For all of us who have found our freedom in the Savior, Messiah Yahushua, we must understand that the greatest cost to us is in maintaining that freedom. This is the journey I am on, and others who have realized that gaining, maintaining, and sharing our freedom is a lifelong endurance test that will end no sooner than those words that will be spoken by the Master Himself–‘Well done, good and trustworthy servant. You were trustworthy over a little, I shall set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
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On 4/22/17, I finished the Freedom in Messiah Manual by Neil Anderson.
Neil said that we are not called to dispel the darkness, we are called to turn on the light. You don’t get rid of negative thoughts by rebuking every one, you get rid of them by repenting and choosing the truth.
The only weapon the enemy has against me is lying. He is the father of all lies. It is his nature and what he does. His power comes when his lies are believed. He is the great masquerader. One has to know the truth if they are going to try and make someone disbelieve the truth.
A lie gains power when it is believed—when it is accepted as truth. And lies are only as powerful as the deception that perpetrates the lie. The serpent is a master deceiver, making its victims perceive that he is for them and not against them. I’ve known people who sought truth, yet they were deceived? Why? Because the truth is sought for selfish reasons. The truth was sought for the glory of self. This ‘seeking’ is at the core of the New Age Movement (NAM). The real truth remains hidden while its alternate is given a front stage pass. Why does the alternative to truth (lies) seem to be so powerful in getting people to follow it? Because people naturally follow their heart – a compass that is wicked to the core.
People follow alternative truth because the real truth demands a change in them. This is called the ‘tickling ear’ syndrome. And what does the truth demand? It demands that I give up my selfish desires—what I want to hear—what I want to see.
Why do people follow a lie? Because they are blinded to the truth. The followers of Lucifer actually believe that he will rule the world through one man soon. When Messiah was tempted in the wilderness, Lucifer told just enough truth that would make, and has made many buy off on it. Was it true that Lucifer could give Messiah (or any man) all that was in his power to give? Yes. The kicker was that Messiah (or any man) would have to give themselves to him entirely in order to receive it. There is nothing free in this world or in the unseen realm.
The Word of Elohim finishes the statement that Satan fails to completely reveal to us. Messiah knew that He could not serve two masters. The Word of Elohim gives us the end story, the end picture—filling in all the blanks. THIS is why we must FILL our minds with it because partial truth is more dangerous than an outright lie.
The other day, we watched a movie about an atheist who turns to Messiah in the end. I won’t tell you the name of the movie because the statement I will use here may spoil the movie for those who know what movie I’m talking about, yet haven’t seen yet. People are blinded to the truth because many times, they don’t want to see it. Either that is a sovereign work of Yahuweh who blinded the eyes of Judas for the purposes of His own will, or it is because people honestly don’t want to face what is right in front of them…
As I continued through the freedom manual, I confessed: “By submitting my body as a living and set-apart sacrifice to You, I choose to renew my mind by Your Living Word. Then, I will be able to prove that Your will is good, acceptable (pleasing) and perfect for me.”-based on Romans 12:2
If Adam and Eve had done this, putting on the full armor, standing against the serpent’s schemes, then they would not have believed the lie that Yahuweh’s will for them was bad. Satan got them to believe that Elohim was against them, and that His will for them was not good, pleasing and perfect. He used his lies to turn them against the only One who ever loved them. That is his source of trickery, for from this proceeds forth all forms of evil. At the core of even the worse of sinners, a door was opened at one time for them to believe the lie that there is no one good but Lucifer.
The actual lie of the garden was not so much as that they would become like Elohim, knowing good and evil, but that Yahuweh was withholding something they needed. Thus they set out on a search for an ‘alternative savior’—one that would not withhold all they desired. Isn’t that the theme of today—the latter days?
The lie convinced them that Yahuweh was bad and that He was against them and His will for them was imperfect, displeasing and bad. People with tickling ears only accept what will sooth their hunger for self-gratification. If Satan can convince people that he is the ‘alternative savior’ they’ve been looking for and that only he has the power to give them what they desire, than there is no need to look elsewhere. Wide is the gate…
The true power of discernment must be exercised to recognize the deceiver behind the lies. If we can recognize, discern what voice it is that is speaking to us, then we will not have any problem holding fast to the truth.
Lies will not come in if the voice that is speaking those lies is silenced.
Messiah’s first response in Matthew 24 to His disciples when they asked Him about the signs that were to take place before He returned was: “be careful that you are not deceived.” Messiah said chaos was coming, but the world says, ‘peace and safety’.
People who are masters of persuasive speech, have the unique gift of steering large amounts of people in the direction they want to go. There is a mesmerizing, hypnotizing sound that exudes from the speech of master deceivers.
The world is conditioned to accept or reject people based upon their credentials. Speakers, even in the Christian arena, who desire to speak at large events, or even churches sometimes, must have credentials (a resume) if they will be considered to speak. People seem to pay more mind to those who have a good sounding resume, and solid credentials. Now, I am not saying that having credentials to speak at a conference is a bad thing, because there are a lot of crazy people out there. However, one thing that is absolutely necessary, is discernment. It is sad to mention that discernment of character has been replaced by what is written down on a piece of paper. Messiah Yahushua’s resume was Himself—hardly enough credentials in the eyes of many organizations, churches and venues today. I wonder if He would be taken more seriously if He was introduced as Dr. Yahushua. (smile)
With Yahushua, it’s not the miracles He performed, or what He said that many people had issues with when it came to believing in Him, it was the requirement to ‘come and follow’. People want the goodness of ‘God’ without the ‘God’ of goodness. They want the blessings of ‘God’ without the ‘God’ of the blessings.
Sometimes, it is not the message that holds the weight in importance, but the messenger who delivers it. The messenger holds the power to persuade. If a messenger changes the tone of the message, the urgency changes. If a messenger adds or takes away from the message, the power of the word falls to the ground. This is why truth falls to the ground (Isaiah 59:14), not because it is not of importance, but because the one who is delivering it, alters it just enough, in order to get the hearer to believe the sincerity of the messenger over the message itself.
This is how big names in Christianity gain such popularity. Little by little, the message of truth is watered down but the esteem of the messenger, by the people, is strengthened. If people can get others to listen to them long enough, gaining a faithful following, it doesn’t matter what the message is because the people are loyal to the messenger. This IS the workings of the spirit of the anti-messiah.
It is in humans to submit to a higher authority—Lucifer knows this. As long as he can twist the truth enough for it to fit in with peoples belief systems, they will eventually buy off on anything the deceiver says is true—even outright lies. Why? Because it is what the people want. ‘Just give me what I want and I will serve you’, they say.
Since the Word of Elohim and the Son of Elohim are the same, The Messenger and the Message are equal. Messiah will never alter who He is for the sake of gaining a certain following of people. People must bend to Him. He will not alter or bend to others to gain the popularity vote.
A deceiver uses his power to alter the message for their own, or their leaders agenda. The real power of Satan and his messengers is their ability to get humans to listen to them. The lie will never be believed if no one pays attention to what the messenger has to say.
The Messenger of Yahuweh has no interest in His own agenda, so He delivers the message of the King verbatim—same tone and urgency as received from the Throne. Can you imagine a young servant that is chosen by his king to deliver a message to his enemy, and that young servant, unknowingly to the king, has an alternative agenda? What if the servant is an informant? What if ‘withholding or changing’ the information in the message would bring him some sort of personal gain? Regardless, if found it, it would be a treasonist action against the king who trusted the delivery of his word. A servant of Yahuweh must be trusted to deliver His Word accurately—every single time.
I am continuing to learn everyday that it is my job to speak only what the King has said. It is what my Master Yahushua did. He only spoke what He heard and if He only was tuned into His Father’s Spirit, of course He would only speak His Father’s words. I am beginning to understand that my power to dispel the darkness in my life is not a power given to me, but a sovereign work of the Spirit of Elohim. My job is to turn ON the light—turn TOWARDS the Light—repent! And once I do this, the nature of the Light takes over and HE dispels the darkness from me! HalleluYah! Our greatest weapon is in the power of repentance—relinquishing anything that can be used by the accuser against us. If there is nothing he can accuse us for, than he has no power over us—no authority over us.
True repentance is turning away from what you were doing, and walking the opposite direction. It is turning away from evil, towards what is good. It is turning TOWARDS the Light, and away from darkness. If I turn towards the Light, and WALK in the Light, then my path will grow brighter and brighter as the noon day sun (Proverbs 4:18).
True freedom comes when you realize that you cannot free yourself. He who the Son sets free is free indeed (John 8:36). If freedom comes by the hand of the Son, then it is true freedom. When I am bound, I cannot see true freedom. Only the Son can reveal to me what true freedom is. False freedom will keep a person imprisoned in the worst state a person can be imprisoned in—believing they are free but still living behind the bars. That is called being a slave to fear and darkness—a cycle of tragedy.
Lately, I’ve had to face many truths about myself. And only until recently, have I realized that my freedom rests in my willingness to open my eyes and ‘see’ those truths and no longer pretend that they do not exist. It takes great courage to look at something ugly—to face the reality that I’m just not “perfect” yet. Why do you think the enemy comes as a beautiful messenger of light? If he didn’t, his lies wouldn’t be so palatable, now would they? Who wants to eat or drink something that looks putrid? The real work of the enemy is not the message he carries, but in how that message is presented. He is the father of lies, and the master at getting people to believe in those lies. This is why deception is one of the main topics of the Renewed Covenant (New Testament).
“Neither give place to the devil.”—Ephesians 4:27
He has nothing to sell us that we need. Shut the door—slam the door when He comes knocking! That’s it.. That is the secret of overcoming. Because if we give him a second of our time, he will take a lifetime to convince us that we need what he is offering.
The eyes of Adam and Eve were opened and they knew they were naked. If our eyes are not opened, and we are unaware that we are naked, and pitiful, and blind, we will continue to go about, dressed in the wardrobe that Lucifer has convinced us to put on. Where is the shame when it is all covered up with pride? Read Isaiah 66:1-2 and see who Elohim looks upon.
If we do not begin to see how the Almighty sees us (not only as righteous in His Son, but poor, naked and in need of Him), then we will continue to reject the very thing that Yahuweh places in our lives to bring us closer to Him. I like what Coach Dave said at the conference in Dallas last month. I have used it since because it rings so true. Whenever he and his wife are in an intense battle, a heated argument, Coach would stop in the middle of it and ask his wife: “are you on my side? You are not my enemy!”
The solution to so many chaotic events and problems within our lives can be found if we just recognize the source. The battle can be over before it begins if we can only see who our real enemy is. IF the enemy cannot deceive us, he cannot lie to us. If we refuse to open the door, we will not be tempted to buy his wares.
His deception is ever present—it is our willingness to open the door to that deception that allows him the opportunity to pitch his damnable lies. We must close every door that has the scent of sulfur. Our spiritual smelling apparatus is only intensified and sharpened the longer we spend time inhaling the sweet incense of a good, just and righteous King! If we pleasant our sense of smell with the scents of our precious Bridegroom, all other odors will be displeasing. The greatest aroma of the Bridegroom comes during the time of rest—the weekly Sabbath. The longer we spend with him, the more His aroma rubs off on us.
If were used to smelling sulfur, then were used to accepting the bearer of this grotesque scent. How will we ever grow to learn of the sweetness of the presence of Elohim if we continually buy incense from another vendor? The five senses are designed to work together for the good of perceiving accurately, the reality of the world around us. It is a known fact that when one sense is taken away, that the other four team up and become more sensitive. This is to take up the burden for the one sense that is lost.
We see this with someone who is blind. We do not have to see a fire for there to be one. Even while driving down the road, we may not see the flames, but we smell the smoke. And because we smell the smoke, we know there is something burning somewhere and that there are flames. Just because one sense does not pick up what the others are sensing, doesn’t take away the truth of the circumstance.
I believe that sometimes, for our growth and maturity in our walk with the Spirit of Elohim, that He ‘handicaps’ one of our senses in the spirit, so that we will perceive all that He is trying to show us. In order to enhance our spiritual sense of smell, He may allow us sometimes to be deceived by appearances of good. If were only relying upon what we can see, what happens when the messenger of darkness comes to us in robes dressed in light? Demons can mask how they appear, but at their core, they smell of rotting decay and sulfur. Our senses in the Spirit must be heightened and sharpened if we will survive the days ahead. Deception is the prevalent spirit and we must know how to discern it.
Many times, we open the door to the demons in our lives by complete naivety. Father has mercy and compassion on us when we have done so. Sometimes, it may take an entire lifetime to realize that what we did in innocence is what has caused us so much grief and pain.
Sometimes, those doors are opened for us by others when we are not old enough to be aware of what is happening. Realizing that I was an innocent victim, because of the many doors that were opened in my life by certain people, is not what set me free. What set me free was not allowing a victims mentality to flourish in my life, as though somehow now I have a license to do whatever I want because I was a victim. I may not have been able to change what happened to me, by the doors that were opened, but be it certain that I DO have the power to close those doors and to change what WILL happen to me.
My victimhood should add power to my testimony, and not manipulate others to feel sorry for me so that my need for attention is met. I must use what happened to me to free others, and not as an excuse to grow fat on an unending supply of attention by pity. Do I use the pit I was in as a selfish ploy to get people to bow to my every desire, or do I use it to crush my desires for the joy of setting people free? Do I want to live my life with all eyes on me or on the One who rescued me?
Freedom comes at a cost. Messiah’s life was shed for my freedom. That freedom was given in selflessness. There is nothing to do but to take that freedom with thanksgiving. NOW, Derek, what do I do with the freedom that I have been given? Shall I use it for good or for evil? There is no other use for it besides one or the other.
The freedom I acquired in Messiah was free, but the ability to maintain that freedom will cost me my life. THIS—is the realization we all must come to. The chosen ones of the dark side have no problem with giving their life for the freedom they believe they have. Why has it taken me some forty odd years to realize what the servants of darkness have realized all along?
This journey of freedom…it’s a gift. And when my Master returns, what shall I have to show for the gift He so preciously gave me? I’m afraid that if all I have are excuses to why I did not exercise my freedom, then I will have to return His gift (Matthew 25). There would then be found no place for me in the Kingdom, because the Kingdom is reserved for those who have stayed out of prison, and have used their freedom to free others.
Lucifer is not afraid of the majority who go around professing their free gift of ‘freedom’ from his kingdom, because he knows that very few actually do anything with their gift of freedom. He is interested in the masses and if he can convince the masses that they can have their freedom but still keep a connection to his kingdom, then he knows that they already belong to him. As a general of the dark kingdom, Lucifer knows full well of what loyalty to a master entails. He knows that ‘they will be back’ if there is not a clean break from his kingdom.
So who is Lucifer afraid of then? The few! He believes that with his many, that he can overcome the few. But, it is the few who have made the decision to never return to his kingdom, and to use the gift of freedom to bring collateral damage to it.
As for me…I will never return. I am the one of the few he fears because I am doing something with my freedom. I am maintaining it in the Son Whom has given me this gift, and I pray that as He turned my fears into a key, that I will go forth unselfishly unlocking the prison cells of those whose desire is to be rescued from the dark realm.
This is my journey of freedom. This is what I choose today–how about you?