- Lord, I just recently read Your parable about the Pharisee and the Publican... the one - so pleased with himself and all he did for God...  the other - so powerfully aware of his sinfulness. Like many of Your words, Lord, this parable leaves me feeling unsettled. As there is a mixture of Martha and Mary in me, I feel like there's a mixture of the Publican and the Pharisee in me too. In a convoluted way, it almost seems pharisaical to try to be that lowly worm... cast down... covered in mea culpas (as You well know, I grew up inside a cocoon of mea culpas!)  I feel like You've been setting me free from both these factions warring within my identity. Since I've been learning about being a new creation, this teaching puzzles me. What am I supposed to do with it? I do want to be humble before You, Lord - to be repentant - but it seems like You came to set me free from focusing on myself either way. Please enlighten me. 

+ Yes, My love, You're already heading in the right direction.. seeking to hear the Spirit's voice telling you, "This is the way, walk in it".The Pharisee and the Publican are pictures of the heart. The Pharisee was focused on the law and how well he was doing with it. So was the Publican, only all he could see was his failure to uphold the law. The Father responds to the one who was humble because He is humble. His love proves it! No matter how many times His people turn their backs on Him... choose other gods... He continues to ignore being spurned and to unabashedly seek the love of His children. The publican sought the Father from a place of lowliness... a deep sense of what He was not.  I came to break the weight of the law off of BOTH the Pharisee and the Publican! One was consumed by trying to be perfect - impossible to achieve; the other was crushed by his sinfulness - impossible to get out from under. And so the Father planned to fulfill the law once and for all through the cross and by so doing - set BOTH completely free! This is a good illustration of the new covenant. Man could never fulfill the Law... and could never be free from sin.. until the cross. 

I know you were disturbed by this parable because you are seeking to live as a new creation and neither of these examples works. You understand that the Father didn't create you to be a worm, so crushed by your sin you can't function. No! All that sin-consciousness does is keep you in the tomb! I died to set all people free. You have been incorporated... enfolded into all that pleases the Father, so you can fly above the self-conscious ways of the old covenant. He has created you to be transformed - caterpillar to butterfly. When you accept your status as a child of the Father, you've recognized the blood that was shed to set you free. Your eyes are not on yourself anymore. You are not measuring your worth. Your spirit is one with Me, and like Me, your eyes are ever only on Your Father. You trust Him to make you into Who He created you to be. See My love, the old is gone. This is the mystery man has sought to solve since Adam fell. Everything about you has been made new. Your job is to simply believe it - like a child! You can't take any credit for it and you don't negate it. By the way: be aware of the ways the enemy tries to use scripture to confuse or tempt you. (He tried with Me) Anytime you are reading the Word and have thoughts that try to negatively color your understanding of Who the Father is or Who I am, do what you did here and run to the Spirit, Who will help you discern the Truth. 

Now here's a little fun vision to imagine: Go back in your mind to that temple where the Pharisee and Publican are praying as best as they can. Now, imagine a beautiful butterfly flying around the temple... free... light... displaying the beauty and glory of the Good News. She's prophetically signaling the New Covenant. Her presence is declaring: "Look! Your Savior comes with healing in His Wings."

  Day before Good Friday 2020

+When you make a mistake... you use your white-out and cover it over... blotting out the mistake so you can rewrite over it. Of course, the remnant white-out is still visible... you know that it's there. It actually stands out - calls attention to the error by the whiteness that doesn't match the soft ivory color of the page. When My blood is applied to the sins of your life, they disappear and it is as though they never were! They are not covered over (like the sins of the Israelites through the blood of lambs and goats) they are removed! This is the difference between the old and the new covenants. There is a mystery here that cannot be discerned by the intellect. All sin has been dealt with... payed-for in full... no tell-tale signs remaining, pointing out (like the white-out) the earlier status as a sinner. The familiar illustration of the judge declaring, "Not Guilty!" is a good one. 

So, why am I talking about white-out and forgiveness and sin? Because tomorrow is the day. It's called Good Friday, but for Me, in many ways, it wasn't a good day! It was the darkest, most painful day in all creation, for all time, because it separated Me from the Goodness of My Father.  Sin had to be dealt with. It had to be destroyed. No movie... no scripture... no imagination can truly fathom the depth of this pain... the cost of this redemption... what it took to absorb all sin of all time (pedophilia - sex trafficking- cruelty of all sorts - slavery of all kinds - on and on and on and on ) I absorbed it ALL into Myself and hung in shame, alone and abandoned. I chose this. I chose it because My Father was willing to see Me suffer to save His beloved creation. It was the only way. I defeated the princes and powers of darkness and even death. I defeated the ruler of this earth and destroyed his ability to triumph over the Father's children. 

Never take for granted your blood-bought status as a righteous, sin-free, daughter of the King. When you are confronted with the depth of evil in the world - Do. Not. Judge! The only reason you are righteous is because you belong to Me. When you encounter the massive evil and cruelty in the world, let it make you very aware of the suffering I endured. And pray. Pray for their souls...that they turn from their ways to Me.

Give thanks to your Good, Good Father for His plan of salvation. His plan is to wipe out ALL evil...all sin... once and for all. Give thanks that He did it for you because His Love for you is intimate and eternal. He sees you as sinless - sin-free because You live and move and have your being in Me.

On this Good Friday, recognize the enormity of this transaction and pray that eyes will be opened to My saving Power. All your sins have been buried... never more to e remembered. This should alter the way you live every day of your redeemed life.  

          
 "If you say to this mountain...Be thrown into the sea... it will be so."

+The lesson I want you to absorb from this is the secret of living a victorious (and exciting ) life in Me! Any mountain before you is a chance to cultivate faith and hope...to strengthen your vision and enhance your understanding of Who your Father is!! Speaking to the mountains in your life... declaring them subject to the power of the Father that is in you...sets you on a course for Joy! It is how you view the mountains that changes everything. Are they insurmountable? Are they treacherous paths that lead to danger and loss? Are they closed doors that block your way forward? OR are they opportunities for you to experience the faithful, inscrutable ways of the Master of the Universe - the One Who spoke those mountains into existence? It's all about perspective. Through the anointing and living power of the Spirit in you, you can see things in the light of Heaven. Where the Word repeats" Nothing is Impossible with God." (and proves it time after time) you say yes! You agree with all of heaven that this mountain - though real - is subject to God. When you speak truth and power over the things that seem impossible, you set in motion the resurrected life that was won for you. You have been made a new creation, but it isn't until you start appropriating what that means, that faith takes over your being and you speak with authority. I said you would do greater things. When you step out and open your mouth in faith, the Holy Spirit rises up in you and confirms what you say. Yes. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by every Word that comes from the mouth of Your Father. Study My words. Study the signs of those indwelt with the Spirit. You have been raised into a supernatural daughter of the King. You can do all things in Me. Speak to the mountains and watch what happens to your spirit! There is a mystery here. Test Me and see if you do not experience infinitely more than you can ask or imagine! 

-Lord, There are lots of thoughts and feelings roiling around in me as I seek Your face...seek to be 100% Yours. As I read the writings of Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubauch, the voice of the accuser rises up and there seems to be this high wall of my inadequacies...my worldliness, etc that tells me there's no way someone like me can reach the spiritual heights...the fullness of Your Presence that these simple giants of faith did. Lord, I throw myself on Your mercy and ask You to take me as I am and make me Yours anyway.

+Beloved, You don't feel strong enough to withstand the myriad of distractions that swirl around you trying to seal you in a tomb of introspection and unbelief. Do you forget that I am the One seeking you? Do you not know that I am relentless in My pursuit of you and, because you are My own little lamb, I will not let you be lost? I have you, so rest. I can make it so all the voices that swirl around you melt to the ground like early morning fog. I know you want to be Mine. That's all I need. Putting your heart, your mind, your soul squarely in My care is the best way to live in the one thing that is needful. You have been called to be a Mary... full of rest and deep peace and an unwavering sense of being completely...perfectly loved. Nothing can take this away from you - ever! This is the core of who you are! Watch the cares melt away as you "Rise up and put your face in the sun." Peace. Be still. I'm with you! I'm in you. I'm for you and nothing - nothing can alter this truth. I have put the desire for a deep sense of My Presence in you. I will see that it comes to pass. The only thing that you need to do is to let not your heart be troubled about ANYTHING! My Presence and My Love can evaporate the most powerful force of darkness against you. You know in the deepest place of your being that you belong to Me. This cannot be thwarted or altered in any way! Your life is ordained to go from Glory to Glory....from Triumph to Triumph. It is My Glory in you...My triumph that covers over you. So be still, My love and you will surely know with everything you are, that I am Your God and you live and will ever live in and through Me! This is life to the full. It is yours and will never be taken away from you. Rest and be glad.