Vision: A Bone of My Bones; Testimonies of the love and power of God

In this vision, I saw a bone that looked to be about 18” to 24” long; and I saw a sword cutting away all of the flesh from it in the same manner that a butcher cuts the meat off of a bone at the butcher shop. I then watched as this bone was placed under a lamp that gave off a very intense light. In almost no time at all, all of the little strips of meat that were left on the bone dried completely out until there was not one speck of flesh left on it; just one dry bone.

Then suddenly I found myself sitting on an examining table in a physician’s office; and though I was sitting straight up, my right leg was stretched out straight down the table. It was then that I saw that the bone that I had previously been watching was actually the bone of my own right leg; and my physician was the one who was holding the sword. I looked at my leg, then I looked up at my physician, and then in my astonishment I said, “This is incredible! I am not at all feeling any pain! How are you able to do this?” Then he just looked up at me with such warmth and innocence in the smile on his face, and he said, “I am the physician who loves and cares for you; and all that which I have been performing for you has been for your good. It has not been my cutting away that has brought pain and suffering upon you, but rather it has been the sin and death that has dwelled in you that has brought pain and suffering upon you. As you have given your consent to me, I have been cutting away and mortifying the sin and death that died with me upon the cross: the sins of your pride, your unbelief, your hypocrisy, your confusion, your rebellion, your disobedience, your doubts, your unwillingness, as well as all of the self-righteous works of your iniquity. I have also been cutting away the death that has ruled over the thinking of your mind; to torment in your thoughts with all manner of fears, impatience, hatred, worry, evil suspicions, self-condemnation, loneliness, anxiety, frustration, unforgiveness, failure, bitterness, stress, depression, arguments, uncertainty, distrust, contention, as well as all of your unrighteousness judgments of others.

My prescription for sin and death is repentance. When you allow for me to judge you; that is, to give to your soul a complete health exam, then I will reveal to you all those which are not of me; for that which is not of me is corrupt and mortal. If you will not turn away from the light of my judgment but acknowledge my truth and repent of the sin and death that dwells in my temple, then I will bring forth the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus; for my Spirit grants you the repentance that makes you free from the sin and the death that you confessed before me. Only my Spirit is able to mortify the sin and death that has ailed you. I am your physician; I am your remedy. I am your healing. I heal sin and death with peace and life. I am life and peace. I am the word of life that brings forth healing, health, and abundant life. I am the Spirit of life that cures all sin and death.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the Lord finished speaking these words to be, I felt the Spirit of the Lord just sweep through me, quickening to me that it is done; and I knew at that moment that I was no longer going to be receiving anymore dreams and visions from the Lord concerning those things in the inner man that are not of God; that all had been revealed. I also realized that I now seemed to have the answers to the questions as to why the Lord had been giving so many different visions and dreams that takes one deep, deep into the inner man, to bring light to the hidden things of darkness and to reveal the counsels of our thoughts. I knew that the world, that is the world within me, the lusts of the flesh, the lust of my eyes, and the pride of life had now been judged by the light of God’s truth, and that I was not going to be judged with the world because the world within has now been judged and has passed away. Whew, what a relief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I turned my thoughts back to this dream, I was just beginning to think all of the works that the Lord has been doing in me, cutting away my flesh, and emptying me out of all things which are not of him. It was then the Spirit quickened to me that Father desired for to write about some of the testimonies concerning those things which he has “cut out” of my life. The first thing that came into my remembrance was a word that the Lord spoke to me that said, “Mitt, I am not going to going to make you great in my sight, but I am going to become great in your eyes”. These words were like music to my ears because I knew that the only way that God could become great in my eyes was for him to great things for me; and this got me extremely excited. Because I really did not have any clue as to what the Lord was going to do to show himself great and mighty, I began to have all of these wonderful imaginations of the Lord performing great miracles and wonderful healings before my very eyes. I then said, “Okay, Lord, where do you want to start?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not long after the Lord had spoken this word to me, I was reading the story in the scriptures about the woman which had that menstruous condition for 12 years; and how she came up behind Jesus and touched his garment, and she was healed. While I was in the midst of reading this story, the Lord spoke and asked me, “Mitt, how many people of this great multitude that was there knew that this woman got healed?” Seeing that she did not have a disease or affliction that could be seen outwardly, like leprosy, I answered, “No one, Lord. In fact Lord, I do not even believe that you knew that she got healed of this affliction seeing that you said you just felt someone touch you, and that there was a release of your power or virtue”. Then the Lord said to me, “So also will it be with the great and mighty works that I desire to perform for you. No one will be able to see or know the work that I do in you, but you will surely know, just as this woman knew that she had been healed of her menstruous condition. All that I am asking you to do is to testify of the works that I perform in you. Make sure that you let my people know that I have not done these works in you because you are more righteous or wiser than they are, and neither have I done them because you were exalted in my sight; but tell them that I have done these works in you because you have believed on me. Then if any of them will believe, then I will do the same for them.” After the Lord had spoken this word to me, and I realized that the great and mighty works that the Lord said that he was going to do were going to be inwardly, in my heart and my mind, all of my imaginations just dissolved whereby I saw him doing great miracles and healings before me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What could be easier for me to do than to testify of these great and mighty works that the Lord has done for me? I was very excited as I sat down to write of his works, yet as I began to write of these testimonies, it was like I had entered a wilderness where there was no direction or order. How could this be? This should be the easiest of the words that the Lord has asked me to write, yet by the end of the first day, I had only written a few paragraphs; and the next day, when I went back to review what I had written the day before, I found that there was no order to anything that I had written, and neither did any of my words add any clarity to them. That which I thought was going to be easier had turned into a burden, and I struggled for about 7 to 10 days as I tried to write about these testimonies. It got so bad that I asked the Lord if this was Satan trying to hinder me from doing what the Lord had asked me to do. Then the very next morning, while I was in prayer, the Lord spoke to me and said, “I want you to write and testify about my love”. I then realized why I had been struggling and it was because I was only trying to write and testify of his power, and not of his love. I was then reminded that the “mighty things” were about his power, but the great things were about the greatness of the love that he has towards us. Everything that the Lord performs for us, he does so out of his love for us; not because we have good intentions or do righteous works.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. And the Lord caused his face to shine upon me, and….

I was a staunch atheist right up to the very moment that the Lord filled me with his Spirit; and for me that moment seemed to be just as dramatic and life changing as that which Paul experienced when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus. There is no way that I can describe the shock of what I experienced in that moment; for in one moment I went from having no belief in the existence of God to having a perfect belief that God was real. If that was not enough of a shock, my eyes were also opened at that moment to see many evil things that I had done in my life; things that I thought were okay. I was alone when this happened to me and because I was so ignorant of God and the Holy Spirit that had just come upon me, I just stood in one spot trembling from head to toe for about 3 hours. Having been an atheist, all that I had heard about Jesus Christ until that moment was the Christmas story concerning his birth and the Easter story concerning his death and resurrection. Other than that, I was full of darkness, having no knowledge of anything else written in the Bible. Now that I know that the darkness is not just a word but is truly an entity that consists of a complete ignorance of God, I can look back and see how this entity kept me alienated from any fellowship or communion with God. In the darkness of ignorance, there is no belief in God or of his words, nor is there any trust in God, or any love or affection for God, or any loyalty towards God, or any faith in God’s love, and neither is there any friendship, or agreement, or communion with God. In other words, the darkness is an entity that has no relationship with God at all. I thank God for his great love and mercy that saved me from my hopeless and lifeless miserable existence as an atheist who was full of darkness. Yet, this was still not the day that stunned me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Towards the end of that first day, when my fear and trembling began to subside, I began to realize that the love and mercy of God had also delivered me from much of, if not all of the despair, and the hopelessness, and the loneliness, and the depression that had made my days a living hell. Though I was glad to be delivered of those things, the thing that I was most happy about was that the fear of death that had continually tormented me on a daily basis was gone. When a man does not believe in a God, or in any after life, it is easy for this fear to then enter in and make this life unbearable. Though I did not understand it at that time, I now see clearly how death rules over the carnal mind with much misery and torment. When all that fear and trembling was gone, I then experienced at the latter end of that first day a peace in my heart and my mind that was not like anything that I had ever experienced; and then as it was just about dark, I had calmed down enough to ask the Lord what was I supposed to do now. He answered me and said, “Go and buy a Bible; for out of my words I will teach you all things. I will show you the works that I desire to perform for you and the way that I desire for you to go.” I could not get to Christian Book Store fast enough; and once I got my Bible, I must have spent an average of 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, reading the scriptures; and this went on for a few months. To say the least, I who had been so hopeless had now become very zealous for God, a fool for the Lord who had loved me and saved me. I went to revivals, I went to churches of different denominations, and I went to all kinds of meetings and conferences. I was not going all of these places because I was trying to find a home, but I went because I was desirous and anxious to hear and learn all that I could about this wonderful God that I had been so ignorant of.

After a few years, I was still extremely zealous for God and I was still devouring the scriptures daily, not 10 hours a day, but always enough until the Lord gave me my daily bread of life. It was then that I read that which is written in Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things; who can know it?” I just sat there trying to comprehend if “the heart” referred to my heart, and if it did, then how would this verse apply to me. After I meditated on this word and examined my own heart, I could only come up with one conclusion; and that is, if this word was true, and it applied to me, then I was completely blind to see how my heart could possibly be desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. If “the heart” is deceitful above “all things”, then does it mean that the heart of man is even more deceitful than Satan, who deceives the whole world? Well, my curiosity about the truth of this verse was beginning to really stir in my heart; so I began to pray and ask, “Lord, I know that I am ignorant of a lot of things; and that it is written that you alone know the intents and thoughts of the heart, but Lord, if this verse is testifying of the present state of my heart, then I am truly blind to see it. Would you open my eyes and unveil my heart so that I can see what you see?” I then began to imagine that the Lord was going to show me that I had a heart like Adolph Hitler, or like Charles Manson, or David Rockefeller, or Jeffery Dahmer; for until this time, I considered all these men to be really wicked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over the next several months the Lord began to show me some things in my heart, but because I was looking for some wickedness to be revealed in my heart that agreed with what my own imaginations were defining as wickedness. The Lord had actually begun answering my prayer but I did not realize it. I was beginning to see things in my heart about my pride, how pride is truly an abomination in the sight of God. The Lord had also begun to show me how my perverted my judgments were towards my brethren as well as others because there was no love in any of my judgments. I had never even considered myself to be a hypocrite until the Lord opened my eyes to see how much I was flattering people because I was afraid that if I did not say such things they would not think that I was a Christian. I began to also see that I had a lot if unwillingness in my heart about doing some of the things that the Lord was asking me to do. If all of these other things were not enough, my eyes were also being opened to see how easy it was for me to justify my disobedience to the instruction given to us in God’s word with all manner of excuses and reasons. I found that all these things that the Lord was showing to me left me feeling like I was in the midst of a sea of doubts and fears because I myself was powerless to change any of these things that I was seeing, and I did not have any belief that the Lord would change me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I laugh at myself now because even in the midst of the Lord bringing all these wicked things out of the darkness and into the light, I was blind to see what he was doing; because I was still praying and waiting on the Lord to show me what this wickedness and deceitfulness was that could be dwelling in my heart. The Lord was the first and only real thing that had ever come into my life, and for that reason I had a great desire to please him; and so my heart was really grieved because of these sinful things that I was seeing. I felt like I was in the worst place that I have ever been in my life because I felt like all these things that I was seeing in me was going to separate me from the Lord who had so graciously saved me. I was hearing, and entertaining voices in my imaginations that were telling me that I had even sinned beyond the grace that God had allotted for me. I was hearing voices that were telling me that God was disappointed with me every day because I was not measuring up to be the Christian that he wanted me to be. I heard voices that continually called me a failure before God, that I was letting him down. I was also terribly afraid of how my brethren would judge me, or condemn me, or reject me if they found out what was truly in my heart; for there were thoughts in my heart that people got stoned to death for that were under the law. But there was one thing that was worse than all the rest and that was self-condemnation, which tormented my thoughts continually. I found that I was beginning each day with self-condemnation and I was ending each day with self-condemnation. I was do tormented daily by this self- condemnation that I could not see how the torments of hell could be any worse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Lord had now revealed so much to me that I found myself on a daily basis calling out on the Lord to deliver me from all this evil (which in my mind was not wickedness) that he was revealing in my heart. I called out on the Lord, and I waited; I called out and I waited on the Lord to come and deliver me from this evil that I was seeing in my heart. After a time, with out the Lord answering any of prayers, doubts and fears began to arise in my imaginations telling me not to put any hope in the Lord, that I needed to do something of myself to make these things right; and when I tried to do so, it only seemed to give more strength to the evil within me. I also began to hear counsels coming into my thoughts telling me how big a failure I was, and that God was really disappointed me with me. There were also voices within me that told me that I will never be good enough for God, nor would I ever be able to measure up to his requirements. Then the worst of all came, self-condemnation. It is written in Titus 1:15 “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” Well, seeing that I was in the latter category here, I was condemning myself just about all day long. I even deceived myself into believing that if I condemned myself enough, I would then some how be able to actually cease from the evil that I was seeing in my heart. Then I started having evil thoughts towards the Lord, blaming him for showing me these things but not doing anything about it. “Lord, where are you; help me!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I felt as though the darkness had completely compassed all of the thoughts of my mind because of the amount of evil that I was seeing in my heart; and though I was greatly troubled at seeing this, it was far more troubling for me to see that there were multitudes of counsels coming into my thinking that were tempting me to either doubt God’s love or not believe that God was with me or that he would help me in my affliction. I was being greatly tempted to turn away from the Lord. I not only felt as though the Lord had forsaken me, but that he had forgotten my name also. I was sick with grief and began to feel so ashamed in my heart that it took all of the strength that was within me just to pray and ask the Lord to help me. “Father, I have sinned. Please forgive me and help me!” Then, on a day when I felt like I could just go farther no more; a day that I felt completely overcome with hopelessness, with no more strength to resist any of these wicked imaginations, I prayed and acknowledged, “Lord, your word is true, for my heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things”; and then, “Lord, your word is true, for all my thoughts are vanity”; and then, “Lord, your word is true, there is no good thing in my flesh”; and finally, “Lord, your is true, for I am blind, naked, foolish, poor, and miserable. Lord, forgive me and be merciful to me”. When I finished crying out this prayer to the Lord, it was like I suddenly realized just what these words were that I had professed before the Lord; without me even being aware of it, I had just acknowledged before the Lord that he had indeed showed me that Jeremiah 17:9 applied to my own heart. I was excited that the Lord had done this for me, but that excitement lasted all of 3 or 4 minutes before the self-condemnation, failure, and guilt came back on me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was continued to lie there on the floor, trying to find some more words to say to the Lord that might allow for him to open the door so that I might partake of his mercy and compassion, that which I had felt like I had not experienced any of in a long, long time. Suddenly I was either taken in the Spirit or into vision that was as real as the floor that I was lying on; I did not know which. Nevertheless, I found myself walking up a road that was in the midst of grass covered hills; gently sloping hills that were all covered with the lushest green grass I had ever seen. I did not see a tree on any of these hills but all of the hills were covered with beds and beds of many different kinds of beautiful flowers. Everything around me, including me, felt so alive; as alive as if it was a warm spring morning after a really harsh winter. I felt overcome with peace and joy, which was such a tremendous change from the self-condemnation and the hopelessness that I had been engulfed just a moment before I was brought to this wonderful place.

I was just casually walking through these fields using an old path that was in the grass that had been made by either cars or trucks repeatedly driving over it. I was walking in the left tire imprint and I had not walked very far when I felt someone take my right hand and place in their left hand. This was so gently done that I almost did not realize that I was now walking side by side and hand in hand with another. I then felt like I was about the size of 5 year old boy, and that whoever it was that had taken my hand was a fully grown adult. I then turned and looked up to see who it was, but I could not clearly see his face because it was as though the sun was directly behind his head. I then leaned my head to the side in an attempt to get in his shadow hoping that I then might see who it was, but there was no shadow anywhere. I then squinted my eyes as hard as I could in hopes to see enough of his face so that I might know who it was, but even then I could make out enough to recognize him. I could see enough of his countenance to know that he was so very gentle, peaceable, and loving. Then he turned and looked down at me and said, “Now that we agree we can walk together”. For a moment there I was completely oblivious as to what this man could possibly be talking about to say such a thing because I did not even know who this man was, much less what it was that I might be in agreement with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then suddenly, the Lord opened my eyes to see that it was him, just like he did with those disciples in Luke 24. Then, when I realized that this was the Lord himself, I almost went into a state of shock, and all at once many questions flooded my thoughts. How could this be? How could the Lord himself be walking with such a wretched sinner as me, seeing that I had accounted myself to be numbered with those who the Lord rejects? How could the Lord be walking with me like this and not be condemning me like I had been condemning myself? How could he have such a gentle and loving countenance towards me and not a face filled with scorn? Was not the Lord as disappointed with my failures as I was? How could he not be as ashamed of me as I was of myself? How could this be? One moment I felt as though I had fallen so far into the darkness that I thought the next voice that I was going to be hearing was, “Next stop Hell”; and then in the next moment I find myself walking in peace and communion with my loving heavenly Father. How? How could I go from being in such a sinful state of separation from the Lord to finding myself walking hand in hand with him who I thought had forgotten me? How could I also go from a state of mind that was so full of shame, guilt, failure, and self-condemnation to a state of mind that was now so full of peace, and fellowship, and life with the one who truly loves me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My mouth just dropped wide open as I continued to stare into this beautiful, gentle face of him whose forgiveness and love was now penetrating into every thought of my mind as well as into every intent of my heart. Then suddenly I knew that all was forgiven, and that I was cleansed. It was incredible, one moment I was feeling as far and estranged from the Lord as a man could feel, and in the next moment I am as a little child in the hand of his loving and caring father. I then remembered what the Lord had just spoken to me, “Now that we agree, we can walk together”; and suddenly it was brought back into my remembrance that which I had just acknowledged in my prayer, “Lord, your word is true; my heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things”. I then realized that it was this word that the Lord was speaking of when he said we were now in agreement. This just about blew my mind. I would have surely thought that if anything so wonderful as this was ever going to take place in my life, then surely the Lord would have required for me to be walking with him as some super religious, sinless, righteous man; but now I could see that all the Lord is looking for is for those who are willing to come into an agreement with his words.

My mind was abuzz trying to digest and comprehend all that I was experiencing and seeing when the Lord said, “I know, Mitt, I know. I have always known the truth about the wickedness and the deceitfulness that lies in the hearts and the minds of men. What you have seen in your heart is new to you but it is not new to me; for only I am able to see those things which are hidden in the dark and secret places of the heart. Now you know the truth about your heart, but now you also know the truth about my love for you. I loved you when you were blind to see the truth of these things and I love you now that you do see the truth as I see it. Did you think that my love for you would change because you allowed for my light to shine into your heart and mind? It is your own wicked imaginations that have told you that I be would accuse and condemn you in the same manner that you have accused and condemned yourself. Why is it that when you see your weaknesses and sins you condemn and hate yourself when I am ready to forgive you and cleanse you with my love? Does the light of my truth make you forget the blood that my love shed for you? You know that I said that your thoughts and your ways are not as my thoughts or my ways, so why have you expected me to respond to you in the same condemning and unmerciful manner that you have treated yourself? Has not your own heart deceived you into thinking and believing that I was like unto your own thoughts and ways?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I love you. Remember that I said to you, “I am always with you, even in the dark places of unbelief. I am not afraid of your sins and neither am I intimidated by the wickedness or the deceitfulness of your heart, and neither do I want you to be fearful or intimidated by them either. Did I not tell you that I would make myself to be great in your sight? Do you not see now that my love for you is far greater than your heart when it condemns you? Do you think that your weaknesses and your sins have power to change the love that is in my heart for you? If this were true, then would I not be a liar seeing that I said, “I am the same today as I was yesterday, and as I will be tomorrow, that I change not? I love you today as I loved you yesterday, and as I will love you tomorrow. I loved you yesterday when you were blind and ignorant of this truth, and I love you today now that you see and agree with my truth, and I will love you tomorrow, regardless of where you are. Do you really think that sin is so powerful that it is able to change my love, or my mercy, or my grace, or my compassion towards you? Did you not know that my love, and my mercy, and my grace abound towards you when your sins and weaknesses abound? Why have you doubted my love for you? Why have you not believed my words? Even so, my heart has rejoiced because you so desired to know if my words where true that you have sought and inquired of me concerning them; no matter what injury or damage my truth might bring against your own self-image. I will always love you. So now, when you judge yourself, I beseech you not to condemn or hate yourself but to allow for the greatness of my love to show itself to you in mercy, and in forgiveness, and in compassion, and in grace, and in repentance. Ask for the might of my power to transform your thoughts and to change the desires and affections of your heart; for my love performs all these things. Now go in peace, and remember that my love says to you, “I will never leave you or forsake you”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Again then found myself lying prone on the floor just as I was before this visitation; and needless to say, a lot of things had been just been changed in my world. I immediately recognized that all of my self-condemnation, guilt, hopelessness, shame, dread, and sense of failure were completely gone from my thoughts, swallowed up by his love. I perceived also that his love had dissolved all of my doubts, fears and unbelief. I then laid there even trying to think on some of these miserable thoughts that I had, and not one of them seemed able to come into my thinking. I then laid there trying to comprehend the awesomeness of what I had just experienced, for these things were so contrary to those things which I had believed until that very moment. I know of no religion that does not treat wickedness and sin in the same manner that I was treating my own wickedness and sins, and that is with scorn, or with finger pointing, or accusations, or disappointment, or evil looks, or judgment, or hatred, or with condemnation; and these are all the religions that are suppose to be witnesses of God on the earth. Yet here was the Lord, while I was overcome with the darkness, taking me so gently and lovingly by my hand and saying, “Now that we agree we can walk together”.

Even so, how could this be? How could the Lord have treated me so mercifully, so good, so tenderly, and so lovingly in a time that I was expecting the Lord to treat in a way that was, at best, with condemnation and harsh punishment; and at worst, with rejection? I then realized that it was time for me re-evaluate all that I thought that I knew about God and his son Jesus Christ because this visitation had completely crushed within me much of how I had interpreted the being of God and his son Jesus. I was now also ready to agree with that which Jesus said in Matthew 11:27 “No man knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son will reveals him to”; for the Lord had just proved the truth of this word to me with his visitation. Surely, if the Lord had not appeared to me, then hopelessness, or doubt, or self-condemnation, or unbelief would have surely swallowed up my faith; and I would not even be writing these words now. I could now see clearly that it was my own imaginations that I had trusted in that had betrayed me with it’s lies, afflicting me with doubts, confusion, fear, self-condemnation, hopelessness, unbelief, and blame towards God. Then the love of God in Christ Jesus appeared to me; and his love cut away my doubts, and it did not hurt at all. His love cut away my confusion, and it did not hurt at all. His love cut away my self-condemnation, and it did not hurt at all. His love cut away my hopelessness, and it did not hurt at all. His love cut away my unbelief and fears, and it did not hurt at all. And finally, his love cast out that wicked counselor that thought evil of my Lord, and it did not hurt at all. After the Lord cut all of these miserable lies out of me, I felt like my belief and trust in his love towards me grew at least 1000-fold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One hand and hand walk with the Lord; one squinting look into his glorious, tender, and loving face; one sentence of his gentle voice, and almost everything that I had trusted and believed in until that moment seem to pass away within me. Until this visitation, if I was asked by someone if I knew the Lord, I would have surely answered yes because I was confident that the Lord was like the imaginations that I had of him; for I had the Lord perfectly conformed to the image that my own understanding had made him out to be. Now I see that I had made God to be like unto the image of the beast; that is, an image that was like unto me. Since I had no compassion on any of my own failures, I assumed that the Lord would not have any compassion on any of my failures either. Since I was not showing any mercy towards myself for any of my own sins and iniquities, I assumed that the Lord would not show any mercy on my sins and iniquities either. Since I was condemning and hating myself for my sins, weaknesses, and failures, I assumed that the Lord would also be condemning and hating me for the same things. I even saw that the fear that I had towards the Lord was also perverted because I was fearful of false image that I had made the Lord into; an image of an unmerciful and condemning God. But now that the Lord has blessed me and caused his face to shine upon me, my image of him has changed completely. Now that the Lord has allowed me to see his beautiful and loving face, I am no longer afraid of him who showed me the greatness of his love in the midst of my darkest, most miserable state; now I am only fearful of doing something so foolish that I would lead me to separate from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2. Perfect love casts out all fear…casts out all fears, anxieties, worries, stress…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I remember the first time that I read this passage of scripture that the only thought that came into my mind was, “I wonder why it does not say, “Perfect love casts out all hate”, seeing that hate is that which is contrary to love. That was all the thought that I gave to that verse for a long time because I was still walking proudly; and my pride was blinding me to the fears that were within me. In those days I was so zealous for the Lord that I was continually proving my faith by doing the good works and the righteous deeds that I felt like the scriptures were instructing me to do. I was involved with various kinds of ministries, from feeding the poor to witnessing in the prisons. I was not aware that all of my works and deeds were the results or fruits of my own understanding of the scriptures. In my mind, it was impossible for me to even conceive that the scriptures could have any other truth to them other than the way that my understanding was interpreting them. Even so, I found much strength in my own zeal to perform these works and deeds that I was doing; and I even declared that I was doing the work of the Lord. As long as my zeal was strong, I found life in all that I was doing; and I really felt good about myself also.

But after a time, especially in those times when my zeal was weak, I began to feel as though there was much more to my walk, and that I was missing out on something big. After a time, this feeling even began to burn within me even in the times that I felt zealous for the Lord. Finally this feeling grew so great within me that I could find any life or desire to do any of the “righteous works” that I was doing. I also began to question where had the peace and joy gone that I had once experienced in the Lord. Where and what was this abundant life that Jesus had promised us. I then turned and began to seek the Lord, asking him to show me if I had erred from the way or if he would show me what it was that I felt like I was missing out on. Then one morning while I was in prayer, the Lord led me to go and read James 2:20 “O vain man, do you not know that faith without works is dead?” At first, I really got frustrated for leading me to this verse because I felt offended; as though he was telling me that I did not have enough works accompanying my faith, even though I felt like my zeal had done those works that Jesus instructed us to do.

After a week or two of frustration and confusion about why the Lord would answer my emptiness with this passage of scripture, I finally perceived one morning that I must not really understand what the Lord was trying to show me out of this passage of scripture.

I then acknowledged before the Lord the lack of comprehension that I felt like I had of his word. I was lying prone before the Lord, just being quiet for a moment, meditating on that word when the Lord spoke to me and said, “Mitt, if I am not working in your heart, then your faith is dead”. Without any doubt, I knew that this was the voice of the Lord that had just spoken to me, but it was what he said that completely shocked and stunned me. For until that moment, I had never heard any preaching or Bible teaching, nor had I ever consider in my own understanding, that the works spoken of in James 2:20 were to be the works that the Lord performs, and not what we do. As these words that the Lord had just spoken to me began to settle into my heart, I suddenly felt stripped of all that I had been believing and trusting in; my own interpretations of the scriptures, as well as all of the works and deeds that I had been performing as a result of my own understanding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then the Spirit quickened to me that which is written in Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding”; and I then realized that my entire walk had been in error because I had done what this word said not to do. I could clearly see now that my faith had been established and proved by the works and deeds that I been performing according to my own interpretation of James 2:20. Now seeing that my faith was that which is worthless and dead, fear came on me like flood, trying to swallow any hope that I left within me. But the Lord (he who knows the thoughts of the heart) spoke to me in the most gentle and assuring voice that he has ever spoke to me with, and he said, “Do not be afraid, Mitt, for I am really good at raising the dead.” I knew that there was no reason for me to be afraid; and even though I had felt like the Lord had just turned my world upside down, I still had to laugh at these voices that were appearing in my own thoughts, trying to convince me that all hope was lost. Obviously, these voices do not have a clue as to the depth, and width, and length of the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.

Even though the Lord had greatly comforted me, I still stood there feeling empty and useless because of my misunderstanding. I then asked, “Lord, this word that you just spoke to me about my faith is so contrary to that which I have believed; would you prove for me that this word truly came forth from your mouth?” The Lord answered me quickly and said, “In the gospels, who did “all” of the works?” I then answered, “You did Lord”. Then the Lord asked me, “And how did I reply to those who asked and allowed for me to help them?” I thought for I minute and then answered, “Lord, I now see. Their faith brought these people before you, and they then asked of you that which they had need of; and then you, depending on what manner of work you did to help them, then replied to them by saying either, “Your faith has made you whole”; or, “Your faith has healed you”; or, “Your faith has saved you”. Then the Lord said, “It is your faith that allows you to come before me, asking for me to do those things for you that you have need of. It is your faith that allows for me to make you my workmanship. Remember that which I told you; my love towards your brethren, as well as my love towards all men is pure, but I am only able to show my favor to those who believe my words; the words that testify of the great and mighty works that my love desires to perform for all. When the Lord finished speaking these words, I realized that I was no longer troubled in my heart, and that I was filled with a great peace. All of my questions and fears were gone, even though the things that the Lord had just showed to me had completely rocked my world. I now knew what I was missing in my walk, the power of God working in me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that the Lord had confirmed this word for me, I then set my heart to seek out and know just what were these works that the Lord wanted my faith to be accompanied with. As soon as I started reading the scriptures I saw a complete difference in way that I was seeing his words. One of the first things that the Lord opened my eyes to see was that when read the scriptures, thinking that it was my works that were to accompany my faith, then I was blind to see anything else in the scriptures other than the works that I thought I was responsible to do; and my eyes were only focused on my abilities, or on my strength, or on my own determination and will power, or on my own righteous works. Now that the Lord had opened my eyes to see the truth, I was no longer afraid to read a word of instruction that I had thought I had to perform of myself. This seemed so simple that at first I really had a hard time believing that this was really the right way and true path; but the Lord even dissolved these doubts when he led me to that which Jesus said in Matthew 9:28 “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We have all heard this verse spoken, but this was the first time that I had read it where it described me to a T: for it was I who was heavy laden with many lifeless works that I had thought were the works of God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not long after I had started seeking out to know what the scriptures might reveal as what the works were, I read for what seemed like the umpteenth time I John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out all fear because fear has torment. He that fears has not been made perfect in love”; but this time, as I read this verse, the words really began to come alive for me. I then sat there and began to consider my own fears; and then it was like the Lord open my eyes to see that all of my anxieties, dreads, stress, and worries were really nothing but fears disguised with other names. So I asked, “Lord, if perfect love casts out “all fear”, then why do I still have so many of these anxieties and worries? The Lord answered me and said, “You have not because you have not asked; and you have not asked because you have not believed that I would do this for you. I will not do any works for you unless you first ask, lest I force myself on you; and you know that I will not force myself on anyone. Until now, you have believed that truly, I am the Son of the living God; and that I was crucified and raised from the dead; and that my blood covers your sins; but you have not believed that all things are possible for my love to perform for you. Ask me first to help you with your unbelief; for I am the author and finisher of your faith and it is I alone who can give increase in your belief.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Lord’s answer at first scared me because I now knew in my heart that the Lord was not going to do any of his great and mighty works for me unless I at least had the faith to come to him and ask for him to do them. I was afraid of the reality of my error, that I had been walking in that faith that had not been asking for the Lord to do any of his works for me. The Lord confirmed “the asking” for me when he led me to that which is written in Psalm 34:4 “I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered me from “all” of my fears”; and my eyes were opened to see that the Lord only delivered him from all his fears after the Lord heard him; after the Lord heard him praying and asking for him to do this thing for him. As afraid as I was of the unknown, I was still rejoicing within because I could feel within the joy that I had been freed from all of the vain works that I had been doing of myself.

I then thought, “Simply enough. You know what they say, “The proof is in the pudding”. If I sought the Lord and asked for him to deliver me from my fears, and he did it, then that would make the scriptures true, that it is his works that are to accompany my faith, and not my own; but if he did not deliver me from my fears, then that would make him to be a liar and the promise of his words to be a pack of lies. Of course, I knew that it is impossible for Father to lie, so I took before the Lord a fear that had plagued me since the 1970’s. It was during these times that there were two recessions in the good ole USA, and these were really tough times, especially since I was still an atheist and did not have the Lord to call on. My finances suffered greatly in the first recession, but it was this second one that brought me within a hair of declaring bankruptcy. It was now 1990, the Lord was now the center of my life, and the Lord had opened my eyes to see how fear was compelling me to run my company in the manner that I was doing; working from sun up to sun down because of the fear that I might still go bankrupt if I did not stay in control over my business. When the Lord opened the eyes of my heart to see this fear, I saw how I was bowing down to its counsels, and that just about every decision that I was making was based on a “what if” scenario; What if I lose money on this job? What if I make a mistake? What if I get sick? It was like one “what if” after another “what if” would come into my thoughts to keep me tormented with anxieties and worries. I now see that I was so fearful of the “what ifs” that I do not know how I could have ever made a sound decision at all. Seeing that this fear of losing my business had such a stronghold over my thinking, I chose this one to be the one that I would first seek and ask the Lord to release his love so that he might cast this fear out of my thinking, and set me free from these miserable thoughts.

During the time that I was praying and worshipping the Lord in this matter, he did open my eyes to see that where there was any fear, or anxiety, or worry in my heart, it was place in my heart that I was trying to be lord and god in that situation or circumstance. My eyes were opened to see that I was trying to be lord and god when my own wisdom tempted me to do that which naturally seemed right, and that was that I had to take control over the situation or circumstance. The Lord then taught me; “Worship me in Spirit and in truth; believing that I alone am your God and that I alone am able to perform all things for you. Bow your heart in surrender to me and acknowledge my sovereignty over all your circumstances and situations, and I will be your God and I bless you in that matter; for all things will work for good to those who love me being their Lord and God. If you choose to be your own lord and god, then death with all of its fears, anxieties, foolishness, stress, and worry waits at the gate to your heart to take rule over you”. I then saw that my fears were only idols in my heart that I bowed before and honored when I yielded to its counsels instead of surrendering my heart to allow for the Lord to be my God in that matter. Yes, Lord, yes; I gladly surrender my heart to you.

I was still seeking the Lord and praying daily, waiting for the Lord to come and deliver me from this fear that I was going to lose my business; and I suppose in my mind, I was waiting for some great big explosion of his Spirit to happen to me similar to how the Spirit came powerfully and suddenly upon all those who had waited at Pentecost. Then one day, a situation arose at work that I acknowledged the sovereignty of the Lord over; and it was one of those typical situations that would normally arouse all of those “what if” thoughts. But it was like there was a new wisdom in me, and I went straight through the situation without having any “what ifs”, or fears, or anxieties and worries. It was not until the situation was resolved that I realized that my fears, and anxieties, and worries were gone. Wow! “Lord, when did you come and deliver me from this fear? My company never again operated under the direction of this old fear; and it not only led to a much better working environment for me, but to all of my employees also.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was still marveling about this awesome work that the Lord had done for me when the Spirit said to me, “Perfect love casts out; pure love casts out; perfect love casts out all fears; pure love casts out all fears. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are fearful, doubtful, and unbelieving, there is nothing pure”. It was here that my focus began to transition from the power of the Lord onto the love of God; for it is the love of God that directs his power, not vice versa. Father the showed to me that he has no desire whatsoever to display his power before men, as though he needed to prove his power as the almighty God, but it is the great yearning of Father’s heart for men to come into the knowledge of the great love that he has for all men. His power is displayed, while his love must be testified and witnessed thereof. My eyes were now being opened to see that the fear that Father had cast of me, it was not because I was some righteous or good person, but it was because of the love that Father has for me. What loving Father would want to see his son tormented and miserable, especially when Father has the power to free a man from all that torments and that makes miserable? It is as it is written, that the being of God is love and his power is only a possession.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shortly after the Lord delivered me from this fear of losing my business, the Lord told me that it was the love in his heart that yearned and desired to cast out “all” of my fears; to free me from the counsels of these tormenting idols that my heart had bowed to believe and follow after. When I remembered how easy it was for the Lord to deliver me this fear, I got really excited that the Lord wanted to do the same to all of my fears. He then showed to me that he first wanted me to put a name to the fear (say, the fear of failure), then he desired for me to present this fear before him as an offering. Then he instructed me to call upon his name, asking for him to release his love; the love that would then direct his sovereign power to cast these fears out of me. Our God is a jealous God, and he will have no idols (fears) before him. I now knew and believed in my heart that Father’s towards all of us perfect and pure; and his love for us cannot be limited, even if there were legions of these fearful spirits in us; for his banner over us is love. It is his love that is sovereign over all things, and he is well able to cast out all things with the command of his word.

I was not only extremely excited to know and believe this great love that the Lord has for me, but I also found myself getting really bold to go after any and all spirits of fear that might try to deceive me with its counsel. Over the next few months, I saw many kinds of these spirit of fears trying to enter into my thoughts: the fear of failure; the fear of dying to “self”; the fear of what men might think of me; the fear of not being right; the fear of pain and suffering; the fear of change; the fear of the Darkness as well as a fear of Satan; the fear of not being accepted; the fear of death; the fear of what men might do to me; the fear of my own weaknesses; the fear that I might appear foolish; the fear that the worst case scenario might be true; the fear that others might discover that I was really a sinner; the fear of insecurity; the fear of getting sick or contracting an incurable disease; the fear that I was not going to measure up; the fear of the unknown; the fear of being falsely judged, accused, and condemned; the fear of the consequences, the fear of a lack of finances; the fear of correction; and of course, the fear of not being in control of my life. But when all of these came to me, I acknowledged them by name before the Lord, that they were not of God, and I called upon his name, and then I waited for his love to come and embrace me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the Lord started bringing all these fears into the light so that they could be judged, my eyes were opened to see how I had allowed my fears to influence just about every important decision, if not every decision, that I had made in my life. No wonder the Lord desires for us to ask him to cast out all of these tormenting spirits. What was so amazing to me was right after the Lord cast out that first fear that I took to him, I then tried to imagine myself in situations that used to arouse these fears, and anxieties, and worries, and none of my imaginations were accompanied with any of these fears. Then it was like a signal from the Lord just went off inside of me, and I knew in my heart that the Lord now desired for me to aggressively pursue all of these fears, instead of letting them pursue me in situations and circumstances of my life. Who is made perfect in love? Only those who ask the Lord to deliver them from all of their fears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Lord spoke this word to my brethren and I saying that it truly grieves him in his heart to see his children live under the bondage of these tormenting and miserable spirits, especially when his love is, and always has been, ready to cast out all of the lies of doubt, unbelief, and fear. Who will prove the love of God? Did not the Lord say, “Prove me, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing upon you that you will even be able to contain”? I myself have been so blessed that the Lord gave to me the belief that that allowed for me to ask for him to prove his love for me. How hard can it be for one to ask the Lord to cast out his fears? It is easy for those who believe his word, but it is next to impossible for those who do not believe on his love. I have found that the Lord is not faithful and true to us; that is, if he was faithful to us, then the Lord would automatically perform all things for us without us asking him to do so or without us ever having to believe his words. No, it is his words that the Lord is faithful and true to; and anyone who holds on to and believes his words will witness the Lord being faithful and true to them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Evens so, those who remain ignorant and unbelieving of his word, they will seek to prove the blessing of the Lord, but they look for him to bless them with earthy riches, like the things which Caesar’s/American presidents names inscribed on them. How much would the richest of all men pay to have his mind made free from all his fears, his worries, his anxieties, his frustrations, and his stress? Yet, for all the striving of men, the gift of God’s love is free; a spiritual mind where only life and peace are able to inhabit. Now to this day, if a circumstance or situation arises where that might arouse some fear that I have not been delivered from, I now just take it before the Lord, acknowledge it, then watch the love of God move on my behalf. In our fellowship, I cannot remember in the past 4 or 5 years where we have had to ask the Lord more than once to cast one of these spirits out of us; it is almost immediate. I now see that many times I take the Lord’s power for granted in these situations because it is his love that I watch for because his love for me has captured my heart. I have watched the Lord cut away all these tormenting and miserable fears, anxieties, worries, and stress, and not one time did it bring any suffering, or hurt, or pain on me. Glory; Glory; Glory be to God who loves us so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not long after the Lord had delivered me from all of the fears that I knew of, the Lord came to me and said, “Perfect love casts out all ____? Now you fill in the blank.” I then thought to myself that this was a no brainer of a question and immediately answered, “Fear”. Then the Lord said, “Of course, but do you not know that my love will also cast out all things within you that are not of me; such things as your doubts, the wisdom of the world, hatred, unbelief, all imaginations that oppose me from being your Lord and God, all lies, all of the works of the flesh, depression, your judgments of others, pride, loneliness, anger, the death of the carnal mind, bitterness, and confusion. Have I not overcome all things? Have I not died on the cross, crucifying all these things so that you do not have to live in bondage to any of these things? I came to give to you life, and to give it to you abundantly; but how shall you have abundant life with any of these miserable thoughts dwelling in your thinking? Are you able to change any of these things? Just as you now believe on my love to cast out all of your fears, I am now asking you not to limit my love to just your fears, but to fill in the blank with any and all things which are not of me. Remove the boundaries that you have put on my love and let me show you the blank spaces that need to be redeemed with my Spirit; the Spirit of Life. Again, I have filled in the blanks with these things, and just like my fears, I have watched the Lord cut them all away; and still I felt no pain or hurt when he did so.

3. A Willing Mind

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven years ago the Lord asked me if I would sell my house and my business so that he could put me in the ministry full time. I had been seeking and walking with the Lord for 21 years when he asked me to do this; and during that time I had seen him doing many great and mighty works in my life. It is not like I was without any faith when he asked for me to do this. At that time the Lord asked this of me, my wife and I owned our own company, and we had found favor with the Lord because, by these world’s standards, we were considered to have a very successful business. It was not like the Lord was asking us to sell some struggling or unprofitable business, but one where our own personal taxes were around 6 figures. Also at that time, my wife and I had just got through remodeling our entire kitchen, as well as adding to and remodeling the bedroom and doubling the size of the master bathroom. We had also just redone the landscaping in our backyard and replaced all of the sod in the front yard. Basically, we had just customized our house to be just like we wanted it to be until the time I retired. But obviously, the Lord had a different plan.

I feel led to describe exactly where my wife and I were in our life when the Lord asked me to do this so that you might know and understand the depth of what the Lord has done for you. I can assure you that any thoughts of fear, or resistance, or unbelief, or doubts, or unwillingness that you might think you would have if the Lord asked the same of you, we had them; multitudes and multitudes of contentious thoughts appearing in our imaginations, trying to overthrow the word that the Lord had spoken to me. I would not even know what the enmity of the carnal mind is, thoughts that are impossible to submit themselves to God, if the Lord had not ever given to me instruction and counsel. Every time the Lord speaks to me, the same usual suspects always appear in my thoughts to contend with and resist that which God has asked of me. For the enmity of the carnal mind is always seen in those thoughts that seek to conceive either doubt, or reasonings, or unbelief, or unwillingness, or rebellion, or fear, or bitterness, or excuses, or pride; and they all have one thing in common, to spoil the Lord’s plan for us by tempting us to hold on to what we have. It really makes no difference what kind of job or business a man may have, or how big or small a house may be; for all of our hearts are attached to the things we are familiar and secure with. In this case, it might appear that my enmity was tempting me to hold on to my business and my house, but in truth, what the enmity desires for all of us to hold on to is the enmity itself, lest it be enmity itself that perishes within us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the Lord asked me to sell my house and my business, the Lord had already taught two incredible precepts to me. First, the Lord spoke to me one day and said, “Mitt, do you not know that the Spirit that I have freely given to you is my Spirit and it is my power; it is not yours. My Spirit only subjects itself to do my will and accomplish my purpose; it will never bow itself to do your own will or to accomplish your purposes. My Spirit loves me. My Spirit delights in doing only my will. My Spirit does my commands out of love. My Spirit agrees only with me. My Spirit lives, and moves, and has its being in unity with me. My Spirit delights in doing all that which I ask of it. My Spirit is living and it gives life to all those who surrender to it; for those who surrender to the move of my Spirit surrender unto me because my Spirit is surrendered unto me. Yield not to the enmity of the carnal mind lest you grieve my Spirit; for when you grieve my Spirit you grieve me because I am that Spirit”, says the Lord. “If you have no desire to do my will, then my Spirit shall not profit you at all.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second precept that the Lord taught me that I think is so powerful was taught to me shortly after the revealed to me that it is the works of God that is to accompany our faith, not our works. To me, this precept is like the atomic bomb in arsenal that the Lord has given to us; and it is revealed in that which is written in Psalm 110:3 “Your people shall be willing in the day of your power, in the beauty of holiness…” IN THE DAY OF HIS POWER, HIS PEOPLE SHALL BE MADE WILLING; therefore, a willing heart and a willing mind does not come forth of a man, but it is the fruit of the power of the living God working in those who seek to do Father’s will. A willing mind cannot dwell in the carnal mind because the carnal mind is always enmity against God, unwillingly to do his will. There is no doubt, or resistance, or fears, or hesitation, or reasonings, or stubbornness, or pride, or unbelief, or rebellion to be anywhere in a willing mind, lest it be an unwilling mind. A willing mind is surrendered only to Father’s will; and when his Spirit (his power) is joined with his word, then that man will always delight in doing that which Father has asked of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What could the Lord ask of a man to do that would be impossible for him if the Lord is able to give to him a willing heart? As powerful of a word as Psalm 110:3 is, it becomes powerless if it is not mixed with the belief that it is the works of the God that are to accompany our faith. O, the flesh may try to perform it, and the flesh may even think within itself that God is pleases with its best efforts, but God is never pleased with the best efforts that any flesh can make. Many will confuse the spirit of pride with the Spirit of the Lord; for the spirit of pride says, “Ask me to do anything and I will show you that I can do it”. Peter was yielded to this spirit of pride when he boastfully declared, “Lord, I will follow you anywhere. I will go to prison for you, and I will even die for you”. It sure seemed righteous for Peter to have such a bold statement, but he did not understand the enmity that dwelled within him. Of course, this is when Jesus answered him saying, “Peter, this night, before the cock crows twice, you will have denied that you even know me 3 times”. Jesus knew what Peter did not know, and that was the enmity within that Peter did not understand at that time. Yes, there is nothing the enmity delights itself in more than showing itself that It can do the will of God….it is just that it cannot do it willingly, without doubts, or begrudgingly, or fearful, or even with bitterness. This is not the sacrifice or work that is acceptable or pleasing in the sight of God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So when the Lord first asked me to sell my business and my house, I answered and said, “Lord, if you will give me a willing heart and mind, then I will delight in doing that which you have asked of me. But Lord, please do not require this thing of me unless you first give to me a willing mind”. I then shared with our fellowship that which the Lord had asked of me, but I did not share with them that which is written in Psalm 110:3. Then after about three weeks had gone by, one of the ladies in our group asked, “Mitt, since the Lord asked you to sell your house, why is it that you have not yet put a “For Sale” sign in front of it?” I answered and said, “I am waiting for the Lord to first give to me a willing heart and mind; for if I allow my pride to perform this thing by my will, then I will always look back with regret, or with bitterness, or with sorrow, having sold that which was very precious to me at that time. The Lord does not desire for any of us to do any of those things which he instructs us to do with a begrudging, or reluctant, or unwilling heart. I knew that if I just waited on the Lord and keep asking for his Spirit and his power, that when it arrived, I delight in what Father asked of me because of his Spirit within me. Then about a week later, the Lord came; and all that which had been precious to me concerning my house and my business suddenly became as lifeless things that are upon the earth that only rust and decay. I had also witnessed before my very eyes the demise of the enmity of the carnal mind; for there was no longer any kind of thought coming into my mind that resisted the word that the Lord had spoken to me. If it were not so, then I would not even be writing this word right now.

From where comes a willing heart and a willing mind? It comes from the love that God has for you and me; it is the gift of God; and his love freely gives it to all those who seek and ask for it. It is written in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life”. God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son. But who believes the Son when he says John 15:5 “…without me, you can no nothing”. I found this statement to be to so bold that I asked, “Lord, what do you mean by saying “I can do nothing” without you? The Lord then answered and said, “You can do nothing of yourself that pleases God because the flesh cannot do the will of God with a willing heart; for all the works and efforts that you do of yourself, they are done according to the enmity within; that is, pride will try to perform Father’s words, but there is no delight in doing them because all that pride does is so that it will have something to boast of. When a man does anything out of an unwillingly and begrudgingly heart, then he will look to be rewarded for his works and efforts with either recognition, or praise, or honor, or glory because he did something that was not natural for him to do. There is no work that the flesh can do that is pleasing to Father because of the unwillingness and begrudging within that accompanies all such works. Do you not remember that which is written (II Corinthians 8:12) “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that which a man has and not according to that which he does not have.” The nature of the enmity is its willingness to do all things by its own will and its unwillingness to surrender to Jesus to do those things in a manner that is pleasing to Father.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then the Lord quickened to me that which Jesus said in Matthew 26:41 “...the Spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak”; and along with that verse he also quickened that which is written in II Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty”. Then the Lord enlightened my eyes with understanding and I knew what Jesus meant when he said, “Without me you can do nothing”; because the Lord Jesus Christ is that Spirit which is willing to do Father’s will; and where the Spirit of the Lord is,  there is freedom from the enmity of the carnal mind: freedom from all doubts, all fears, all resistance, all hesitation, all reasonings, all stubbornness, all pride, all unbelief, and all rebellion. Then, and only then, shall a man be able to delight to do Father’s will. Do you see a man with a heart that delights in seeking the Lord, in loving his enemies, in judging no man, in forgiving and forgetting those who sin against him, and who delights in acknowledging the Lord in all his ways? Then you are seeing Jesus Christ in that man; Jesus as the Spirit that delights in doing Father’s will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus said in Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone that says to me, “Lord, Lord” shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; only he who does the will of my Father in heaven”. Seeing then that Jesus just defined with this word what it is that is required of us to enter into Father’s kingdom, then what more could the love of God do for than to freely give to us a piece of himself; that is, God is Spirit, and Jesus is Spirit that is begotten of that Spirit, and that Spirit is the Lord Jesus Christ? Who then shall be able to enter into the kingdom of God except those who are being led by the Spirit of Lord, delighting in doing that which the Spirit leads them to do? When the Lord was teaching me this precept, this is probably the verse that I delighted in the most of all that he used to teach me with; that which is written in Luke 11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: then how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” How much greater can his love be than seeing that he is willing to give the gift of his Spirit even when we are in an evil state; and how more shall the love of God give the gift of Jesus to those who ask him? How much more shall the love of God give a willing spirit to those who ask of him? How much more shall our heavenly Father give the gift of a willing heart and mind to those who ask of him? Those who do his will, they are those who ask for the gift of his Spirit; for his Spirit is willing. The only reason that we do not have is because we have not asked. The Lord once told me that he had many gifts with him that had my name on them, but I had not yet asked for them. So when the Lord asked me to sell my business and my house, I asked for those gifts; and after a few days of waiting, I received a willing heart that allowed for me to delight in doing that which Father asked of me; and not once have I looked back in the manner that Lot’s wife looked back on those things which she was leaving behind. Now this can only be the power of God working in me to do his will through the gift of his love that is Christ Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Again, when the Lord asked me to sell my house and my business, I knew there was a battle that lay before me: a battle of wills. I think that we all, at one time or another, witnessed battles between two people of different will, and we know that they can be about as ferocious as any battle can be. The Lord had taught me that this was the same type of battle that Jesus himself entered into when he went into the garden of Gethsemane to pray; for the will of the carnal mind opposes the will of God with an intense hatred. Jesus had been given the word that revealed Father’s will about the betrayal and the crucifixion that lay before, and the battle within was raging, the enmity against the word of God; the will of man and the will of the flesh against the will of God. Jesus did not yet have that willingness that is completely surrendered and submitted to his heavenly Father, so in that garden, he surrendered himself into the hand’s of his Father’s love; crying out, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will be done, but your will be done”. Jesus actually repeated this same prayer three separate times, crying out to Father for a willing heart. Then when Father sent his power to him, the battle between the two wills ceased; for the Spirit had mortified the enmity that had been within him: and all doubts, all resistance, all fear, all rebellion, all pride, all reasonings, and all the begrudging that is of the carnal mind was destroyed when kingdom of God arrived, strengthening Jesus from on high. There were no longer any thoughts within him contended with Father’s will; and when the temple guards came to arrest Jesus, he willingly surrendered to them because he knew it was Father’s will. From that moment until the moment that he died, he never once murmured, or complained, or whined, or reasoned, or begged in any manner to try and save his life. With a willing heart and mind, he was then made free to go forth as a lamb led up to the slaughter, to fulfill the will of God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus had a word from his Father about going to Jerusalem, and I also had a word from Father about me selling my house and my business, just as anyone who is led by the Spirit hears his voice. If when I sow that word to my flesh, then I seek to accomplish it by the strength of my will. But if I take that word and sow it to the Spirit, asking and waiting on the Lord to grant unto me his Spirit so that Jesus, as that willing mind, might delight in performing Father’s word. Then shall it come to pass that which Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing”. So when the Lord gave to me this word, I chose to sow it to his Spirit; and just like the farmer who sows his seed in the spring and looks for the fruit in the summer. I then held fast to his word, endured the enmity, and waited for the willingness that is in the Spirit of his son Jesus Christ. Not long after, the Lord came, and the will of God was birthed in me, and Jesus was manifested in me as that Spirit that delighted in doing Father’s will. The Lord then told me that there is no instruction that Father can give to us, whether it come by the scriptures, or by prophesy, or by revelation, or by a word of knowledge, that his Spirit does not delight in doing; for the Spirit, and the Father, and the Son all agree in one. What greater gift then can Father give to those who he calls than his Spirit that transforms the thinking in our minds and changes the affections and desires of our heart, to bring us into agreement and delight with his will? Lord, bring forth your Spirit to marry your words to my soul in willingness, so that I might delight in doing all that which you ask of me, to love you with all my heart, all my mind, and all my soul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now adding to this last precept, we all know that it is written in Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church…”; but who can count the number of books that have been written that try to give instruction as to how this should be best accomplished? Such titles may appear that say such things as, “The 10 commandments for a better marriage”; “Seven steps to marital bliss”…or, “Five ways for a better marriage”. All such books are nothing but laws; that is, they all call for a man to perform what they say to do. These are lawgivers who set others up for failure and disappointments; for there are no laws, or commandments, or ways, or steps have any power that can go beyond the power of their own will; and it is impossible for the will of man to birth the love of Christ in a man. In truth, all such instructions call for one to deny Jesus Christ who said, “Without me, you can do nothing”.

There is a better way; a simple way that allows for man to just believe and God to exercise his love, performing for man those things which are impossible for man to perform: it is the gift of his love. I had tried to the best I could to love my wife, and it worked really well as long as she was submitted to me. But then when the Lord taught me to ask for his Spirit to perform this for me, I did just that. I just started praying and waiting, and true to his word, the Lord has come; and the relationship and love that I now have for my wife goes far beyond that which I could have ever imagined. I do not know how the Lord did, he just did it: period. And so it has been with all the rest of those things which the Lord has asked me to do. All that I did was to believe, continue praying, and ask for a willing heart that would allow for Jesus to come forth and birth his will (life) in me; and he has. Glory be to God; for there is nothing impossible for God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That which the Lord has now commissioned me to do, it is now done. The Lord has told me that this is the last word that he is giving me to write. I now understood why the Lord has given me so many words over the past 7 years, for they concern those things within that are not of him; those things which the Lord corrects, that he justifies, that he prunes, that he changes, that he sanctifies, that he purges, that he transforms, that he purifies, and that we crucify because we are of God. For in all these things I have seen the love of God move in me, cleansing his temple of all things that are of this world. In all these things that the Lord has revealed within me that are not of him, I have witnessed his love cutting away; and truly, for the life of me, I cannot remember any of these things either hurting me, or wounding me, or bringing any kind of pain to me. How can you feel anything that which the Lord is cutting away is that Death which causes us nothing but pain, and suffering, and anguish, and trouble in our day to day lives? But who has heard and believed our testimony; for the spirit of prophesy is the testimony of Jesus Christ; and I prophesy to all who will hear; if you believe and ask, then the love of God will show you great and mighty things which you do not know.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord

For his temple must be cleansed and sanctified of all things that contend and strive against him, as well as the idols of “self” worship, and all the desires of this world. To those who allow the Lord to sanctify their body / his temple, they are soon, very soon, are going to have the Lord come and fill their hearts and minds with the fullness of his glory. Those who have refused to be corrected of these things, how shall they be able to stand in the presence of his glory, in the day of his appearing?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Support Gateways of His Light by sharing this page on social media