Innocent Blood, Wounding Christians

January 10, 2015

Innocent Blood, Wounding Christians

January 10, 2015

Good evening, Youtube family. It's a real joy to have something to share with you again.

The Lord has been speaking to me about the blood that we shed when we speak against people. And it goes in line with the last message that we gave you. The devil knows well  how to make the Body of the Lord sick and injured, but we are either ignorant or indifferent to his devices. I say this, because we cooperate with the enemy of our salvation by falling into his plans, and allowing him to use us to defeat our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

I will open my soul to you to share my own sin, that you might see how very injurious our pettiness is. I met a young lady who had a very delicate and serene Christian spirit outwardly, but I suspected inwardly to be insincere. I should have been focusing on my OWN insincerities. But through my fallen and weak nature, even hidden jealousy, I opened myself to the sin of judgment. In any case, I was given an occasion to assign a fault to her when she did something out of order that caused confusion.

It was confirmed to me, by a minister of God, that this action WAS out of order. So, I became highly suspicious of her even though I, too, am capable of similar mistakes, even as we speak. Had I struck my OWN breast and said, "Have mercy on us, Lord, for we have ALL fallen short of your glory!" I would have been firmly rooted in the love and humility of Christ, and avoided the sin.

How ugly the soul becomes when it criticizes! One has only to look at the accuser of the brethren, the devil, and the demons, to see what sin does to the angelic face that God gave these creatures before they were expelled from Heaven.

Ignoring the warnings of my conscience, I gave in to an occasion of sin by speaking against this young lady to someone who was praising her. I drew attention to her faults, and warned the person to be prudent in their dealings with her. Kind of the "wait-and-see" treatment, which carried with it an undercurrent of negativity and disapproval.

After this conversation, I felt dirty inside. I knew the Lord was displeased with me, so I went to pray. As I settled in before Him, I saw 2 hands before me: palms up, covered with blood. It was an ugly sight. And the more I tried to dismiss and ignore it (and by the way, this is the precipice of false discerning - trying to cover personal sin), the more I tried to dismiss and ignore it, the more it manifested clearly. The Lord was not going to let me slide.

And the Lord spoke:

"These are YOUR hands, YOU have shed innocent blood."

With that, a large black wall descended from Heaven, hitting the floor with a loud, ominous CLUNK!

Quoting Isaiah, the first chapter, "When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you. Though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves clean, put away your misdeeds from before my eyes. Cease doing evil. Learn to do good. Make justice your aim".

My heart was cut to the quick and I felt sick inside, realizing my fault. Nonetheless, I said, "But Lord!" At those words, some awakening of my conscience occurred and I roused up mercy in my heart, remembering all those times I, too, have stumbled in my journey toward sanctity, and I will surely do so again. When I fall, do I want to be kicked, or lifted up? The Body of Christ are ALL of us Christians, and who has ever heard of such a thing? A person mutilating their own body because it was sick?

And yet, isn't that just what we do to ourselves when we criticize another Christian? Could we not have used love, patience, and humility, striking our OWN breast, knowing that any moment, the grace of God - which supports our progress in holiness - could be withdrawn for a season by divine decree, and we, too, could fall? And what of these mistaken judgments where our limited understanding assigns motives that may not even exist? How very displeased God is with a soul that harbors criticism and judgment in their hearts. In our moment of need, do we want justice - or mercy?

To continue on with what happened in my obstinate, proud, and stubborn heart. I still wanted some proof of my sin, so I went to the Scriptures, and prayerfully opened my Bible, only to read:

You are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another, you condemn yourself since you, the judge, do the very same things. Do you suppose then, you who judge those who engage in such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you hold God's priceless kindness, forbearance, and patience in low esteem, unaware that the kindness of God will lead you to repentance? By your stubbornness, and  impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment of God. (From Romans 2.) 

  At the reading of these words, a sort of conviction penetrated my heart and I was speechless, without excuse before my God. All I could say was, "I'm sorry, Lord".

He replied gently, "I forgive you. But you must now go to the sister you spoke these venomous words about, and repent before her, before I can restore you".

So, I went to the sister and told her what the Lord had said and asked for her forgiveness. Of course, she was quick to give it. When I returned to prayer, my hands appeared before me clean, and the black wall was gone. 

Beloved of God, if WE have obtained mercy and pardon for our sins, we, too, must show mercy and pardon. We pray condemnation upon ourselves every day in the Lord's Prayer, when we say, "Forgive me as I forgive others". Judgment of others is yet another, graver issue, for it is written: Judgment belongs to the Lord. Romans 12: 19. That's HIS job. And we are usurping His authority if we judge.

We don't know the state of a person's soul, or their intentions. We can't say what their motives were for doing things. How can we, mere mortals, call before us one of Christ's servants in order to make pronouncements and corrections on their soul, when we have proved by our own ignorance and temerity that there is still much left to be done in our own? The effect of this tremendous evil in the Body of Christ is mutilation and disorder.

If the member was sound and healthy, we just made them infirmed. If the member was sick and failing, we may have amputated it. At the very least, there is now an infectious poison running through the veins of his body, which shall HAVE to be cured by the ointments of Mercy, Charity, Prayer and Petition, Penance and Truth, on behalf of those who have been injured. It is not only the servant who bears the fever of infection, but all those he served. Or could have potentially served. And the infection spreads like fire.

How do we expect to win the war against the devils if we cannot even master our OWN tongues? For it is written, "The tongue is a small member, and yet it has great pretentions. Consider how small a fire can set a huge forest ablaze. The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire - itself set on fire by Gehenna. Every kind of beast and bird and reptile and sea creature can be tamed, and has been tamed, by the human species. But no human being can tame the tongue: it's a restless evil, full of deadly poison."  James 3:5-7

Let's take a practical approach to this problem. Is this not the great petition of our hearts, that we should be praying for souls to be saved? As such, we are ALL members of God's army. Like an army, there are various positions to serve the needs of battle. There are those who go into the front lines, act as spies, snipers, foot soldiers, and the like. And there are those who remain back in the camp preparing meals, nursing the wounded, trucking in fuel and supplies, and maintaining communications. The war against the enemy is won by precision teamwork. That means, each of the men must lay down his own agenda and petty concerns to serve the other men. Self-control and discipline are constant requirements of those under command in the military. It's absolutely demanded. What could be expected from an infantry division that had a FEW men who are harboring a grudge against each other, and waiting, just waiting for an opportunity to set the other one up? Remember the stories about sergeants that were shot from behind by their own men in Vietnam? If the enemy is lying in wait outside the camp, while the men inside the camp are fighting with one another, and the entire division is finally taken to the infirmary because of internal injuries with each other, the enemy can just "sleep in" and take them captive as well.

And we, as Christians, are doing as much for Satan. We are the army of God, and yet we're busy fighting amongst ourselves, rather than being supportive of one another.

And finally, each time we plunge that dagger into one of God's servants, we are shedding the blood of the Savior, Himself. God is calling us to amend our ways. We must not presume to say to ourselves we are "baptized, Spirit-filled, I hear from the Lord, I see the Lord, I serve here and I serve there... therefore, we are justified in all we see and do." For all 10 of the virgins were awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom, but only the 5 with the oil were taken. The Lord is ever ready to forgive us and restore us if only we'll confess our sins, and not put it off. And ya know, I've found this often, that when I talk about someone, and the Holy Spirit convicts me that I just talked about someone, that opens the door for something to happen, some kind of strife between my husband and I. In fact, I did a teaching on this. We finally discovered the source of the strife: it was talking back and forth about other people. And we put a stop to that, years ago, as best we could - and we're still working on that. But that is definitely an open door for marital strife, big time.

So, the Lord says, "Come now, let us set things right. Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow. Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool. If you are willing and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land. But if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."  Isaiah 1: 18

So, may the Lord find us innocent at His return. May He give us the grace to be charitable and kind with one another, especially with people when they fall, and fall into sin. People who are sharing or teaching. If they say something you don't agree with, as I mentioned in my last Youtube (message), grace that charity would prevail. That our hearts would be humble, that we wouldn't go to judging them and putting them down, and spreading the word like wildfire: "This one made that mistake, and that one, and this one's a false prophet, and that one's this and this one's that".

I mean, that is abhorrent to the Lord. You know, the angels and the communion of saints, the great saints in Heaven, the cloud of witnesses - they HEAR that stuff! They are allowed to hear that and to them, it is a filthy, dirty, stinky diseased diaper! They HATE it, they hate to hear that! But more than that, it's an injurious thing to other people. It hurts them. It debilitates them. People know when you're talking about them behind their backs, they feel a sickness in their heart. They can sense it. The Holy Spirit is grieved within them. And just as we speak against people, the Holy Spirit is grieved within US. And He'll run away rather than listen to that. He'll just leave because He doesn't want to hear it. I can't tell you how many times I've felt Him leave because I opened my mouth and made a judgment. 

So we pray, Lord, that You'll give us the grace to have pure, loving hearts that are supportive of others, and not go on wounding the Body of Christ.

In Jesus' Name, amen.