Beloved Family… At this time, I sense that the Lord is drawing my attention back to things that were shared with the FMM Family in the past. They are on our website… and were posted in the past. But I fear they have been forgotten because now, they’re lost in the depths of our earlier archives.
Nevertheless… I sense the Lord telling me that what was being said then, really needs to be brought back to the center of our attention – NOW! So… if you remember that you have already seen what this message contains, bear with me. You’re seeing it again because, at this critical time in our training, it’s very important and timely and necessary!
Imagine what would go through your mind if an officer of the law served you with a summons ordering you to appear as a witness in a widely-publicized, high stakes, criminal court trial. Suddenly your life would be invaded by a hard legal reality you would not be able to escape. No matter how you reacted, your life would be deeply affected. If you obey the summons and appear in court, there will be important consequences. If you disobey the summons, the law will come after you and punish you; and that too will bring important consequences for your life.
After you read the summons you may begin to worry about the grueling cross-examination to which the lawyers for the opposition will subject you. They’ll tax their legal minds and draw from a vast treasury of court experience and use the impressive array of resources they have at their disposal, not to help you, and not because they care about you, or your personal wellbeing. All they will be aiming to do is to contradict your testimony and do whatever they can to undermine your reputation, credibility and presentation. Yes, all they will care about is winning their case. And beloved, that would be a fearful prospect, regardless of who the person is to whom this would be happening. Nevertheless, it’s now happening to you, and you can’t do anything to escape!
So… if you know that the risen Lord has said to you, “Follow Me,” and you have chosen to obey Him, know this: you will most surely be required to face similar pressures! If you obey the Lord’s summons, He will lead you into the biggest court room of all – the world-wide court venue we might call ‘The Arena of Testimony’ (See Matthew 10). And if you refuse to obey and follow Him, there will be consequences for that too (Matthew 7:24-27).
So who is on trial in this case? And what are the charges? Who is the plaintiff; and who is on the prosecution’s team? Who will be on the defense team that will face and oppose the prosecution?
A View of God You May Have Never Seen…
Strange as it may seem, the living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel) is the one that is on trial. He is being accused of being a fraud. And stranger still, it is His idea, desire, and plan for this very confrontation in this ultimate court of law to happen! Yes, God is the one that has initiated this court trial scenario! And He sent His living Word to summon you into His service. So if you follow His Word, then the Word, on His Father’s orders, will take you with Him into this battle and call you to be a witness for the defense!
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the Truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Emphasis added.)
God knows that the sooner this trial is finished, the sooner everything that is unreal and false will be brought into the glaring spotlight of Truth. And then Satan, and his realm of lies and unreality will be fully exposed and discredited in the minds and hearts of His entire Creation. The more the real Truth concerning God and His Perfect Love Nature and His absolute, faultless Credibility are made to be clearly and unmistakably known, the sooner will all of those that labor under the bondage of Satan’s lies be set free! Therefore, no one wants His Truth and Satan’s lies to square off in The Arena more than God does! He is the Creator and Protector of all Reality and Truth and as far as He is concerned, this battle can’t begin or be brought to its final conclusion, soon enough!
God’s living and written Word and Holy Spirit will be His ‘Defense Team.’ If you allow God to separate you from the world system, that Satan currently dominates, and you obey the call to serve His beloved Son as a disciple, Satan will most certainly cross-examine you. There is no escape. You will face consequences no matter what you choose to do. If you refuse to be the Lord’s disciple, by that fact, you will be choosing to serve as a witness for Satan’s prosecution! For as Yeshua, the Word of God has said:
“He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30)
“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in Heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33, Emphasis added.)
The reason why the disciples must face this ordeal is because all of Creation is caught up in the deadly war that never ceases to rage between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Powers of Darkness. The combat of this war will subject every disciple to the ultimate levels of testing. The enemy attacks God’s Kingdom. Therefore, Kingdom citizens are forced to endure the pressures he exerts, simply because they chose to serve God, obey His Word and live as citizens of His Heavenly Kingdom. If they will thus wear the uniform of God’s Living Word, and He is their Commander, they will remain in the ‘gunsights’ of God’s demonic enemies.
God’s Word Intends To Testify for His Father Through His Disciples
The Serpent claims that God cannot be trusted. Therefore he’s saying that God isn’t really what He claims to be. So God, through His Living Word and His Holy Spirit, will speak on His own behalf. But since His Word and Spirit live and operate within New Covenant disciples, their lives and daily experiences will become a testimony to the relationship they claim to have with God. If you claim to trust God… the Arena of Testimony will provide you with ample opportunities to prove it! As God’s Word and Spirit live and work within you, God will speak… through the way you allow His Word to operate within your heart amid the issues, situations, relationships and experiences of your daily life! The question is: will you trust God to such an extent that you’ll actually allow His Word and Spirit to live, operate and speak for Him… from within your flesh?
Or, like God’s enemies, will you also back away, and reject His Word, and live an independent life of your own to serve the self-serving desires and purposes that your fallen flesh craves and give in to the means for its satisfaction and fulfillment that the powers of Darkness continually devise and set before you?
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I, who live (out from my Sin-corrupted soul), but Christ lives in me (from within my regenerated spirit); and the life which I now live in the flesh I live BY THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20, Emphasis added. See the KJV. Emphasis added.)
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; FOR IT IS GOD WHO IS AT WORK IN YOU, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13, Emphasis added.)
Your Master Yeshua, the Word of God, intends to train and equip you to be living human proof that His Father’s claims and promises are true. This automatically makes you a target for the prosecution. But remember: God Himself assigned them to do whatever they can to accuse His Word and discredit His disciples in The Arena of Testimony. And when they do, God intends to prove Himself and deal with their lies, once and for all… through you! It is His battle, not yours (2 Chronicles 20:1-30); but you will most certainly be brought into the middle of it!
After Satan and his Powers of Darkness first rebelled against their Creator, God made the physical universe. And He began to use the Darkness of Satan’s rebellion to fulfill the Light of His own perfect Plan and purposes. Since they were in rebellion anyway, He gave them the task of doing whatever they can to attack His integrity and discredit and destroy His credibility and authority over Creation. God is turning their rebellion and attacks against them. Through the faithful obedience of His people, He can expose and discredit their lies and validate His eternal Word and glorify His Name.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:1-4)
This is why Satan’s forces must attack us disciples, and try to destroy our testimony. Many people in every generation choose to side with Satan against God. We live in a world filled with such people. But regardless of which side we may choose to stand with, the stakes are eternal – Eternal Life, or eternal Death! The entire universe is the court room. So no matter where on Earth we are, every activity we engage in becomes, in one way or another, part of the trial proceedings.
But It’s Not Our fight… It Is The Lord’s
God promised to fill each of us with the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit, to equip us to fulfill our responsibilities to God (2 Kings 6:8-17; Mark 16:9-20; Acts 1:2, 5-8). The Holy Spirit will abide and interact with you and give you everything you need to give testimony worthy of our Heavenly Father. The Spirit will transmit the eternal Life, nature, character, disposition and perfect humanity of Yeshua, the Living Word made flesh, into you. So you need to be trained to fill yourself continually with the Holy Spirit so that you can be equipped to embrace our indwelling Master and defer to His Resurrection Life that abides and operates from within us. If you do that, if you become one with Him spiritually, mentally and emotionally, He will be able to obey His Father’s commands in our name… and He will be to us, everything we will ever need Him to be, and provide whatever will be needed for us to fulfill Father’s will and Plan.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak; but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks (God’s Word and makes Him to be real and alive) in you.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My Name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved… Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in Heaven.”” (Matthew 10:16-22; 32-33, Amplification and emphasis added.)
So we must learn to abide and interact with our Master. We must defer to Him at all times and allow Him to be our Life. God sends Him to be like a Vine to us and we must serve as His fully-connected, living, fruit-bearing branches. When we abide in Him, His Life flows into us and does its work through us. This is why He says to His disciples:
“Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:17-21)
God warns those who refuse to abide with Him under the Protection of His Perfect Finished Works and His Eternal Truth, and those who side with Satan… will share the eternal desolation that awaits all of God’s enemies. He warns that His demonic accusers have no chance of winning (Revelation 20-21). So, since Satan is the Father of Lies, the trial serves to bring out the Truth and Satan’s falsehoods are thus exposed and confounded. God will hold anyone who rejects His Word and embraces Satan’s cause, accountable and liable for all the damage that their cooperation with Satan has done and continues to do, to His Name and to His Creation.
“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:7-8)
Beware Of False Gods And False Gospels
Humans that ignore or reject what God reveals about Himself in His written Word understand human life and its purpose in various false, man-devised ways (Psalm 14:1-3; Matthew 15:1-3; Romans 1:18-23). So God warns us that our fate will depend on whether or not we choose to believe His Living and written Word, and obey it, or not. If God is telling the Truth through His Scriptures and we ignore or reject His Word, we will share the fate of His Word’s rebellious demonic enemies:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have Eternal Life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son (living Word) of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” (John 3:16-21, Emphasis added.)
People that believe Satan’s accusations and false promises oppose God and live independently of Him, just as Satan does. They believe the Serpent’s false claims that men can be independent of God, do as they please, and get away with it. So they live at a great distance from the Word of God:
“Now the serpent…said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’” The woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree, which is in the middle of the garden,’ God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die.’”
The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil!” (Genesis 3:1-5, Emphasis added.)
So as this trial proceeds, it progressively reveals who is telling the Truth and who is lying, and what is real and what is false. This Judgment Day tension underlies everything that is in the Bible, and every event, situation and circumstance that we encounter in this time and space dimension. Every portion of Scripture involves this deadly conflict between God’s Light and the satanic Darkness that always contend with each other beneath the surface of everything that is happening (Genesis 1:1-3).
Most humans choose to remain ignorant of this conflict. But disciples must not allow Satan to deceive them and lull them to sleep. This war is ongoing and it will not go away! Even if you don’t want to be bothered with it…you are part of it and you are serving the purpose of one side or the other.
God Always Separates What Is His, From What Is Not.
Whatever we do in our lives is going to be part of our testimony. Our actions, reactions and interactions will either proclaim that God is our God and His Word is our Lord… or they will testify that Satan is telling the truth and his anti-God accusations are our ultimate source of truth and direction. That is why God is always separating what belongs to Him, from what does not! (Genesis 4:2-5; 12:1-3; Exodus 3:7-10) He then teaches and trains His own, so that through them He can testify to and enlighten and rescue and save those who continue to be deceived and dominated by Satan:
“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’” (Genesis 12:1-3, Emphasis added.)
The Book of Job is an example of the court battle that is always taking place. You might compare it to an opera, made up of various acts and scenes. The book uses one man – Job – to represent all the rest of us. It opens with Act 1, Scene 1: God and His angels (including Satan) are interacting in the heavens. And Job is on Earth minding his own business. He does not know that God and Satan are disputing the nature and validity of his personal relationship with God.
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’ Then Satan answered the LORD and said, ‘From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.’ The LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered (cross examined) My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.’
“Then Satan answered the LORD, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing (without compensation)? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has (stop paying him off and); he will surely curse You to Your face.’
“Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.’ So Satan departed from the presence of the LORD.” (Job 1:6-12, Emphasis and amplification added.)
Satan implies many things. He infers that God lies to humans and places unfair expectations upon them. He denies God’s infinite goodness and eternally perfect nature and standards. He denies that God selflessly loves humans and that His provision and protection for them are all-sufficient to meet their needs. And he accuses Job of being a pay-for-play lackey that is incapable of a true love of God. He denies Job’s claim to believe, obey and trust God just because He is God. He insists that Job, like all the rest of us, operates the way prostitutes and swindlers do. We interact with God for what we can get out of Him. He denies that we are capable of living for God or of really trusting and obeying Him for His own sake, just because He is God. Satan says we only ‘love’ and ‘serve’ God when He pays us to do it and that as long as we get what we want out of God, we are willing to ‘love’ Him. But if He stops giving us what we’re after, he asserts that we will turn against Him and curse Him to His face!
Despite Job’s ignorance of what is happening, God places so much trust in him, that He names him as one of His defense witnesses and allows Satan to summon him to testify and undergo a brutal cross-examination. And as the next scene opens, Job’s fiery cross-examination begins. Remember, he knows nothing of what happened between God and Satan, or that the Lord is entrusting His reputation to the care and Covenant love and faithfulness of His friend, Job.
So Satan suddenly turns on Job and begins his vicious attack. He does his utmost to find ‘holes’ and imperfections in Job’s service to God’s eternal Word. He attacks his trust in God and tries to destroy his obedience and resolve to remain faithful. He does as much as God allows him to do. But through it all, just like countless numbers of martyrs have done throughout the ages, Job remains steadfast and true to God, and proves that his faithfulness to God is airtight and true:
“Why should I take my flesh in my teeth and put my life in my hands? Though He slay me, I will hope in Him. Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him. This also will be my salvation, for a godless man may not come before His Presence.” (Job 13:14-16, Emphasis added.)
The more you realize that this court drama is always in session and that everyone and everything is involved, the better you’ll understand the Apostle Paul when he wrote the following under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church to the (satanic) rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.” (Ephesians 3:8-12, Emphasis added.)
Do you see what the Holy Spirit is saying? God created the entire physical universe to reveal His Perfect Wisdom to His demonic accusers and to expose and confound them… in the view of all of Creation! He will defend and ultimately vindicate His Perfect Nature and absolute Truth and Authoritative Word through His human image and likeness, the faithful believers and disciples of His Word!
That’s why disciples need to be trained to fill themselves continually with the Holy Spirit. He will equip them to remain focused and rooted in God and to know Him so well that God’s Word will actually live and work from within them. And they will be empowered to maintain airtight faith in Him and obey Him, and abide in His Truth, even as they’re undergoing unspeakably difficult demonic cross-examinations. If we consent to this, the Holy Spirit will equip us with everything we’ll need to be able to embody the trust, faith, love and obedience that our Lord Yeshua gives to His Father. From within us, Yeshua will testify to the honor and praise of His Father. And He will be our Life and our Faith, and our Endurance, Courage, Faithfulness, and Love and Obedience to God throughout every second of our lives.
It is for that very purpose that He leads his own trusted disciples into ‘The Arena of Testimony!’ The testimony He will give through us is not primarily for the benefit of men. It will benefit them, but it goes far beyond that. He testifies to our Heavenly Father Himself. And by God’s Authority and Mercy, we can be included in the Lord’s acknowledgement of His Father’s eternal Glory – to the unending exposure, debasement, and eternal confounding of His demonic enemies, and ours!
Other men may be watching, or they may be absent. That doesn’t matter. What matters is that God’s faithful angelic hosts as well as the wicked powers of Darkness are always watching. God testifies before them on His own behalf… with the wholehearted Perfection that only His Nature can provide. But… He does all of that… through us… and in our name. So we can be one with the Word in honoring and obeying His Father, by remaining ever-focused on our Divine Covenant Friend who abides and works from within us. And we can prove He is our Lord, and that we trust Him without reservation… by our devotion and trust, and the attention we place upon Him. That proves that God is everything to us, that His Living Word has revealed and commanded and promised that He would be. So, in that sense, although apparently, it is God who is the Defendant… at a much deeper level… it is the Father of Lies, and his perpetual slander against God, who is actually being thrown down, and bound, and sliced open and thoroughly examined so that His unspeakable, everlasting Corruption and Wickedness may finally be exposed for all Creation to see.
Yeshua Is The Chief Witness For The Defense
Yeshua, God’s eternal Word, is the chief Witness for His Father’s defense. As already noted, He has been testifying since the dawn of Creation, when His Father sent Him to be Light for the physical universe. He was sent to create and to separate that Light from the demon-induced Darkness. He was testifying when He revealed Himself to Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Noah, Abraham and Abraham’s descendants, Israel and He communicated His Father’s Truth and Reality to them. He did the same thing when He took on human nature and appeared on Earth as Rabbi Yeshua (Jesus) of Nazareth. God always speaks for Himself…through His living Word and His Spirit.
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His Glory and the Exact Representation of His Nature, and upholds all things by the Word of His Power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent Name than they.” (Hebrews 1:1-4)
So the living Word that was made flesh in Rabbi Yeshua continues to be made flesh…in each one of His true disciples…through the Holy Spirit. So His Father continually reveals His Son in and through the lives and testimonies of His Son’s disciples… and through them, the Word testifies on His Father’s behalf in the presence of Heaven… and in the full view of God’s demonic enemies.
Each moment Yeshua lived on Earth He gave perfect, unassailable testimony (Isaiah 53; 55:6-11; Matthew 4:1-11; 26:38-40; John 5:19, 30). He endured the most intense demonic scrutiny and violent cross-examination possible. He did it as our Covenant Representative, Substitute, and Champion. And because He identified with us so thoroughly and completely, He was able to make us to be as one with Him. In other words, He is able to act… ‘as us!’ Thus whatever He did during His first arrival on Earth, He was doing as us, living out the Perfect Human Life in our name. That means that when He did what He did, even though it took place before our birth, we did it too; not in ourselves, but in Him. And as long as we remain His disciples, God imputes the credit and reward for what His Son is and does as our Representative, to us.
But God must do more than impute His Son’s Righteousness to us; He must also impart it into us, through His Holy Spirit, so that He can reveal it to the world around us, through us! Yeshua’s supernatural Righteousness must be seen operating from within us, in our practical, everyday choices, experiences and interactions with other people. The way Yeshua ‘danced’ with the Spirit of His Father when He was on Earth, is what He will continue to do from within the flesh of His crucified disciples, especially during the Last Days Climax of History. Only that level of Testimony will give conclusive proof that God really did raise His Son from the dead, and that He is present and active within us as our King…and that we truly are part of His Kingdom.
Now, Yeshua Will Testify To His Father… In And Through Us
The Perfect Humanity, Presence, Love and Obedient Faithfulness of God’s Son for His Father can now appear from within our innermost being. He can reveal Himself through our circumstances and transform the world around us. He can, and will, uphold His Father’s reputation and perfect standards of righteousness through His crucified, Spirit-filled Last Days disciples.
As the Lord testifies through us, the demons are forced to watch Him expose, disprove and discredit their lies, as they relate to His faithful, and very well trained, disciples. Our indwelling Lord’s strength, endurance, obedience and perseverance are seen operating from within them. Thanks to the Vine of God, to whom we remain attached, like living branches, we are equipped to pass these tests with flying colors… because His Life and its Nature are coursing through our spirits and out through our spirits… and into our souls, bodies, human interactions and earthly situations.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)
“You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My Name He may give to you.” (John 15:14-16, Emphasis added.) See also Matthew 12:46-50.
Yeshua is the Word through whom God creates and sustains all things:
- He is the Word that covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve.
- He unleashed The Flood and saved Noah.
- He is the Word through which God revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
- He is the Word that appeared to Moses from within a burning bush.
- He is the Word that awed and overwhelmed the entire nation of Israel from atop Mt. Sinai.
- He is the Word that appeared, as the Captain of the Lord’s Host, to Joshua.
- He is the Word that saw David through all his trials.
- And He is the Word that became flesh and appeared as Rabbi Yeshua of Nazareth.
- He is the Word that atoned for all the Sin of the human race on the Cross.
- He is the living Word of God who is the Messiah-King of the Jews and the risen Lord of all Creation.
And His Life will be transmitted by the Holy Spirit into your regenerated spirit as you follow Him into The Arena of Testimony…and as the trial proceedings grind on…to their inevitable conclusion.
So, despite being in total rebellion against God, Satan and his Powers of Darkness serve and fulfill God’s perfect plan and eternal purpose. The more they strive to disprove God’s claims and nullify His Word and disgrace His disciples, the more God’s Truth, Reality and Validity expose and destroy their works. So naturally the powers of Darkness resent and hate the disciples. We are a threat and an endless source of frustration to them. Our obedience reminds them of the punishment that awaits them. And as their accusations continue to frustrate and contradict them, they attack us with increasing rage, desperately trying to crack our resolve and get us to join them in betraying our God.
For centuries, Christendom’s focus has been largely limited to the external testimony believers give to their fellow humans on Earth. Of course that sort of testimony is important and necessary. But it’s not enough; it doesn’t penetrate to the heart of the matter. The disciple testimony is not primarily to men or demons. It is to our Creator God Himself.
“Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.’
“Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him…” (Genesis 17:1-3a. Emphasis added.)
The Living Word of God interacted with Abram and Abraham responded to Him with all of his heart, soul and strength. He prostrated himself before the Lord who spoke His Word to him. That is the lifestyle that is required of us all. It can only be lived out by true disciples and Blood Covenant friends of our Lord and Master, Yeshua.
How Do Disciples Learn To Give Such Exceptional Testimony?
How can we give testimony that is worthy of God? What would that look like? What would such loving friendship and faithfulness and obedient devotion to God look like? Well, have you ever seen videos of trained dogs that literally ‘dance’ with their masters, in public arenas? (You can see many examples of this on the internet. Here is an excellent example. Notice how Rookie’s mistress captivates his total attention and devotion. This is what Yeshua was like with His Heavenly Father all the time He lives on Earth as one of us. And this is what the Holy Spirit is with us to transform us into becoming with our indwelling risen Lord:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPGUN-WCYxk&feature=related
When a master and dog perform in an arena, you are seeing the fruit of the ongoing love relationship the two have developed with each other over the months and years previous to that event. I share this with you, because we can learn much from the dogs in terms of the loving focus and continuous attention they render to their master or mistress, as they continue to live and act as one with their owner. That is how the Holy Spirit can equip us to be with our indwelling Lord! So notice that the human master must die to living a life that does not include the dog. And the dog dies to a life that does not include its master. Both die to their former independent lives where one excluded the other. From now on, they live a new resurrection life, living and acting as one… now that the dog is always following the leading of the master. That is a beautiful visual reminder of what New Covenant disciple life is all about!
The love and devotion the human and the dog have for each other, are evident as they perform in the arena. Their interactions reveal the fruit of months and years of disciplined focus, drill, practice, rehearsal and ongoing training they partook of and the affection they shared with each other, when no one else was watching.
“The patriarchs became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. YET GOD WAS WITH HIM, and rescued him from all his afflictions, and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.” (Acts 7:9-10, Emphasis added.)
“…you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, FOR GOD WAS WITH HIM!” (Acts 10:37-38, Emphasis added.)
“But we have this Treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the Power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the Life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh!” (2 Corinthians 4:7-11, Emphasis added.)
So What Does It Look Like When Disciples Have Learned To Give Exceptional Testimony Of Who Our God Really Is?
Just like in the ‘Dance With Me’ video shared above, we model that same level of devotion and oneness with our Master. In the video, the mistress of the dog gives a public testimony to the loving relationship she has with her pet. Their flawless performance before so many people lets you see into their past private lives together. You know what they were doing long before this event was scheduled. The mistress and the dog had obviously spent hours, weeks and months interacting and practicing with each other – ALONE!
She cared for the dog with tender, loving attention, and the dog’s response gives clear testimony to this fact. In the beginning, as a puppy, the untrained, undisciplined dog could only do what came naturally. But with great patience his trainer began to teach the puppy…one commandment or ‘dance step’ at a time. And as the dog learned to obey the word of the mistress, he grew and matured and learned what ‘disciple life’ is all about. Thus, eventually, he learned to focus only on her, and embody and mirror back what she was doing… at all times. And that’s how their two lives merged… and began to be and act AS ONE! This is how the master trainer can be seen living and operating from within the flesh of her beloved pet. And this is also the way our Lord can be seen living and operating from within the flesh of each of His beloved disciples!
“With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.” (Mark 4:33-34, Emphasis added.)
Many people give lip service to God. Many claim to be ‘disciples.’ But the hearts of true disciples will be as much in tune with their Master as the heart of this trained dog is attuned to his human master. The masters of such dogs give commands and the dog disciples learn to obey perfectly. The masters repeat one commandment after another, until the dogs learn to obey them all. As each dog learns to obey, it begins to reflect and embody only what the master is doing. And now the master and the dog can obey the commands together, beautifully and effortlessly. And this beautiful dance based upon the obedience that comes from total love, devotion and trust, is what gives clear testimony to the love and devotion they truly have for each other at all times!
This is what we disciples must learn to do with our Master Yeshua, regardless of how harsh conditions may become in the Arena of Testimony. Yeshua is the Word of God; and the Word (living and written) does only what His Father is telling Him to do and say. And He invites the disciple to learn to live in that very same way with Him…to the Father’s everlasting Glory. And this was the wisdom of the disciple named Stephen in Acts 7. He was doing with his risen Lord, exactly what His Lord had been doing with His Heavenly Father before His death and Resurrection:
“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19)
I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (John 5:30)
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” (John 15:4-11)
Our Master lives in us to teach us to ‘dance’ with Him, even as He ‘dances’ with His Father. And this is what the Spirit of His Father is present in us to equip us to do.
“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His Word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” (1 John 2:3-6, Emphasis added.)
“While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. Someone said to Him, ‘Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.’ But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, ‘Who is My mother and who are My brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in Heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.’” (Matthew 12:46-50, Emphasis added.)
The master teaches the dog to do one step, over and over…and then another step and then another…until the entire dance pattern is in place. To an observer it may seem like tedious work. But to the master and the dog, it is companionship, love, joy, freedom and fun. The master gives full attention to the dog and the dog glories in the master’s love and is happy to respond and do whatever it takes to please his master. So must it be with us and our Master Yeshua. Just like Stephen… we too must get to the point… where we only have eyes for Him… and we do everything together with Him… AS ONE… no matter what!
“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.
“No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” (John 15:12-16. Emphasis added.)