Not in but out…

It’s interesting the influence New Age has had on modern society. Why, look at how vegetarianism has spread! I have to say, nothing in Scripture supports vegetarianism as it is today. Vegetarianism belongs to a Hindu/Buddhist/New Age worldview and not to a Biblical worldview.

Look at Hitler. He was a vegetarian, but of course vegetarians try to deny that. I think he probably was, and, in fact, was very, very kind and humane to animals. The Nazi Government was exemplary in its treatment of animals.

Compare Hitler with Yeshua/Jesus. Jesus ate fish, cooked fish too. Jesus ate the Passover lamb, and also drank wine.

Vegetarianism advocates being “pure” and “clean” in diet. Meat = immoral, cruel, killing animals.

Because of the fall, our bodies simply need meat. God gave us meat to eat. And He commanded the children of Israel to eat the Pesach lamb, among the many bloody and gory sacrifices to be performed.

Lets look at the Nazi example again. Look at how they treated humans by dehumanizing them. They were atrocious. Then let’s take a look at modern society. Wow… look how cool and popular being vegan is. Look at how abortion is so widespread. People don’t even flinch at it. In fact, they rally and fight and scream their approval of it, and react violently when it is revealed for what it is, murder. They refuse to see the truth. Look at how fetuses are used in making medicines! Atrocious!

The Nazis made babies into lampshades. Modern society makes aborted babies into medicine… Modern society fights and crusades for animal rights, yet treat unborn babies as trash. Somewhere, somehow, our priorities have all gone wrong, totally wrong.  

Romans 14 says that the weak eat only vegetables.                  

The nutrient –rich, dairy-rich, meat-rich, whole-grain rich, beautiful diet of Ancient Israelites was fantastic, and I believe, the way to go. Natural, raw milk is soooo good. When God created the heavens and the earth, He said it was good. I don’t dare say otherwise… I don’t think it’s right to replace God-given vitamins with man-made tablets.

Concerning healing, I believe in the costliness of Yeshua’s healing power. It cost Him to heal us. It cost Him pain. What cost God cannot be cheap for me. I cannot take healing like “cheap grace”. “ I believe I must sow not to the flesh, to live irresponsibly, but by the Spirit, to live by the wisdom of God, with the whole big perspective of eternity. No matter what I do and what I eat, I cannot heal myself. No matter what I do and what I try, I cannot deliver myself from sin. Yeshua alone is my salvation, wisdom, righteousness, healing. But He calls us to the set-apart life of discipleship. My body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. I should eat wisely, and responsibly.

Men like to believe that sickness is just a thing. Yet Scripture teaches us that bitterness, unforgiveness, disobedience, and sin cause sicknesses. Look at how stress causes sickness! Yeshua told us not to worry about our life. But of people would get angry at if you  even suggest that. The devil wants to deceive people and hold in them in bondage to sin *shrug*. What’s new?

The devil’s system, the world’s system, destroys our bodies, because the Adversary hates us. He hates us and wants only to steal, kill, and destroy. He feeds our temporary pleasures but is so cynical. Like Hitler was so cynical. He seemed to be pro-Germany, pro-church, a good man who wanted to better the nation after its Versailles humiliation. The temporal victory of Germany was nothing. He came to steal, kill, and destroy Germany. He reduced it to ruins and poverty and destruction. That’s the same way the devil works, seemingly for us, but deeply cynical and evil, nothing good at all, having only evil and destruction intended for us. Do not be deceived!

The Adversary’s system is described Mark 5. The painfully ill woman was abused by physicians. They extorted her money, and left her just as sick as before. That’s man’s way. The world’s way takes your money, your joy, your life, your hope, etc. The thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy. The medical system with its roots in demonic serpent-worship and exaltation of mammon cannot heal us. It will take our money, make us suffer, and leave us worse than before.

Yeshua is our merciful salvation, our healer, our deliverance. He alone can set us free from all curses.

Back to vegetarianism. It’s not of God. Hitler was a vegetarian, Jesus was not. However, remember most importantly that what a person eats is not the most important thing. Jesus said that what comes out of a man what defiles him. So, after, judging a man by his diet is not the fairest comparison. Look at the words, what came out of Hitler’s mouth! The hate, the evil, the blasphemy, the lies, the propaganda, the pure demonic stream of rubbish!

Look what Jesus is: life, truth, freedom. He came to set us free. He came to deliver us. Instead for being a man for himself, He was a man for others. Hitler only cared about his own idealogy, his own plans, and used the German people to that end. He was a totally self-orientated, self-autonomous man, who took his own . Jesus laid down His life. The cross was a supreme act of love and mercy.

Hitler was a prototype of the AntiChrist/Anti-Messiah/Pseudo-Messiah. Men in the flesh looked to him to solve their problems.

Look only to Yeshua, who said,

Blessed are the peacemakers, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.   

Shalom!

Discipleship

I could not have imagined, 2 years ago when I started this blog, that discipleship would become such an increasingly important and central issue in my life.

Discipleship first meant to me learning. Learning, studying, discussing, cross-referencing, searching out the original Greek and Hebrew, writing, memorizing, etc.

My favorite book that I absolutely love next to the Bible, is the Cost of Discipleship. 4 years or so ago, I picked up the Cost of Discipleship and immediately the words hit me, and I thought, "it's so beautiful'. It was poetic, it was clear, I could understand it immediately, though at that time I knew nothing experiential about discipleship. The first chapter, with its exposition on cheap grace was so vivid, so illustrative. I never knew words could be put together in such a way.

So when I started this blog I picked up a quote, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."

Inseparable is Discipleship and Obedience, obedience unto death. Discipleship means obedience, obedience that costs, and I have come to learn that the only kind of obedience God calls us to is the kind that costs. Discipleship is antithetical to enjoyment and convenience.

Art Katz's writings showed me clearly that the convenient, easy, natural kind of Christian faith is nothing but dead religion. Discipleship, consisting of trust and obedience, was the kind of thing Abraham had with God.

Leave all. Follow me.

Wow. God hasn't changed at all.


Intrinsic to our walk with God as disciples must be humility. Constant humility. There's not a day we don't sin. There's not a day we put ourselves first. There's not a day where there's something I should not have said or done. Ugh... this life is hopeless. Nevertheless, my life must be hidden with Christ in God. My perfection is not something deep within that I have to search out. It's something that is found in Christ, in the Spirit, where all things of the flesh cease, where there is no condemnation.


Like i always say, "In the Spirit I am perfect. In the soul I am being perfected. In the body I will be perfected, and all by Christ and the cross". In the Spirit I am dead to all flesh. In the Soul I am dying, daily. In the body, well, physical death will come.


Ever present before me in my walk with God is the desire for that, for apostolicity. What a word. To bear on my life that apostolic bearing. That's what I must want. Through Him alone I can receive grace and apostleship to the obedience of faith to all nations. In other words, Christ has empowered me with the holy Spirit and put His sending upon me to make disciples of all nations.




That longing for authenticity, for perfection, for the cross. I want that apostolic faith, that faith which alone can save, that faithfulness unto death. I want to be a vessel of His making, from His pattern, according to God's will and not according to my own.

before doing something, before succumbing to that fleshly itch to do, I must always ask myself, is that apostolic? Is that purely of God? Is that something that sprang from my poetic, vissionary, idealistic, carnal, and sinful, soul, ie. mind will and emotions. Did this birth out of the Spirit or spring into my mind? Is this going to be something that counts for eternity.

I often fall into loving and living for the "well and good ". But it's a totally different thing to be running, living, looking for, and that is which of God, of eternity, of truth, of Christ 100% and of me 0%.

Discipleship means simple-minded obedience. Where's the rationalization, the comtemplation, the mental preparation..? Just obey? The Spirit of God moves within you and gives that bitter, horrid cup. The Spirit, power of God, drives to you obey. Fear of God overcomes you. It's the last thing you want to do, but you must. And it's now or never - not tomorrow, not anytime, not never. It's now. My mind conjures of pictures of hell fire and screamings of the disobedient. Shivering in fear, I obey, but only because I must and not because I want to.

Obedience is the opposite of self-autonomy. I want to be in control of my life. I want to make my own decisions. I want to think for myself. I will decide whether I will do it, when I will do it, and how I will do it. You can only give suggestions.
That's the individualistic, self-autonomic mindset. That's the opposite of unity, of love.


I told God many times: "No. Never. That's no and that's it." Thank God He didn't listen to me, that God He is stronger than me and makes me do His will, because He is merciful and kind and good and loving and won't let me remain as I am, because if I remain as I am, I will suffer His wrath. "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

That's all for now.

Shalom, Beka.

Formalism by George Muller

(Taken from George Muller of Bristol - the Free Ebook here)

I have often remarked the injurious effects of doing things because others did them, or because it was the custom, or because they were persuaded into acts of outward self-denial, or giving up things whilst the heart did not go alone with it, and whilst the outward act WAS NOT the result of the inward powerful working of the Holy Ghost, and the happy entering into our fellowship with the Father and the Son.
Everything that is a mere form, a mere habit and custom in divine things, is to be dreaded exceedingly: life, power, reality, this is what we have to aim after. Things should not result from without, but from within. The sort of clothes I wear, the kind of house I live in, the quality of the furniture I use, all such like things should not result from other persons doing so and so, or because it is customary among those brethren with whom I associate to live in such and such a simple, inexpensive, self denying way; but whatever be done in these things, in the way of giving up, or self-denial, or deadness to the world, should result from the joy we have in God, from the knowledge of our being the children of God, from the entering into the preciousness of our future inheritance, etc. Far better that for the time being we stand still, and do not take the steps which we see others take, that that it is merely the force of example that leads us to do a thing, and afterward it is regretted. Not that I mean in the least by this to imply we should continue to live in luxury, self-indulgence, and the like, whilst others are in great need; but we should begin the thing in a right way, i.e., aim after the right state of the heart; begin inwardly rather than outwardly. If otherwise, if will not last. We shall look back, or even get into a worse state than we were before. But oh, how different if joy in God leads us to any little act of self-denial! How gladly do we do it then! How much does the heart then long to be able to do more for Him who has done so much for us! We are far then from looking down in proud self-complacency upon those who do not go as far as we do, but rather pray to the Lord that He would be please to help our dear brethren and sisters forward who may seem to us weak in any particular point; and we also are conscious to ourselves that if we have a little more light or strength with reference to one point, other brethren may have more light or grace in other respects. 

Free Apostolic Wallpaper

This is what art I make when I listen to Art Katz. 

"A Call to Apostolicity"

The Zealousness of a People Set Apart

The Quakers sought to distance themselves from all forms of flattery and frivolity, which came in the manner of gambling, playing games of chance, instruments, singing, and dancing, theatre, drama, hunting, reading of sensual, thrilling, immoral, or romantic novels of any sort, wearing immodest or colorful worldly fashions, expensive or decorative furniture, addressing people in flattering titles, and non-productive conversation such as gossiping. The Quakers were a sober, peaceful, and stolid sort of people, far from being extravagant. They spoke little and valued silence. They worshipped without ceremony or program, often spending long hours of silence waiting on the Lord. I have much to learn from them!

It is better to be silent than to speak foolishly. Waiting on the Lord in silence requires a still and reverent spirit. Reverence for God was another characteristic of the Quakers. People found Quakers mystical as a body of believers, and they firmly believed in sanctification through belief and action.

The Moravian Brethren were a community. They lived, worked, and centered their lives for the brethren and had a strong emphasis of meditating on God’s Word daily, as well as strong center of prayer, prayer  that lasted a hundred years! They were pietists, emphasizing on the importance of a vigorous relationship with God and piety. A very devout and persecuted group, yet also very mission minded. They were the first to send missionaries, men and women who gave up everything and risked their lives to bring the gospel. They were also very orderly, and had watchman night and day who would pray and guard the community. A strong emphasis on Biblical living, community, and devotion was characteristic of the Moravians. The fruit of their ministry touched the entire world, including the Methodists. They were fond of quietness and rest too; aye.

The early Methodists are another group I admire. They resembled the Quakers in dress, except they were a very frugal, studious and methodical group. Unlike “unprogrammed worship”, the nature of the Methodists was of orderliness, consistency, and diligence. They had such a burden for souls, and suffered much to bring the gospel throughout the Americans. Circuit riders endured untold hardships and loneliness, abandonment and scorn, yet persevered to the very end, many laying down their lives for the lost. This sort of weary lifestyle caused many to die young. They had such an abhorrence of sin of any kind, and as a fellowship they would try and question one another so as to root out all sin. They took sanctification very seriously, and had an awesome fear of God. Anything frivolous or prideful was immediately condemned. Methodists firmly emphasized the actions of living faith and were very scrutinous regarding the fruits of salvation. What indeed drove them on was feverous love for God and fear of Him.

I know such a body of believers today and I see in them such graciousness of manner and fervent love for God. They have such an anointing of the Spirit and longing for nothing else but the presence of God. Many have given up their youth, family, success, and education all for one end: to serve Yeshua. And the fruit of their lives can be seen in the way they know the Word of God and in the way they love one another. Surely by this all men shall know that these are Yeshua’s disciples. They do not care what the world thinks, but simply what God wills. They shun the world unconsciously and are a living protest against the complacency and compromise of the Church. They live each day seeking the Spirit of God, His mind and His heart. Such joy, such peace that is among such a fellowship so in love with God that they do not care the least when the world scorns and mocks them; they seek Him to the uttermost, in much humility and fear of the Lord. In sorrow and sacrifice the love of God has proved victorious.

What drives us to live set-apart lives is the fear of God and great zeal for Him. In the reality of the Spirit there really is nothing hypocritical, superficial, or pseudo spiritual. We ought to love Him with all we are, that naturally leads us to live holy lives in ways that are pleasing to Him. We ought to want His kingdom so much as to loose from ourselves all fleshy and carnal burdens, pleasures of this life which are sinful. We ought to seek the image and character of the Messiah so much in His life, and study His Word, meditating on it day and night, praying without ceasing, concerning ourselves with nothing less than the knowledge of Yeshua the Messiah and Him crucified.

We can know the method and go through the motions without the grace and apostleship of our Lord, but it will result in fruitlessness and waste. It is empty religion that puts upon men burdens that are a pious luxury for a few but a foolish tempting of God for the disciple who has to go one living from day to day. Only the call and cross of our Master Yeshua the Messiah is necessary; no other burden need we place, for we have nothing to fear – if any man runs after Christ, all these other burdens He will cast away from them for the saving of their soul. Only one commandment and requirement is necessary and that is the commandment that is the very being of Yeshua Himself upon the cross – He is our righteousness, our redemption, and His act stands as a requirement to those who here give up their lives that they might eternally live.

How ought we to live as a people waiting for the return of our Lord?

“We can do nothing else but watch and wait,

Which means enthusiastically,
Totally taken up,

Deaf towards anyone who would make us confused with doubts,

Blind towards anything that comes between us and that future of God.

Only one thing is of importance to us.

We want to receive God

We want to know God

We want to hear God

We want to see God

We want to serve God.

We want inconceivably nothing else,

In any case, nothing like we want God!”

Why I’m Not Just a Natural Girl

I’m thinking a lot about natural things lately: the sun, the sky, herbs, making sprouted grain bread, drinking natural goat’s milk. But this morning as I worked the soaked grain bread with the plastic spatula I was reminded of what Scripture says.

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

(Romans 8:13 KJV)

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

(Romans 8:5-6 KJV)

If I live naturally, eat naturally, breathe naturally, and wear 100% all-natural cotton, it doesn’t make one bit of difference. I’m going to die. If we live according to the natural, and sin according to the natural, we die according to the natural.

It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

(1 Corinthians 15:44 KJV)

To be natural to be limited to our senses, to this realm, and to this earth. We don’t have spiritual understanding or spiritual awareness. According to what we see and think, we act. The flesh of a man consists of his physical flesh and his soul: his mind, will, and emotions.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

(1 Corinthians 2:14 KJV)

No matter how natural we are, we cannot avoid death, and we cannot avoid sin. Sin is natural to us, because we were born into it. Is there something pure and undefiled about creation, something tranquil and florescent? No. Creation was created in glory. Now Creation is subject to futility.

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

(Romans 8:22 KJV)

If we have ears to hear and eyes to see, we would see that everything of the flesh has a death sentence of it. If we have ears to hear, we would hear the groans and wailings of creation, its restlessness, its longing, to be restored and to see the sons of God in glory.

The value of worldly and earthly things is hyper-inflated. Like a giant bubble, it is colorful, attractive, sailing happily and smoothly.  One prick is all it takes for the world’s values, systems, programs, concepts, accomplishments, to drop as a little soapy splat on the infinite pavements of eternity. It will be no more.

I don’t just want to be a natural girl, or grow into a natural living woman, eco, green, organic and all-natural. I want to be a spiritual being. I want to have eternal life. I want a spiritual, eternal body. I want to have the eyes of the Spirit, to have discernment and not divination. I want to be a work of God’s hands, built according to His pattern, not according to self. I want to hear the voice of God that thunders, and deep within me stirs me to rise up, take up my cross, and follow Him, He being the sole object and focus of all my being.  

We can be as natural as we like, but unless we grasp, lay hold up, and root ourselves into that which is of God and of the Spirit, when we die, it will be as the natural grass of the field that naturally fades away. Here today and gone tomorrow.  

We won’t make a dent on destiny. We won’t affect eternity. We will just live happy, and die happy, that’s the end. How sad, if all we live for is this life. Futile. Vanity. Worthless. Passing.

But if we live for the kingdom, the eternal Kingdom, and the eternal Messiah, what joy, what life and peace!

God, make me a spiritual girl. Not merely an intelligent girl, pretty girl, witty girl, natural girl, talented girl, sweet girl, useful girl, or good girl, but a spiritual girl. Hey, but wait. Now in the Spirit there is no longer male nor female, circumcised nor uncircumcised, Jew nor Greek. Messiah is all and in all.

Are we going to bury our talents in this earth, or multiply them as an investment into eternity?

A Poem by Rebekah Mui, “Oh My Precious Hyper-Inflated World”

Oh My Precious Hyper-Inflated World,

Don’t go away, leave me, in a bit,

Stay around and don’t your surly lips curl,

I will be so ever good and sweet,

Fill your pockets with dainties you will never eat,

Dear me how quickly time goes by.

Hark! All time’s wasted by and by,

Why not invest a little quick pleasure,

Something tangible to treasure,

Something possible to measure,

Enjoy my own little gesture,

Feeding this little twinkie who will take my heart,

Fly away; drop and die, and drown.

What’s the harm.

Just a little fun.

Take a break from this endless sojourn,

To chat with the locals, tales to spurn,

While the hurricane nears the ground,

You don’t want to leave the town,

Your heart and your destiny forever bound,

In Futility.

With Him and In Him.

We think often about the glory of the Church in Christ. In eternity, and even now, we are literally His body, in Him and of Him.

It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

(2 Timothy 2:11-13 KJV)

We are yoked with Him.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

(Matthew 11:28-30 KJV)

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

(1 John 4:17 KJV)

And as He is the Son of God, we are made partakers of the divine nature, and are made sons of God.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

(1 John 3:1-2 KJV)

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

(2 Peter 1:4 KJV)

What a glory! It is an eternally supreme and wondrous glory, indescribable.

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

(John 17:22 KJV)

 And we the Body of Christ will be made One, just as One as He, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are One, and we are One in Him!

I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

(John 17:23 KJV)

And we will be perfected in this Oneness and glory, so that the majestic glory of Christ will be the glory of His saints!

But what is the nature of this glory?

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

(2 Thessalonians 1:10 KJV)

We like to think of the glory, but what precedes and catalyzes this glory? Why does the Father exalt the Son in such glory?

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:4-11 KJV)

Namely the cross. The cross of Yeshua the Messiah is the suffering before the glory, the labor before the birth, the pain before the joy, the shame before the exaltation, and the deaf before the life.

We are to take up our cross and follow Him. Yoked with Him, together with Him, we die. He puts to death everything of us – our inherent flesh, our inherent body, our inherent nature, our inherent goodness, and our inherent evil. Remember – we are born into the knowledge of good and evil, lest we think Christ puts to death our evil, we must not forget He put to death every good of ours, which when weighed by the eternal holiness of God is not goodness at all, nor right-doing, but filthy rags of wickedness. No matter how beautiful the fruit, it is bad, because the tree is bad, rotten, and deformed.

This glory comes only by the cross and nothing else. Next time I think of something great I want to do for God, I must put the cross to it – to death with myself! I must judge the effect and potential of such a doing with the power and glory of the cross, and my own works pale and shrink in estimation. What can we do that exceeds the wonder of the cross, what else can please God? Nothing save the cross of Yeshua the Messiah, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

Being yoked to Him, therefore, imagine ourselves chained to Him at the time of His rejection, trial, scorn, and crucifixion. Imagine the jeers of the crowd, the lashes of the whip; whatever fell of Him falls on you, for you are yoked with Him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

(Isaiah 53:3 KJV)

If they persecuted Him, will they do not persecute you? If they despised Him, they will despise you. If they reject Him, prepare to be rejected. Want to be His disciple? Want to be a Christian (follow of Christ)? Then you must take up your cross, following on behind Him, yoked alongside Him, and bound in Him.

Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

(Luke 6:26 KJV)

No, we will no be spoken well off; people will hide their faces from us, we will be despised by men, and not esteemed. We will be little and worthless both in the sight and men and ourselves. We will be utterly cast down, humiliated, and stripped of everything that makes us hold our head up high.

And that the Son of God, to whom belongs all glory and honor, should submit Himself to such a state, humble Himself under the agony of the cross, to take upon Himself all our suffering and shame! It then becomes only reasonable that we who love Him do the same, to follow in His steps, in Him. It becomes remarkably easier for us, because He is the one bearing the burden of the yoke. His grace poured out on us compels us and leads us on. Even the cross is not a work of ourselves, but the only thing required of us is to yield ourselves under the yoke. Then He will drive us, lead us, and His grace carries us, fills us with a hope beyond understanding, a faith beyond reason, and a love beyond bounds that will make us run towards the final eternal goal – the salvation of our souls, the Kingdom of Our Lord and of His Messiah.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

(Isaiah 53:5 KJV)

Are we willing to lay down our lives to Him in total surrender, knowing that wounds, bruises, chastisements, and stripes will be our lot, and yet in those suffering be filled with utmost joy? This then is the glory of the saints, for we suffer with Him.

Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

(1 Peter 4:19 KJV)

Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

(1 Peter 4:16 KJV)

See Him, carrying the cross, walking the Way of Suffering, mocked, spit upon, kicked, jeered. He looks back at His disciples. There you stand, you who have followed Him thus far. Yet now you can choose to be identified with Him, or hide your face and disappear in the crowd. Will you stand out? Would you walk forward, and stand with Him. Would You follow Him to the cross, pick up one Yourself, and then continue the rest of the way, led by the Son of God who laid down His life?  Yet is any man suffers are a follower of Messiah, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf!

It is easy to declare “O Lord, I will follow you to the death!” But this statement will not validate itself – it is spoken in ignorance, firstly of the implications of the cross and its cost, and secondly of the state of your own heart and your ability.

The disciples learnt a tough lesson at the eve of the Cross, for they had neither counted the cost nor checked their wallet, but out of impulsiveness and immaturity made such a statement.  

The rich young ruler counted the cost of discipleship, for the Lord made him to understand on no uncertain terms its requirement, but did not find in himself the ability. Thus he was heartbroken. That last stronghold in his life, the last barrier between himself and the cross, was not his money or his love but his pride, or self-trust. Finding in himself no such power, he turned away, so near to eternal life that he could almost breathe its everlasting refreshment, but so far away, as to miss it altogether.

We only need fall at His feet in tears and great longing, “Lord, forgive me for I am not able. I have this not in myself. I cannot follow you. But I throw myself onto Thy mercy and avail my soul before Thee.” Then His strength will be made perfect in our weakness.

And thus we shall come to understand the grace of God, for thus it shall be poured out on us.

But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; (1 Peter 3:14 KJV)

For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

(1 Peter 3:17 KJV)

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

(Revelation 2:10 KJV)

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

(Hebrews 11:24-25 KJV)

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

(2 Timothy 3:12 KJV)

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

(Romans 8:17-18 KJV)

Yea, as Christ suffered and died, so if we suffered with Him, we shall be glorified together!

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

(Isaiah 53:7 KJV)

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

(Isaiah 53:4 KJV)

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

(Isaiah 53:5 KJV)

Are we today willing to bear and carry the sorrows of His people? Are we today willing, in this suffering, to be judged by them as being punished by God for our own sins? Are we today willing be wrongfully accused, yet remain silent. To be right, yet treated as wrong?

God, make us willing to be made willing. Make us willing to yield under Your yoke, to lift up our hands in surrender to the nails and thorns that beflicted our Master Yeshua on the cross?

Make us choose the narrow way, to drink the deeply bitter cup of sorrows, griefs, afflictions, and the cross. Let us not only say with our lips that we are willing to drink Your cup, but with our hearts, souls, and minds, bound to the cross. We will not evade the cross, nor run from You in the time of Your affliction, but make us O Master to be willing to be shamed with You.  

There is not in us a desire for the Messiah’s cross, but an inborn distaste and repulsion against it. The Adversary fights against us with might and main, roaring in all the savageness of evil, circling us as wolves, waiting to bite and devour our souls. Yet Messiah ever lives to make intercession for us. The Spirit travails for us with unutterable groaning. Creation moans in restless longing. The Father preserves us to the end.

 Make us O Lord, let us be a vessel of Your making, a sacrifice to Your pleasure! Keep us faithful O Lord, never let our heart grow cold. May we persevere with all the perseverance of hope, through the fires, darkness, turmoil, and wrangling of this present age to be presented a purified, blameless, glorious, comely Bride, the Church and Body of our Messiah.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

(1 John 3:2 KJV)