EAT the HONEY
by Priscilla Van Sutphin
There was such a weeping in my heart after reading a word by Shirley Lise's on Fire and judgment. My heart was crying out to the Lord for MERCY as I know that I have been there & made the same mistakes as many have even though I didn't want to, I fell into the same sins I had judged others for. God does not allow us to hold judgment towards others when we are guilty of having or having had the same wrong motivations, or insecurities, & pride. Trouble is we don't see our pride. We feel JUSTIFIED in our judgments sometimes.
Without THE COMPASSION OF JESUS in our hearts & thoughts & spirit our prayers & our Words for Him fall short. I am not saying her word is falling short, it was right on. But what is our response to it?...shouldn't we feel compassion for those who are falling short, knowing what is likely to befall them if they don't repent ? It is HIS compassion that brings judgment! That was Moses' heart when he went up to the mountain another 40 DAYS! That is hard! He was willing to lay down HIS LIFE that the lives of his people could be saved..."KILL ME GOD rather than them" was his cry !
Remember that CAIN who killed his own brother, was not killed by the Lord. He had to live with his guilt & the shame marked on his forehead & the Lord told him, when he was afraid that others would kill him...GOD said "if they kill you, they will be killed." ( I'm paraphrasing, but if you don't remember that part, reread it ) We feel so justified if someone is convicted for their perversion or wickedness, yet we don't see when it is IN US. Pride blinds us.
We don't see when we hate someone, or hold a grudge against them that we are guilty of MURDER in our hearts according to the words of Jesus if anyone calls his brother "Raca" he is guilty & deserving of death!!!! Raca just means "fool" so what's the big deal you might say? Well haven't we all been foolish at times? Haven't we all sinned? So...it is PRIDE He is so incensed about when we do such things. The Lord ABHORS pride. How many times in the course of our lives do we get irritated to a point of impatience & wrath ( momentary anger)? It is what you DO with that anger that counts the Lord indicates. Be angry but do not sin.
But God's judgment is perfect & His judgment represents HIS LOVE GREATLY PROVOKED. His motivation is never vengeful towards His own, it is to draw them closer into relationship & dependency on HIM instead of themselves.to get them in right standing with Him. To give them a chance to REPENT.
Sometimes we can see so clearly when something is wrong with someone else, yet be so BLIND to our own condition of heart. It is always easier to look at someone else's sin & not our own pride . Pride is the root of a lot of sickness & disease in this world...you know in Corinthians where we are taught not to take communion irreverently? It says, for this reason many are sick among you. People were not reverencing the sacrament but more importantly WHO is behind the sacrament. And just maybe they had not repented for their own sins.
Our communion is with HIM is not just taking a piece of unleavened bread & a drink of wine. People were eating the bread as if it was breakfast instead of something holy to remind them of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. That is like the sons of Aaron doing the profane fire thing. So He is not just talking about eating the bread wrongly with wrong motivation...but taking our communion time with HIM in a wrong way, for wrong reasons, taking Him for granted, etc....being prideful & presumptuous....not reverencing WHO He is. For example, if we really believe HE is with us when we worship, then why are we so quick to leave His presence to speak our planned sermon? What if HE wants to change the plan? What if HE has an agenda which He has not shared with us yet? Maybe HE wants to heal people at that moment, or bring deliverance, or speak to our hearts through prophetic utterance, to NOT WAIT on the Lord after worshiping Him, is like preparing a meal & not eating it. What a waste. John Bevere's book on the Fear of the Lord is very good on this point.
When we speak prophecy, we had better be speaking HIS WORDS, HIS THOUGHTS, HIS IDEAS, not from our own heart, for if we speak from our own heart we are practicing presumption. We PRESUME to speak FOR Him without listening to what HE is saying. DO NOT PRESUME ANYTHING with the Lord. KNOW that it is HE Who is GOD.
GOD ALMIGHTY actually comes down in our midst & we act as if HE IS NOT THERE! Even in our personal lives, we do this from moment to moment, not leaning on Him or His understanding, but just assuming what we are thinking comes from Him or what we have an opinion on is His opinion. HE WANTS TO BE GLORIFIED THROUGH US, NOT TO GIVE US THE GLORY.
Paul did not come with persuasive words of wisdom but in POWER & the PRESENCE of the Lord Jesus Christ. When HE comes we need to have the FEAR OF THE LORD. Consider that when King Saul was in his house "prophesying" he was only speaking words, not the words of the Lord. So all we speak is prophesying in a sense...Life & death are in the power of our tongue & we will eat the fruit of it...& we will be judged for every word we say.
God is trying to heal up our hearts so when His glory does come we aren't blown away in the process. He wants a pure heart, for out of the abundance of the heart a man speaks. So our words can condemn us. Part of discernment is recognizing the language a person speaks is coming from a good spirit or a bad spirit. What we say gives away what is in our hearts. God will often use our friends, spouses, children, etc. to convict us.
A few years ago while in Colorado, staying with friends, I was reading a book on the bride of Christ which was talking about the honey in scripture representing the sweetness of the Lord Himself, & the treasures in His word. While I was reading a program came on the TV about honey gatherers in some far off place. I watched as this man without protection climbed up this huge tree with about 5 branches with one or two hives on each branch, & he lit a torch he had carried with him & smoked out the bees.
The commentator said, the smoke causes the bees to gorge themselves on the honey, then they become calm & they won't sting when they come out. And I felt the Lord impress me with this analogy - that we like the bees, if we will gorge ourselves on Him - His presence & His word, then we too are transformed into people who are full of His sweetness & we won't sting others either. We too will be calm & at peace, walking in the Spirit instead of our flesh. It is a time for gorging, that we may be made ONE as They are One - So that we will love one another as He has loved us, & forgiven us much. Right now we really need to be in His FIRE - the fire of His presence to warm up our hearts. Ask for the Spirit of burning to come!
Love in Christ Jesus,
Priscilla
Prov 25:15 NKJV By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded, and a gentle tongue breaks a bone.
Rom 3:25 NKJV whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed
Col 1:11 NKJV strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
NT:3115 makrothumia (mak-roth-oo-mee'-ah); from the same as NT:3116;
longanimity, i.e. (objectively) forbearance or (subjectively) fortitude: KJV-
longsuffering, patience.
NT:3116 makrothumos (mak-roth-oo-moce'); adverb of a compound of NT:3117 and
NT:2372; with long (enduring) temper, i.e. leniently:KJV-patiently.
Eph 4:2-3 NKJV with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace
2 Cor 6:3-6 NKJV We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. 4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
Rom 9:22-23 NKJV What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
Col 3:12-14 NKJV Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
OT:750 'arek (aw-rake'); from OT:748; long: KJV-long [-suffering, -winged], patient, slow [to anger].
OT:748 'arak (aw-rak'); a primitive root; to be (causative, make) long (literally or figuratively): KJV-defer, draw out, lengthen, (be, become, make, pro-) long, + (out-, over-) live, tarry (long).
Ps 86:15 NKJV But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
Ex 34:6 NKJV And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
Rom 2:4 NKJV Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
1 Tim 1:15-16 NKJV However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
written Jan 29, 2003
