True Prophet

Please listen to Jeremiah 23:9-16

My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words. For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might [is] not right. "For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness," says the LORD. "Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery [ways]; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment," says the LORD. "And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err. Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah. "Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: 'Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness has gone out into all the land.' " Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD.

According to the Torah, if a "prophet" was wrong once he was to be put to death. As a matter of fact, they would even burn all of his supposed prophecies, if one iota of said was wrong. Why? BECAUSE IT'S NOT OF YAHWEH! Most of today's "prophets" are and have been wrong... dead wrong about many of their prophecies... which tells us they are not of God! They are false. Matt 24:11 & 24, 2Peter 2:1, 1John 4:1.

I leave you with the words of Yeshua (Jesus) in Matt. 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves."

In Yeshua Ha Mashiach,
Jeremy David Shepherd

"The Truth Shall Make You Slaves of God"

What if Jesus had said these words in John 8? Who would have received that message?

But he did not; Instead, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31, 32)

But what does he mean by the truth? What does he mean by free?

Jesus said to Thomas, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

And then back to John 8:36, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." Jesus is the truth. If you know him, he will set you free.

He tells us in Verse 34, 35, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, [but] a son abides forever."

Many have taken John 8:36, as a license to do as they wish, but Paul addresses this clearly in Romans 6.

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?...that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin." (Read Hebrews 6 for even more on that)

But here's the real kicker! Look at Romans 6:22-23. "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin [is] death, but the gift of God [is] eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So... You Shall Know the Truth (Jesus), and the Truth Shall Make you Free (Slaves to God)

On this Fourth of July remember, if you know Jesus, you are FREE: "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." (Rom. 8:1-2)

Happy Independence Day!

HISSHEP

Walk the Spirit Walk

"Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh...adultery, fornication, uncleanness, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of rage, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries (orgies), and the like... those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."


"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things THERE IS NO LAW. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we LIVE in the SPIRIT, let us also WALK in the SPIRIT. Let us not become conceited provoking one another, envying one another."

Galatians 5:16-26

Against such things there is no law! I have heard it argued that we cannot legalize morality, and while our founders chose to use Biblical standards when establishing the rule of law in our nations past, though it was wonderfully admirable, the Word is clear that without the Holy Spirit of God, it was perhaps an idle attempt. I have tried, very hard, each of the characteristics in red... all of them. In and of myself, they were and are impossible. I don't mean all of them at once either. I mean, just one at a time. I won't even get into Love, we know that's the most impossible one, by itself... at least true Love (1Cor 13). So, let's look at self-control... Or how about faithfulness... well, okay... Maybe I don't have to illustrate it. If you need a testimony, then you can email me.

Back to my original point. Paul is speaking to Believers. Today, I discern our problem is from within, not from without. Our greatest war is not a "Culture War" as some "prophets" would like you to buy into. It is the same war as 2000 years ago... flesh vs. Spirit. And it all begins within our own bodies. First our mortal bodies... and then the body of Christ. I find it interesting when the Word mentions fighting there are two contexts... Spirit vs. flesh; which is a WAR, (1Peter 2:11) and believer against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places; which is a mere WRESTLE ... not a war.(Eph 6:12) So the bigger fight is me, myself and I, and then the enemy. No mention of battling the world either. Just not conforming to this world. (Rom 12:2, 1John 2:15-17).

Why has our focus become so extrinsic and no longer introspective? I believe it's because I, and we as a body, have assigned the evil characteristics in blue to THEM (the world), and the good ones in red to US (the church). But the Lord is saying to me as a believer, and us a body these blue words are for OUR rebuke... read Revelation Ch. 2&3.

"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you the light."

"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways... (2Chro. 7:14)

"For those who live according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." (Rom 8:5)

Tiny Faith

Matthew 17:20 "...for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

I've been reading about faith lately from the sermons of pentecostal pioneer Smith Wigglesworth, a man who seemed to grasp where his faith ended and the faith from the Holy Spirit of God began. He seemed to always hunger for a real encounter with God, and as a result of his ministry a great pentecostal outpouring occurred at the beginning of the 20th century, where many tremendous miracles happened. Of himself, Smith was just a person, as any of us, but when he prayed with the faith of heaven, in the power of the Holy Spirit, like Elijah (Jas. 5:17), and like all the believers in Acts, and any believer may today... things happened, and still happen. God can use, does use and will use any one who has a heart after Him and has Heaven's faith. This is the faith I desire. Read Acts 10. Are you ready?
Nine Year Old With Anointing

He Made Us To Be A Kingdom

Revelation 1:5&6 To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father-to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen!

The Kingdom of God is within you! (Lk. 17:21)

Yesterday was the Kentucky Derby. I spent Friday and Saturday at a campsite with a group of forty men seeking after God's will for our lives. It was amazing! A year ago it would have weighed on me that I was missing the Derby. I even would have looked at yesterday as something sacrificial, but things change. It never crossed my mind. When you are in God's presence, nothing else matters.

I have good news today. The Kingdom of God is here, it is now, and brothers and sisters it is in you... (see Acts 1:4&5, 2:1-4, 2:37-43, 6:8, 19:1-7, 1Cor.12 &14) Since it is here and now and within me and you, we need to be about His business, and no longer taken away by worldly distractions. Matt. 16: 24&25, Jesus said: If anyone comes after me he must deny himself (self) and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will find it.

If you enjoyed the Derby on Saturday, or some other event like the NBA playoffs I am by no means condemning you, for there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Ro. 8:1). I pray you had a fantastic time. I am just saying, for me and my house... nothing else matters, because His Kingdom is in us!

My desire is to be real with you, my friends.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1Peter 2:9&10

As I reflect on this, it pains me to realize how I have fallen so miserably short of being the priest of my home, a holy servant, a Godly man, who ever declares the Lord's praises. So many times I forget to remember the the darkness He has called me out of into His wonderful light. This causes me to lose sight of Him and start to focus on the world, and "sinners" around me. So many times in the past, instead of addressing my own heart, I have focused my attention on what I thought was the problem: the government, abortion, homosexuals, etc. Yes, even though I have close friends and family who are gay, I still have played the us vs. them thing in my own mind. Yet, in my life I have struggled with personal addiction, with pornography, with lying, with deception, theft, hypocrisy, covetousness, lust and maybe more. "Ye who is without sin, let him cast the first stone."(Jn 8:7)

Now that God has delivered me out this bondage this scripture becomes so much clearer. I cannot have the first without the second. I must always reflect the depths of which my Lord delivered me, so like my Lord, I have compassion for others, and only then can I become Christlike, holy, a chosen person, a royal priest, belonging to God and able to show the mercy I've been shown.

My friends, please forgive me if I have not been gracious to you, or if I hurt you because my views were different from yours. My Jesus has called me to love you because you are worth loving, that's why he first loved me...certainly not because of me.

HISSHEP