our hearts to respond in JOY from now on!

-From Jesus with Love

 

 

check out the prophetic message:

The Year of Being Tilled By The Lord..

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Image result for tilled soil

Job 5:8 
For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.

I remember Jan 1, 2018 the Lord put it on my heart to call all my siblings together because he wanted to speak to us. As all 6 of my siblings responded to the request and came I was so overjoyed. The Lord in fact did speak too each one of my siblings giving them a word for our family for the 2018 year. In our amazement he gave some the exact same vision! The Lord was calling us into deeper intimacy with him as he stated to me ” Allow me to till the soil of your heart, the rain is coming”. I had no idea what that entailed for me, for us as a family. However, 2018 has indeed been a year of being, not only pruned, broken, wounded, crushed and refined by the Lord in ways I had never experienced. I never cried as much as I have until this year as tears became the rain to heal the wounds of my heart so many times. This has been the year of tilling but I cant imagine it wont be my last. I believe every  believer who desires to truly surrender to God has to go through this process. So what is the process of tillage you ask? Let me explain

So it wasnt about a few weeks ago that I decided to look up what tilling the soil really means and what it looks like. I was completely blown away at imagery and comparison to what the Lord desires to do in our hearts and I got it! Why it was so necessary for the Lord to till my heart the way he did. Below are some frequent question that are asked on Google when one is wanting to till their souls. So I wanted to provide a spiritual picture and answer to each question. Why its necessary for the Lord also till the soil of our hearts,

  • What Does Turning the Soil Mean?

Tillage or Turn the soil. That is a directive found in countless garden book and websites. If you are unsure what the phrase means or what it entails, know that you are in for some hard work. In the end, you’ll have a soil bed that is loose, better drained and well suited for plants.

  • So What Does It Mean For The Lord To Toil The Soil of Your Heart?

This too is found in scripture when David cried out “Lord create in me a pure heart” maybe you have prayed that before that is exactly what he is doing. Preparing our hearts to be pure before him. It is indeed HARD WORK many times we wont understand the phases, trials and test at but in the end the Lord is loosing up the hardness of our hearts or areas that are hardened to his spirit. You see he must be able to get our heart better suited for the “seed” that has fallen so when the rain ” Holy Spirit” comes the word is not chocked, the gifts our chocked , the anointing isn’t chocked by pride, selfishness, jealously you name it but the seed bears fruit!

  • What Tool Do You Use To Turn The Soil?

A must-have soil-care tool with a rounded edge. Handy for scooping compost, cutting into hard ground, and digging soil out of planting holes. A squared-off blade takes cutting through sod a snap.

  • What Tool Does The Lord Use To Turn The Soil of Hearts?

The Lord always will use those closest to us as tools of sanctification. You see his desire is that we would “Love until it hurts” that’s how Jesus loved. He wants our heart transformed into his dwelling place where he can love freely and abundantly on those around us. So he will use loved ones, peers, friends to hurt us, betray us, speak against us, reject us so that we may learn to love like Christ. That selfishness and self love in our hearts has to be broken up. We are taught love , honor and respect are earned and to only give these things if you get it back. But that is not how Jesus loves, “Yet while we were still sinners he died for us (Romans 5:8)”. So many times the Lord would ask me Nana, are you wiling to die to flesh for the sake of me?  Would you forgive, let go of all offenses and continue to love them? So many times the Lord allow devastating circumstances, hard situations and times of abandonment from those I thought I needed the most to break my heart….my hard soil.

  • Why Is Loosening The Soil Important?

Air pockets that are created by the deep loosening of soil facilitate air and water penetration for plants to use. Air penetration is also important to the micro-organisms in the soil that perform all kinds of important tasks creating nutrients for the plants (as noted above with cultivation).

  • Why Is Allowing The Lord to Loosen The Soil of Your Heart Important?

Daniel 5:20 “But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became so proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him’. His desire is that we wouldn’t continue in the ways of a stubborn heart that doesn’t yield to the Lord in obedience. Behaving arrogantly which in turn will cause us too lose our glory and even our salvation if we allow it. To be used by the Lord as a vessel we need to make room in our hearts for the wind of God (hearing his voice) and the rain, which is Holy Spirit to lead us. That he would take over our hearts and in him we would move and have our being  (Acts 17:28) not in our own hearts. That is so easily moved by our emotions, past experiences, defensive, quick to be guarded and rarely willing to give. Its important so when the Holy Spirits penetrates he is able to perform all kinds of task through us and we are able to cultivate the gifts of the spirit even more. When we allow the Lord to loosen the soil it gives room for him to CREATE!…PURE HEARTS

So at this point you may be asking the Lord when will the tilling stop, when will the crushing, pruning be over Lord? When will the rain come that I may see fruit?

When Can I Plant After Tilling?

You’ll need to wait at least a few weeks before planting, but waiting a few months is better. A thorough tilling once a year typically is enough to keep your garden soil healthy, so pick the time that works best for your gardening schedule.

  • When Will The Season of Tilling Be Over?

Well that one is always up too the Lord. I too kept asking Lord when and began to think as many of us do because the year is changing things will be different tomorrow. However the Lord is outside of time and I have come to find out the seasons of earth don’t run the same as the seasons of heaven. In this question, I have come to find my peace and rest in the Lord. When I stopped complaining, being anxious, wallowing in self pity of being stripped, tried and tested. I now look back and see how very good it was for me and more so how close its drawn too Jesus. I have come to know him in the most intimate way. I now understand the cross with such a love and passion recognizing he calls me to walk in the way of the cross. All the tilling is so that my heart may be healthy and even as painful as it has been its been so rewarding. I also see that soil is used ground that is used the season comes when it has too be tilled again for new seeds to bare new fruit so this wont be my last time.  “Jesus I trust you and welcome you to till the soil of my heart always that I may be ready to not only receive your rain but a dispenser for others to be refreshed and eat of the fruit you produce in me!”

Will you allow him to till the soil of your heart….the rain indeed is coming?

-From Jesus with Love

 

Renewing My Vows

From Jesus With Love1 Comment

20140303-Renewal-vows

 

I am hearing His whisper….
Today you will renew your vows to Me. I will cause you to remember those words you spoke to Me when I first unveiled My love in Your heart. You said to Me that you will love Me and serve Me and go with Me where I lead you.
Today you will renew that vow to Me. And you will know that I am in You, even as you are in Me. I am energized to show you My love as you renew your passion to do My will. There is a work ready for you to do, good works that will bring Me much glory.
You are ready, for I have prepared you. The only thing that now remains is that you fasten Your heart to Mine and come with Me. I will revive your soul until your life overflows with My goodness. Many will see and trust in Me as your life presents My fullness to others.
I will cause the veil to drop in front of you and you will gaze upon mysteries you have never seen before. You will see what angels see and feel the fire of My passion.
What I will reveal to you cannot be learned by books or through the instructions of men. I, Myself, will make your heart to know Me and understand My ways. The preparation I am calling you is this: renew your vows of love to Me today and I will show you things that will change you forever.

– Passion Translation

“I have fallen, I have fallen and I can’t get up”…..this has been the cry of my heart this season. Woooo………. it has been a whirl wind of battle after battle that I continuously failed; because I allowed my flesh and emotions to get in the way of what the Lord was trying to do. Which was to grow me more in virtue and character to resemble him as his bride. I didn’t realize how miserably I had failed until I found myself brokenhearted, wounded, utterly discouraged, weary and looking back to see the many missed opportunities where I could’ve responded like him….in LOVE.

Instead I had allowed seeds of resentment, bitterness, unforgivness to fall in my heart. I had allowed the enemy of my soul to steal my peace, my joy, and even my hope. I had indeed fallen and wasnt sure how to get up anymore. I began to have pride swell in my heart as I questioned Gods ways, wanting to have understanding and feeling entitled too a different path of MY CHOICE and not the one he had laid out for me, because it was so uncomfortable and painful. I thought to myself,  of course this has to be wrong and MY WAY has to be right. ( I got God figured out right) ?WRONG!. I  was frustrated as I continued to worry instead of trust, and question instead of seeking his face for clarity.

What made things worse in light of all of these things was that my weakness was put on  display for others to see. As the enemy would push sensitive buttons over and over again and as I would react in my flesh over and over again. I began to despise my weakness and cried out to the Lord to heal me, fix me but what I love about Jesus is that he is not like a man at all. He gently picked me up in prayer, held me to his chest so tightly and allowed me to be there. Without any words his love would wash over me and he understood perfectly every fiber of my being, he understood perfectly every pain and torment I was going through, he understood perfectly my wants and needs that only he could fulfill. As I felt him say in my heart  ” Beloved don’t despise your weakness or be ashamed for others to see it. In fact boast in your weakness so my grace would be perfected in you. I made you just the way you are in your weakness so you could rely on me even more. Your weakness calls you to intimacy with me”

So this weekend I told the Lord I want to get away with him. I am desperate for his presence and to hear his words of truth to wash away the lies and labels I incurred. I am in need of his balm of Gilead to be poured out upon my heart to heal and strengthen me and his words of wisdom to give me clarity and direction in this season of my life. So 3 1/2 years into our relationship I am going to renew my vows again to Jesus. I am going to empty myself of all I think I know, of all I have been taught and sit at his feet like a child to be taught all over again.  I need him to rekindle the fire of my love so I may continue this journey with the same passion and love for his will in my life. I believe as his bride its so important we do this from time to time. We can begin to get so casual with our relationship with Jesus that we sometimes lose our way and fall….not knowing how to get back up, but we thank God that he runs to pick us up and is still willing to continue this journey with us!

-From Jesus With Love

 

 

 

 

When The Arrows Hit,Head Into Triage

From Jesus With Love5 Comments

triage

Proverbs 18:10
The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

 

Jesus began
“what I am wanting to stress to all of you right now, is that there is a particularly intense battle going on to steal from you your special destinies and mission. The enemy has launched an all-out effort to deprive you of your callings. The distractions and tactics will come in many different forms, and forewarned is fore-armed. Not all that seems bad is bad; not all that seems good is good. Each thing must be discerned on an individual basis. This is at the heart of following Me faithfully and living in My Divine Will. Constant attentiveness and discernment are necessary to navigate these shark-infested waters.”

So what do you do when you find yourself hit by many fiery darts of the enemy? As any soldier would do, you run for the triage unit to have them heal your wounds so you can be strengthened and ready for another battle. So as a believer when we are hit we should run to our triage which is in the presence of God to be healed and restored.

The message above is from still small voice youtube channel, a prophetic ministry that I am a part of and the Lord provides daily messages to us. He couldn’t be more right that indeed these few weeks have been some of the most intense battles I have faced. In the spirit Fiery darts of the enemy can come in so many forms and boy how they hurt. Many Christians equate them to negative emotions or a feeling not recognizing they have just been hit. As Christians we have to remember we are at all times in a battle for our faith. The devils and demons are very real. They go to many lengths to bring us to unbelief so then you no longer began to hold up your shield of faith for protection.

A fiery dart is a tool the enemy uses to inject us with his poison. It happens when someone says a mean word that cut your heart, a curse word, negative label put on you, feeling rejection, abandoned, betrayed, fearful, doubt, jealously, pride there are so much more. They just dip the dart in  ( poison)whatever attack they have assigned to you and release it. If you are not covered in your full Armour (meaning walking in righteousness the arrows land) which cause the negative emotions and before you know it your offended. If you don’t repent immediately  then RUN INTO TRIAGE that poison begins to spread in your heart and cause seeds which can turn into roots then strongholds.

As I found myself with many arrows hitting my heart through various circumstances all the one thing I knew how to do was to run into the presence of God. As Christians we have to know how to enter into his presence…immediately. For in his presence comes forgiveness, mercy and grace given to you, healing and the fullness of Joy! Something supernatural happens literally when you enter into the presence of God. One time the Lord showed me a picture of my heart which had many thorns and it was hurting so bad. I knew a wrong thought enter my heart so the arrow landed. In his presence Jesus had surgical goggles, an tweezers and he was ever so tenderly and gently taking out the thorns one by one. After getting up from prayer my heart still delightedly hurt but felt so much better. Its like I had heart surgery! lol So you see as  a christian we must run to the triage daily for healing and strengthen or you will no longer be an effective soldier for the Kingdom of God.

Many soldiers have become bitter, resentful, rebellious, fearful, doubtful, lukewarm because when the enemies arrows came flying in the form of offense in anyway they never ran to triage. They allowed that negative, circumstance or memory stay in there heart and spread like poison. So encourage you brother and sister when the arrows start hitting run to the heavenly triage unit…..in the presence of your Father who is waiting to heal you, restore you and strengthen you!

-From Jesus with Love

 

Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.