TRUE NATURE: PART TWO Despise Not: True Nature (Part II) Despise Not "My son despise not the chastening (the discipline) of the Lord and do not lose heart when he rebukes you." Hebrews 12:5 The scriptures indicate that the dealings of the Lord can at some times in our life be very severe. How different this concept may be for some who haven't even understood that there is such a thing as the dealings of the Lord. The point is that the Lord disciplines us through circumstances or our interpretation of circumstances. And it is our reaction to this situation that is called into question. The exhortation is for us not to despise or lose heart. The implication is that the discipline of the Lord can be very difficult and hard to endure. This discipline, if we do not see its purpose, can be a source of depression and perhaps a feeling of futility. God through his designed hardship and discipline is working in us his character. "For our light afflictions worketh in us a far exceeding weight of glory." His character is righteousness. In not despising and by enduring we become partakers of the divine nature he is imparting to us. Our cry is for him to "rain his righteousness on us." We are demanding the righteousness he demands of us. "Be ye perfect even as my Father is perfect.” We are being imparted with the righteousness he desires to give to us. When we ache to have his righteousness as our Father aches for us to receive his righteousness earth will once again agree with heaven. Submit: We cry, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in me, my Lord. For I seek your kingdom first and your righteousness in my life and in the earth. Let tribulation begin in me, my Lord. So you can rule and reign in my earth. Let the battle of Armageddon slay every Babylonian thought in me. Let all of Revelation be accomplished in me, oh Lord; that I might be that city where the river of life may flow and heal the nations. Let out of my belly flow rivers of living water. Call me to your perfect will. Let your peace rule in my heart, so there may be peace on the earth. Instruct me oh Lord in the operation of the divine nature. Chasten me according to your will so you may harvest from me the fruit of righteousness and peace that I may be dealt with as a son. Put on me your robes of righteousness after I have been exercised in your scourging and painful discipline. For I summit to your discipline knowing you are dealing with me as your son." Abide: Every year Hannah brought Samuel a new set of clothes. She had faith for his growth. "And the child Samuel grew before the Lord.” Each year Samuel "ministered before the Lord" and Hannah brought Samuel a larger garment to wear. Each year Samuel abided in the temple and grew in the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord. And each year a new and bigger set of clothes was needed. And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men. In those days the word of the Lord was precious. Through Samuel the open vision of the Lord returned. He opened a new door of utterance from the Lord. He was a door opener ministry. He continued to grow and ministered onto the Lord. This is the same man who returned the correct patterns of worship. This man saw the Ark of the Covenant return to Israel. This ministry saw the return of the presence of the Lord. Samuel started the school of prophets. This is the prophet who reigned in Shiloh and set up a force field around him that caused Saul to bow his knees and prophesy. This is the man that all of Israel knew was a prophet of the Lord. "The Lord was with Samuel as he grew and he let none of his words fall to the ground." 1Samuel 3:19 This was the ministry that ushered in the kingdom and put King David on the throne. This was the ministry that created a kingdom age for Israel an age when Israel became a nation. The Age when a man after the heart of God ruled on the throne. It all started with a new set of clothes each year. May the church be like Hannah and produce real prophets in the land. May the church wait on the Lord as Hannah and may she give birth to the ministry that will usher in the Kingdom of God on the earth. And instead of killing her prophets may she weave a new set of clothes for them to wear. Peace "Great Peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them." Psalm 119:116 "Let the peace of God rule in your heart." Col.3:15 A right spirit draws the heart into proper perspective with the will of the Father. Love aligns us with his will only through the new birth. When we realize the operation of faith causes us to become new creatures we exist in the realm of the spirit. As we once embraced sin and loved to perform its demands we had no problem obeying its dictates. In fact we long to perform its rituals. No one had to tell us to sin we were willing to oblige. Now, we love his law. Now we embrace his righteousness. We are engulfed in a new dimension. We love the law of the Lord; we desire to do good and we desire from within to walk in his paths. We have a “faith, which works by love.” It is the only thing that really counts. “For neither circumcision nor uncircumcised availeth anything, but faith which worketh by love.” Gal.5:5 There can be no greater works without love. The greater works is not the goal. The Great Commission is not the goal. The goal is to owe no man anything but to love. Love is our goal. Either we are motivated by love or our efforts to serve God avails us nothing. This is not a "have to" religion. This is not a life filled with dos and don'ts. It wouldn't matter in you did or didn't if your core is not motivated by the love of God. How silly to pretend to serve God without his nature imparted to us. How full of unbelief to think that God would expect us to be armed without his nature. How full of hypocrisy to believe we could live in this world without his nature imparted to us. "For a new covenant will I make with {you}.... I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts.” And in another place he reverses the order. "I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds.” Heb.8:10; Heb.10:16 Yes, this is the new covenant of life that fully equips us with his mind and nature. This is the truth of the new covenant. God is continually putting and writing in our hearts and minds his divine qualities so that he may forever reap righteousness and peace as a harvest from our souls. Only the righteousness of God can bring true peace. So long as we establish our lives in our own righteousness we will never know the peace from God. Like Saul it will take the harp of David to drive the evil from us. Abraham was the father of both the circumcised and uncircumcised. What God works on the inside was manifested on the outward. The only righteousness that counts on the outside is the true righteousness God has worked on the inside. "Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything but a new creature.” Gal.6:15 Abraham became the father of both so we could become the sons of God, the true sons of God who manifest the true nature of their Father. We were never expected to pretend to be righteous. We are only expected to have the faith, which comes from hearing the word of truth. The word of truth declares us righteous both inside and outside as a divine act of God intervening into our human lives. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness-- another divine act of God. Both interventions of God intersect into the spirit realm to bring about a new creation into the earth yielding the harvest of righteousness and peace. The true peace lovers who are ruled by peace in their hearts become the true judges and prophets in the earth to bring peace and good will to all men. the voice Readers may direct questions and comments to: hiswinepress@live.com return Seeds of Light: