Please be warned, this entry is EXTREMELY long. It’s a lot. But, I have to write it. Obviously this city has closed her ears to me, as foretold; but for those in cities who have ears to hear...
STUMBLING STONE or ROCK OF SALVATION
HE’S THE INITIATOR
HE’S THE INITIATOR
Does God's plans ever seem to interfere with yours?
Man often takes issue with God because His plan doesn't line up with theirs. When we seek to do things our own way we usurp God's plan, whereby sorrow is added. Whether it be to - not show up, when God calls; or to get what we want immediately (i.e. construct a tower to heaven), rather than waiting on His perfect timing. Operating in opposition to God's Word, provokes Him to fury and brings about the repercussions that man often blame and punish the messenger for. Whether the message is well received or not, if it is written - IT SHALL COME TO PASS. Howbeit, since the messenger was created for the purpose of delivering the message, the message must be delivered whenever, wherever, however, and for as long as God instructs. Moses, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, just to name a few, all issued repetitive warning; God, in His graciousness, was giving the people time to repent, but the people, often preferring their idols, repented not.
Having plans to revisit my experience with the church, from one direction; God, through this text from the Message Bible, redirected me in another:
Romans 9:6-20 (MSG)
Don't suppose for a moment, though, that God's Word has malfunctioned in some way or other. The problem goes back a long way. From the outset, not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn't Abraham's sperm that gave identity here, but God's promise. Remember how it was put: "Your family will be defined by Isaac"? That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God-determined by promise. Remember that promise, "When I come back next year at this time, Sarah will have a son"?
And that's not the only time. To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics. When she became pregnant by our one-of-a-kind ancestor, Isaac, and her babies were still innocent in the womb—incapable of good or bad—she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that His purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don't do, but a sure thing determined by His decision, flowing steadily from His initiative. God told Rebecca, "The firstborn of your twins will take second place." Later that was turned into a stark epigram: "I loved Jacob; I hated Esau."
Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses, "I'm in charge of mercy. I'm in charge of compassion." Compassion doesn't originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God's mercy. The same point was made when God said to Pharaoh, "I picked you as a bit player in this drama of my salvation power." All we're saying is that God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part for good or ill.
Are you going to object, "So how can God blame us for anything since He's in charge of everything? If the big decisions are already made, what say do we have in it?" Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?" Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show His angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show His glorious goodness, isn't that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well:
I'll call nobodies and make them somebodies;
I'll call the unloved and make them beloved.
In the place where they yelled out, "You're nobody!" they're calling you "God's living children." Isaiah maintained this same emphasis:
If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered and the sum labeled "chosen of God," they'd be numbers still, not names; salvation comes by personal selection. God doesn't count us; he calls us by name. Arithmetic is not His focus. Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth:
If our powerful God had not provided us a legacy of living children, we would have ended up like ghost towns, like Sodom and Gomorrah. How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel (God’s people, the church), who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:
Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion, a stone you can't get around. But the stone is Me! If you're looking for Me, you'll find Me on the way, not in the way.
WORD OF GOD
Thanks be to God
Thanks be to God
Revelation 1:19 "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter."
I now have a better understanding of why God requires me to write: God’s primary focus is the church; but, whether church, city, or nation because He instructed me to write it, I must tell the story exactly as it happens. Had He shown me the visions differently, I would have written them differently. Likewise, had things happened differently, I would have recorded them differently. When man’s counsel is given presidence over God’s, and occurrences are clear manifestations of His predictions, the record must reflect it for the ages - to acknowledge His power and give glory to His Sovereignty.
Now then, regarding that church…
Just as the Body of Christ consists of many parts, so also are our assignments shaped from various SCRIPTures, based on the necessity of a given scene in God’s play. Many, from the pulpit, preached Jeremiah in my direction, admonishing me that God told Jeremiah not to get married. While part of my assignment indeed reflects aspects of Jeremiah, God did not tell Jeremiah not to get married – He told Jeremiah: “You must not marry and have sons or daughters IN THIS PLACE;” God knew that Jerusalem would not be Jeremiah’s dwellingplace. This actually lends further credence to my vision, being that the setting was in an altogether different city. But, perhaps those preachers were on to something; for not only was Jerusalem not to be Jeremiah’s dwellingplace, she was likewise set for destruction. But, even more like Jeremiah's ministry, was the infiltration of deceit through false prophets, which brought bondage upon him. Some even rebuked me, scolding that “God ain’t gonna give you somebody else’s husband.“ I never asked God for someone else’s husband, I ask for my own. Even so, I couldn’t help but to think, “They either missed, or misunderstood the Sunday School lesson about Esther.”
Though I was not the most physically attractive woman in the land, the parallels drawn between Esther's story and mine, were very interesting. While Esther had family issues, albeit a bit different from mine, both were ultimately about survival. There’s no doubt in my mind that I too was created for such a time as this generation, to share my testimony of childhood sexual abuse, and to deliver God’s message to anyone who has ears to hear. God knows His plan, and His timing is perfect. Having been set in that place, at that appointed time, when Vashti refused, Esther was predestined to show up for the "KING" (i.e. for God’s purpose). There was no need for manipulation through seduction, nor theft by adultery; but, because of predestination, God caused the king to desire her above all others. With all the dynamics in Esther's story, the most interesting comparative, which I hadn’t connected, until revealed by the Holy Spirit a couple months ago, was that Esther was a prophetess. Of all the gifts that the Holy Spirit could’ve bestowed upon me, He chose the predominant gift of prophecy. “Let the KING be enthralled by your beauty.” I just love it when God shines the light on His Word to affirm, and even reaffirm His initiative.
As Apostle Paul so perfectly explains in Romans 9, though man operates in free will, the matter truly is already settled according to God’s predestinate plan. Not to shame them; but, at that time, all sorts of behaviors were prominent in that church. And, just as corruption adversely effects a city, disobedience in the church often adds sorrow to the lives of the brethren. Chaos erupts whenever man sets out to reinvent the wheel. God already invented the wheel; Ezekiel saw it. It was when those involved in my testimony, chose to use their free will to operate in opposition to God's will, that the exact things that God predicted in Isaiah, came to pass: some were led astray into committing adultery; some whitewashed the wrongdoing, some fell ill; while others were cast out, without cause.
Not all testimony is pretty, but all is meant for God’s glory, not man’s. Therefore, one mustn’t judge nor meddle in another’s testimony. When you don't know the whole story – nor can you, meddling, not only sets your counsel above God’s, it’s an attempt to usurp the Holy Spirit; which, in essence, seeks to rob God of his redemptive glory. God’s ways are simply not our ways. Whenever man accuses someone of “playing the victim,” it’s usually intended to insult. Howbeit, God purposed the role of the victim so that in delivering us from the victimizer, He, and He alone, gets the glory. It’s interesting, how siblings can grow up in the same household, but have very different testimonies. My brother, for instance, has often dismissively referred to certain aspects of my journey as “playtime,” especially in cases where, either it didn’t line up with his narrative, or he was the perpetrator. Still, I am to no more seek vengeance against him, than he against me for sharing my testimony. Nevertheless, I have never been so happy to be called victim, as when God deems me so. I’d much rather that He call me victim, than to have been created for evil; yet, I can neither boast nor complain, for indeed, “IT IS PLAYTIME”: BUT GOD is both playwright and casting director; we simply play the roles assigned.
As difficult as it is at times, because all is predestined and predetermined, none can point the finger at the other; but rather, WE ARE REQUIRED TO FORGIVE. That doesn’t mean we withhold the testimony – again, our testimonies are to God’s glory, for man’s benefit. Nevertheless, God reserves the right to point the finger: and when we fear (reverence) Him, especially in the midst of our trials, He has our backs:
Isaiah 66:5 Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his Word; YOUR BRETHREN that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
Therefore, when God decides to “flip the SCRIPT,” there’s no room for our victimizers to balk; for there was neither shame nor mercy in their victimization:
Isaiah 51:21 Therefore listen, please, you with your splitting headaches, you who are nursing the hangovers that didn't come from drinking wine. Your Master, your God, has something to say, your God has taken up his people's case: "Look, I've taken back the drink that sent you reeling. No more drinking from that jug of my anger! I've passed it over to your abusers to drink, those who ordered you, 'Down on the ground so we can walk all over you!' And you had to do it. Flat on the ground, you were the dirt under their feet;"
Many here have withheld their blessings because they feel, however untrue, that I’m ungrateful; quite to the contrary, I’m thankful to God for "incorrupt" services extended to all homeless people everywhere; but there’s no gratitude necessary to man for having been cast out without cause, which qualified me for the services, in the first place. Yet, in all things do I give thanks to God. He predetermined it all. You don’t provide or withdraw services done in God’s name, based on whether or not the Word of God being spoken sounds pretty. It’s called the WORD OF GOD, not the word of man. Therefore, just as God shapes individuals for good or evil, He likewise shapes cities, nations, and leaders thereof of. Even so, God gave Pharoah many opportunities to repent and turn; but arrogance and greed prevented him from recognizing God’s grace standing right in front of him, in the person of Moses; instead he threatened, mocked and disregarded the stutterer.
While the Holy Spirit can indeed be quenched; how absurdly arrogant to even think that foolish, oppressive plots and rituals could ever subjugate God’s Word. GOD IS HIS WORD. He never justifies evil; He repays it. Just as Pharaoh played right into God’s hands, so have many, in an attempt to inflict their own desires upon me - even turning their backs on me because I refuse to bend to their will, unknowingly acted out the scene contained within another of God’s, promises: Exodus 23:27 “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.” God even uses our enemies to set His script in motion, to bring about His purpose. How quickly we become the enemy when we refuse to bend to the will of others. This city's idols, whose instruction she heeded, meant it for the evil of antagonizing; BUT GOD purposed it to bring about the transfer of land (wealth), which I laid claim to. “And, scene!” YES AND AMEN.
Understandably, even after reading this, many will still question why God repays us for doing exactly what He created us to do:
I AM THAT I AM
(Potter vs. Clay)
…and that’s enough
(Potter vs. Clay)
…and that’s enough
So then, you can do nothing but that which you were created to do; BUT that’s where repentance comes in.
REPENTANCE GIVES GOD GLORY
(Revelations 16:9)
(Revelations 16:9)
Will He be unto you a stumbling stone, or a ROCK OF SALVATION?
My greatest sorrow in this assignment, is that so many Christians, in this city, failed to answer the call to “care for" the disciple: Seemingly placing more value on their fellow worker, based on conventional employment, rather than the work that God assigns; when they themselves have been given so very much for that expressed purpose.: Luke 12:47 “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished.”
TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, MUCH IS REQUIRED
If one part The Word is true, so also is the other.
STILL HERE
THANK YOU LORD
THANK YOU LORD
Quick Note: If someone is cutting and pasting to share these postings, for unrighteous reasons, it stands to reason that they may also be altering the content to suit their own wicked purpose: Jeremiah 23:30 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor.” Five years ago this city interferred in my testimony, that resulted in the prediction of a flood coming to pass. This time, at the instruction of her idols, amid yet another prediction, she has interferred in my ministry, even to steal from the Holy Spirit…
Recommended Reading: Jeremiah 23 (Keeping in mind Joel 2:28-30)
