I was up sometime after 12:45am, and could not go back to sleep. So I did what I normally do–talk to Abba about anything and everything.
One of the obvious subjects was family–how especially after the events of the past week, I felt more ostracized than ever, not even getting a phone call to let me be part of birthday celebrations and to see my grandson. I’ve asked the LORD to forgive me countless times, just in case there was something I missed. It has been almost a year that this estrangement has been going on without any improvement, and yes, although I know it is also the work of the unseen evil ones, us humans have a lot to answer for at the Judgment of how we treated one another.
So as I sat there crying, the Spirit said to me, “Do you not realize that the more holy and obedient you have become, the further people have distanced themselves from you? It is a natural occurrence, especially in the light of your improved faith walk.”
😳Holy?? I immediately said, “LORD, I am not that holy of a person, especially 🙄with my mouth–not that it’s bad, but I know you don’t like certain words I say. I do not consider myself to be “holy”, but a wretched sinner who is saved by Yeshua HaMaschiach, my Lord and my King.”
The Spirit said, “The light that has emanated from you since your improved faith walk with Me, has gotten brighter; to a point where now that when your light shines, it makes them look away, because they do not like the brightness that ends up exposing their own sins. Hence their distancing themselves from you, to the point where they would rather be walking around in utter darkness rather than having the Light on them.”
“Also, you remember what was said about this time–about the coldness of men’s hearts and how they would be.”
“Yes–Matthew 24:12–“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” “That’s exactly what has happened, and I know not only to myself, but to so many others of my brothers and sisters. It’s just a horrible feeling of loss.”
“What is funny is that you, Daughter, consider others holy (like St. John Vianney, the prophets, other Christians down the centuries, etc.), yet do you not think they struggled in their sins as well? They sure did. I said in My Word, “Be holy as I am holy”–you are doing so by following Me and My Word. That is all I ask.”
“So then, LORD, I hope that our lights shine even brighter, as the world gets darker and darker with this evil. Just like I see more stars, the darker the night becomes.”
As sinful as we all are, the LORD God sees us as He called us to be–a holy people, yet having to discipline ourselves constantly (although it does get a little easier 😊 as time goes on) to make sure we stay on that Path He called us to, because after all, isn’t He worth it? After all He has done for us–even to the point of sacrificing His Son for us–should we not make a concerted effort to live out holy lives for Him, to “let your lights shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in Heaven”? (Matt. 5:16) He most certainly IS worth it.
I may still feel weird (even by the LORD calling me “holy”) being called “holy”, but I understand that’s just because I still see myself as I was years ago. One of the last things He said to me very early this morning was, “That is the way you WERE; you are no longer that person.”🥰 He sees me for who I am NOW in Christ. A sinner, yes, yet one who recognized the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as Someone who I could never want to live without. 💖✡📖✝🕊💖
This has been on my heart for some time. When I saw today’s “Daily Verse” on The Catholic Company’s devotional today (of all places!) the Spirit inside of me decided today was the day to speak about a certain issue that I noticed in the Church, specifically, the Roman Catholic Church, and the more specifically, the Latin (Extraordinary) form of the Mass.
Now, before you start raising eyebrows and want to silence me (because 🙄that’s what normally happens), HEAR what the HOLY SPIRIT has to say about this part of worship in HIS Holy Scriptures.
Yes—this is a “Holy Spirit” rant within me, and I am going to let Him say whatever He wants to say, because honestly, the TIME is SHORT, and God’s people are in such a mess spiritually and Scripturally, that only the grace and mercy of God is keeping us ALL (and I do mean ALL!) from eternal perdition at this point (“as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one…”—Rom. 3:10; see also Rom. 3:20,23)
The ONE main problem I have encountered as a Catholic growing up, and now again as a revert, is how most of the the faithful church goers do NOT read their Bibles. Church history teaches that the laity were not taught to read and study the Word of God. Hence they do not know the very verses I just copied from Scripture on the image (notice the man’s outstretched😉hands?😏)I purposely chose.
So certain authoritarian figures of the Church down through the millennia, made decisions on what the celebrant can do, and what the laity can and cannot do, without paying mind to what the LORD GOD said WE can do, in His Word.
This has been the crux of the problem with the hierarchy of the Church almost since the beginning.
“Man’s interpretation”—I’ve 🙄heard that until my ears have almost bled, yet the very ones that say that, know very little themselves what is IN the Holy Scriptures!
It🤔seems like every human being that desired to follow the LORD God, accepted Jesus Christ as (or at least😕should have)BOTH Savior AND Lord of their lives, FORGOT what the Lord Jesus said was to happen when a person truly becomes a child of the Most High, the LIVING God: the Holy Spirit (Jn. 3:3,5,7) comes INTO that person, ONLY because that person made a DECISION (if it was a true and certain one!) to accept the Lord Jesus, and then the Holy Spirit DWELLS IN that person (Jn. 14:16-17; 16:13-14; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:14).
There’s no hard saying here enough to confuse anyone—it’s simple enough to understand that because of Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension, and then sending the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to the disciples (Acts 1:5, 8; 2:1-4), that was appointed time HE was to LIVE IN us! The Lord Jesus not only made it so, but He told us BEFORE He even did it(Jn. 14:16-17; 15:26; 16:7-11).
And if there is one thing that has irritated me more than most other things pertaining to the faithful—that I, even I as a wretched sinner saved by the grace and mercy of God, yet I must “occupy” (Lk 19:13) until the Lord Jesus comes back, and “endure to the end” (Matt. 24:13) in order to be saved and counted as one of the righteous—is that many who profess faith in the Lord Jesus, have forgotten that it is the HOLY SPIRIT Who (notice the capital “W”??) is to LEAD and GUIDE us, teaching us these very things that are in Scripture, bringing them to our MEMORY (Jn. 14:26), so that we would not end up making all these exegetical and hermeneutical errors in Scripture?? But it is like no one even BELIEVES that the Holy Spirit, the THIRD PERSON in the TRIUNE GODHEAD, even DWELLS in them!!
From the top down when it comes to ecclesiastical hierarchy, from whatever “branch” of Christianity one hails from (there never was supposed to be all these splits in the Church!), EVERY person, no matter what title they took for themselves, or someone gave them, WILL be held responsible and accountable for NOT teaching the faithful the REAL hermeneutical and exegetical Holy Spirit-inspired teachings of Holy Scripture!! The LORD God never meant for man to just “figure it out” on his own—THAT is exactly why the Holy Spirit was to LIVE IN each and every true child of the LIVING God who “called upon the name of the Lord to be saved (Rom. 10:13; Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21)”. The problem is, most human spirits, even those who call themselves believers of God, do not HUMBLE themselves enough to even trust the LORD God that He WOULD carry out His Word, and dwell with them 24/7.
If a person who professes to know the LORD God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit, thought about that enough each and every day, that they actually HAVE the LIVING HOLY GOD dwelling INSIDE of them, they (we!) would all most likely watch more what we would think, do, and say. Maybe, just maybe, IF we “had ears to hear” what the Spirit said to us (Rev. 2:11,17; 3:6,13, 22), and actually paid ATTENTION to HIS interpretation of Scripture, instead of what we all “think” it means, we would not have split up thousands of times, and had so many different Christian sects out there in the world, to further confuse those who know not the LORD, and also drive them farther away from ever wanting to have a relationship with Him. 🤨😣😞
So what did this all have to do with my pointing out the earlier verses about “lifting holy hands” and “singing” and “dancing” -especially within the temple of the LORD?
WE ARE THE TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD (1 Cor. 3:16-17,19; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 2:21). WE are commanded to PRAISE Him, WORSHIP Him, give Him thanks and LIFT UP our holy hands to Him in both worship and when we pray. The early church, and even those worshippers in the Old Testament did not seem to have issues like we have now—who’s raising their hands in church, who’s folding their hands a certain way, who’s singing louder or who’s NOT singing, who’s dancing in the aisles, who’s praying in a certain ecclesiastical language (Hebrew, Latin, Aramaic, Greek) in church—or not; who’s better than who because they go to a certain church and sing certain songs, whether an organ is playing, or someone plays a guitar, or NO instruments are “allowed” to be played (like some of the Amish, for example), but only singing is permitted, etc. WHO made up all these extra “rules”?? WHERE are they in Scripture?? And WHO (hint-I know it is demonic-a fiery dart🤨) started all the arguments about NOT reading the Bible because we may not be able to understand it all, so it was better for only CERTAIN people of the clergy to read it TO us, and explain it??
THIS is the reason why man’s so-called “Christian witness” to the unsaved and unregenerate looks so hypocritical! Because almost ALL believers in Christ were not trained by their clergymen (who they themselves NO longer were LISTENING!) to HEAR what the Spirit says—so how can anyone who is under the authority of such men of God, ever possibly KNOW such things in Scripture, if they are not taught them? And how is a person of God to GROW and MATURE in their spirit man, ALSO knowing how to fight the very enemy of our souls—the one who desires to see mankind FAIL miserably, and end up in the same eternal fire as they are destined to be in? HOW does one solve all these problems, and many more (individual, marital, family, church, social, global)? One who truly has the Spirit of the LIVING God inside of them would not get all flustered about people lifting up their hands in church to pray or praise God, because they would already know that Scripturally, it is permitted, and God is pleased with such that praise Him, whether they desire to lift their hands in the sanctuary, or not. The important point of it is—they ARE to pray to Him, and also praise and glorify Him!
DO what the WORD OF GOD tells you to do. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD. With my WHOLE HEART I seek You; let me not wander from YOUR (not man’s!) commandments! I have stored up YOUR WORD in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD; TEACH me Your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of Your mouth…I will meditate on YOUR precepts and fix my eyes on YOUR ways…I will delight in Your statutes; I will NOT forget Your Word”(Psalm 119:9-13, 15-16).
ALLOW the HOLY SPIRIT to be that ONE Spirit that Paul the Apostle spoke of in Ephesians 4:4-6, to lead and guide you. There was only supposed to be ONE BODY of CHRIST—as it is written in Ephesians 4-6, “There is ONE body and ONE Spirit—just as you were called to the ONE Hope that belongs to your call—ONE Lord, ONE faith, ONE baptism, ONE God and Father of all, Who is over all and THROUGH all and IN all.”
But, is He really “IN” all professing Christians? LOOK at their “fruit”—see if it is good, or rotten. That is what the Lord Jesus told us to do, is it not? Are those who are in leadership within the BODY of Christ (no matter what sect they are in, or hail from—they will ALL be held accountable—James 3:1; 1 Peter 4:5; Heb. 13:17). ALL of us will be held accountable for what we learned not only from those leaders, but also ON OUR OWN, and have to stand before the Lord Jesus at the Day of Judgment (Matt. 12:35-37)—none of us will escape that.
If this post has been something that has made you think about where you stand with the Lord Jesus, and whether or not you fully have the Holy Spirit leading and guiding you, then spend time reading all these verses I put in this post, including these here: Ps. 143:10; Ez. 37:1; Rom. 8:4; Matt. 4:1; Acts 8:29; 10:19-20; 13:4; 16:7; 20:22; Gal. 4:6; 5:22; 1 John 3:24; Rev. 4:2, 17:3. SPEND TIME in prayer to the LORD God, and ASK (as the Lord Jesus told us to do in Matt. 7:7) the Holy Spirit to TEACH, GUIDE, CORRECT, INSTRUCT, CHASTISE (where necessary), ENCOURAGE, and COMFORT you, each and every waking day henceforth. Ask Him to REMIND you of His Word, by also READING and STUDYING and MEDITATING (Joshua 1:8-9) on it, so that it will embolden and empower you to speak that very Word of God out, when the Spirit INSIDE you, desires for it to be SHARED with others, as you have seen me do (because He leads me to do it!).
I lovingly CHALLENGE all of you who call yourselves children of God, and followers of Christ, to make sure you have the ONE Holy Spirit leading and guiding you daily. Also, have Him point out anything that is NOT to be in you, and ask the Holy Spirit to deliver you from any and all evil spirits that have managed to influence you in whatever way, making you stray from His Word, and causing confusion and contention with it. Allow the Spirit of God to “sanctify” you, “cleansing” you “by the washing with water through the Word”, so that He can “present you to Himself as a glorious Church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:26).
Once I knew my true birth name of “Geist”–it stunned me how the LORD God can be that precise-in everything! I heard the Spirit of God speaking to me ever since I was a child. The first verse I learned in 1st grade Religion class, “I have called you by name; You are Mine” (Is. 43:1) meant the world to me. He’s always been with me; He’s never left my side. And then, 50+ years later, I find out even more about my connection with Him.
His Name. Geist = spirit, or ghost. Heiligen Geist = Holy Ghost/Spirit in German.
It was fitting and made total sense, seeing that the Lord placed me on a Path that deals with Spiritual Warfare, to want to help those who are spiritually bound with demonic entities, keeping them from the peace and freedom they could have with the Lord Jesus.
Hence the reason why the Lord has directed me to go to school, to learn His Word, in the ancient languages–Hebrew, Latin, and Greek (and Aramaic this summer on my own), in order to fulfill the WALK that the Spirit of God laid for me on this Path.
And once I am done with schooling this May with my Master’s in Biblical Languages, I will begin another Master’s class for Pastoral Counseling, in order to get further education in counseling, in order to help those who are in need of spiritual breakthroughs in their lives; to help break the demonic chains that have bound them all their lives. To allow the LORD God through the Holy Spirit to set them free, in order to accept the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord of their lives.
It really was all this time, in the name. It just had to be revealed to me, and now hopefully it is made clearer to you. Maybe the Lord has more to reveal to you about you and your walk with Him.
Walking IN the Spirit every day of our lives, as fallible as we are, will reveal what the LORD God has always had in store for us.
I finally found out what my destiny was-to be a mouthpiece for the LORD God and His Son, Jesus, and to walk in and by the Holy Spirit, letting Him lead and guide me by faith, every day, until it is Time for me to go Home to Him.
Allow the Spirit of God to show you what YOUR Path is with Him. WALK that walk of faith–yes, IN the dark, most likely, for “we walk by faith, and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). Remember, “Hope that is SEEN is not hope” (Rom. 8:24). It MUST be by faith in Him, in the Spirit, and talking about it is not enough.
It MUST be a WALK. LIVE in the SPIRIT, and WALK in the SPIRIT.
Photo credit: The Holy Face of Jesus, Shroud of Turin
It is as simple as humbling yourself before the Almighty God and Savior, Confessing your sins, Asking for forgiveness, And wholeheartedly desire to serve Him, So that He can grant you Mercy and Grace, Forgiveness and a New Life In Him.
If you have not asked the Lord Jesus to help you live out your life, and have been struggling all these years, relying only on yourself and proud, unrepentant, sinful men, What are you waiting for?
GO to Him. TODAY. Start a brand new day with a Brand New Life in Jesus Christ. You will NEVER be the same again.
I shared this post this morning with a group thread I admin , and right after I did, I suddenly felt that HS “nudge” to share it far and wide, so here it is, emojis and all! We do not know how many more days we each have left here (read Psalm 90), and we should try and be mindful of that (Memento Mori). Since we have no idea when our last day will be here on Earth, we should live like today IS our last day, and do and say for the Lord ALL that we can, to honor Him, His Word, and WALK that walk of FAITH He has called us to. We each have a job to do, so let’s just DO IT, for HIM, for all of humanity, and for the sake of their precious souls. Let’s be BOLD, be LOVING, be TRUTHFUL, and be the GOOD SERVANT of our MASTER, the LORD Jesus Christ.
🙄Let me say something really quick: I know that I speak about a lot of “negative” things in this world; most people do not want to hear it, and would rather concentrate on the “postive vibes” only. Well—that’s not telling the truth and the reality of the matter. I’m🙁sorry if what I report here, or share with you is not always 🌞and 🌈 and 🦄; I wish it could be—I really do, but far too long the world has been on the “bread and circuses” plan, not seeing what REALLY has been going on in the background. Actually🤔some of it was right in our faces☹️, and we STILL were 🙉🙊and 🙈to it all.
I know I was, when I was between 22-25 years old. The Lord tried so hard to get me to SEE it, and realize how evil this world was, in order for me to take up the role He had for me😕, but😣I rejected it, at least most of the “hard” stuff—until 6 years ago. Oh, 🙄I’d mention this or that to people back then, especially family, and I’d get 🙄eye rolls and 🤯shocked looks, and before you know it, 😒they’d corner me and tell me to 🤫 shush about those things—that they weren’t as real as I thought they were. 😣
So for the sake of having RELATIONSHIPS, whether family or friends, I 🤐zipped the lip on most of it, and kept it to myself.
BUT NO MORE. For the last six years, I have let it ALL out—both good, bad, sensitive to the ears—whatever I have been told to share with people by the Lord, I have done it. The result? I’ve lost many, even some of my closest family members, who have “distanced” themselves from me😞, which has broken my heart💔 all because of speaking the TRUTH. I know some may think I go “too far”, but the Lord Jesus did not think that when He hung on the Cross for us; NOTHING was “too far” for Him to do—He just wanted to make a way back for us to the Father. And if telling the truth, and speaking it out to all, having most reject what He said, was the way to do it, knowing just a FRACTION of the people would accept Him, well—He thought it was the best way. And so do I, His servant. Hence the reason why I follow in my Master’s footsteps.
Why shouldn’t😐we then, do the same😕? Take that chance—that same “risk” that the LORD did—tell the truth LOVINGLY, as it is written—“speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15), and let God do the rest. IF they respond positively, you may have helped win a soul to Christ, and will see them in Eternity. If they do NOT, and then end up rejecting YOU, remember what Jesus said, “If the world hates you, remember it hated Me first” (Jn. 15:18). They will most likely end up in perdition😖😣, but at least your hands will be clean (Ez. 3:20-21). You have done what the Lord wanted you to do, and He will honor you for obeying His voice, and NOT the voice of the world (or your family, friends, etc. ).
So GO, and do likewise—make the Triune Godhead proud and honor Him by sharing His WORD on your social media pages; let HIM “do the talking” through His Word, but make sure you DO IT. And 🤨if someone tells you that they do NOT like what you are putting out there😒, tell them that both you AND they will be answering to a MUCH Higher Authority ✡️📖✝️ One Day. 😉🙂 And bid them farewell, pray for them, and keep moving FORWARD in your FAITH, even IF you “lose” them in the process. It is written, “The servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (Jn. 13:16). The verse before that (15) is what I will end this with: “I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you.”📖✝️
My new illustrated devotional is now LIVE on Amazon! I used a beautiful picture for the cover, and you will find many other colorful pictures with Scriptures and inspirational quotes on each of the pages with the devotionals.
The book can be purchased through Amazon in either hardcover, paperback, or Kindle format.
This book would make a beautiful gift for someone, and the devotionals are no more than a 5-10 minute read. It is a great way to start your day, during a mid-day break, or before you settle in for the night, to read a little bit of Scripture, then meditate and pray on it.
I hope you will check it out! I do also have the first of my three book series, “Walking in the Dark with FAITH” for sale. The 12-month devotional is based off of my first year and a half of my faith journey, with Scripture verses that stood and spoke out to me during that time. Just look up the above mentioned title and “12 Month Devotional” to find it.
I am trying to hopefully finish the second of my three-book faith journey series (the subtitle will be, “A Season of Trials, Temptations and (Many!) Tears”), before the end of this month, especially before my fall grad classes start again. Once they do, that takes up most of my time and energy. I will make another post when the book is available.
Thank you so much in advance if you do go ahead and purchase any of my books; right now, it is my only income because of the amount of schoolwork I have to endure. But I realize the more I write, the more I am enjoying it. It definitely is proving to be something the Lord wanted me to do all along—I just did not initially think I had it in me to write a book, and now I just completed my third one; amazing what a person can do when they allow the Spirit to move within them and use the gifts that He gives to us. Not only does it end up blessing me and honoring Him, but it also blesses those who read the books and get inspired and encouraged by them. God bless!
BUT, realize when you do all these things, it IS for certain that you will: Lose friends like Jesus did. Lose family members like Jesus did. Have people ignore you like they did to Jesus. Have those who were the closest to you, as best friends, even, no longer want to talk to you or see you anymore, like what they did to Jesus (that actually happened to Joseph and Mary, His parents, as well). Have people hate you for no reason at all, like they hated Jesus. Have people ostracize you, like they did Jesus. Have people tell lies about you, like they did to Jesus. Have some want to even harm you or kill you, like how they wanted to do to Jesus. Have some put curses on you, like they did with Jesus. Have people not include you in family gatherings anymore, because your love for Jesus. Have people try to silence you because of your love for Jesus.
The devil moves people to see you as their enemy, because you put God and His Word first in your life, as Jesus did. They will persecute you, because they persecuted Jesus.
No matter how many times you reach out, No matter how many times you try to let them know you still love them, No matter how many times you tell them you miss them and want to stay in touch with them, No matter how successful and accomplished you can be-if you love Jesus, most will have hardly anything to do with you.
But did not Jesus tell us that would all happen? He did. Is it still worth following Him, then, to lose all those who would rather not have anything to do with you, because of your love for the Lord Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Spirit? Is it REALLY all worth it?
YES, IT IS.
I do not like it; it breaks my heart that loved ones have nothing to do with me anymore. And if you are a follower of Christ, it WILL happen to you too.
BUT I will STILL go on, loving, caring, praying, forgiving, being patient with and serving others, even if while I’m here on this Earth, I do not see the “fruit” of my labors. I will see them fulfilled One Day, when my Lord soon calls me Home, and honestly, that is really all that matters.
Jesus IS all that matters to me.
Because as HE hung on that Cross, I was ALL that MATTERED to HIM.
Hello, everyone! I hope your summer is going well. I wanted to reach out to you all with a couple of updates: First, to let you know that I am having a sale on the first book of the series until this Friday; it is selling for $4.99 on Amazon, regularly $11.99!
It is a great time to purchase this book, because now that my grad classes are finally done for the summer (thank God!), hopefully I will be finishing the second book of the series and get that up and running on Amazon by September.
You may purchase the book either in paperback, Kindle, or now even in a hardcover edition! I have no other income right now because of the heavy school load, so every dollar that I make helps me continue to pay my bills.
Thanks to all of you who have either purchased one or both books (see pic below re: devotional I have up on Amazon as well), or will purchase one or more of them in the future. It has meant the world to me, and I have enjoyed hearing from quite a few of you about how much you can either relate to some of the life situations and /or how the books have encouraged you in some way. It is such a blessing to me to know that!
I am also working on a book about the Holy Spirit, His role in the Triune Godhead, and how He should be working in believers’ lives, but many in the Body of Christ unfortunately do not pay Him any mind. It will be called, “Inform and Warn”—exactly what the Lord had instructed me to do these past five plus years since I have been on this faith journey with Him. I pray that I will be finished with this book prior to the end of the year.
And last but not least, I have always wanted to put out a pictorial book of some inspirational devotions /short prayers that I posted over the past few years on social media. Many people have commented on how the posts were very encouraging to them; other posts being very straightforward with Scripture, reminding the reader to take a stand with their faith, honor God, and not back down. I hope to have that one up on Amazon within a couple of weeks!
I hope you will take time out to check out the books, take advantage of the sale price (only till this Friday, 7/8/2022!) and also to look forward to my future publications! Thank you all so much, and may God bless you and your families as you too, continue on your own personal journeys, “Walking in the Dark with FAITH”!
Quote taken from The Catholic Company, “Your Morning Offering”
This is short and sweet, but as soon as I read today’s quote from the daily devotional I received in my inbox this morning, I knew I had to share it with everyone.
We, the Body of Christ = Church—NEED to have this fire kindled in our lives each and every day!
The days are coming, and actually are already here, that the people will long to hear the Word of the Lord. The enemy will do ANYTHING to keep us from hearing it by distracting us as much as possible, and also will keep us from having that relationship with the LORD God, and learning His Word.
Be a holy rebel—be the ONE that the devil hates, and allow God’s consuming fire to burn all that keeps you from getting closer to Him. Then allow Him to grow and mature you into the strong servant warrior of Christ you were meant to be!
Walking in the Dark with Faith 