Do You Want to Hear Jesus Clearly?

June 4, 2018

Thank you, Lord, for opening our eyes to the things that stand in the way of closeness to You. Please grant us the grace to want You with all our hearts and souls, even enough to set our desires aside to have only You. Amen.

Dear ones, if Jesus isn't speaking clearly to you, or you feel far away from Him, I highly recommend that you do an assessment of your obedience to His known--or, I would even say 'suspected' will.

For instance, those little prompts... "Don't buy that, don't eat that, help her, call them now, pray for them, be honest, don't take any shortcuts or breaks. etc., etc." What I mean are those little corrections you get throughout the day that go against your preferences or will. If we are serious about serving Him, it comes with a cost: the cost of everything you like and everything you don't like. We cannot afford to have any preferences or attachments.

For instance, in this most recent correction of direction the Lord gave me, He wanted me to answer correspondence. Even though the Internet was down, I found a work-around and worked with the Comments--because that is so much easier than writing letters--right? But at the end of the night, I didn't feel the Lord's pleasure with me.

In fact, I felt Him standing a-ways off.

So, when I awoke this morning, I sought Him on why I was feeling distant... and He brought up that 10" stack of mail in my inbox. And I have had to make a bigger box to fit it all in there...

So, I knew immediately that I had let Him down by not plowing into that pile. Especially because the Internet was down--it seemed most logical to work on letters...right?! But I find a work-around and get to Comments.

Well. But going through that pile was much more work than answering Comments. And very daunting to look at, I might add. So, I moved towards the easier way--my own preferences--and I did not make Him happy.

You see, the Lord is very clear about who He will show Himself to:

John 14:21 Whoever has My commandments and observes them is the one who loves Me. And whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.

Oh, what a beautiful, beautiful promise that is!

So, if we are not hearing clearly from the Lord, or sensing He is not near, or sensing any kind of void where He should be present--we don't have to look far.

The bottom line is, how obedient have you been to the known will, His likes and dislikes? If you have been resisting Him because of your attachments, your wants, your passions or self-will, that might be the very reason He is not revealing Himself to you so fully.

So, this morning I was feeling blocked, so I prayed the Binding prayer--and I still felt blocked. Then I heard a still small voice inside of me saying, "When you take care of what is most important to Me, I will be with you again, in prayer and music."

In other words, do it the hard way. Answer the letters that require mailing, dive in and get caught up.

"Then, I just might surprise you with a fresh new anointing to finish your song and feel so very close to Me in prayer and worship."

Now, that doesn't mean that He's going to send you an angel to tell you what to do! No, what that means is that you have intuition about what would please Him the most. Even though it's maybe not your favorite thing to do. So, you put down your attachment and liking to fulfill His attachments and His likings.

Then that rough road full of ruts and rocks all of a sudden becomes a well-graded highway, and everything starts to flow again, because you have found His peace in the center of His will for your life and the good of others.

Then Jesus began to speak to me, "My precious family of Heartdwellers. Indeed, I love to dwell with you in your hearts. And those who do not yet understand what that is, it is the prayer of worship and delight you take in My presence.

"And how do you arrive there? By letting go of the World, your opinion about yourself, and longing for Me deeply in your heart. I do not disappoint good wills. And Clare gave you a precious piece of advice today when she said that, basically, Obedience is the way to My Heart and the Revelation of My Being.

"I long to reveal Myself to all of you, but some of you are not quite ready. You are still hanging on to the pleasures of the World. You're still resisting me in things I've asked you to do. And Clare struggles with this, as well. But when you resolve in your will that nothing is more important to you than Me, that's when I will be able to change your heart.

"Ask for this, 'Lord, change my heart, so that You are the only thing important to me.'

"This does not come overnight. For most, it is a journey of letting go of the World and embracing what you think will please Me. It's a matter of deep integrity. To integrate your values as a Christian into your whole life, with no corners of darkness where the devils may exploit you.

"It is when you give permission to the little things, against what you imagine My will to be for you, that the enemy gets a toe-hold inside the door to your heart. When the door is barred, he cannot even begin to gain entrance into your heart--so he works on you. Playing you. Feeding you permissions to do what I would not have you do. Even as Satan did in the Garden, as he lied, "Surely you will not die if you eat of this fruit." Yes, he talked Eve into doing what she knew was wrong--and look at what it cost them.

"You do not see the monster trying to enter your heart. Rather, it looks more like a tiny mouse, the issue is so small. But understand it can become big and overwhelming in very little time. Just like a tiny match in the forest can destroy thousands of acres, so can a tiny compromise do the same.

"I am repeating Myself, because I long to have intimate fellowship with you all, and it hurts My heart just as much as it hurts yours when we are not communing together.

"Oh, how I miss you, My precious ones! This is why obedience to the 'little' things is so important. It takes you from one rung on the ladder to the next and the next and the next. And pretty soon, you are in My arms and we are having that sweet time of fellowship we have both longed for.

"You see, man in his Pride does not like to obey. He seeks independence, self-sufficiency, doing it his own way, his own prowess and devices. Making his own decisions. But in My world, it is the little ones who seek dependence on Me. Trusting me, they find completeness in Me, and leave the prowess up to Me in dealing with the World and the devil. It is the worshipful heart that stirs Me to pity and longing for you.

"Is it not difficult to worship when you know you have transgressed or neglected My invitations?

"I do not expect you to be perfect; just long to be perfect for Me. This moves My heart. Selfishness pushes Me away and I must take you through a series of lessons to learn how important selflessness is. You must meet yourself at rock bottom and discover how very vulnerable you are before you are totally willing to allow Me to be your everything, your provider, your all-in-all. And work with all your strength to resist the temptations and allurements of the World. And to work with all your strength, to do the things that I have asked you to do. That I hint at you to do. Things that you don't want to do, because of a hurtful past or difficulty in your environment. Things you just don't want to do, but yet you know deep down inside I want you to do them.

"Cleave to Me, My precious ones. Cry out in temptation and run from every occasion of sin. Beg me to remove that stubborn self-will that stands in the way of you doing what you know I really do want you to do.

"And if you fall, return to Me with a docile and repentant heart and I shall restore you.

"But the greatest blessing of all is the sweet fellowship we will have, because you have chosen Me over all else in the World. Even over yourself. Remember: this is a journey, and I am committed to you all the way through to the end. Be committed to Me as well and I will fulfill those empty and aching places within you with My sweet presence."