(see Contents for chapters 1 thru 19)
Chapter 20
My people left Egypt that night with no resistance from
Pharaoh. There were so many of them; men and women, old and young, with all of
their livestock and their possessions. Moses led them through the desert
unaware that death was now enraged by the freedom given my people. Death was
not satisfied with the firstborn of Pharaoh or even all of the firstborn in
Egypt, it had to have my people. Death incited Pharaoh with its rage and
Pharaoh and his army now went after my people.
By the time the army caught up with my people, they had
reached the Red Sea. They had nowhere to go and although my people outnumbered
the Egyptian army by at least a thousand to one, fear overcame them. They had
already forgotten how I delivered them from death and now they were in fear of
men. This is the power that fear holds over men that do not know me. My people
started complaining and blaming Moses for taking them out of Egypt just to die.
I would now show them once again that I was able to save them and deliver them
from death.
I told Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea and I
caused a strong wind to blow and to divide the waters of the sea so that my
people could walk through it on dry land. Fear kept its hold on my people so
that they were afraid to even move so I told Moses to tell the people to move
forward. As they obeyed, fear lost its grip. My people walked, some ran, where
no one has walked before and fear gave way to amazement as they passed a wall
of water on each side. Some of the curious stuck their hands in the water and a
few of the brave ones walked right into it as to proclaim symbolically their
baptism into me. These young men, Joshua and Caleb by name, pleased me greatly.
It took most of the night for all my people to pass
through the sea to the other side. I put a pillar of cloud between the Egyptian
army and my people so that they couldn’t see what was happening. At daybreak I
removed the cloud and the army saw the spectacular sight. They all just stood
there watching not knowing what to think or do. Finally, when their amazement
wore off and they remembered what they were there for they pursued my people. I
allowed the army to enter the sea until they were all in the midst of it and
the last of my people had reached the other side. I told Moses to stretch out
his hand over the sea again and the waters returned to their normal place. The
Egyptian army was destroyed and death was once again denied my people. They now
believed in me and in Moses.
I was leading my people to the land that I promised
Abraham. It was called Canaan where they could live in peace and be fruitful.
The journey from Egypt through the desert was not easy and my people would
continuously complain about almost everything. I provided food and water for
them but they would at times prefer to return to the slavery in Egypt than the
freedom I offered them. I made covenant with them and gave them laws and holy
days and feasts and festivals. These were all shadows and signs and symbols of
the reality that would come. I had them build a dwelling place for me so that I
could be with them but they still turned from me and wanted to go their own
way. So I let them. The journey from Egypt could have been a short one but they
ended up wandering around in the desert for 40 years. The entire generation
died in the wilderness and never even saw my promised land. This is what
happens to all men who choose their own way. I only allowed Joshua and Caleb to
enter in to my promised land with the new generation. I took Moses so he could
be with me.
Chapter 21
My people had finally entered into my promised land and
started to settle in it. They divided the land into 12 parts, one part for each
tribe. The tribes were named after the 12 sons of Israel. Over the years I had
given them judges to guide and help them and they continued to grow into a
nation called Israel. The people now wanted a king to rule over them as the
other nations did. I was their king and once again my people rejected me and I
gave them what they wanted...a man as king.
I chose Saul to be the first king over my people, Israel.
He started out good but like most men went his own way and feared the people
more than he loved me. He was the first in a long succession of kings over my
people. Some were good kings but most were not. I chose David to succeed Saul.
David was a good king. He was a man after my own heart. He wasn’t perfect and
he sinned greatly at times but he loved me and his heart was always towards me.
Because of this, I taught him some very powerful lessons that would shape his
character through much suffering and many trials. This is what awaits those who
choose the high calling that I call them to.
I chose to raise David up in the shadow of Saul until I
saw the proper time for David to become king. In order to be a true king, one
must have a servant’s heart. They must be willing to lay their life down for
those they serve. David had these qualities within him but I needed to mold
them into his character so that he could represent me. When he was a boy David
would tend to his fathers herds. He would spend much of his time alone and it
was during this time that he would seek after me. He would sing songs to me and
to the sheep. He protected the sheep and cared for them and at times risked his
life doing so. This was all in
preparation for the transition I would have for him as a shepherd boy to the
king of Israel.
As Saul continued in his own way, I removed my Spirit from
him and evil spirits quickly came to fill the void and to torment him. I had already chosen David as
the new king and my Spirit was with him. It would be a long time before David
would take his place as king because Saul continued to hold on to that which
was no longer his. I arranged for David to live in Saul’s household as his
armor bearer because David was a skilled harp player and Saul’s servants
thought that the music would help Saul to find relief from the evil spirits
that tormented him.
David would frequently visit his father and one day his
father sent him to take some supplies to his older brothers who were fighting
in Saul’s army. On that day there was a giant of a man named Goliath who had
taunted the army of Israel for many days. Fear had gripped everyone except
David. My Spirit was with David and fear cannot dwell where My Spirit is. David
saw the taunts of Goliath as an attack on Me, the Living God who David loved.
With no regard for himself, David went out to confront Goliath with just a
slingshot and proclaimed to him that he would kill him and remove his head.
David did just that.
As time passed, David became very popular and famous
throughout the land and I prospered him in all his ways. Saul became very
jealous of David and turned against him. There was a few times when David was
playing the harp for Saul that Saul threw a spear at David in order to kill him.
Things got progressively worse and David finally had to flee for his life.
There were not many places where David could hide and eventually he ended up
wandering in the wilderness hiding in caves or anyplace he could find that
would provide safety.
It was during this long period of many years of running
and hiding that I did my work in David. This anointed king of Israel, who was
prosperous and loved by many; was now being pursued by the self-declared king
of Israel, tormented and loved by few. David was being broken. All men who
choose to follow me must be broken in order to fulfill my purpose for them. In
those lonely days and nights David learned My ways. He poured out his heart in
many songs that I have put in my book so that others may find solace in them.
Many others that were discontented soon joined with David. David continued to
pursue me through all of his hardship. There were even a few opportunities when
he could have killed Saul but he chose to leave that up to me. Saul was
eventually killed in battle and David finally was king over Israel. It would be
through the lineage of David that I would come to my people.
Chapter 22
Almost a thousand years will now pass before I come to
live in my creation. During this long period of time there will be many
different kings over Israel and I will send many different prophets to my
people to instruct them and lead them to me. They will stand before kings to
speak my words. They will tell my people the things that will come to pass if
they continue in their own way. They will tell of the rise and fall of many
other nations. They will tell my people that they will be taken captive by
other nations due to their disobedience and will also tell of their release. My
prophets will give clues for future generations of when I will come. They will
describe what will happen to me and they will talk about events that will
happen after I return to My Father.
I will tell My prophets many things about Myself so that
when I come to live in my creation, My people will recognize me. They will know
and understand why I have come. They will live under the law that was given
through Moses until that time but will understand that I Am the fulfillment of
the law. They will celebrate Sabbath days and feast days and holy days but
understand that these are shadows until I come to fulfill them.
But they did not listen. They could neither see nor hear.
They have all gone their own way. When judgment came they would repent and this
became a cycle of turning to me and becoming prosperous then turning to man
made gods and going their own way, then judgment, then repentance. On and on
the cycle continues until My people are taken captive by other nations. They
are once again in bondage. David’s son Solomon built a large and ornate temple
so that My people could worship Me there but it was destroyed as all man made
temples and empires are destined. Over the centuries many different nations and
empires would rise, only to fall to another.
All through this time, My prophets told My people that
they would be taken into captivity. They also told them when they would be
released. When the proper time had come, they were released just as they were
told. Maybe this time they will listen. Maybe this time they will have learned.
Maybe this time they will follow Me and let Me love them. Maybe this time she
will love Me.
The Roman Empire now ruled most of the known world and
although My people returned to their land, they were still under the rule of
Rome. Just as in every culture and in every time, My people were separated into
two very distinct groups. There were the religious ones who try to please Me by
following a bunch of rules and trying to do good. There were also the secular
ones who pretty much did whatever they wanted or whatever they felt was right.
These two groups were the extremes on the narrow way that My people must walk.
There are very few that ever even find My way, let alone walk it. Satan and his
demons always try to push one to either extreme. Either extreme is the consequence
of eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It will
always lead to death.
The fruit is all the same no matter what extreme you are
deceived into. The fruit that is good is actually more deceptive in the fact
that once it is eaten and one tries to do good, he will actually think he is
good. All religious people follow a god made in their own image. It doesn’t
matter how good they act or the good things they do, they have eaten something
deadly and they will die. The other extreme of evil is the same fruit but the
facade of good is just stripped away. It is the same god made in their own
image that they follow but this god is their own self. They may have more fun
along the way but the way still ends in death. It is all a deception, the same
deception that Satan used with the first man. As long as he keeps man from
eating the fruit of the tree of Life, he is content.
My people have now taken the law that I gave them and
added hundreds upon hundreds of more rules and regulations that only keep My
people from Me. The law was given as a type of teacher for My people that would
lead them to me until I come to them and fulfill the law. But just as all
religious men do, they turned a relationship into rules of do’s and don’ts.
Instead of leading My people to Me, they gather them to themselves. They build
buildings and convince My people that I live in their man made structures.
Instead of the relationship I desire with My people, they create rituals that
separate My people from Me and claim that they speak for Me and that they are
the only ones who know Me. These silly rituals then become vapid traditions passed
down from one generation to the next and they now worship Me in vain.
They have done this with the Sabbath day and every other
day that I have given them. I made the 7th day for rest but man just
doesn’t get it. I Am his rest but they have been deceived into legalism instead
of rest. They have made it a day of tradition and ritual instead. They have
even created their own feast days and then put my name on them to try and make
them holy. My people look no different than any other people and I have become
just another god mixed in with all of mans impotent gods in the worlds
religious system called superstition.
But, as in all time, there are those few who seek after Me
and follow Me. I have been watching a young girl named Mary that loves Me
deeply and so I have bestowed grace upon grace to her. It seems that the
fullness of time has come. I shall give Mary some good news...
“Gabriel.”
Chapter 23
“Gabriel, before I send you to Mary to tell her my good
news, I want to share it with you and all of my angels. Call them all to gather
around and I will tell you all what I am about to do.”
Instantly they all gathered together. There was much joy
and excitement among them all as we haven’t all been together like this since I
created Adam and Eve. Just by the fact that they were all together they knew
that I was about to reveal something monumental to them. They could all sense
that it had something to do with man. They have witnessed over the passing of
time how Satan has established his rule over the earth and with his rule man
has degenerated with each successive generation. Sin and death shepherd mankind
as Satan continues to enslave them by deception. Even the earth itself has
fallen so as not to be recognized by it’s former beauty.
There has not been much inter action between the heavenly
and earthly realms because man has chosen his own way and is not even aware of
his condition. Man is unaware of the invisible chains of deception that bind
his soul. He is unaware that he has chosen death. He is unaware that his spirit
is dead. He is unaware that he is in need of a Savior. He is only aware of his
body and only lives for himself.
As my angels settled down I said to them.
“I once told you that I have an eternal plan. I am about
to enact another part of this plan for man and his salvation. As you can see,
man and all creation is destined for death. This was his own doing and his own
choice. The first Adam had all of mankind in him when he sinned and now all of
mankind must pay the wages of sin, which is death. I am now about to enter My
physical creation as a man, as the last Adam. I will pay the penalty
for mankind’s sin, I will die for man in his place."
I could see by the expression on their faces what they all
wanted to ask Me. How can God die?
"In truth, I have already done this before you were created
but now it will take place in time and space so that all creation will see.
Those of mankind that have accepted My sacrifice on his behalf are already in
Me just as Eve was in Adam. They will be in me when I die. When this portion of
my eternal plan is finished, I will then conquer death and resurrect Myself
from death. All of the old creation will be gone and a new creation will take
its place. I will be the firstborn of this new creation and all of mankind who
believe in Me will be a part of this new creation. Just as all of the old man
was in the first Adam and died, all of the new man will be in Me at My
resurrection. Behold, as I make all things new."
I will now enter My creation and be born to a virgin just
as I told Isaiah. I will be called Immanuel, meaning God with us. They will
name me Jesus, which is Savior. I will live among man and grow and experience
all that man experiences so that I may represent man perfectly. My Spirit will
come upon Mary so that I will also be God. I will be the perfect God-man. I
will be the perfect, sinless One, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of
the world. In Adams choice in rejecting Me and choosing his own way, he
reasoned to unravel the mystery of his own being trying to make for himself
what I had already made him. And now because man can no longer be as the image
of God, God must take on the image of man and come to redeem man.
Chapter 24
I sent my angel Gabriel to a city called Nazareth where he
found Mary. Upon finding her Gabriel said
“Hello Mary, you are highly favored and the Lord is with
you.”
Mary was a little frightened and perplexed at the same
time so Gabriel said to her.
“Don’t be afraid Mary, you have found favor with God so
you will conceive and bear a son and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be the
Son of the Most High.”
Mary was even more perplexed and said to Gabriel
“How can this be since I am a virgin?”
Gabriel responded and said
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you; therefore the Holy One to be born will be called
the Son of God.
Mary said “ I belong to my Lord, let it be done to me
according to your word.”
This is the faith that pleases me. Here was a young girl
who believes my word without question in the face of all that was illogical.
Never in all of human history has a child been born to a virgin and never again
shall it ever be. Mary is engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. What
would he say? What would her family say? What would be thought of her? She
might even have to face death. She didn’t understand how this could be but she
believed Me. She believed Me because she loved Me. Her love for Me produced the
faith that was required for Me to favor her.
I made quite sure to tell my prophet Isaiah that I would
be born of a virgin and then told another prophet named Micah that I would be
born in the city of Bethlehem. I did this so My people would recognize Me and
know Me when I came. But they didn’t. Only a few people believed Mary, some
because they understood My word to them and others just because they loved Mary
and chose to believe her. As for Joseph, he was having a very hard time with
it, as was expected, because his emotions were also tied up in the situation.
Joseph was a righteous man who also loved Me and he loved
Mary very deeply and felt betrayed by his perception of infidelity. He broke
off their engagement secretly so that Mary wouldn’t be put to shame and
possibly be stoned. I have felt this same pain of betrayal by the one that I
love deeply and I hurt for Joseph so I sent an angel to speak to him in a
dream. The angel told Joseph that the child was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife and to name the child Jesus
because He would save His people from their sins. When Joseph woke up he did as
the angel commanded and took Mary as his wife.
Chapter 25
It was now time for Me to enter into My book and the
physical realm as a man. I would experience life as a man from infancy to
adulthood. I would feel his joy and his pain. I would know what it is like to
feel hunger, to feel tired, to be tempted. I will be confronted with the same
temptation that was given to Adam, the first man of this old creation. But I,
the last Adam, will overcome as a man and offer Myself as a sacrifice for all
mankind in order to redeem man from death. I will be the firstborn of a new creation.
I told My people through My prophet Micah that I would be born in the city of
Bethlehem, which means house of bread. This was fitting for several reasons as
you will see later but for now know that the lambs that were sacrificed for
Passover were also born and raised in Bethlehem and so it must be that I, the
lamb of God who is sacrificed for the sin of the world, must be born there.
Rome ruled most of the known world at this time and Caesar
decreed that a census be taken of the entire Roman Empire. Joseph had to return
to the city of his ancestry in order to comply with this decree. So he and Mary
started the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. As they approached the city
they found many other sojourners making their way to Bethlehem also. When they
arrived in the city they were shocked by how many people were there. Bethlehem
was a small city and the people lined the streets and alleys and any available
space making make shift tents to have some temporary shelter. At first they
thought that many were too poor to find shelter in the few places that offered
rooms but they were soon dismayed by the fact that there were no rooms to be
found anywhere in the city. So many people had already come that every
available inn was filled to capacity.
Mary was resting by the side of the road while Joseph went
from house to house asking if someone would put them up for the night. Suddenly
Mary felt a strange feeling. She had felt this before but it always turned out
to be nothing. This time she knew it was different. It was time. She asked a
man that was sitting close by to run over to the man she was pointing at and
tell him to come back here NOW. The man saw Mary’s condition and knew that he
had better do as she asked. The man came running back with Joseph and Mary
almost screamed,
“Joseph, it is time.”
Joseph started to panic and said to Mary,
“Just hold it in because you can’t have a baby in the
street.”
Mary screamed back as lovingly as she could,
“I don’t think I have much choice in the matter and I cannot
hold it in!”
The man that went to get Joseph said that there was an inn
just up the road that had a barn in the back where he had put his donkey for
the night and there was a small area next to his donkey where hay could be put
down for them to stay. He suggested that he go there and see if the owner would
allow them to do this and take shelter and deliver the baby there. Joseph was
incredulous and told the man,
“My son will not be born in a barn.”
To which Mary replied,
“Joseph, do you have a better idea? It is getting dark and
cold. At least in a barn we can have clean hay and some candles for light. I
don’t want to give birth to my baby in the street.”
Joseph quickly saw that there was no other option and
agreed and asked the man to go quickly and to explain the situation and ask the
owner of the inn if they could go there. The man was off in a flash as Joseph
tried to comfort Mary. His comforting was quickly being over ruled by the birth
pains that were getting closer and closer and stronger and stronger. Mary
started questioning and blaming Joseph for bringing her with him (when it was
she that insisted on going with him while Joseph questioned whether she should
travel in her condition) and was thinking and yelling irrational thoughts, as
is the tendency of one who is in much pain. Just as the unfavorable
circumstances were about to overwhelm Joseph, I brought to his mind My words
spoken through My prophet Micah that I would be born in the city of Bethlehem.
Joseph stopped for a moment to let this sink in and then looked at Mary with
newfound peace as he said,
“Mary, I just remembered what the scriptures say about
Messiah. He would come from Bethlehem.”
Mary just moaned in pain and seemed not to even hear
Joseph. Joseph then gently put his hands on Mary’s face and held her head as he
looked deep in her eyes and said,
“Mary, you must hear me. First an angel comes to you and
tells you something that no one in their right mind could believe, then this
same angel or maybe a different angel appears to me in a dream and tells me the
same thing. These past 9 months have been a constant battle in my mind going
back and forth of belief, then doubt. One minute I believe we have been blessed
beyond belief and the next minute I think I am delusional. I think we share the
same delusion. I think we love each other so much that we allow the delusion
because it is better than being apart. I look for that angel everyday in hopes
that he will tell us that we are not delusional. And now we find ourselves here
in Bethlehem where God said that Messiah will come from. Mary, take comfort,
God is with us. All will be well. I’ll bet that angel is close by. I’ll bet
every angel in heaven will be here if the Son of God is about to be birthed as
a man.”
Joseph was right. At that very moment in time, angels
outside of time, in the spiritual realm, made their way into time to witness
this wonderful event. Josephs panic was now turned into joy and it was
contagious as Mary could see in Joseph the peace and assurance that all was well.
Just then the man returned with the news that the owner of the inn had agreed
to let them stay in his barn for the night. His wife had already started
preparing a little area for them to go to. They hurried as fast as they could
go and arrived at the barn as night fell. It seemed more a stable than a barn
with more animals packed in it than it seemed to be able to hold. The smell was
not pleasant as they carefully watched their every step. They saw the owner’s
wife cleaning out a small area next to some animals and quickly brought Mary
there.
Chapter 26
The fullness of time was now here and I, Immanuel, King of
kings and Lord of lords, the great I Am, Almighty God, Prince of Peace, the
Alpha and Omega, have chosen to make my entrance into the world that I created
in a dirty, smelly little stable to be witnessed by animals. The greatest
things are always birthed in the most humble of places. I Am, the Eternal,
invisible God has now become temporal, physical man. I dwell in unapproachable
light, in Glory and Holiness that is beyond the mind of man to conceive and now
I enter a world of darkness where I am clothed in the vestige of fallen man.
I have come for one purpose, to fulfill in this physical
realm what I have already finished in eternity before I created anything. This
I will do as a testimony to all creation, both physical and spiritual. Within
My purpose, I will accomplish many things; such as the redemption of man and
his restoration to Me, the redemption of the earth. The destruction of sin,
Satan and death and the unveiling of a New Creation...My Bride. I have marked
off a place in time. A place where time will intersect with eternity, and God
as man, will embrace a cross.
In Adams choice of rejecting Me and choosing his own way, he reasoned to unravel the mystery of his own being, trying to make for himself what I had already made him. And now because man can no longer be as the image of God, God must take on the image of man and come to redeem man.
Not far from where I was born, there were some shepherds watching over their flocks. One of My angels appeared to them to tell them the good news of my birth and then suddenly there were multitudes of angels all around. There were more angels that night in Bethlehem than there were people on earth. One of My angels who has not been in the physical realm for a very long time commented to another angel saying,
“The earth is so much darker now than the last time I was
here and the foolishness of man has grown exponentially in relation to the
darkness.”
The other angel answered and said,
“This is a sad but true observation but tonight the
Christ, the true Light of this world has been born. I can already feel in my
spirit that darkness is in turmoil because it cannot comprehend this great
Light.”
“This is also true my friend but will man comprehend this
Light in order to see Truth and find the Way to Life?”
Chapter 27
It’s been about 30 years since my birth and I have grown
to a man while experiencing the fears and failures and joy and pains of man. I
have laughed and cried. I have been hungry and thirsty. I have been tired. I
have felt the longings to love and to be loved. I have had the opportunity to
get ahead at the expense of another and struggled with the mind trying to
reason. I have felt the cravings of my body trying to overrule my mind and my
mind trying to overrule my spirit. I have felt the urge to justify a wrong
based on how it affected me, and the pull of a lie to cover up the wrong.
I feel the latent pressure that is over all mankind of the
darkness that keeps man from seeing the deception that he is under. It is as if
every breath he takes intoxicates him from seeing his true condition. The
subtle temptations seem non-existent while the overt temptations are minimized
by his intoxicated state. This seemingly helpless state of mankind has grown
proportionately since the fall of Adam. I will soon face this same temptation
as Adam. I have spent this time on earth communing with my Father. I have
overcome all these temptations by His Grace that He continuously gives to me
because I choose to seek Him and allow Him to live through this frail human
form. I will trust Him also with this temptation that is soon coming. My Father
now directs me to leave my home and family and take the good news of the
kingdom of God to the people.
I will not speak on My own. I will only say to the people
what My Father says to Me. I will go where He leads Me and I will only do as I
see Him do. My Father and I are one. Just as in the spiritual realm, I am the
exact image of the invisible God, His spoken Word that has created all things,
I Am now the Word of God made flesh. While I Am clothed in this flesh, men
cannot see Me as God but My words are Gods Words, they are Spirit and Life.
Those that have been marked off in Me before I created will hear My words and
come to Me. No one will come to Me unless my Father draws them to Me.
I have given My book to men and have told them that I
would come to them as one of them. As of now there are only a few who even know
of my existence here. Many have come before Me claiming to be Me and many will
do the same after I have gone. This is a ploy of the enemy to get the people
distracted so as not to recognize Me. Satan will do anything to keep men from
coming to Me. You see, he has read My book also and he knows I Am coming for My
people. He tried to prevent this by stirring up King Herod to kill all the
infants in the region around the time of my birth. Soon he will know who I Am
and attempt to hinder Me from My purpose but first I must find the one who
baptizes, the one called John.
Chapter 28
The crowds were enormous. The lines were long. People were
coming from many different regions to see and hear this man. Some came out of
curiosity, others came with hope, many just thought he was crazy. But they
still came. For whatever reason, they still came. It wasn’t always this way.
When John first started he was a lone figure in the wilderness crying out to
anyone who would listen. Most didn’t listen but just passed him by. Some stopped
to listen just to rest or to be entertained. There is not much in the desert to
be entertained by. It was mostly traders or sojourners crossing the desert;
sometimes vagabonds and thieves. At times there were large caravans and other
times only a few. But John proclaimed something to all whether they stopped or
not.
When the people arrived at their destination their
conversation would always end up talking about the crazy man they saw in the
desert. On their return, more and more would stop to listen. As word spread
throughout the region, more and more people would purposely go out to find John
and listen to him. The crowds soon grew in proportion to their need but John
could not fulfill their need. John knew that. The people didn’t know that, neither
did they know John.
I knew John. I loved John. John loved me. I created him
for a special purpose. He was single minded towards that purpose and was viewed
by many as crazy and delusional because of this. John didn’t think much of this life. He
wasn’t concerned with the things that most people are concerned with. He didn’t
care about what he looked like or what he wore or where he stayed or what he
ate. He cared about one thing. Me. He was consumed by Me and had to speak of
Me. His sole purpose was to prepare the way for Me by turning the people back
to God. He spoke with such intensity that you had to believe him or mock him
and view him as crazy. There was no middle ground with John.
John was baptizing people in the Jordan River when I came
to him. This immersion into water was a symbol of a spiritual reality just as
it was when My people crossed the Jordan River into the promised land. In a
coming day it will be turned into a ritual and tradition by religious men who
will substitute rituals for the reality it represents. There is no life in the
ritual and you cannot obtain the reality by partaking in the ritual. This is
the deception that Satan will always provide for those who choose their own way
over My way. This has been since the fall of man and will continue until...My
thoughts were interrupted as I heard John speaking to Me;
“I need to be baptized by you and you are coming to me?”
I told John that we should let it be this way at this time
so that we could fulfill all righteousness. John then baptized Me and as I came
up from the water John saw the heavens opened to him and saw the Holy Spirit
descending upon Me and resting upon Me in the form of a dove and then a voice
came out of the heavens saying
“This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
Chapter 29
Immediately after this the Holy Spirit led me out into the
wilderness, there to be tempted by Satan. This is the wilderness that My people
Israel wandered in for 40 years and failed to enter the land I promised them
because they didn’t believe My Word. It is the same wilderness that anyone who
follows Me will also be led to and will only inherit My promise by believing My
Word. This wilderness was once a paradise but since the fall of man the usurper
of this world has made it desolate. It was in this paradise that the tempter
deceived the first man and now I, as man, not as God, will be tempted in the same
manner. I allow this in order to show My people, My bride, how to overcome the
tempter in order to return to Me. The first Adam lived in a paradise that is
now beyond the ability of fallen mans mind to conceptualize, and yet he chose
to sin because he did not believe My Word. I will now have a bride who will
live in the darkest and most evil of times and yet choose to follow Me and love
Me and believe Me.
I have now been in the wilderness for 40 days and nights. I entered this wilderness with a desire to defeat the tempter but he has
hid himself from me.
I have had nothing to eat and I am tired and lonely and weak. My desire has been worn down so that I only desire for my needs to be
met. I feel the
vulnerability of man. I feel like giving up. I long for food. I long for rest.
I long for a companion. Hear Me My people, your wilderness will be the same.
You will hunger for Me but find no food. You will grow weary and weak and
lonely and want to give up. It is then that the tempter will come to you. As I
contemplated this, My eyes were drawn to a stone that was nearby on the ground.
The stone was similar in shape of a small loaf of bread. My hunger pain grew in
relation to this sight and I started thinking that I could just turn the stone
into bread. After all, I Am the Son of the Living God. What harm could come
from satisfying My hunger? The stone, or was it bread, became delightful to My
eyes and it was good for food. I sat perplexed for a moment. How did My mind so easily drift? Where were
these thoughts coming from?
I looked up and found the answer. Satan was standing in
front of Me. His craftiness could not let this vantage point pass by as he said
“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become
loaves of bread.”
Now Satan knows that I Am the Son of God because he heard
the voice of My Father saying so when I was baptized. This is one of his
tactics to try and get you to question what God has clearly said. He did this
with Eve and I now know just how she felt. He is doing it now with Me and just as surely as you are reading
these words, he will do it with you. If he can get you to doubt what God has
said, then he can get you to believe what he says. This is why you must believe
My Word and have faith in the One who is the Word. Faith is like a shield that
protects you from the lies of the deceiver. When you doubt My Word then you
have willfully put down your shield and now have no defense against the lies
that will cause you to succumb.
I drew strength from My Fathers Word to Me and focused on
the purpose that I was here for and answered Satan:
“It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
I answered him as man and not as the Son of God and he was
taken aback by My response. He wasn’t used to such quick resistance, especially
from one who is in a vulnerable state as I Am. He tried to conceal his shock.
He was quite adept at concealing things. He quickly realized that I would not
be tempted in My physical being with food to satisfy My hunger even though he
thought I would give in as easy as Esau did. He then tried to convince Me that
My Father had abandoned Me here in this wilderness. He was deluded into
thinking that he was exiled from the heavenly realm because My Father was
threatened by him. He actually believed that the power and glory that was given
to him was his own. He tried to tell Me that My Father had betrayed him and now
He is betraying Me, why else would He leave Me out here for so long without
anything? He challenged Me to prove him wrong and he then stepped out of the
physical realm and took Me to Jerusalem to the pinnacle of the temple and said
to Me:
“If you are the Son of God throw yourself down, for it is
written, ‘He will command His angels concerning you that they guard you,’ and
‘upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a
stone.’”
Here is another tactic of Satan. First he tried to fill My
head up with lies and then He twists My words so as to make you believe what he
wants you to believe. This way you will actually think you are obeying My Word
when it has been perverted to mean something different. He was quoting My own
Words to Me about trusting God, in order to justify testing God. One never
needs to test God, one only needs to believe and trust God. At that moment I
would have delighted in having My angels care for Me but not at the presumption
of foolishly testing My Father. I stepped back into the physical realm and as man said to Satan:
“Again, it is written, ‘you shall not put the Lord your
God to the test.’”
Satan, knowing that I Am the Son of God and seeing the
futility of trying to get Me to doubt who I Am, gave up on that mode of attack.
He knows that he doesn’t have the authority to take a man out of the physical
realm and into the realm of the spirit. Only another angel or God Himself has
the ability to enter both realms. So between this fact and hearing the voice of
My Father proclaiming Me as His Son, he dropped the pretense but he was not
going to allow a man to overcome him. He had already overcome man and was now
the ruler of this world. He was the god of this age and the whole world lies in
his power. He was not about to let Me, as man, take back what he had stolen.
His tactic was to now overcome me as a man and so once again he left the
physical realm and took Me to a very high mountain and showed Me all the
kingdoms of the world and their glory. Then he said to Me:
“All these things I will give to you. It has been handed
over to me and I give it to whomever I want. If you fall down and worship me,
it shall be yours.”
It is sad indeed to see one that was once in such a high
position reduced to such a fallen, deceived creature. He doesn’t have a clue of
My eternal plan. Although it is true that he is now the ruler of this world and
can give all or part to whomever he chooses, he doesn’t realize that his
kingdom, this world, has already passed away. It is the old creation and does
not exist in My new creation. It only exists in time. Time will end. In
reality, it has already ended. You only think it is still going because you are
now in time. I Am outside of time. If I worship him as man, then he will still
keep his rule over man. He tries to deceive Me into worshipping him in order to
get what I have created and have already destroyed. He is not even aware of My
new creation and My eternal kingdom. I now know how Eve felt. Satan was so beautiful.
He spoke with gentleness and sincerity and looked so regal. I can understand
how man so easily succumbs to his deceitfulness. But it was all a façade. He
could only imitate those attributes. He was hiding his desperation behind his
offer to Me as he believed that if I were to accept and be the ruler of this
fallen planet, under him, that My Father would not exile him from this realm as
He did from the heavenly realm. Such a foolish fallen creature he is. I once
again stepped back into the physical realm and as man I said:
“Go away Satan for it is written, ‘You shall worship the
Lord your God and it is Him only you shall serve.’”
Satan knowing that he tried his best to tempt Me left for
a time and My Father then sent My angels to take care of Me. You must
understand that My Word is like a sword that will defeat the enemy and cause
him to flee from you because he has no power or authority over Truth. By My
Word, I spoke into existence that which was not. I Am the spoken Word of God. I
Am the Word now clothed in the flesh of man. I quoted My own Word to Satan and
he had no defense. You must now do the same and you must believe My Word is
Truth.
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