Dear Bee,
When I first published this epistle for you (titled, “I am Empty“), I spoke about how I was leaving the decision to share my writings with others up to you. I did not understand then what I do now. I was simply speaking to you according to the leading of the Spirit of God. I do not know exactly what you are faced up against, but in recent days the Spirit has helped me comprehend the severity of your situation.
I am not going to avoid the obvious. God is calling you. I do not say that for my own benefit. It is simply the truth. I can see it plain as day. I tell you this because you know that I am praying for you, about all of these matters. I have only ever wanted you to be happy and full of the joy of our Lord, which is what the first portion of this epistle is all about. Therefore, let me pick up where I left off and finish explaining the first couple of paragraphs.
I have already given you several scripture verses in previous comments:
- Matthew 6:19–22
- Acts 2:44–47
- Philemon 1:4–14,20
- Colossians 1:3,4
- 1st Thessalonians 4:9,10
- 1st John 3:20–24
- 1st John, Ch. 4
- 2nd John
Here I have six more passages of scripture for you, after which I will tie it all together so that you have a better understanding of what I wrote in the beginning of this epistle.
“29And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. 30Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; 31That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 32That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. 33Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.”
– Romans 15:29–33
“15For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. 17For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church. 18Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. 19But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. 20For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. 21What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?”
– 1st Corinthians 4:15–21
“22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”
– Galatians 5:22–26
“1If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”
– Philippians 1:1–4
“2To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, 5For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; 6Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: 7As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; 8Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.”
– Colossians 1:2–8
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
– 2nd Timothy 1:7
“28And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.”
– Mark 12:28–34
Now that we have looked at those passages, I will begin breaking down my previous elucidation into more detail and clarification. However, I am going to develop these matters in reverse order, starting from the end of my introduction and working backwards to the first sentence.
“Abide in the Word by the perfect love that God pours into your heart, and the everlasting love of God will be an ever-growing love radiating from your heart … and I will always Bee nothing for you.”
The most obvious thing of all is that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead, descended from Heaven’s glory, willingly set aside His prerogative of absolute deity, took upon Himself all of our human infirmities, bore all of our sin on the cross, and shed His own precious blood that we would have redemption in Him. You and I will never be able to search out the depths of these things.
Let me say that one more time.
You and I will never be able to search out the depths of all there is to understand regarding the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Why did I say that again? The reason why is because we most certainly “will” attempt to do that very thing, and it will keep you and I occupied for all eternity. It is an honor that God has given us, and it is His pleasure that we do it, because when we do, our love for Jesus continues to grow. I cannot even begin to tell you just how fantastically staggering and towering this responsibility truly is.
I am confident that all the sin in the world is measurable, and perhaps someday 27 octillion years from now you and I might have some reasonable conception of what that is, but the effect of sin is infinite. Therefore, the redemption of Christ is infinite, for Jesus has overcome sin. The value of His death, burial, and resurrection cannot ever be measured. More importantly, the plan and the purpose of His redemption on the cross was fashioned and designed in eternity past. This means that God has loved you and I from eternity past. He created you and I from this love.
This is why I keep telling you to love Him. It is simply not possible to ever love Him too much. Neither can we love Him to a level. It is an ever-growing love, because His love for us is infinite.
And what I just explained, is everything that is behind what the apostle Paul states in 2nd Timothy 1:7. … no fear, but power! According to His mercy, God’s love is able to conquer anything and everything.
In the passage from Acts 2:44–47 that I quoted the writer (who is Luke) tells us that the followers of Jesus were “continuing daily with one accord in the temple.” What was it that they were “continuing daily” with? It was the Word of God. Notice how they all loved each other in Jesus’ perfect love. They were together in total communion parting to all in each man’s need and dwelling with each other in “gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God.” They were abiding in the Word of God, and God was showering them with love, as they were sharing God’s love with each other.
“The Spirit loves and glorifies the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The Trinity of God is in Himself love, the source of all true love.”
Four times in scripture God tells us concerning Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17 & 17:5, Mark 1:11, and 2nd Peter 1:17) The fact that the Spirit loves the Son is evident by the fact that the only true praise that Jesus receives is by His Spirit filled disciples and believers.
The apostle John states in 1st John 4:16: “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” And in verse 4:7 he states, “for love is of God.”
“When we love and glorify Jesus then we are glorifying and loving God the Father, evermore. As the Father is loved and glorified evermore, it causes the Holy Spirit of Truth to be glorified.”
Many times in scripture, God is exalted as being the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are far too many to list, but here is one:
“Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.”
– 2nd John 1:3
Hence, when Jesus is glorified, it glorifies the Father, and Jesus Himself is found glorifying the Father often. Such is the case in Matthew 26:27–29:
“27And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. 29But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
One of the best ways to see how the Holy Spirit is glorified is to look to all the passages in the Bible that speak of the anointing of the Spirit, and there are three types of anointing that stand out above the others: the anointing of oil, baptism (by the water or by the Spirit), and the laying on of hands. Of all these examples, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the most powerful of them all. A new believer in Christ is baptized by the Holy Spirit the very moment that they put their trust in Christ. They become a new creation in Jesus Christ. From that point on, everything that they do to love and worship Jesus is a glory to the Holy Spirit.
“When you teach me how to love those that you love, my love for you grows evermore, as I love them more, and God’s perfect love abounds in all of us. When God’s perfect love abounds in all of us, then we love and glorify our Lord Jesus Christ exceedingly more and more every passing day for all eternity.”
The verses from Mark 12:33, Colossians 1:3 & 4, Acts 2:44–47, and Philemon 1:7 all speak to these points. The more that we cherish and learn of Jesus and His Holy Word the more that we want to love and edify our brothers and sisters. The more that we love and edify each other the more that God’s love abounds amongst us. Small families and groups of believers develop greater affinities and kindships with others. Likewise, larger groups and churches grow closer together with stronger bonds. The reason why churches in our day and age do not fellowship with each other is because they have no love within themselves. They worship Jesus in pretense, not in truth.
Moreover, you will notice how that in these verses, Paul, and other leaders also, are refreshed by the love of those that they minister to. The important distinction is that they find joy in the way that the members of their congregations are growing in love for each other and for others. They are not focused on receiving love in return. They rejoice in the love that they receive in return, but their greater joy is to see that their children are growing in love for each other. Therefore, the more that they (and I also) see how their children love other individuals, they are blessed with more children to love, as by inheritance. Equally, we are taught by our children how to love each individual, that is to say, our children reveal to us the beauty of Christ to behold in people that we may not know as well as they do.
(I know that you love many wonderful people … and perhaps some that are not too wonderful … And I long for the day that I can see and understand how you love them. I know that it will cause me to love you more, and it will cause me to love them also.)
We learn how to love by God’s Word. We either learn it from the Word itself or by others that know it. This is how I love you most. I speak the Word of God to you, and I teach you about the Word of God, and it is in my love to you that I speak and teach. Then the Spirit of God takes the Word that you learn from me and makes it real and living in your heart. When this happens, God’s love is pouring into your heart by the Spirit, and you see for yourself how that love was manifest in your own heart. Thus, you understand how you can do the same for others. The more that you are loved and the more that you understand how to love, the more that you desire to share the love of God with others.
The important thing to understand is that it is only God’s pure love that has this kind of power, and we can never know God’s love unless we ourselves are pure. We must be cleansed by the Spirit of God through the Word of God. Every time we get ourselves defiled from the world, the flesh, and the devil, we must be washed. Therefore, it is not an even a daily thing. It is an hourly need, and at times, we must go to God for cleansing moment by moment.
Moreover, the love of God is living, like living (flowing) water. It is like the water of a spring. If the water stops, it becomes stagnant. And this is what I mean when I say that I will always be nothing for you. In all the power and ability that God blesses me with, I will always endeavor to continue pouring the love that He gives me upon you and all those that you teach me to love. If I do not empty myself of the love that I have, then I am unable to receive more from God’s fountain.
This is a very difficult thing to do at times, but God has made you worthy in my eyes. Indeed, the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ has made you worthy in God’s eyes. What difficulty could possibly ever confront me that would be too much for me to bear for you? For you are worthy that I should suffer anything that God gives me the grace to suffer. The very instant that I become more than nothing, I am no longer loving you as much as I could … and neither am I loving Jesus as much as I could.
“If you love me keep my commandments.” – John 14:15
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” – 1st John 5:2 & 3
It is easy to miss the meaning of verse 3. John says, ‘For “this” is the love of God.’ He is pointing us back to verse 2. What he is saying is that “we love the children of God.” When we love the children of God, we are keeping His commandments. However, he is also saying, “we love God.” It seems so obvious that to stay in the love of God … that we love God! But we set Him aside all too easily. Loving God is something that we have to keep ourselves focused on. It is exceedingly more difficult to do so than to say it. In truth, it is impossible to do either, to love God or love the children of God. This is why we must always ask God to fill us with the Spirit and pray that we would yield ourselves to be led by the Spirit.
Updates
When I first understood that God wanted me to trek out into the wilderness, I stated that I thought that it would be for 40 days. However, I misunderstood what those 40 days are meant for. The 40 days are for prayer for the congregation. The trek into the wilderness, itself, is not for any specific time. In fact, it appears that the ark (my boat) will be constructed in the wilderness. … lol … I have no idea how that is going to happen, but that seems to be the case, assuming that I understand God correctly.
Therefore, the preparation for this trek into the wilderness has turned out to be a far greater challenge than I first supposed that it would be. I spent pretty much the entire day Wednesday working on logistics. It was quite daunting, but I think that I got most of it figured out. I have to say, it is pretty incredible! This next chapter of the Quest … What am I saying?! This next chapter of “life” is something that I could have never foreseen, but I am convinced that by God’s amazing grace, these will be the most precious moments I have ever lived. God’s love is perfect, but it does require patience.
Additionally, it appears that God is applying the allegory of the Exodus from Egypt in parallel. It is being applied here to my own situation in this house, but it is also being applied in a much larger scope, as two distinct battles on different time schedules.
You may be surprised to learn that the larger battle is already well underway. We have already met with the Elders of the congregation, and we have already met with Pharoah. In fact, we have shown Pharoah and his magicians the rod, and it did become a serpent, after which it devoured his magicians’ rods that had also become serpents. We also showed Pharoah my leprous hand and how it became whole again, after I put it back into my bosom. Moreover, we turned the water of Egypt into blood.
I will explain all of these things (except the leprous hand) in a post that I will be working on in the near future (although, probably after I depart to head into the wilderness). This upcoming post will mark the beginning of the plague of the frogs.
Here at home, things are much further along, and moving considerably faster. We are already in the midst of the plague of the boils.
I will say this: The plagues are being manifest in quite a bit different of a fashion. The manifestations are actually more real. The plagues of Egypt in Moses day were all symbols of they way that the Egyptians had corrupted themselves, and they were manifest after they way that the Egyptians’ self-corruption had been worked into their society and their religious practices, which were all very clearly idol worship.
In our day, we worship idols, but it does not appear that way. Our idol worship is extremely subtle. The overwhelming majority of people in this world have no clue that they have set up things in their own lives that have become their idols. Therefore, the manner that God is manifesting the plague of Exodus here and now are much different than in Moses’ day, as they are fashioned after our present age. Nevertheless, in God’s infinite wisdom, they are following the scriptures in astounding precision. I cannot wait to tell you more, but I do have things to do. Many things!
I am probably not going to be able to post too much more here on this epistle for the next couple of weeks. I simply do not have the time, but I do have a couple other posts that I need to work on: at least one, if not two of the Esther series; your gift (which is a whole lot more than a post); any notable training activities; and anything else that God commands me to write (which is always a possibility).
Things with the diet and my recovery have progressed fairly well since I my last comment. I have not taken any supplemental potassium since the 7th. I have been taking the sodium bicarbonate, but not quite as much. Instead, I have increased my sea salt intake, but I am front loading about half of that salt before each meal. The result is that I am not nearly as dehydrated. In fact, there are times during the day where I do not feel thirsty, which is something I have not experienced in months.
I have been getting a lot more sleep, as well. Although, part of the reason why is because I keep oversleeping my alarm … lol! I have cut my caffeine intake in half, and now I am too tired to stay awake! 😊 However, the other reason is that I am experiencing more severe Herxheimer reactions.
Let me explain. In recent months, I had reduced, and then entirely eliminated, one of my anti-fungal treatments. The anti-fungal that I eliminate is undecylenic acid. I began to suspect that it was contributing to my metabolic imbalance. I did some research and I found evidence that this was possible. Unfortunately, as I expected, that opened up the door for my fungal infection to reestablish itself. A couple of weeks ago, I determined that eliminating the undecylenic acid had no positive effect on my metabolism or on my acid-base imbalance. I am confident that the undecylenic acid was a contributing factor in that first acute attack of lactic acidosis that I has several months ago, but I was taking about seven times as much as I am now. Since I have begun taking it again, it does not seem to have any significant effect on the metabolic imbalance problem.
Additionally, I have increased my intake of frankincense (boswellia). More precisely, I have slightly increased the boswellia supplement that I have been taking all along, and I also have added a high-grade unprocessed frankincense to my diet.
I am not even going to try to explain how God led me to this understanding; however, it seems that frankincense is a much more potent anti-fungal than the world of science understands it to be. It is very strange, but there is very little scientific study on frankincense. However, what little study has been performed all seems to support the notion that frankincense is a very potent substance.
Moreover, I have reason to believe that I am dealing with a second invasive microbe. I am not sure that I understand precisely what it is, but I think it may be something bacterial. Whatever it is, the frankincense seems to be fairly effective against it. Therefore, between the frankincense and the undecylenic acid, I am getting pretty tired after each meal. Nevertheless, those symptoms appear to be improving, just as I have experienced with previous treatment protocols of similar kind.
I am still not quite to the point where I am eating three meals a day, but I am very close. I have a lot of meal prep today, but I do believe that I will be able to eat all three of my meals today. However, I am certainly not going to have time for any kind of a workout. Perhaps, I will be able to get in a workout tomorrow, but tomorrow is Saturday, and I am more subject to the pressures of Egypt on the weekends. We shall see how God leads me.
Love Always,
Dale 😊
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