"Rest From Controversy"

"My children,

I know you have tried to do what you thought would help Me.
I know you poured out your hearts and your gifts,
and I have received your love!
I am He who receives your heart
and I am He who does not reject you.

My children,

You have been rejected by your spiritual parents
because they have been rejected, too.
Your spiritual forefathers founded their house with rejection.
Rather than repenting of their errors,
they chose to save their own pride
and rejected Me and the simplicity of the gospel.

They created their own story, their own controversy,
and a list of 'truths' which they taught
as if they were My requirements.
Because they feared admitting their error,
they created a heritage of rejecting those
who did not conform to what they taught.

They rejected My messengers
and made a 'Christ' in their own image,
and they rejected their own children
who did not conform to their man-made image.
Each generation has attempted to embrace this 'controversy',
but has also struggled to become who I created them to be.

You have labored to please Me as you were taught,
and you have labored to please your spiritual parents.
Even thought the requirements they taught
you were tedious and burdensome,
you wanted to embrace what you were given
because you loved your spiritual family and you loved Me.

But I am not like the image they taught you;
I am not the author of their 'controversy'.
I do not need you to prove anything—
not to Me, nor to the world, nor to the universe.
I did not create you to live in this confusion.

Come, My children, come rest in the Cross.
I am well-pleased in you,
Come rest in My story
instead of in their controversy.
Come rest in the Son alone."

"Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear;
forget your people and your father’s house.
The King is enthralled by your beauty;
honor Him, for He is your Lord."

(Psalm 45:10-11)

*****

Art: "Controversy"

"Steadfast Love"

"I am the One who calls you to come to Me
with your needs, your griefs, your hopes and your cares.
I know that you worry I will not hear you
if you don't pray 'correctly' or long enough
or with enough feeling in your heart.
My child, I know you want to stay focused on Me
and bring your needs to Me without being distracted.

"I want you to know that I always hear you, My child!
I hear you even before you call!
I know you want to give Me your everything,
but the more you try, the more you see how weak you are.

"Do not be ashamed, My child,
for I gave My everything because I knew you couldn't!
I am not upset or disappointed that you have been unable
to attain perfection in prayer as you think I want you to.
Instead, I am overjoyed and delighted in you, My child,
and I rejoice in any attempt you make to pray.

"I just want to be with you, My child.
When you come to Me in prayer,
I want you to rest in My love for you
and to know that I have already heard you
and am already caring for your needs.
I am strong in your weakness!"

*****

Art: "But He Is Strong"

"Everlasting Glory"

"What once had glory has come to have no glory at all
because of the glory that surpasses it."
- 2 Corinthians 3:10 ESV

"I want you to know My law.
I want you to know My Spirit.
I want you to know My eternal covenant.

"I am so much bigger than you have understood,
because you have defined My law by the Ten Words of the old covenant
instead of by the love I gave you on the Cross
and commanded you to give one another.

"Cease your striving and your struggle to fit Me into the Ten Commandments!
Stop trying to define My character by the tablets of the old covenant!
Let Me be who I really am, and I will give you rest!"

*****

Art: "No Comparison"

See also:
"The Fulfillment of the Ten Commandments"
and
"Identifying the 'True' Church"

"Walking In Sabbath-Rest"

"I am the good Shepherd! I lead My children without fear,
not with frowns, but with My love and peace.
My sheep rest in Me because I give them salvation—
no one can snatch them out of My hand!
I bring My children a sure hope that does not disappoint,
for in Me they have already crossed from death to life
and will not come into judgment.
My children have laid down their works, their burdens,
and walk with Me daily in Sabbath-rest
as My children went through the fields in the year of Jubilee.

"You cannot follow Me until you first rest in Me.
If you try to mimic My works and My ways,
you will find yourselves lost in the wilderness, worn out with weariness.
If you do not rest from your works in Me,
the 'yoke' that you pick up will not be My yoke,
for My yoke begins and ends in My rest.

"Come, rest in Me! Lay down your works!
My yoke is not what you think it is!
Learn all over again, from the beginning.
Rest in Me, and I will lead you in paths of peace,
in un-interrupted Sabbath-rest for your soul."

*****

Art: "Shepherd"

"In Faith, See!"

"I know how much you struggle,
how much you are trying to be like Me,
and how little progress you see in yourself.

"I know how far you feel from Me,
how guilty you feel because of it,
and how much you blame yourself.

"I know how much you long to have rest and to hear My voice,
but the only voice you hear reprimands you for not being better
and for not having a 'Christlike'-enough character.

"That is not My voice! I am He who saves you!
I know you can't see Me, but I want you to trust Me:
I never asked you to measure yourself against Me.

"Look up! Your expectations are not My expectations!
I am not who your church has told you I am,
and I do not expect what they told you I expect.

"Look in faith to Me, and I will set you free.
In your eyes you can only see darkness,
but listen to My Word and look through My eyes instead!"

"You have stolen My heart with one glance of your eyes...
How delightful is your love...!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine!"

- Song of Songs 4:9-10

*****

Art: "Peace in Difficulty"

"Under Law"

"I feel their pain! I feel their pain!
I feel their bondage! I feel them longing to reach Me but unable to!
I fell the pain of their striving, the weight of self-condemnation
for not succeding, and the pressure of expectation!
I feel the wound beneath their need to rationalize,
their need to invent excuses and gloss over problems
because they are too afraid of losing everything!

"Who will intercede for My children in Adventism?
Who will look past their defenses to the hurting children inside?
Who will reach out and love them in their captivity?
Who will give them grace instead of battle?
Who will go for Me, and whom shall I send?"

"Beyond You"

"I am the fire that you do not know,
beyond your reasoning and understanding.
I am the Spirit—I am He who births spirit in you,
and I am the One who testifies to whom you belong.

"You are created to be filled with My light,
but you cannot understand Me until you rest.
As long as you embrace your works to earn My approval,
you will not know the power of who I am.
Until you rest in Jesus you will not understand
the freedom of My sanctification
and the joy of My presence.

"Rest in Jesus!
Rest in the work He fully accomplished for you
instead of in the works you try to offer Him.
Rest from striving to clean up your mess,
for that is My job—not yours!
Lay down and know that He has taken your burdens.
Rest in His perfection and resurrection
instead of in your own transformation.
Believe He is your Sabbath-rest,
and I will bring you peace that cannot be extinguished."

*****

Art link:
"He Will Baptize You With the Holy Spirit and Fire"

"Defeated"

"My children,

"I am here. I am with you. I know the fears that you feel at night in the dark of your room. I know some of you have been openly harassed by the enemy, choked in the night, and terrorized by visions of things in your room. I know many of you have grown up and tried to move past these things, but that you are still afraid inside. Outwardly you must appear victorious, unafraid and unfazed, but alone at night you may suddenly feel like a terrified child again.

"I also know the frustration you have felt as you tried to drive away the fear. I know how you desperately spoke My name or tried to remember as many Bible verses as you could. I know how you clenched your eyes shut and repeated them to yourself as you tried to escape by falling asleep.

"I know the hidden pain behind the question you haven't been able to ask: 'Lord, why didn't it work?' You didn't ask Me the question, but you've really needed to ask it, because you've been doubting yourself and feeling responsible when it wasn't your fault. It was not you who opened the door to the enemy. But I will tell you how to close it and find rest in Me.

"Firstly I must tell you that the enemy cannot actually touch you. He can only scare you and try to frighten you. He is a toothless, declawed lion, because I triumphed over him on the Cross. I won the victory—it is finished!

"But you were not taught this; you were told that My death was only a symbol of My love, and that the real 'atonement' is happening in heaven. You were told that I and My angels are in a 'great controversy' against Satan and his angels, and that you must keep My law in order to vindicate Me in the end.

"You were taught that you had to keep the law. You had to memorize enough Scripture and 'truth' to keep from being deceived. You had to become perfect enough to stand before My Father without a mediator. The burden was placed on you. If you were harassed or fearful, you unconsciously felt that it must be because you weren't close enough to Me (because if you were, then these things wouldn't be happening). Moreover, no one else talked about these things and these fears, so you felt even more alone, and it subconsciously confirmed to you that you must be responsible.

"My children, My precious, beloved children! I am always with you, and I have always been with you. In Me you have already overcome the evil one, and in this world you overcome him by faith in Me. But the faith that was taught to you was not faith in Me, but rather to study hard and overcome through your own vigilance. You were taught to have faith in your own zeal, and your faith faltered because you couldn't keep up your zeal. The power of the enemy to deceive you was emphasized over and over more than My power to protect you from deception.

"I am not the author of that kind of 'faith'—the faith of your spiritual forefathers who founded your church. I am not the one who visited them with visions and revelations to teach them that 'faith'. I am not the one who opened the door for the evil one to harass their children and their children's children.

"But I am sovereign! I have brought you to where you are today to deliver you and set you free from every fear and harassment of the enemy. Yes, the enemy was devious in not only opening the door through demonic revelations to your spiritual forefathers, but also in crippling your knowledge of Me, of him, and of My victory over him (so that you could not have faith in what you had never heard). But I am bringing you into freedom now! What the enemy meant to use to destroy you, I will turn into a blessing in your life. Are you willing to be free?

"Call out to Me now, and ask Me to reveal to you the truth of My words in Scripture, that I have defeated the enemy at the Cross and that you are safe in My hands. Believe what I show you in Scripture. Do not try to harmonize it with what you were taught before—do not let the enemy dilute My words any longer! Then, in My name and in knowledge of My victory, stand!"

*****

If you would like prayer, please see the Contact page.

"Perfect Performance"

Then they asked him,
"What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Jesus answered,
"The work of God is this:
To believe in the one He has sent."

- John 6:28-29

"My children,

"I know you think you can keep the law. I know you think you're supposed to. But I tell you that it was a burden too heavy for you to bear, so I bore it for you. I carried, kept, and fulfilled what you could not.

"I do not judge you by how well you keep the old covenant law—I do not judge you by how well you survive carrying something that is too heavy for you! I do not judge you according to the ministry of death, but rather according to your heart's response to My love for you.

"If you know that your performance is weak and insufficient, then that is good enough for Me. If you have heard My love for you and call out to Me who won the game for you, then that is good enough.

"I don't need your help to win the game (I've already won it!), and I don't need your help in saving you (I've already done that, too!). All I want is for you to know in your heart that I am your champion, not you yourself.

"That's all."

*****

See also: "The Champion!" (art link)

"Rest in Me"

"I am your Sabbath, in the midst of all your troubles, stresses, worries, burdens and fears. I am your Sabbath in the midst of the grief you feel because of bad things you've done and because of the sins you just can't seem to get rid of completely. I am your Sabbath in the midst of consequences you endure because of bad choices you've made and mistakes you were responsible for.

"I am your Sabbath-rest here at the Cross. I bring you rest through no effort of your own, but through what I did for you by Myself on the Cross. I bring you peace through My own love for you, not through your love for Me. You don't have to prove how much you love Me to receive My love. You don't have to get yourself 'clean' first for Me to accept you. I love you just as you are, and I will heal your broken heart and wash away your griefs with My love.

"Come, rest in Me. Rest in My love for you. I Myself am your Sabbath."

"In Toil, Rest"

"I am with you always, even in the most busied, stressed and noisy times in your life. I am your Sabbath-rest in the midst of wherever and whenever you are. I will make your labor rest, your burden light, your pain sweet, and your toil a blessing."

*****

See also: "With Me Here" (art link)

"I AM Your Peace!"

"I know how you feel inside. The rest of the world may not see it, the people in your church may not see it. But I know. And I don't condemn you.

"You've been under a lot of pressure. You've had to look like you have it all together. You've had to try to be 'the remnant'—part of a people who had 'the truth' more than everybody else. You've had to try to believe that the weight of the Law was not too much for you, that it was a joy to you. And you've thought you had to be an 'example' to everyone else to shine My light. But inside you feel like the man in this picture.

"I never asked you to be 'the remnant'. I never gave you 'special light' or laid such a heavy burden on you. I laid that burden on My Son, and on Him alone! He is your peace! He is the special One! He is the only Light, the only special truth, the Chosen One!

"You don't need to carry any more 'special' baggage—it has been a burden too heavy for you to bear. Whether you admit it or not, it is tearing you apart inside, and it is doing the same to those around you even though you can't see it from the outside.

"You will never find peace in your 'truths', in your unique doctrines or in your church's special 'messages'. You will only find peace in Me alone. But do not try to mix My Light with your 'light', or you will only end up with more confusion and less peace than if you cling to Me alone. I am calling you to find rest in Me alone, and to rest from your 'works'—from your doctrines, your unique beliefs, your special 'remnant' claims. You will know Me as your complete Sabbath-peace when you cease from these works enter My rest by faith alone."

*****

See also: "You Are My Peace!" (art link)

"Not As Advertised"

"I know things have not turned out as you imagined they would. When you first set your heart on following Me, you were ready to give all to Me, and it seemed that as soon as you did, your problems, doubts, faults and stains would be washed away and your life would be full of strength and faith ever after. The words of your church leaders and founders told of a change of character, lifestyle, and becoming an example to all those around you. You were led to expect that after coming up out of the water, you would be like Me.

"I know your pain. I know your tears. I know your disappointment and discouragment. I know how you've wanted to just give up. I know the pressure of how you have to try to look like everything is okay and pretend that you're not actually just hanging on for dear life. I know you feel like there must be something wrong with you because it seems like everyone else changed magically when they were baptized.

"I am not going to tell you to try harder. I am not going to tell you that you have been a failure, because the truth is that I never expected those things of you at all. Those expectations were placed on your by the teachings of your leaders and your church's founders, and by a church environment where everyone was aspiring to meet the church's expectations and could not openly admit the truth.

"I have never wanted you to pretend. I have never wanted you to be like your church's founders. I have never expected you to stand before My Father without a mediator. I have never based My love for you on the perfection of your character.

"I gave you Myself on the Cross because I knew you could never ascend to heaven on your own, and I want to be with you forever. I didn't die so that you yourself could 'become righteous,' but instead I died to credit you with My righteousness. Your righteousness is not and will never be the standard by which I accept or reject you. I have already accepted you, I have already died on the Cross for you! And My love will never be removed from you. I died to set you free from your righteousness.

"I want you to be free! I want you to be free of thinking that your righteousness will save or condemn you. I want you to be free of the lie that you will have to stand before My Father without My intercession. I want you to be free of the environment in which you have to pretend that you are a 'spiritual' person and can't admit how you really feel. I want you to have rest.

"Come, rest in Me. You have already given Me your heart, and I accepted it gladly! Don't doubt your sincerity and don't think that you did something wrong or didn't give your heart to Me completely enough. Of course you didn't give me your heart completely! You can't! Only I can do that. I will undivide your heart in My time, in My power by My Spirit. That's My job.

"Come, take off the robe of expectations that your church has given you to wear, and rest in My righteousness instead."

"Inner Cry"

"I know how you feel inside. I know even better than you do yourself. I hear the cries inside. I feel your pain.

"I know you long for rest. I know the disappointment you feel because My ways had promised to be easy and light, but the way you have been led has not lived up to the promise you first saw in Me.

"You have been led astray, taken away from My rest. The promise you first saw in Me--when you first heard that My burden is light--is true. Your hope was not false, but your shepherds were.

"You have been taught to deny your pain, your longing for rest. You have been told that this heaviness is rest. But this is not My Sabbath-rest. Trying to keep the Sabbath day correctly will only leave you weary in your soul, and you have been wearied enough by your ways already; come find rest in Me now. I care about your soul. I don't care about how you observe old holy days. I want to meet with you today; I want to give you My peace today.

"Turn from your ways and the ways in which you have been led away from Me. You don't have to try to please Me with holy days. Come to Me and I will give you rest for free, which no sunrise or sunset will ever take away from you."

*****

See also: "The Adventist Sabbath"

"The Spirit of Prophecy"

"I am the essence of prophecy. I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the testimony of God the Father. I am the Beginning and the End.

"There is One Holy Spirit. He gives many gifts; prophecy is one of them. But I am the spirit of prophecy. I am the heart of all prophecy. All prophets see in part, but I am the whole. I am the end-picture; I am the final vision.

"Because you have tried to find a safe way ahead in times that were not yours, you have wandered away from your resting place. You searched the prophets trying to find hidden light with which you could see during dark days that were not yet upon you. And with your ways and your light you fortified and wearied yourselves. Your hearts became troubled, full of anxiety yet also proud that you knew what others did not. Others had only Me, you thought, but you had more light.

"But there is no other light than Me, and there is no other way. There is nothing before Me and there is nothing beyond Me. There is no additional light. I AM the Light. There is no further way because I AM the Way. You have not known peace in your souls because you have left the narrow way.

"Return! Return to Me! I am your place of rest, I am your true light. I am the One who will heal your weariness from your ways. I am the One who will give you rest about the times of the end. I am the One who will give you understanding about My words, and I am the One who will give you peace when you do not understand. I am the One who saves you regardless of the level of your understanding, because I save you by My own knowledge, not by yours.

"Return to Me. I AM the spirit of prophecy!"

*****

See also: "Reconsecrating Eschatology"

"Reduced"

"You have thought the 'heritage' of your church has been a treasure, a unique package of special, privileged revelation and clarity. Your heritage has seemed rich to you, but you have been wandering around in the barren wilderness carrying this heavy load of your 'heritage', feeling far less assurance than your literature advertises.

"I am calling you to let go of this heavy package, these countless volumes of writings and unique beliefs, at the foot of the cross. It is time for you to find find freedom and life once and for all.

"As much 'fruit' as you've tried to boast that your heritage brought, deep down you have known it was barren, but you have kept trying to make it something, trying harder and harder. You have carried many things in addition to the Cross, and these have been a burden to you that I never meant for you to carry. The good news is about Me, not about you, your church, your 'heritage' or unique beliefs.

"I am calling you back to the simplicity of the Cross, where My grace alone is your salvation. I have taken your sins, and if you are willing to surrender them at the Cross, I have even taken our efforts to adorn, improve upon and complicate the simplicty of My gospel.

"Come lay down your burdensome additions at the foot of the Cross. And in their place receive My heritage, My inheritance that you did not deserve. Receive a crown of beauty instead of ashes, a garment of praise instead of heaviness, My free gift of righteousness instead of an earned righteousness of your own according to the Old Covenant law.

"The hour is late, the sun is setting and the night is almost here. Hear Me today. Come to the foot of the Cros and release your heavy package!"

*****

See also: "For the Apostles' Creed"

"Gently Broken"

"My beloved, My bride. You are broken. Your efforts to try and keep the old covenant laws only showed you how much you failed and fell short. You have no hope, no rest, and you are dressed in filthy rags.

"In this place of brokenness, I long to reach down and lift up your head. I long for you to look in My eyes instead of attempting to piece together your broken law-keeping. I long for you to lose yourself in My perfection instead of losing yourself trying to become perfect enough for Me to receive you.

"I will receive you just as you are. Lay down your burden. It is a yoke too heavy for you to carry. Come rest in Me, and I will give you rest for your soul, and rest from your fear of sinning and fear of being lost.

"Come to Me and I will give you real rest in Myself."

*****

See also: "Ultimate Rest" (study) and "The Fulfillment of the Law"