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Authors > Mitt Jeffords
1st January 2008
Prepare ye the way of the Lord. I hope this word blesses and edifies you; for the Lord has told me that this is the last word that he is having me to write.
Much blessings and grace be multiplied unto you in Christ Jesus,
Mitt
Vision: A Bone of My Bones; Testimonies of the love and power of God
Given to Mitt Jeffords
Page 1 of 3
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.”
Matthew 9:10-13 “And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many sinners and tax collectors came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it they said unto his disciples, “Why does your Master eat with sinners and tax collectors?” But when Jesus heard that, he said to them, “They that are whole do not need a physician, but they that are sick.
But you go and learn what this means. I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Psalm 107:20 “He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from all their destructions.”
Jeremiah 17:14-15 “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now!”
John 6:63 Jesus said, “It is the Spirit that makes alive; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.”
Romans 8:13 “For if you live after the flesh you shall die; but if you do mortify the deeds of the body through the Spirit, then you shall live.”
Romans 6:5-7 “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection; knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.”
Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
I Thessalonians 5:23-24 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it.”
When the Lord finished speaking these words to me, 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.
Daniel 2:30 Daniel said, “But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any other man, but for the intent that the interpretation may be made known to the king so that you might know the thoughts of your heart.”
Luke 8:17 “For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest, and neither is there anything hid that shall not be known and come abroad.”
I Corinthians 4:5 “Judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes and brings to light the hidden things of darkness and the counsels of the heart; then shall every man have praise of God.”
Zephaniah 3:5 “The just Lord is in the midst thereof and he will not do iniquity. Every morning does he bring his judgment to light, he fails not; but the unjust do not know any shame.”
I Corinthians 11:31 “But if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged; for when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord so that we should not be condemned with the world.”
John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation that light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.”
Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made every thing beautiful in his time: also he has set the world in their heart so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end.”
I John 2:15-17 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abides for ever.”
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 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?”
Exodus 25:16 “And you shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.”
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.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 “And I brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
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 have 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 John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
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.
Ephesians 2:12-13 “At that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world; but now are you in Christ Jesus who sometimes were far off but are now made nigh by the blood of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:17-18 “This I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that henceforth you no longer walk as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart.”
Ephesians 5:6-8 “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Therefore do not you be partakers with them.
For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light.”
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.
I Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said unto Samuel, “Do not look on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him: for the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Proverbs 21:2 “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord ponders the heart.”
Psalm 139:23,24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
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.
Proverbs 16:5 “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.”
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.
I Corinthians 4:5 “Judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes and brings to light the hidden things of darkness and the counsels of the heart; then shall every man have praise of God.”
John 3:19 “This is the condemnation that light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.”
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!”
Habakkuk 1:1-3 “The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see: “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear! Even cry out unto you of violence (wrong) and you will not save! Why do you show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? For destruction and violence (wrong) are before me: and there is that which raises up strife and contention.”
Nahum 1:11 “There is one come out of you that imagines evil against the LORD, a wicked counselor. Thus says the Lord, “Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted you I will afflict you no more. For now will I break his yoke from off you and will burst your bonds in sunder.”
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.
Psalm 40:12-14 “For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart fails me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.”
Lamentations 3:1-8 “I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has led me and brought me into darkness, but not into light. Surely against me is he turned; he turns his hand against me all the day. My flesh and my skin has he made old and he has broken my bones. He has built against me and compassed me with gall and travail. He has set me in dark place, as they that be dead of old. He has hedged me about so that I cannot get out and he has made my chain heavy. Also when I cry and shout, he shuts out my prayer.”
II Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds and casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
I 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.
Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together except they be agreed?”
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?
Luke 24:31 “And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.”
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God.”
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?
II Corinthians 12:9-10 “And the Lord said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
I Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said unto Samuel, “Do not look on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him: for the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
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”.
I John 3:20 “For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, then have we confidence toward God.”
Romans 8:1 “Therefore there is now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.”
Romans 5:20 “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.”