A Short Word


Some things Jesus says are easy to gloss over, but deserve careful consideration (as does, of course, everything He says). “If your eye is single, your whole body is full of light. But if your eye is evil, your whole body is full of darkness. If therefore, the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”The scriptures, the entirety of them, conclude and culminate in a people restored to the very thing man kind began with and lost. Genesis refers to a tree of life, a bad choice, and the immediate setting about of the Spirit of God to effect redemption and restoration. This is further described as a river going out of the “garden” to water the earth. It is branched into four flows. Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel and Euphrates. The names form a statement of the work of the river, the Spirit of God: “Increase Bursting Forth Rapid Fruitfulness”. It speaks of a people being filled with the Spirit of God. In the concluding book of the Bible, the Euphrates is dried up…indicating that them who shall be born of the Spirit is a finite work. It is not limited to a certain head count, but to a certain time. The possibility to be born of the Spirit is not an open ended thing, but will come to a close, as “drying the Euphrates” signifies.

The prophets referred to Christ and His people collectively as “I and the children my Father has given me”. Jesus spoke and said, “fear not little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom of God”. Matthew’s gospel also perfectly details these things, calling it’s opening declaration, the “book of the generation of Jesus Christ”. The overshadowing word is “Christ”. Any time you see the title “Christ”, you may understand it is speaking of the dwelling of God by the Spirit. It is not speaking only of a man to whom the Father gave the Spirit without measure, but all who would be made participants in that. Matthew details in a count, that from Abraham to Christ are 42 generations. It begins not with Adam , but with what was in Abraham by faith. It lists names, father to son. When you get to the man Jesus, you are not on the 42nd and final generation. It is not possible to give that final name and number until Jesus would be raised from the dead. Here is the truth. From the time Jesus came out of the grave, until this very moment, and until the Father sums all things up at the time of His own choosing (no man knowing the time), everyone added to Christ and born of the Spirit in Him, is the 42nd and final generation. There will be none following this finished work. It is not a physical generation, but Spiritual, spanning the duration of the work of the resurrection.

Many presently seek and desire healing for the nations. This is commendable. But many do not pursue it according to knowledge. The conclusion of the Bible is a people firmly identified with the Tree of Life, whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. There is no healing for the nations outside of it. The river of life flows from it. Contemplate a tree, if you will, that has no roots because it does not drink water. It contains and disperses it abundantly and endlessly. It has no need of light of sun, moon, star or candle. It is filled with light. It’s leaves do not receive light from any external source and attempt to interpret it. It’s leaves convert endless, inextinguishable, inexhaustible inner light into healing for the nations. This describes the man Jesus, yes, but it does not stop there. It also describes a people that the scriptures say the very creation groans and murmurs in pain and travail, awaiting their manifestation. The scripture calls them the Sons of God. This is not gender specific. Whether male or female, this remains your possible inheritance in Christ. An apostle wrote to women, that they might be strengthened in their inner man. I do not venture into today’s gender debate, as I care nothing about it. I simply encourage and implore all to understand that the things Jesus admonished Nicodemus about, expounding these things, will not be available to humanity forever. When the Lord shuts a door, no man can open it. Esau recognized his folly too late and sought a place of repentance with hand wringing and tears. But once he lost birthright and blessing, he lost them. He lost them because he valued the immediate satiation of his belly with a bowl of bean soup, over inheritance and birthright.

If the light that is in you is intimate and perpetual knowledge of all the evil in the world, to the point that you are little more than a sounding board for it, well, how great is that darkness. No patient has ever been cured of a disease by shoving more of it down his throat. The healing of the nations, spoken of in the conclusion of the book, comes from a tree born in the one who declared, “the prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me”.

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3-6-9 A study of parallel worlds


John 3:16 is said to be the most quoted verse of scripture.

[Jhn 3:16 KJV] 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

“so loved” is not a quantifier, but a qualifier. It does not indicate how MUCH God loved the world, but HOW God loved the world. It is beneficial to keep in mind, the admonition of John in one of his epistles:

[1Jo 2:15 KJV] 15 Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

This is not a contradiction or misprint. The words “so loved” have one possible meaning. It translates “in this manner” loved. It can not mean anything else:

οὕτω(ς)

The KJV translates Strong’s G3779 in the following manner: so (164x), thus (17x), even so (9x), on this wise (6x), likewise (4x), after this manner (3x), miscellaneous (10x).

οὕτω hoútō, hoo’-to; adverb from G3778; in this way (referring to what precedes or follows):—after that, after (in) this manner, as, even (so), for all that, like(-wise), no more, on this fashion(-wise), so (in like manner), thus, what.

The way that God loved the world is to send and provide for you, a way to escape it. For the scriptures plainly declare that the world, the age and it’s works will be burned up. The Apostle Jude, for example, wrote that we should save some, pulling them from the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Peter asked what manner of life we aught to live:

[2Pe 3:10-12 KJV] 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

God loved us by sending His Son for us, to deliver us from wrath. As it says, if we have the Son, we have the love of God. If we do not have the Son, the wrath of God abides on us.

The parallel worlds alluded to are on display in John’s gospel. Those who do not enter in to salvation and simultaneously prevent them who want to v. the One sent to give you the ability to enter, by empowering you to obtain son-ship. In John 3, an emissary is sent from the Pharisees to speak with Jesus. This man, Nicodemus, is “a ruler of the Jews”. He is no man of the common people. And he did not go to Jesus representing himself, but representing his order. He presumptuously hailed Jesus as “Rabbi”, as one teacher to another. He came by night so the average person would not see him speaking with Jesus, as a representative of religious authority, acknowledging what they knew about Jesus:

“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him”.

Remember that…not “I” know, but “WE KNOW”.


JOHN 3

In responding, Jesus spoke of another world…a world unknown to Nicodemus. Something called “The Kingdom of God”. Jesus said to Nicodemus, except a man be born again (man/woman…makes no difference) he can not enter the kingdom of God. Therefore the means of entering, is birth, just as you and I entered this present world. You and I are here because of a conception in a womb. But we no longer live there. Jesus alluded to the fact that we begin in a womb, an amniotic sac of fluid, as a more-or-less parasitic being, completely dependent upon our mother for oxygen, food, and a safe environment in which to develop. We have a rudimentary awareness of light and dark, sound and silence, motion and stillness. But these perceptions provide only the vaguest awareness of the world outside of our known world of the womb. But when development is complete, it’s time for the exodus. The water breaks and a critical time is at hand. It is imperative that we leave the womb, cut the cord, and start breathing air. If we don’t, both mother and child perish. Jesus told Nicodemus, if we use natural examples to speak of things, and you don’t get it…how can we speak of heavenly things? This that Jesus spoke of, being born again, has nothing whatever to with natural conception and birth. No Nicodemus, I am not talking about crawling back into a womb and going through the birth process a second time. Are you a master in Israel, and don’t know what I am talking about? The wind, the pneuma, the Spirit comes and goes at will. You, Nicodemus, hear the sound of it, as a womb bound fetus vaguely hears noises it doesn’t comprehend. You don’t know where it comes from, where it goes, or what it’s purposes are. And just so, them born of the Spirit come and go according to purpose, but you have no clue of it. They walk in a world all around you, that you are blind to, oh “master” in Israel. In Nicodemus’ world, no one ever leaves the womb, and both Jerusalem beneath and her bound children choke and perish with her. Jerusalem above, the mother of us all, is intent that Christ be formed in you. That you become complete and entire, self existing and wanting nothing. That the cord at some time be cut, that you stand on your own feet, and all the desire of the Father, who said “they shall all be taught of God” become effectual in you, by the Teacher, the Spirit of Truth living and abiding with and in you, part of your being. And so, in the world you still are, but not of it. You see, hear and walk in things that were always there, but were theretofore imperceptible until this marvelous new being you became. Nicodemus, the name itself, means conquer (rule) the people. Jesus said of an authoritarian chain of command type system, “It shall not be so among you”. It is still out there, but it has nothing in you. Jerusalem above gives birth…she does not prevent it.

[2Co 5:17 KJV] 17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.


JOHN 6


The disciples witness the man, who if he were not of God, could do nothing. Even the Pharisees knew it, though kept it private. He fed a multitude with a handful, and collected more than the original distribution (a message in itself…the fed should become the feeders). He had power over even the wind and waves and not only saved the ship of disciples, but the destination of the ship was defined the moment He got into it…as immediately being where it was supposed to be…a ship not located by geography, but by the passenger’s list. The disciples no doubt wondered at all this, and wondered and asked what they must do to work the works of God? The answer was probably not what they expected:

Jesus answered and said unto them, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent”.


JOHN 9


Jesus comes upon the man born blind. Understand that, in truth, this is everyone who has ever been born, save the one who Himself is the light that illuminates every man or woman that comes into the world. He is the light. And when He would eventually open the eyes of the man born blind, and the man saw Him for the first time, He did not at that moment come into the world. He was already there. The disciples asked Jesus who sinned for the man to have been born blind? the man or his parents? Jesus said the man was not born blind for anyone’s sin, but that the works of God might be manifest in him. (See chapter 6 for the short definition of the works of God). Jesus anointed the man’s eyes with clay made with His spittle ( saliva is the first thing in your digestive system…it breaks things down). Jesus made a new lump of clay. He told the man to go wash in the pool of Siloam (meaning SENT). The man did as instructed, and when he went back home, his natural eyesight was given to him. Jesus was not visibly there anymore. The man knew him only by name. It was the Sabbath day, which precipitated a storm, two fronts collided…parallel worlds. The man gave the simple truthful account of what had happened, and how. “A man called Jesus spit and made clay, put it on my eyes and told me to go wash in Siloam”. Some refused to believe that this was the same man. They called in the Pharisees to sort things out. Remember what Nicodemus had said privately to Jesus, under cover of darkness, lest any of the common people saw and heard the confession…”WE KNOW you are a teacher sent from God, and we know that no man could do the miracles you do, except God is with him”. They still knew this…remember that. And now publicly, they claimed the very opposite. Why? I will leave that to the reader to decide. But to summarize, his parents refused to get involved because the Jews (Judah, the priesthood, the Pharisees, the temple, & etc.) they had put the word out that if any confessed that this man was Christ, he/she would be thrown out of the synagogue. Why? (Hint) Moses had said when Christ should appear, you must all hear Him, or you will not be reckoned one of The People, effectively concluding the system of the priesthood. They knew He was a teacher sent by God, but refused to believe He was THE Teacher sent by God…the Christ. To do so made them no different anymore, than anyone else. “The People” is now, and has for over two thousand years, been defined as they who hear Christ. That is in part, what Jesus told Nicodemus, and that this hearing will not come to you in the old thing. You must be born into it. As you read the account, consider how the blind man went from not knowing where Jesus was, or was from, whether He was a sinner or not, etc., to boldly declaring to the Pharisees what they already knew and privately confessed to Jesus…if He were not of God He could not do what He did. Where did this formerly blind man attain this understanding? It did not come from his parents or the hypocritical religious leaders. And the entire episode served not only to open the eyes of a man born blind, but to cement the blindness of the Pharisees, who claimed to see. And yet all this miraculous eye opening and understanding in the man was not the works of God, but was meant to produce it.

After the Pharisees threw the man out of the synagogue, the man having never yet set eyes on Jesus, Jesus went to him and asked if he believed on the Son of God? The man who was seeing Jesus with natural eyes for the first time, asked , “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe?”. Jesus said,”you are looking at Him and talking to Him”.

The man said, “Lord, I believe”. And he worshiped Him.

The work of God was complete.


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665


“And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.” Eze 8:1

The parallels between the book of Revelation and the book of Ezekiel are many. Ezekiel was a priest, of the tribe of Levi. He lived in a time of great tribulation. Ezekiel had an experience that no doubt changed him. In the 6th year, the 6th month and one day before the 6th day, Ezekiel sat in his house and the elders of Judah sat before him. That day the hand of God fell upon him. Ezekiel was taken in the Spirit and shown the inner workings of the rulers of Jerusalem. All these things Ezekiel was caused to see without leaving his house. No doubt Ezekiel had a certain esteem for his people and for the temple and it’s workings. It is what he was born in, grew up in, was schooled in, and served in. I have no doubt that Ezekiel believed and served the Lord with all his heart and mind. On this particular day, the Lord showed Ezekiel a flaw or weakness in his thinking. It was manifested as a hole in the wall. Ezekiel, having been shown the weak point, was instructed to dig. As he dug, behind the wall , a door was revealed. The Lord told Ezekiel to now go in and see the wickedness and abominations that took place in there, all in the hearts and mind of this class of individuals that Jesus would later categorize as whitewashed sepulchers … white and clean, orderly and attractive without, but inside full of dead men’s bones and ravening. Ezekiel was shown women weeping for Tammuz, a Sumarian diety. Also he was shown the leaders of the people, standing with their backs to the temple, worshiping the sun. (Such a thing takes on new meaning when we consider the words of Paul, “know ye not that ye are the temple of the Lord?”) Then this took place on this , the 6th year, 6th month, 5th day:

[Eze 9:1-11 KJV] 1 He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man [with] his destroying weapon in his hand. 2 And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them [was] clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar. 3 And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which [had] the writer’s inkhorn by his side; 4 And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 5 And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: 6 Slay utterly old [and] young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom [is] the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which [were] before the house. 7 And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. 8 And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? 9 Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah [is] exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not. 10 And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, [but] I will recompense their way upon their head. 11 And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which [had] the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.

Similarly in the book of Revelation, there is a mark of 666. It has had a lot of energy and time spent researching it. Today I see a lot of speculation about what it might be, or when it will be enforced, etc. It is in the forehead and the hand. Inasmuch as the things of the book of revelation are significations, and that it was said of them that the time is at hand, it stands to reason that these things span the age, from the time Jesus was raised and glorified, until such time as the Father decides to sum all things and end it… a day and hour no man knows, because no man can know a day and an hour not yet decided. Jesus said that the Father has this in His own Power to decide. 6 is the number of man. 666 is a number bespeaking man’s all-sufficiency to man. (As Ezekiel’s fellows were revealed of God to say, “God doesn’t see us, God has forsaken the earth…”). Such are they who bear the mark, in their thinking and in their works… the forehead and hand… But there was a mark, a seal of far greater importance in Ezekiel’s experience, a mark upon the foreheads of all them who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the midst of the place. Similarly in the book of Revelation, Jesus seals the thinking of the Father in the minds of His own. And the mark of the beast notwithstanding, to be found without the seal, or thinking of God, the mind of Christ, would also end in destruction. The mark of separation in Ezekiel was placed in the forehead by the man in linen who had the writer’s ink horn. He was a priest not reckoned among the priests of that place, just as Christ, our High Priest is he who seals the foreheads of his own in the book of Revelation. These things are not about tattoos, microchips, credit cards, or any such thing. It is about where the heart and mind reside.

It is very interesting and rewarding to read Ezekiel and Revelation and note the many comparisons. Having been shown the true nature of his nation’s leaders and religion, one of maintaining certain appearances, but letting the true inner rot and corruption go unchecked, Ezekiel was not left without a place of belonging. Later in his experiences, Ezekiel was taken in the Spirit, and shown another house. He saw the man in linen revealed in another manifestation, for Jesus has many names written in him. Ezekiel was shown a man like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand. And in his hand he had a measuring reed. With it, he measured the temple. Now, this was no ordinary reed, as the hand of him that held it was no ordinary man. Christ was a man in whom all the fullness of God dwelt, and dwells. His hand sets the standard of measure. The rod is based upon the span of the hand, which determines the cubit. We are talking about the one who measures the heavens with a span…the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, in an opened hand. The hand of Him without whom was nothing made, that is made. This man then took the measure of a most amazing temple. If you read of it, beginning in Eze 40, the temple gets bigger as you go further into it. This is no temple of stick and stone. Again, consider what Paul would later say, “Know ye not that ye are the temple…?”.

There is no need or place to go into greater detail, as the scriptures are available to all. But this temple, once having seen it, Ezekiel was told to show to the house of Israel so that they might know to be ashamed of what they do. This temple and house of the living God, is Christ, and all begotten to God in Him. And if we see and know the temple, we look for no other.

This leads to another bit of understanding…a flaw in the thinking of most of the Christian world. It is a flaw that is going to bite them. Many things can dwell in a hole in a wall:

[Amo 5:16-27 KJV] 16 Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing [shall be] in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. 17 And in all vineyards [shall be] wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. 18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end [is] it for you? the day of the LORD [is] darkness, and not light. 19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. 20 [Shall] not the day of the LORD [be] darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? 21 I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept [them]: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 23 Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. 24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. 25 Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? 26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. 27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name [is] The God of hosts.

This error in thinking that must be re-tooled, is a failure to comprehend who the Israel of God is:


[Mat 2:13-15 KJV] 13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. 14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: 15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

If this prophesy was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, then it was unfulfilled until Jesus Christ. Here is the prophesy, words spoken by a man as he was moved to speak by the Spirit of God…the same Spirit who would dwell fully in this man, and in His own people in Him, as also said the prophet, “I and the children My Father has given me...”.

Here is the prophesy:

[Hos 11:1 KJV] 1 When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.

If this was fulfilled in Christ, then Christ is the Israel of God. There is no other possibility. And every idea of God blessing them that bless Israel, must be found in Christ…not in any physical nation. To fail to see this, is to fail to see what God has done in Christ. This is not anti-Israel, or anti-anything. It is to magnify the possibility of complete redemption that is available to ALL people in Christ, both Jew and gentile, without regard for genetics. Much of the book of Ezekiel is about addressing this fatal flaw in thinking. Jesus said , “Destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days”. He did. And He raised us with Him.





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Bread


On a certain day of the week, Jesus was in a wheat field with the disciples. They were hungry, and the wheat was ripe…ready to harvest. So the disciples stripped wheat into their hands, rubbed it in their hands to separate the wheat and chaff, and blew the chaff away so they could eat the grain. Because it was a particular day that fell under the jurisdiction of the religious rulers and enforcers, and that day was considered violated if one “worked”, they popped up out of the grass to begin to accuse the disciples of violating the Sabbath, a day that was made for man, and not the other way around. This failure of proper perspective was pointed out to them, when Jesus responded to them with the following:


[Mar 2:23-28 KJV] 23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? 27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Jesus asked these “experts” if they were unfamiliar with how David approached the subject, and by association, them who were with him, something it was only lawful for priests to do. So let’s read for ourselves:

[1Sa 21:1-6 KJV] 1 Then came David to Nob to Ahimelech the priest: and Ahimelech was afraid at the meeting of David, and said unto him, Why [art] thou alone, and no man with thee? 2 And David said unto Ahimelech the priest, The king hath commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing of the business whereabout I send thee, and what I have commanded thee: and I have appointed [my] servants to such and such a place. 3 Now therefore what is under thine hand? give [me] five [loaves of] bread in mine hand, or what there is present. 4 And the priest answered David, and said, [There is] no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread; if the young men have kept themselves at least from women. 5 And David answered the priest, and said unto him, Of a truth women [have been] kept from us about these three days, since I came out, and the vessels of the young men are holy, and [the bread is] in a manner common, yea, though it were sanctified this day in the vessel. 6 So the priest gave him hallowed [bread]: for there was no bread there but the shewbread, that was taken from before the LORD, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.

“The bread is, in a manner, common”.

The priest, Ahimelech, thought only in terms of what he had jurisdiction over, that being common bread and the show bread, the twelve priest-baked loaves set on the table of show bread each day, which only the priests could eat. There is another bread in the tent that the priest either forgot about, or purposefully left out of the conversation. For in the great Exodus, the Lord had sustained the people with manna…God given bread that appeared for them daily. When the Exodus ended and the people set foot into the figurative land of promise, the manna ceased to appear. A portion was collected for the last time and put in a golden pot, and placed, hidden in the ark of testimonies in the holy of holies. When David told the priest that the show bread is “in a manner” common, David was demonstrating his understanding of what the placement of bread or manna in the tent meant. From the perspective of the ark and the place it resided, hidden behind a veil, all forms of bread beyond, whether show bread or common bread, are all common. This is not to diminish them. It is to give proper perspective.

Jesus promised certain things to the over comer in the opening chapters of the book of Revelation…a book not open to the world, but to the Lord’s people who are with Him. Among those promises is right to eat of the hidden manna. This is a direct referral to the manna in the golden pot (see Hebrews 9), just as Jesus teaching certain people in a certain place to ask for daily bread, is a direct reference to the show bread. The difference between these two breads is derived in their preparation. Show bread is made by men, priests, according to a formula. Manna comes from God only. The weak link in the preparation of show bread is in the men who prepare it. There is no weak link in the source of manna.

Jesus is the bread of heaven. And lest any confuse it with the bread that men prepare and dole out in “houses of worship”, understand that the true bread of heaven is never touched with human hands. The true bread of heaven is Christ in you. And to them that over come the world and the things in it, to include religious institution, Jesus gives right to eat this hidden bread.

Because you believe Christ, and know He dwells in you by faith, you are free to pluck, winnow and eat. Completely free. This includes the scriptures. The Spirit of God is the author of the scriptures.

[2Pe 1:20-21 KJV] 20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.

The only authorized “interpretor” of scripture is the author. Jesus Christ is the subject of the book, through and through. And both the author and the subject are alive, Christ having been raised again by the Author, the Spirit of God. If the author and the subject of the book were dead, it would be open to interpretation. They aren’t and it isn’t.

[1Jo 2:20 KJV] 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

The truth which John wrote in his epistle reveals to you , that if the Author lives and abides in you, perhaps your mind does not yet grasp everything, but the one with all the answers lodges with you. Just as the case of Jesus being in a field with the disciples, Christ in you becomes the door to all understanding.


[Jhn 14:26-27 KJV] 26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

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AMBASSADORS


Ambassadors

Here have we no continuing city, but seek one which is to come:

[Heb 13:10-14 KJV] 10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

He is not a priest in the earth (and neither are we):

[Heb 8:1-6 KJV] 1 Now of the things which we have spoken [this is] the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore [it is] of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. 4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: 5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. 6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

[2Co 5:14-20 KJV] 14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 15 And [that] he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. 16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we [him] no more. 17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18 And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

[Rev 1:3-6 KJV] 3 Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [is] at hand. 4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 5 And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him [be] glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

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When a word is used once in scripture, I take note of it. The scriptures declare that our “conversation” is in heaven. If we grasp that we died with Christ, rose with Him and are seated with Him in faith, then we grasp that by the cross of Christ, we are dead to the world, but alive to God. And He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

[Phl 3:18-21 KJV] 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end [is] destruction, whose God [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

The word translated to “conversation” is πολίτευμα (pol-it’-yoo-mah). It is used only in Philippians 3. The use of the word declares that our citizenship and our politics are in heaven. If indeed by the cross of Christ, I am dead to the world but alive to God, where then is my city? My country? My home? In saying that many have become enemies of the cross, isn’t Paul saying that they have set aside their inheritance among the living, and returned to wallowing in the mire? A perfect depiction is the parable of the prodigal son. He began with a high estate, but wanted to have it converted to something usable in this life. He took his “share” of the inheritance and squandered it, and found employment as an hireling, feeding another man’s flocks with empty husks. Fortunately he came to his senses. The point being made, is that we can not have dual citizenship. If we have our citizenship in heaven, then we are ambassadors in the earth. The world and it’s systems has ambassadors as well. We understand that the earth, the seas, the heavens, and everything in them are the Lords. They do not understand or believe this. Therefore the nations mark up their boundaries and claim their turf. Even the religions do this, taking territory in the name of God. But I can not claim on His behalf, what He already possesses. When a nation establishes an embassy within another nation, it is recognized that the embassy and it’s grounds are considered to be the actually territory of the nation it is representing. We, as ambassadors of Christ, have no territory here, as the world understands it. We have here, no continuing city. Everything we represent is within us. We have no buildings, no hallowed ground, no earthly borders. To fall into such thinking would be to deny the fact that everything is the Lord’s now.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was so called by Jude, in order to identify which Enoch Jude was writing about. Enoch the seventh was from the line of Seth, the figurative man of resurrection. The book of Genesis, chapter five, declares the generations of Adam to be named in Seth. Seth is a figure of the promise of a savior, murdered in Abel and raised in Seth. Enoch the seventh is of that line. The line of Cain, the murderer, includes his son whom he named Enoch, and also the city which Cain built and named for his son, Enoch. What is in a name? Enoch means “place of inauguration”. Enoch the seventh did not fall victim to deceit. He did not join a city that bore his name. He saw no value in becoming a citizen there. Instead, he walked with God. And God took him. Paul would later write of his own similar experiences when he actually came out of deception, and walked with God, striving to “apprehend that for which he also was apprehended”. When the knowledge of Christ and of God filled Paul, he called everything he had former belonged to, “dung and loss”. The age Enoch was born into, was destroyed. Enoch was translated…his citizenship transferred…before the overthrow. Everything else that shared the name “Enoch” was destroyed.
There is embedded in the life of Paul, a message on citizenship. When Paul began to walk with God, Paul faced many perils, and many attempts on his life. In every case, despite all appearance of hopelessness, it was the Lord who delivered Paul. Then a time came in which Paul began to yearn to return to Jerusalem. Despite warnings by the Holy Spirit, Paul set it in his mind to go, and go he did. He had written many things about Jerusalem beneath, the shadow that the Jew’s religion was, and how Christ was the end of the law for righteousness in them who believe. Yet there he was, participating in it. He was set upon with the intention of being put to death. Though many times, in many perils, he was delivered by the Lord, this time Paul evoked his Roman citizenship as a way out. When Paul said the words, “I appeal to Caesar”, the prophetic reply was, “Have you appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you will go”. Though by the grace of God, Paul finished his course and fulfilled his ministry, from the day he appealed to Caesar, he never spent another day on the earth as a free man.

We are not dual citizens.
We are Ambassadors.
Whatever we were called out of will always be out there, ready to receive us back, if that is our desire.


[Heb 11:13-16 KJV] 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that [country] from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better [country], that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Enoch was not a man without a city, nor are you. But we have no continuing city here. If you are an ambassador of Christ, everything you represent, dwells within you.

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They Clergied My Vesture


[Zec 13:7 KJV] 7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man [that is] my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.

[Mat 26:31 KJV] 31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

[2Th 2:1-2 KJV] 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

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In many accounts of the Lord performing healing and deliverance, the ones He healed wanted to follow Him, but were not permitted. Jesus certainly new what He was given of the Father to do. He knew that he would be slain, raised and glorified. He knew that His relationship henceforth would be with us by the Spirit. In John’s gospel, the truth that Jesus would come again in the Anointing is indisputable. Even common sense would have dispelled the notion of a man gathering a bigger and bigger following of human beings, culminating in Him sitting in some carnal seat of authority in the midst of an ever growing bevy of humanity. It was also said by the prophets, that they would murder the savior, divide His garments among themselves, and cast lot for His vesture. While this was physically done as a great sign that the scripture might be fulfilled, the prophetic implications are far reaching, touching on the above mentioned things concerning “how” we are now gathered to Him. The mantle He wore as a garment, the seamless coat, is indicative of His status as “The Anointed”, “The Christ”. And to use plain and direct speech, the murderers, who crave authority and status for themselves, when Jesus fulfilled what He spoke of, as expounded by John, of going away and coming again in a manner not perceivable to the world (see John 14), because they could not conceive of a world without their authority and guidance, and perceiving a vacuum, a void in authority when Jesus was no longer visibly gathering multitudes, these authoritarians decided to fill that void with themselves. But Jesus did not indicated He would leave us directionless. He said He Himself would give us His Spirit. This, He said, the world can not see. A mantle, or coat, is indicative of one’s office and authority. The casting of lots for just how that office would be filled, and by whom, is very telling. In the first place, it is filled in each and every one of us, by Christ Himself. But the blind authoritarians can not see this, nor conceive of it. So they clergy it among themselves. It takes very little research with a concordance, to know that the phrase “cast lot” is the word “kleros”, from which we have the word “cleric” and “clergy”. They “clergied” His vesture…his office. This is the very thing Jesus identifies in the assemblies of Revelation, as a thing He hates. He hates the phony division of His body into clergy and laity. It does not exist in Him. It only deceptively lurks in the minds of the conquerors and their conquered. A lot of trouble is born of the lack of understanding of what Jesus said, that wherever two or three are gathered in His name, He is in the midst. The Spirit of truth is not to validate an assembly, a system, or any individuals. He glorifies The Father. The Lord is able to work wondrously, in spite of man’s concoctions. The lives and relationship of Elijah and Elisha are a declaration of these things. When the mantle of Elijah, as he was ascending to heaven, fell upon Elijah, a figure of the body of Christ. It needs to be understood that Elijah did not surrender, or divest himself of anything. What he walked in, because Elisha saw Elijah in resurrection, and knew Elijah was alive, was extended to Elisha, and their relationship became a picture of the “whole family in heaven and in earth”, living and walking as one, by the One Spirit of God. Jesus, when He was raised, and sent to us the Spirit and Promise of The Father, did not divest Himself of it, He did not cease to be the King of kings, the Firstborn, and the Preeminent in all things. He did not become diminished in any way or thing. He shares all that He is, with us. If religious hierarchy saw this, they would cease and desist their power grabbing and pontificating. Before Jesus was murdered, it said all the fullness of the godhead dwelt in Him bodily. In resurrection it says all the fullness of the godhead dwells (present tense) in Him bodily, and ye are complete in Him. We are added to Him. We are not without a leader, a teacher, and a city. We just by the grace of God, have the good sense not to look any more, for one here.

[Col 2:12-19 KJV] 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15 [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ. 18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

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The Works Of God


The Man Born Blind

[Jhn 9:1-5 KJV] 1 And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from [his] birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

This account in John 9 has roots in John 6. Concerning the bread of heaven, which came into the world, where Jesus was asked to provide things, which he Himself is. And even though he was in their midst, the fulfillment of everything, they did not see it or believe it.

[Jhn 6:27-29 KJV] 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Being born blind is not as rare a condition as is supposed. The prophets declare that darkness covers the earth, and great darkness, the people. Having been declared to the disciples that the work of God is that you believe on him who God has sent, they later encounter the man born blind. The disciples ask about whose fault it is? Who sinned that he was born blind? Him or his parents? Jesus answered that neither he nor his parents had sinned, but that the works of God might be manifest in him. It seems there is a different goal in mind, a different perspective of what constitutes a work. Jesus did not imply that miracles, signs, wonders, healings, etc., in themselves, were a completed “work” without the result of faith. In another place this exchange took place: [Jhn 10:36-38 KJV] 36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father [is] in me, and I in him. If these great things that Jesus did, do not produce faith in Him, the understanding that He is the only way to the Father, then the many works that helped flesh are short lived. Because the flesh will still grow old and falter. Jesus once raised a dead young girl, restoring her to life, and commanded that something be given her to eat. This shows us that the young girl had not been resurrected, but resuscitated. Her natural body, though restored, still had it’s limitations.

Jesus had just answered the question about whose fault it was that the man had been born blind:

[Jhn 9:6-7 KJV] 6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

A very telling picture unfolds in what followed. The man born blind goes through an immediate quick work. He went from not knowing who Jesus was, or where he was, not knowing if Jesus were a sinner or not, to supposing that Jesus was a prophet, to understanding that if Jesus were not of God He could have done nothing. He is put out of the synagogue. Jesus finds him and asks if he believes on the Son of God? The man in complete sincerity asks, “who is he that I might believe?” (He had never seen Jesus). Jesus said, “you HAVE seen him, and he is speaking to you”. Then the works of God were completed in him: He said, “Lord, I believe”. And he worshiped him.

As spectacular as was the opening of the eyes of a man born blind, it would be a short lived accomplishment without resulting in the eternal work of faith in the man.

On a day where many in the world mark and observe the Lord having arisen from the dead, I consider the truth that we, as many as believe, are crucified with Him, and raised with Him. He did not rise alone. He is the only way to the Father, and faith in Him is the works of God in them that believe.

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JACOB’S LADDER


Jacob’s Ladder

Jacob, fleeing his brother Esau, came to a place called Luz. Luz means “Almond”. Jacob had just swindled his brother out of the paternal blessing, and also the right of firstborn. All of Jacob’s journey to and fro was two dimensional, and concerned with the affairs of this life unfolding upon the face of the earth, as lichen grows on a boulder.

When Jacob came to Luz, the day was spent, and he lay down to sleep, using the stones of the place for his pillows. Using stone for head rests was a common thing in many places in history. As Jacob rested his neck upon the stone and slept, Jacob saw in a dream, a ladder reaching to heaven, and the messengers of God ascending and descending upon it. This revelation was a departure from horizontal going to and fro on the face of the earth, from one figurative shadow to another. When Jacob awoke, he declared the place to be the “house of God and the gate of heaven”. He anointed the stone his head had rested upon, and called the place “Luz, which is Beth El”… “the Almond which is the house of God”.

There is a place where the Apostle Paul wrote and touched upon these things. In the book of Hebrews, Paul addressed the bitter feud between Esau and Jacob, in which Esau was deprived of certain familial places of inheritance. Isaac, blessed Esau in faith, saying to him that, when he shall have the dominion, he will break his brother’s (Jacob) yoke from off his neck”.

Paul wrote:

[Heb 11:20 KJV] 20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

Having given both the blessing and birthright to Jacob, things which in the shadow and likeness of things that they were, they were irreversible. As long as Esau and Jacob strove in the shadows, what Jacob had done could not be undone. He would always reign over Esau. So, what are the “things to come” that Paul recognized fulfilled what Isaac saw? The resurrection. And to be exact, it is by faith in Christ who would come, that true and eternal inheritance could be won. Not the horizontal squabbling over things in the earth and this life, and who was superior to whom in this life, but the vision of the Kingdom of God and ascendancy that centers in Christ, who is without dispute, the heir of all the promises of God, and the One Seed of promise, of whom God spake to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jesus is the heir of all things, and now by faith, whether of Esau or Jacob, or of any of the seed of flesh on the earth, all may by faith in Him, be a joint heir with Him. This is what Isaac saw, and this is what he believed in blessing Esau and Jacob.

In the course of time, Jacob would take wives and concubines, and produce sons. And one son, Joseph, would be sold into slavery in Egypt, by his envious brothers, who hated him because of dreams he had. They did not understand the dreams, which likened Jacob, Rachel and the 11 sons, to the sun, moon and twelve stars. Also the twelve sons were revealed as twelve sheaves being bound. In the dreams, the sun, moon and stars paid homage to Joseph’s star, and the eleven sheaves of his brothers paid homage to Joseph’s sheaf. The dreams do not become clear until Joseph is cast into a pit to die, but is raised out of the pit, a figure of resurrection, and Joseph goes into Egypt where he eventually becomes ruler. All bread is in his hand. Though his household did eventually come and bow before Joseph, the real meaning of all this was realized in Christ, who rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father. Joseph’s dreams were not unlike Jacob’s dream of the ladder. Joseph’s dreams were of higher things than the order of things in a family, who were living in a shadow of things to come. Joseph’s dreams were of the one seed who would fulfill all the promises. The “sheaf” or “word” of this superior vision stood. It still stands. And every star, and the sun and the moon dim and pale in the blazing light of the resurrection. No shadow can ever hope to outshine that which it points to.

While Joseph was in Egypt, there was a famine in the earth. Jacob sent money and gifts into Egypt to buy grain from Pharaoh…or so he thought. It was in fact Joseph with whom he dealt unwittingly. Among the gifts sent into Egypt, into Joseph’s hand, were some Almonds. And generations later, a branch descended of that gift, would be cut off of the tree and made into a staff. That staff in the hand of Aaron would be instrumental in leading the children out of Egypt. In settling a question of leadership, that rod would be raised, bear a crop of seed, and in that state, enter into the tabernacle, into the holiest place, and be place in the ark of the testimonies which God gave.

Paul would later write of certain things signified by the Spirit of God, in the precise ordering of the tabernacle. Paul wrote that while priests ministered to the house, day in and day out, in sacrifices and offerings that could never purge the conscience of sin, the High Priest entered once a year, and once a year only, to offer for the sins of himself and the people. Remember that Jesus, our High Priest, while He Himself knew no sin, yet He became sin, our sin, that we, in Him, could become the righteousness of God. Paul wrote that the Holy Ghost signified in this arrangement, that as long as the order of things in the holy place, the place of the candlestick, as long as this is going on, the way into the holiest is not manifest. It is not seen. The “way” is not in never ending reenactments, never ending ritualistic offerings which do not deliver the conscience of the awareness of sin (or else the mind delivered would not return to the ritual). The way, the gate of heaven that Jacob saw in that Almond grove so many years ago, is revealed. It is to be buried with Christ and to be raised with Him in faith. Only by entering with Him can one enter at all. The candlestick of the Holy place was a man made effigy of a fruiting Almond tree. The resurrected Almond, and the generation it bore in resurrection, was a REAL almond. It really was cut off from a tree and died. And it really and truly was raised. Yet even it was not the fulfillment of all promises, dreams and visions. Christ is. For Christ is not entered into the house built with men’s hands, but is entered into the heavens themselves.

This may sound peculiar, but then, it is written that we are a peculiar people. But if you will consider it, you, by faith, if indeed you receive it in faith, are signified and identified by one of the almonds on that raised branch. In you, in faith and in heavenly places, is written all of the complete genetic inheritance of the Almond that fell to the earth and died, that it might not abide alone. In that good seed of the Kingdom of God, is given you power to become sons of God, who are the children of the resurrection (the gender of your tent is irrelevant). Do not let anything mingle with that vision, let no man steal that crown, let nothing, but nothing, tamper in any way with the vision of Christ in you, the hope of glory. From the moment it was birthed in you, in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, the world and it’s prince have been all about stealing or dwarfing it.

[Rev 22:12-21 KJV] 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. 14 Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, [and] the bright and morning star. 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book. 20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all. Amen.


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AUTHORITY


AUTHORITY

[Jer 7:22-23 KJV] 22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: 23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

In the time that the Lord lead a people out of captivity, out of the mind numbed existence of being housed, fed, watered taught and groomed solely for the purpose of being tools…means to an end in another kingdom’s vision, the Lord at that time said nothing of sacrifices, kings or temples. The only thing the Lord gave them to observe, was to hear His voice. When the people collectively altered the arrangement, asking that Moses be a mediator between them and the Lord, it became the norm. When eventually the people would assess their situation among the rest of the nations, how that the other nations had a king, they lusted to have a king too. This they did in the days of Samuel, and Samuel was told to accommodate them and give them the king they craved. The Lord said to Samuel not to be grieved, as it was not Samuel and his words they were rejecting, it was the Lord. When David, the second king in the succession of accommodation, desired to build a permanent temple, a “house” for the Lord, He was told that while it was a nice thought, it was a logistic impossibility. It stands eternally true, that any desire manifesting itself in man, to build a house for God, is born of two conditions…not knowing Him, and hence, not realizing the impossibility of humanity building Him a house.

[Jer 2:13 KJV] 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, [and] hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

The Lord spoke to David that He, Lord, would instead build a house for David. And the Lord said He would do this in one who would be born in David’s house. And that one would inherit the Everlasting Throne. And inasmuch as the Throne of God is from everlasting, this is not something that can be built or established. It has always been. Jesus, of whom the Lord spoke to David, would later expound that He overcame and was given to sit in the Father’s throne, and similarly to whoever would in like manner overcome, would He give to sit with Him in that throne. The greatest appeal to me personally, is not the notion of being over anything or anybody, but rather being seated together with Him, who is above all power and authority. This high calling is just about as far from the common vision in the churches as it is possible to be. Theirs is a vision of a pyramid style system of authority, with unending squabbling and posturing as to one’s place in the scheme. But the truth is, if one overcomes, one has departed from this red herring all together. This systemic condition of humanity, either to rule or be ruled, is deep rooted and difficult to overcome. When the first disciples would begin to squabble about who would be over what , and who would sit where in the kingdom, Jesus would repeatedly correct them in their thinking. Once when they desired to forcefully make Him a king (according to their idea of it), Jesus “departed again into a mountain alone”. That place was a picture of what Jesus promised the overcomer. The “mountain” was figurative of the Father, and Jesus alone resorted there, because they did not yet understand. He, having access to that place with the Father, at all times and instantly, already is a king beyond their comprehension. Again, the desire to build a “house” for the Lord is born in ignorance of Him. He has never been homeless.

These things being said, consider that Jesus came to lead many sons (male or female flesh irrelevant) unto glory. He is the first born among many brethren. Who He makes free, is free indeed. Not free in theory, but in fact, and free from foolish squabbling about authority. The Spirit of Christ is authority, as He taught Nicodemus.


The broken, bottomless cistern is built of them who have no fountain in them. To be very plain of speech, where individuals are not lead of the Spirit, they look for some other system or individual who they perceive is. Jesus spoke to an authoritarian, Nicodemus, that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. This is the arrangement the Lord originally sought with the children of Jacob, in leading them out of servitude, only requiring each to hear His voice. There is a great difference between being lead of the Spirit, and being lead of “spirit filled” leaders. In religious circles they often speak of “leadership training”. To this day, I have no idea what they are talking about. It is foreign thinking to me.

In the days that the children of Israel occupied the figurative land of promise, before they sought a king, they repeatedly walked collectively in their evil imagination, and began to vainly observe the so-called gods of the people of the lands. The comedy of this is, they take a stick or stone, carve or shape it. They overlay it with gold or silver, And then become exactly like the thing they made. They have legs, but go no where, having to be carried everywhere. They have eyes and ears, but no longer see or hear anything. Such is every “house” and system men build. When Jesus began to say that the Kingdom of God is at hand, there is nothing of that Kingdom to be built. The Kingdom and it’s throne are from everlasting. It is not lacking in any point. And what Jesus has provided for us, is a way into that Kingdom. Anyone or anything that leads you to believe you can build the Kingdom in the earth, does not see it. During the days before kings, the Lord repeatedly gave the people judges to help deliver them from their self imposed calamities. One such judge was Gideon, also known as Jerubbaal. He was instrumental in delivering Israel from the oppression of the Midianites. When the people were delivered, they asked Gideon to rule over them, he and his son, and his son’s sons. Gideon told them that neither he, nor his sons would rule over them, because the Lord ruled over them. What happened later is the very picture of what I speak. When Gideon was dead and buried, he had 70 sons by wives, and one son by a slave, a concubine. The one son of a bondwoman conspired with the rest of his city and people to be a king over them, seemingly fulfilling the thing they desired of Gideon. He sent and killed all the remaining free born sons of Gideon, save the youngest, who hid himself. That youngest son stood and cried to them in a parable. To set the stage for the parable, consider that the Fig is a figure of the Father, the Olive of the Spirit, the Vine of Christ. Of Jesus, before He was murdered, it says that All the fullness of God dwelt in Him bodily. After He was raised, and a generation raised in faith in Him, it says, “In Him dwells (present tense) all the fullness of the godhead bodily AND ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power”. The fullness of Christ and of God dwells in a people now. It is not for no reason that Paul chided some, saying, “do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” In his parable, Jotham, the youngest and surviving son, spoke that the Fig, the Olive and the Vine would not give up what they were, to yield to their understanding and be “promoted” to rule over them. Jesus Himself would not be forced or coerced into this folly. Neither should any in Him. Those who seek such things do not see or know the Lord. So the bramble, the slave-born son of bondage rose to the occasion, and ruled over them as king. A thorny flesh rending potentate.

Paul wrote of two Jerusalems. One above, one beneath. Don’t look up and down as though this has to do with the earth and sky. It is spiritual. Jerusalem above is free, and is the “mother” of us all. Jerusalem beneath is in bondage with her children to this day. Paul tells us that this is the picture the Lord provided for us in Sarah and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael. One was of promise. One was born of lack of faith and patience. The latter always persecutes the former. Not the other way around. Consider that. I am not speaking of flesh, but of spiritual truth.

In this particular time, the multitudes are looking for something or someone to follow. It is no different really, than it ever has been with flesh. It is written that in a great house, there are vessels unto honor, and vessels unto dishonor; vessels of gold and silver, vessels of clay and wood. They are all vessels of the same house, but are clearly different.

[Gal 4:1 KJV] 1 Now I say, [That] the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all: but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father.

[Heb 12:22-24 KJV] 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel.


In his parable, Jotham reveals the relationship between them who are led of the Spirit, and them who are lead of what is born out of refusing this. The one always persecutes the other, not the other way around. The entire book of Zephaniah is a tale of two cities. One beneath, one above.

As evil as the conditions are that we see imposed by God hating multitudes, there is, and will be, I believe, something worse. Something that will look and feel so “right” to many, that if it were possible, the elect would be deceived. There is no greater terror that them who kill believing they are serving God.

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Mystery or Parable?


The word “mystery” appears numerous times in the scriptures. Also the word “mysteries”. Every use of the word appears in the new testament, and whether a singular “mystery”, or plural “mysteries”, all are translated from the same word. The word “mystery” has come to be used, in the common vernacular, as something deep and hidden, something too high and lofty for the common individual to grasp. A very common saying (which I have never really cared for) is: “God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform”. When this saying is put forth to indicate that the Lord’s ways are beyond comprehension, and one must accept that he/she will never understand certain things in this life, then it is a false and dangerous statement. I say dangerous, because it lends itself to the idea, that the individual must content him/her self with accepting the explanation or musings of the religious elite. The above mentioned saying is only truthful, in my experience, when the word “mystery” is chewed on and digested.

The following is taken from Abarim Publications Online Greek Biblical Dictionary:

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μυω  μυστηριον

The verb μυω (muo) and its future form μυσω (muso) predominantly means to shut (of eyes or the mouth), but with the secondary meaning of to cover, to hide or to be just under the surface.

It is the root of the word μυς (mys), meaning both muscle (hidden just under the skin) and mouse (hidden just under the floor — our English word “muscle” is the diminutive form of the Latin word for mouse). The link exists even in Semitic languages: the Arabic word for muscle is ‘adalah and the word for mouse is ‘adal.

Perhaps via the mess mice make, or the tendency of people to hide their dirt, or perhaps completely unrelated are the noun μυσος (musos), meaning uncleanness or defilement, and the adjective μυσαρος (musaros), meaning foul, dirty, and thus loathsome and abominable.

On the other hand, our verb μυω (muo), meaning to hide or cover, may also have spawned — or perhaps merely lubricated the formation of — the familiar word μουσα (mousa) or Muse (hence our words “music” and “museum”), which is commonly taken from the same Proto-Indo-European root as the English word “mind”. The adjective μουσικος (mousikos), whether derived from the above or merely inspired by it or having nothing to do with it, means devoted to the muses: artistic or musical. This word occurs in the Bible only in Revelation 18:22.

The root verb μυω (muo) is not used in the Bible, but from it comes the verb μυεω (mueo), which means to initiate into the mysteries (the hidden things) or to be introduced to things not known before or not commonly known. This verb occurs in the Bible only in Philippians 4:12.

From the previous verb derives the noun μυστης (mustes; not used in the Bible), which denotes a person initiated into the mysteries, and from the latter in turn derives the noun μυστηριον (musterion), which denotes a mystery, secret or bit of knowledge. But note that in antiquity, the wizard (which means “wise-man”) was not a magician or entertainer but the doctor and chief engineer of a tribe or village. His knowledge may have seemed magic to the uninitiated but it was not supernatural in any way, but rather based on what we would call today scientific and technological skills (1 Kings 4:33-34).

Even by usually sound commentators on the Bible, the noun μυστηριον (musterion), or “mystery”, is commonly rendered a far too great hocus-pocus factor. A “mystery” is not an enigma, but something hidden just under the surface, something that can be pried out from under observable reality just like a mouse can be pried out from under its cover. A mystery is a “mousery”; a nest of living mice cuddled under a flimsy cover, or a “musery”; a fountain of inspiration suddenly bursting from the earth.

The Greek idea of the “mystery” quite literally refers to a “discovery” or to something “to-be-discovered”. It is the same thing as a modern scientific theory, and has nothing to do with classified information, esoteric secrets or unsolvable puzzles, and everything with the truth behind observable reality.

Neither the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thessalonians 2:7), nor the “mystery of the faith” (1 Timothy 3:9), nor even the “mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:4) are anything other than descriptions of the natural causes of visible effects (Hebrews 11:1), which can be explained by someone who gets it, and be made understandable by means of a verbal explanation.

Hence Paul speaks of being informed of a mystery (Romans 11:25), of telling a mystery (1 Corinthians 15:51), of being stewards of a mystery (1 Corinthians 4:1) and even “full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery” (Colossians 2:2).

All in all, this magnificent word μυστηριον (musterion) is used 27 times in the New Testament; see full concordance.

Our verb μυω (muo), meaning to be covered, and its derivation μυστηριον (musterion) meaning discovery, are obviously closely akin the verb λανθανω (lanthano) and its derivation αληθεια (aletheia), meaning truth.

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The words “mystery”, or “mysteries” appears in the following verses:

Mat 13:11,Luk 8:10,1Co 4:1,1Co 13:2,1Co 14:2,Mar 4:11,Rom 11:25,Rom 16:25,1Co 2:7,1Co 15:51,Eph 1:9,Eph 3:3,Eph 3:4,Eph 3:9,Eph 5:32,Eph 6:19,Col 1:26,Col 1:27,Col 2:2,Col 4:3,2Th 2:7,1Ti 3:9,1Ti 3:16,Rev 1:20,Rev 10:7,Rev 17:5,Rev 17:7.

“Mystery” , derives from μυστήριον, or “mysterion”, and is derived from “muo”, “To shut the mouth”.

Jesus said a marvelous thing about this:

[Mar 4:11 KJV] And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all [these] things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and [their] sins should be forgiven them.

Reading the uses of “mystery” in scripture will yield an understanding that the mystery boils down to this: “Christ in you”.

[Col 1:26 KJV] [Even] the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.


Now to use great plainness of speech. The mystery is either in us by faith, or it is not. And if so be He dwells in us by faith, He is there to be discovered, explored and understood. Christ in you is the mystery, of which Jesus said, “seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened, ask and you will receive”. The idea of shutting the mouth, or using parables where the mystery does not abide, indeed, the many times Jesus did wonderful things and spoke that they should not be published abroad, all these point to the fact that these things are hidden in a people, in Christ. And they do not accept the witness of man, or of men. They are not far off religious conundrums to be held in ignorance. The kingdom of God is within you. It can not at this time be found anywhere else, and it certainly can not be manufactured. If I show you an apple seed, and tell you the orchard is in there, I believe you know what I mean. If you plant the seed, the truth of what was said will manifest itself.

The mysteries of the kingdom of God ARE GIVEN TO YOU TO KNOW, exactly as Jesus said. Ask, seek, knock…and you will find. We are not relegated to be eternal seekers. We are to receive what is given, see what is opened, walk in what is found.

You are partakers of the mystery. No one can take that from you, or hide it from you. In fact, it is hidden in you. The way the mystery is dealt with, derives from the fact that is is in you, and comes from the Father. Flesh and blood can not give you the kingdom, reveal it to you, or explain it. It is first, in you by faith, and secondly, opened up and walked in, in the fellowship you have with the Father and with the Son. It can only be hinted of to the world in parables, because it can only be seen and walked in, in substance and reality.

I am writing to encourage all to strength, patience and perseverance. The difficult times we find ourselves in, and the confusion and decay of the world around us, are not our inheritance. We have received a kingdom that can not be moved. When the scriptures speak of the mysteries of what is in you by faith, understand that they are there, hidden by a mere veil of flesh, ready to be discovered and revealed. They are only unattainable conundrums to them who do not possess them…to them that are “without”. Understanding comes first, by receiving in faith. What Jesus spoke of this, is a succession of events: (Luk) 11:9 And I say unto you, (1)Ask, and it shall be given you; (2)seek, and ye shall find; (3)knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Mystery or Parable? which do you prefer?


From John 14:

“…And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being [yet] present with you. But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”.

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