THE DIVINE LIGHT --SNYDER

THE DIVINE LIGHT

A Gram of Wisdom from Michael Snyder

Grace is from God, and it works in the depth of the soul whose powers it employs. It is a LIGHT which issues forth to do service under the guidance of the Spirit. The DIVINE LIGHT permeates the soul and lifts it above the turmoil of temporal things to rest in God. The soul cannot progress except with the LIGHT which God has given it as a nuptial gift; love works the likeness of God into the soul.

The peace, freedom, and blessedness of all souls consists in their abiding in God’s will. Towards this union with God, for which it is created, the soul strives perpetually. Fire converts wood into its own likeness, and the stronger the wind blows, the greater grows the fire. Now by the fire understand love, and by the wind the Holy Spirit. The stronger the influences of the Holy Spirit, the brighter grows the fire of love—not all at once, but gradually as the soul grows.

LIGHT causes flowers and plants to grow and bear fruit; in animals it produces life, but in men blessedness. This comes from the grace of God, Who uplifts the soul. For if the soul is to grow God-like it must be lifted above itself. To produce real moral freedom, God’s grace and man’s will must cooperate. As God is the Prime Mover of nature, so also He creates free impulses towards Himself and to all good things. Grace renders the will free that it may do everything with God’s help, working with grace as with an instrument which belongs to it. So the will arrives at freedom through love—nay, becomes itself love, for love unites with God. All true morality, inward and outward, is comprehended in love, for love is the foundation of all the commandments.

All outward morality must be built upon this basis, not in self-interest. As long as a man loves something else than God, or outside of God, he is not free,because he has not love. Therefore there is no inner freedom which does not manifest itself in works of love. True freedom is the government of nature in and outside of man through God; freedom is essential existence unaffected by creatures. But love often begins with fear; fear is the approach to love. Fear is like the awl which draws the shoemaker’s thread through the leather. As for outward works, they are ordained for this purpose: that the outward man may be directed to God. But the inner work, the work of God in the soul, is the chief matter; when a man finds this within himself, he can let go of externals.

No law is given to the righteous ( see 1 Timothy 1:7-9) because he fulfills the law inwardly, and bears it in himself, for the least thing done by God is better than all the work of creatures. But this is intended for those who are ENLIGHTENED BY GOD AND THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.

Meister ECKHART From: Sermon “Outward and Inward Morality.

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I AM WITH YOU

I AM WITH YOU

All you people of the land take courage, and work; for I am with you,' declares the LORD of hosts. Hag 2:4

"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. -- I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. -- Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. -- ....do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Joh 15:5,-- Php 4:13,-- Eph 6:10,-- Neh 8:10

Let your hands be strong, -- encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble. Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not. The recompense of God will come, He will save you." -- The LORD looked at him and said, "Go in this your strength...Have I not sent you?" Zec 8:9,-- Isa 35:3-4,-- Jdg 6:14

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? -- Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart. Rom 8:31,-- 2Co 4:1

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. -- but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Gal 6:9,-- 1Co 15:57

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IF I PRAY LORD -- WILL YOU ANSWER?

IF I PRAY LORD....WILL YOU ANSWER?

Now Jabez [ the head of a family of Judah, an honorable man] called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested. 1Ch 4:10

Our Lord has long been ready to respond to the prayers of those who believe and who follow the commandments of He who created all us. Jesus, while praying at the Gethsemane Garden, not only cautioned His disciples to be vigilant in prayer, but warned them to stay awake and be watchful; ..."Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation." - "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Luk 22:46, - Mat 26:41

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 30:7-9 --Two things I asked of You, Do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.

The LORD will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. - "So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked, And I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent." - We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. Psa 121:7, - Jer 15:21, -1Jn 5:18

Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. - then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment. Rev 3:10, - 2Pe 2:9

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GOD SEES ME

GOD Sees me!

As Hagar, Sarai's maid wandered in the wilderness, God demonstrated that He is a good Father. His eyes are throughout the whole earth;

Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, "You are a God who sees" -- O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. -- Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. --The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. -- For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the LORD, And He watches all his paths. Gen 16:13, --Psa 139:1-4, --Psa 139:6, --Pro 15:3, -- Pro 5:21

How we view and justify each other as one human to another is not how God works. In Luk 16:15 [Jesus] said to the Pharisees, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. --"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 2Ch 16:9

But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to [the Pharisees], for He knew all men,...He Himself knew what was in man. Joh 2:24-25

[Jesus] said to [Peter] the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus *said to him, "Tend My sheep. Joh 21:17

We are GOD's sheep. He sees us. He is a good Father!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

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SO MAY IT BE

SO MAY IT BE

Your locks will be iron and bronze, And according to your days, so will your leisurely walk be. Deu 33:25

God is very protective of those who not only believe, but also obey His Word. The more I study His Word in the Bible, the more I see of Him. I long so to know everything there is to know about Him. How He thinks, how He walks, talks, sees, hears, touches and loves.

The Bible can be a clear and understandable book of knowledge and truth to some while to others it is confounding, full of unending mysteries that don't seem to resonate or make much sense.

Those who were early followers of Jesus found themselves READING and LIVING the Bible as it was being written [The New Testament]. They called on Jesus to teach them how to properly understand His method of what to share, and when, and with whom;

And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" Jesus answered them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. --

"So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Mat 13:10-11,--Mat 6:34

Humans have this insatiable need to know how things work. We tend to take things apart to discover how they function. Many times we see the hidden mechanism and still scratch our heads in awe and mystery not understanding what we are seeing. Its much the same when we begin to search and discover that which is in plain sight, hidden in the Holy Scriptures. As we read the Bible, He begins to open our eyes to understand the lessons that are printed in plain view, to make connections that marvelously unravels one Biblical treasure after another! We are strengthened through His Word through our belief!

He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. --And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. Isa 40:29,-- 2Co 12:9-10

When we cannot understand the Bible, it is testimony that we have no natural inherent ability what-so-ever to understand the Lord's ways. We must call upon Him. We must believe. As our belief increases, the Lord opens our eyes, our ears and our hearts to understand His ways. The weaker we are, in our humble approach for knowledge, the stronger we become through His will in our belief!

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Php 4:13

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REVIVE ME

REVIVE ME

My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word. Psa 119:25

From the dust of the earth, Adam was formed and God breathed life into his nostrils. The dust took on the exact image of Him who was by Him created. Adam was perfect and so was the garden in which he was formed. From this man, this creation of Almighty God, from his seed all men to this very day would carry his DNA, this original coding.

When Adam sinned, and through this sin death and evil was thrust upon the whole world. Adam's seed was cursed and the penalty was death. Since Adam was the man from whom all others would evolve, all men were born into this sin, and carry this penalty through the seed. Only through the shedding of blood would there come atonement. That saving atonement came through the blood shed by Jesus, the son of God, on a cross at a place called Calvary. Jesus death and resurrection became the precious salvation setting believers free from eternal death and suffering. Those who remain strong in Jesus to their very last earthly breath will be greatly rewarded in their new home in the Kingdom.

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. -- For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Col 3:1-3,-- Php 3:20-21

Did you know that there is huge spiritual conflict going on pitting the spirit of the flesh against the Spirit of salvation in Jesus the Christ? Lust, idolatry, selfishness, greed, immorality, all push common sense and righteousness aside. This is a constant and real war.

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. -- So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh — for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Gal 5:17,-- Rom 8:12-13

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 1Pe 2:11

Pray. Put on the protective armor of Jesus. Pray constantly. Include Jesus in all that you do. Keep Him as the center focus in you mind. Talk with Him, share with Him. Let Him change you and teach you to overcome the World. After all, in salvation you have a brand new address, eternal in the heavens!

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THE BEAUTY OF GOD

The Beauty of God

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands. Psa 90:17

Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you," declares the Lord GOD. -- But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. -- If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

Eze 16:14,--2Co 3:18,--1Pe 4:14

How blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You will be happy and it will be well with you. -- Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.

Psa 128:1-2,--Pro 16:3

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. -- Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Php 2:12-13,--2Th 2:16-17

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VOICE OF THE DEVIL

VOICE OF THE DEVIL

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal 5:19-21

Paul's teaching in Galatians pleads with us to wake up, to pay attention for the hour is here. The evidence is not only in this country, but it is world wide. Such hatred, polarity, in-your-face vulgarity and violence; this ever increasing against those who claim the Kingdom through our Lord Jesus, Amen.

The Lord so moved the hand of Brother Michael Snyder as he offered the following post this morning. I pray you will read slowly, thoughtfully, and purposely this powerful portrait he shares with us:

“Yea, hath God said?” That is the voice of the devil. We are living in an hour in which we are very conscious that in this world of ours, and in the midst of all its affairs, hell is let loose. I resolutely use that phrase, and say hell is let loose, for hell can have no power save under the government of God; just as Satan could not touch Job until he had asked permission, just as it is true that when he desired to have the disciples to sift them as wheat, he obtained them by asking. It is always so.

That is a tremendous truth, at which we may often be puzzled; but our confidence is in God, and in the assurance that He allows the forces of hell to be loosed, there is a reason for it, and a meaning in it. It is so in the days in which we are living.

The existence of evil, spiritual principalities is granted by all those who accept the Biblical revelation. Words we have doubtless often quoted recently to ourselves, occurring in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, are true. “Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood.” That is to say that such conflict is not final. Behind it there is something else. “But against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of the darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

This fact if the existence of the principalities of evil is assumed and revealed throughout the Bible; and at the head of this empire of evil is one, named variously, Satan.

We are very conscious of his power and of his deeds. It is an interesting thing to remark in hurried passing, when we open our Bible, we do not find him in the first two chapters. He does not appear. And it is equally arresting that we do not find him in the last two chapters. He is not there at the beginning or end of the Bible, though, as one said “a wide compass first be fetched.”

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, “ We are not ignorant of his devices.” That is a suggestive word rightly understood—“devices” which might correctly be rendered “his mental activities, his conceptions, his purpose, his thinking.” We are not ignorant, said Paul, of these things. Sometimes we are inclined to say, if Paul was not, we are. Yet it is not so. As we are men and women of faith, and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and believers in the Biblical revelation, we can say we are not ignorant of his mental activity, of the conception that underlie that activity, and of the purpose that inspires that activity.

Paul had what we have, the Biblical history, with its revelation of this personality, and the story of Jesus with the supreme revelation of this personality through His ministry. Paul had these things. So have we, and so we can say that we are not ignorant of his devices. ~G. Campbell Morgan. From: The Voice of the Devil. [Shared by Michael Snyder]

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ARE YOU SAVED?

GOT LIFE?

GOT LIFE?

One soul at the end of her earthly journey, another precious soul at the start. Ninety-One years of individual heartbeats separate them in in the rhythm of human life. The first comes now to complete her time on earth. She has had years of hearing about the invitation of her creator to accept His grace, His mercy, His salvation through the shedding of His own blood. The second is hearing the Word of the promise for the very first time, but the Words of His calling was written on her tiny heart while she was being formed in her mother's womb.

Which decision did the first make?

Which choice will the second?

On this question, LIFE depends. Eternal LIFE.

For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; - but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, - "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, - because I live, you will live also. Joh 5:26,- 2Ti 1:10,- Joh 11:25,- Joh 14:19

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, -For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, -For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Heb 3:14,- Heb 6:4,- 2Pe 1:4

So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1Co 15:45-52

—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

1Ti 6:15-16

All of you are located somewhere between the DEPARTING and the ARRIVING. All that you have is the here and now. This very moment. Yesterday is gone forever, and tomorrow is not promised to anyone. Tonight you may take your last breath and your earthly journey end. Where will your eternity be?

GOT LIFE? Choose well my beloved.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 1Ti 1:17

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