Have You Felt Stripped and Fruitless?

August 25, 2018

Jesus, we thank you for giving us a history of holy men and women who, living in the Cloud now, are cheering us on as we discover their saintly examples. Thank you so much, Lord, for this beautiful gift.

Well, dear ones, in the thick of difficulties and heavy intercessory burdens, I wondered: 'What possible good could come from the many losses some have been suffering?'

I looked at my husband, who was up and about working on music, and felt badly for all the weight he had lost. Even though he is now gaining weight, he also lost a lot of hair and has aged a good 10-15 years. I wondered, 'Lord, he looks so weak and beaten down. Will he ever have glowing health again?'

And of course, not knowing what kind of mountains were being moved for our President, I wondered: 'Is there any fruit from all this suffering?' And I struggled, growing very weary of insurmountable difficulties every day, making it impossible for me to get to the keyboard or sing.

I'm sure you guys can relate.

It was about three days ago that I picked up one of my ancient rhema cards...something I had written on an index card over 20 years ago. It was on the mountain in the wilderness with us for six years, and wherever we went, we took our Rhema cards.

And that day the Lord brought it forth--three days ago. But before I tell you what it said, I want to share this little story from the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

Francis traveled to Rieti to bring the Gospel to the people. And as he approached the city, a great multitude of people came forth to meet him, so that he was not able to enter. So, he went to a church that was two miles from town, instead.

When the citizens heard that he was at the church, they ran to catch up with him in such numbers that the vineyard of the church was utterly despoiled and all the grapes were plucked. When the priest saw that, he was sorely grieved in his heart, and repented that he had received St. Francis in his church.

Now, as he was thinking these things, his thoughts were being revealed by God to St. Francis, who called him aside and said, "Dearest father. How many measure of wine does this yield in a year when the yield is at its highest?"

The priest answered, "Twelve measures."

St Francis replied, "Please, father, suffer me patiently to come here for a few days, for I find much rest here; and for the love of God and of me--poor little one, let every man gather grapes from your vineyard and I promise you, in the Name of My Lord Jesus Christ, that every year your vineyard shall yield twenty measures of wine."

And St. Francis tarried there, because of the great harvest of souls gathered from the folk that came to see him. Many departed inebriated with divine love and forsook the world.

The priest had faith in the promise of St. Francis, and surrendered the vineyard freely to those who came, and it was all wasted and stripped so that barely a bunch of grapes remained.

Marvelous to tell, the vintage season came, and the priest gathered the few bunches that were left and cast them into the wine press and treaded them. And according to the promise of St. Francis, he harvested twenty measures of excellent wine. Christian folk, barren of virtue through sin, repented and abounded in good fruit, through the teaching of St. Francis.

And that's the end of the story.

So, on this day when I was feeling stripped and fruitless--three days ago--I was inspired to pull that rhema card from a little box in the corner. And this is what it said, "The stripped vineyard." Omnibus of Sources, page 1355.

Well, I didn't have to look it up to know what it meant--it just hit me. Immediately, I understood the Lord to be saying He will gather much fruit from these offerings, and what I thought would be my loss will instead be an abundance.

So, that's a beautiful way that the Lord is encouraging us to allow our vineyards to be stripped, you know? Seeing my husband, sick as he was. That's a very stripping experience. And knowing that he had to build his health back up very slowly. It's just difficult.

And time that's been lost. You know, when I haven't been able to get to music as I should. Part of it's my fault, and part of it's just circumstances. And those times are very frustrating and hard for me. But they were a suffering! And I feel and believe in my heart that the Lord is saying, 'Just be patient. Your time's coming. It's coming. And there's going to be abundance!'

Well, as if that weren't enough of a wonderful word, I was inspired to pick up Love Letters To My Bride and open at random. Here is the wonderful message He followed up with. I remember hearing a question on the Channel: How do you lose grace?

Well, it was also explained in this message, so I thought I'd post that, as well.

It comes from the message: Jesus' Perceptible and Manifest Presence is With You, April 27th, 2015

It begins: I had been nervous all day that I wouldn't get a message today, and I was dead-dog tired and I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, how's the Lord going to get anything to me in this state? But He was very sweet and accommodating, as He always is.

As soon as I saw Him tonight in prayer, while I was worshipping, He said: "Clare, not for one moment have I left you. You have done nothing to deserve that. The enemy is lying to you. Besides, didn't I tell you, it's not based on your performance but on My faithfulness to keep My word? Hmm?"

Well, You're here talking with me, Lord...and that's wonderful.

"I am.

"My very small and fragile child, don't you know you have no righteousness of your own, but all has been given to you? And if you contain it, you will grow in holiness?"

"You see, I visit each of My Brides with graces. And most receive them, but very few continue to contain them or multiply them. I visit with grace and I visit with adversity. It is usually during adversity that graces are lost."

But what about those times of victory when the devils sift us and try to take away what we've had?

"That, too, is an opportunity to lose grace. It can go either way. One way to lose is immediately following a victory. The other is during adversity. When My Bride does not receive the challenges and tests that I give her, she loses grace. When she becomes self-assured after a victory, she can lose grace.

"It is a matter of clinging to Me or wandering off on your own, in your own will.

"This is why I am so very strict with you to stay in My will at all times. I want you to contain the treasure I give you, so that you may lavish it on souls. But if the living waters leak out before you get to them, then your pitcher is empty. You know what that feels like, when that pitcher is empty, don't you?"

Oh, yes, Lord. It is very sad. It's hard to see others suffering and not having any way to help them. Even lately, Lord, people come to me with questions for You and I don't feel competent to answer them, or to ask You.

"You have asked Me for this competency, and it is on the way. But your role in the Body is more important than answering questions. I don't ever want you bogged down doing that. I want you to teach them how to get their own answers, Clare. This is far more important and vital to Me.

Jesus continued, "Oh, Dear ones, do not burden her with your questions! Seek Me and I will answer your questions. All of you who have been following Me closely through this vessel, are so close to breakthroughs in hearing and seeing Me.

"Persevere! Don't grow weary and don't give in to unbelief or discouragement. Those are your worst enemies. May I say laziness is part of the problem? You must press in. Those who seek Me with their whole hearts, they shall find Me. Seek Me and live the life that I promised you--the abundant life of communion with Me, righteousness, peace and joy. The fruits of fellowship with Me. Confidence, courage, growth in charity, and humility. These are the sweet flavors of the grapes that abide in the vine.

"Bitterness, rancor, flatness--those are the grapes that are produced without the nourishment of the True Vine. As I live in you and you live in Me, the grapes we produce together are bursting with nourishment and flavor. It is a cooperative venture: My hands work through your hands. My feet walk through your feet. My heart beats through your heart and all that is Godly and seems impossible to you comes into fruition. All that has previously been out of your reach is now a natural fact, flowing out to other souls who are hungry and thirsty for Me.

"When you begin to see these rewards: the cultivation of new ground, the planting of new seed, the harvesting of new fruit--rejoice greatly, for great is your reward in Heaven.

"I have longed for cooperative ventures with My Body, but so few have the faith and stamina to continue to believe even when the ground seems hard and barren."

Yeah... Like the American political scene.

"That is why perseverance is so very necessary. When you labor with Me, you will not always see results immediately, but you will feel a deep satisfaction that together we have plowed and planted, and by faith there will be a harvest."

Okay, now He is addressing my present state of mind.

"Each day is a new opportunity to co-labour with Me. It is your unflagging Love for Me that keeps you coming back, day after day, to apply the fertilizer, cultivate the ground. Expect the harvest, knowing that nothing you do for Me is in vain; all will bring forth fruit in its season.

"So, don't grow weary. Even at this late hour, expect the joyful harvest, expect the plump grapes and fine Wine. All these are coming if you continue in your appointed jobs and do not grow weary with the tasks at hand."

And that's where that part of the message stopped.

Well, I especially want to thank all of you who were able to donate to the Channel. You gave us much needed relief to cover salaries and even donate to Nicaragua. So, thank you so much, Dear ones, for your faithfulness and great kindness in caring for us sweet. You're a precious Family.

It must not be by coincidence that I have felt the prompting to ask you to pray for our music. I have some songs already to produce, but again, I am stretched for time. Would you please pray that I can set aside time to work on these songs, and also for Ezekiel, to regain his strength and momentum in music?

In prayer, he is wonderful. He has plenty of prayer time, and some of it is flat on his back! But, you know, he seems to be coming out of a season of heavy intercession, right now. But we really need your prayers. His voice has gotten very hoarse. I think it's probably from all the crying out he did during those painful times, and he is still a bit shaky and weak. He is exercising though, and resolute about getting back up.

For me, I need help with the keyboard, to get my fingers back and sing with a heart full of love for Our Jesus. And since I was going to ask for your prayers, this just happened to be in the same message. What an amazing message! Three different things addressed, and all three of them have been on my heart and mind!

Jesus began, "One more thing I would like My Brides to know. I have honored your prayers for Clare. I have laid up for you a storehouse of rewards for lifting her up so she could keep going. Whenever you pray for a minister, in Heaven you will reap that minister's rewards. You will say to Me, 'Where did that come from, I didn't do that?' And I will say to you, 'You prayed for that servant, and therefore you share in the reward.'

"It is a mystery, but not one thought, not one intention goes unrewarded before Me. I see the hidden things of the heart. I see the love and the care. And I reward you for what I see.

"I bless you, My Brides, with the abundant life of My presence, My perceptible presence in your midst. It is My joy to be with you and even a greater joy when you recognize My workings in your midst. We are as One."

Wow. That's a really sweet message. And you know, one of the songs that I want to work on and start singing is all about our recognizing His presence in prayer. And recognizing His voice.

So, pray for us, please? And I'm going to expect great graces to be coming our way, so we can really get on our way with music. Because that is to play a major role in our lives in the near future.

Thank you, Heartdwellers. I love you all very dearly.

And I bless our enemies, and I know you're going to use this message against us. But I want you to know that we still bless you. And we pray for you. And we hope someday to see you converted and with the Lord, in a place where we can all rejoice together.

God bless you.