November
2, 2016
Well,
my beloved Heartdwellers. The Lord is so rich in wisdom, and He's
continually showing me new things. There is nothing boring about the
Christian life!
And
I want to share a parable with you today. The Parable of the Guarded
Honeybees and the Pilgrim
Once
there was a dear soul who had become restless with the dreary life
she was living and longed to travel and find a way of living that was
different from what she had known. The deep forests attracted her
sense of adventure, but she was fascinated with the varieties of
honeys from the bees all around the world. So she made it a point to
visit the their hives in her journeys.
The
pilgrimage proved long and little sustenance could be found along the
way. When she came across a hive in the forest, desiring to be
nourished on the sweet nectar, she devised many ways to get to the
honey. She learned about smoking the bees out, speaking to them
kindly, or calling them out with sweet strains from the flute. She
even waited for the bears to despoil the hive so she could come and
eat from the leftovers.
There
were a few successes in obtaining the nectar...but it would always
end in disappointment, when she would get stung several times and her
encounter would end with sadness and bitterness, though the honey was
at first sweet.
This
caused her to have a great fear of the hives though the Lord had put
a deep desire in her for the nectar.
So
she went from forest to forest, far and wide through the mountains
and plain and even found a hive in the remains of an elk. But as
always, it ended in painful stings, and she began to have a great
fear of hives.
One
day, she met a fellow traveler who was more experienced and wiser
than she and he told her of a faraway mountain where the bees were
kept by the Master, who taught them to share their honey and keep
very careful watch over the hive, so only the choicest pure honey
from Heaven would be made.
Still,
the bees had their own struggles, but they had learned that only the
flowers the Master provided produced fine honey, not contaminated by
molds and toxic fumes from the world.
So,
she set off to this place and finally arriving there, found that it
was very heavily guarded. Of course, the Master had seen many who
came to steal the hives or destroy them, and they had all experienced
heavy losses from careless people who came to take and not consider
the needs of the bees. It had taken many years for them to recover
from these losses, so the Master kept a close watch over the hives.
Well
she, by this time, was quite afraid of beehives, because she had
never visited a hive that would not end up hurting her. So, she
assumed this hive was just like them all. She judged that this hive
might have great honey, but no hive could be trusted. When she was
allowed to enter the gates, she carried with her the fear of the
bees, because in her mind they were just like all the others.
She
tried to fight these feelings as she camped nearby, but one night
after she had tasted some extraordinary honey, she became afraid that
the Master would control her, too - so she purposed in her mind to
leave quietly without anyone noticing.
Her
fear had mastered her. Her desire for the honey the Master had made
was great, but she wasn't in control of her own desire; rather the
fear of being stung was in control.
So
she left without getting a jar of the precious amber honey the Master
had prepared just for her.
She
continued to go from hive to hive on her pilgrimage, but she always
balked when she got close to the honey, because the choicest, pure
honeys from Heaven were guarded and that intimidated her. She might
lose control...cause that's how she got stung before.
So
she wandered the Earth, growing more hungry and frail with predators
following her. And she went without the nourishment and protection of
the guarded pure honeys for the rest of her days.
So,
what is the moral of this story?
When
we have a fear of anything, it's usually a survival instinct because
we've been hurt before. So we cover up and protect ourselves. We
avoid all situations where we could be hurt because we don't want to
be controlled by anyone or anything. We don't trust anyone.
This
is how Satan gets direction of our lives; this is how HE controls us.
Because of our fear, he knows what to make us think so we will avoid
something or some place. So when the soul gets close to something
that is guarded, authentic and healthy - the enemy insinuates, "They
will control you. You don't want to be controlled do you?" And
they're scared away.
But
in reality, Satan knows what he stands to lose where the honey is
guarded. He knows that there is wisdom and nourishment in the ways of
those guarded honeybees. And if that soul begins to trust and truly
listen they will be armed against the assaults he wants to make on
them until they are thoroughly despoiled of their gifts.
Satan
has determined who could be a threat to his kingdom and so he teaches
them the way of fear, so fear will easily steer them away from what
could have saved them. He also has vowed to isolate them so they will
have no further wisdom than their own. He plays on their pride and
tells them, "You have no need to listen to them, you already
know this. You know what's important. If you listen to them - they
will control you."
When
the soul is convinced of all those things, they are already full;
there is no empty space to receive fresh, sweet, pure honey - though
they languish for it. So they go on undernourished, making the same
mistakes over and over again. Manipulated by fear, they avoid the
guarded honey and any wisdom they might share, lest they be
controlled by them.
Further,
the enemy falsely accuses the innocent guarded bees and if the soul
listens, she has opened yet another door for his workers of iniquity
to weaken them.
Yet,
the irony of it for the soul who is dreadfully afraid of being
controlled, is that they are no longer in control of their own lives.
All their actions are controlled by the fear of being controlled. And
who inspires fear?
Satan.
There
is good and bad everywhere. There is pure honey from Heaven and
contaminated honey with mold from the world. There are nasty stinging
bees, killer bees. And bees raised by the Master who swarm in a heart
shape while you taste their honey.
The
only remedy I see for a soul caught in such a pit is humility, which
the devils have already destroyed by telling them they don't need to
know anything further.
And
a teachable spirit is needed as well. What is a teachable spirit?
Some have said it means submitting to headship. That's a perversion
meant to control people by yet another form of fear.
Obedience
does not mean obeying something in your heart, that you don't feel is
right. That's not obedience! If it violates the way the Lord has led
you, and it violates your conscience, then you better not do it. And
don't allow anyone to accuse you of being disobedient, because that's
not the kind of obedience the Lord wants from us. The Lord wants us
to be obedient to the Holy Spirit and to Him, and to the known will
of God. That's obedience.
But
there are times when we fall into error, and we don't always know
which voice is the Lord and which voice is the enemy. Because many,
many masquerade in the form of Jesus.
A
teachable spirit is quick to listen, and slow to speak. A teachable
spirit doesn't constantly defend their ideas. Rather, they listen and
compare in silence and allow Holy Spirit to sort out truth from
error. A teachable spirit looks for people wiser than themselves and
is eager to learn from them. A teachable spirit is hungry for truth,
and that hunger will lead them to abandon any way in their lives they
discover is false. The truth and only the truth is their standard.
That's
how I came to the Lord from the New Age. I explored all the "ism's"
and none of them rang true, until Jesus met me in my darkness and
revealed who He was in His brilliant light. Then I had to abandon all
my New Age practices. I had to sort through truth and error. That
took me YEARS. Years of humble failures and errors, and having to
re-learn things that were not the right way.
When
I was added to the church I had to sort out men's ways from God's
ways. But I had been so humbled when the Lord saved me, I was eager
to know the difference.
There
is no such thing as a soul who cannot learn. There is only the soul
who WILL not learn, because they are convinced they know it all.
That's the saddest state a soul can be in. That's the state I was in
in the New Age. That's why I missed Christianity. The Lord had to
reveal Himself to me in a brilliant, life-changing event. Much like
Saul of Tarsus experienced on the way to Damascus.
Not
even in thousands of years will I know all the ways of God. My wisdom
is like a grain of sand on the beach. God's wisdom is like the
beaches and the stars of the universe. Woe to me if I ever think I
know. God save me from my Pride! And He has - many times. But I still
fall into it. I'm a work under construction.
I
do not know, and everyday I learn that I know less and less. And
that's the only safe place to be.
What
I share with you on this channel and with those I correspond with, is
simply what God has proven and taught to me. I know nothing
independent of what He has shown me. And if I should have the
misfortune of having a familiar spirit masquerading as a spirit of
prophecy and truth, like was sent to Saul - when God deliberately
sent lying spirits into the mouths of his prophets so he would be
killed on the battlefield. Oh God, have mercy on my soul and do not
turn me over to lying spirits and masquerading demons pretending to
be Jesus.
It
has happened before, it can happen again. But what saves me is a
teachable spirit and the sure knowledge that I do not have the whole
truth. And if God chooses to humble me, He can and will, so that I
will once again see myself as nothing and Him as everything.
And
here I thank Him for He has surrounded me with protection from true,
proven, humble, genuinely loving, prophetic people that help me
overcome my errors. And God reveals my errors and my faults to them.
But without a teachable spirit, they would do me know good at all.
Even if Elijah should appear to me, if I have not the retractable
grace of humility and a teachable spirit, I would not listen to him
but go my own way.
I
say retractable grace of humility, because without the Lord's guarded
intervention to keep us humble, I would quickly fall into a worse
state of pride than I am presently in. God save us from that!!!
Lord,
I appeal to Your mercy. We are all afraid of error and of being
controlled. Help us to be humble and teachable, and to know the
difference between truth and error. And especially to be willing to
submit ourselves to Holy Spirit. Because our wisdom is useless. We
need Your wisdom and Your mind every moment of the day, Lord.
So,
reveal in us any false way. And help us to receive the Grace to
listen to wisdom when it's brought to us, and sent to us from above.
Amen.
Source:
heartdwellers
