Clare was sharing with Jesus some issues that were on her heart. Jesus said to her, “The point is not to give up. This is Satan’s plan. Using the analogy of lions on the hunt, they look for the ones who are separated. Be smarter than the adversary. Cling to and forgive your friends when they wound you.
“I did not give up on Peter. It is written that I ‘did not entrust Myself to men, for I knew their hearts’ (John 2:24). As close as Peter was to Me, I knew his weakness. I knew he was not ready to die for Me. He loved Me but overestimated his strength. Peter did not know himself. He overrated his devotion, his love, even though I had appointed him chief of the apostles. In his zeal and self-confidence, he believed nothing could turn him away from Me.
“I am asking you, children: take a long look in the mirror and know yourselves. Ask My Holy Spirit to reveal your true weaknesses. What will this accomplish? Compassion and forgiveness for those who betray you. I want My Body mended, put back together. Satan has spent the last 2,000 years contriving plans that would push the members of My Body apart, further and further.
“If you are dividing My Body, you are working for Satan. You are being used by the demons if you are separating brethren. If you are taking the failings of others as a final door slammed shut, you are creating pockets of bitterness for the demons to create strongholds in your life, not the lives of those who hurt you. They will walk on, but you will stumble because of what you are holding onto. That is why forgiving is a work of charity, a work of mercy. It makes up for judgment, calumny, and lying. What sin has severed, you can restore by your charity. Just as surely as wounds heal, forgiveness cleanses those pockets of corruption and allows tender flesh to grow back.
“When you refuse to forgive, you are only demonstrating your lack of knowledge of self. This calls Me to your side. Now, I must reveal to you your weakness and how you fail others. I do it again and again and again until you finally understand and learn to forgive and go on.”
Jesus continued, “But there is a form of pride deadly to the soul. When you refuse to see how you, in the past, have failed and wounded others. When you refuse to see how you, in the present, are wounding others. When you elevate yourself above others and pridefully bury your head in the sand, refusing to see the truth about yourself, you are killing your soul and preparing the soil of your heart for a root of bitterness to grow deep and wide. Why does that matter, you ask? A root of bitterness is a toxic root. It gives off deadly acids, much like the soil beneath the cedar tree. Nothing can grow beneath a cedar, because what is released from the roots is toxic to other plants. That means the soil in the garden of your soul is being poisoned. All that can flourish in this toxic soil is anger, resentment, retaliation, jealousy and hatred. Then you must work to disguise these evils under a smile and fair words. This will eventually wear you out and open the door for disease in your body.
“Hatred, unforgiveness, retaliation and bitterness create energy waves that poison your body. These feelings can be measured electronically. They actually weaken and change your DNA, allowing cancer cells to proliferate.
“This is the environment the demons plant their seeds in. Discontent opens the door to sin, retaliation, gossip, stealing, plotting evil and cheating. Your lives become a tangled web for unclean things, and soon the fragrant garden you once had is turned into a wretched tangle of darkness, where demons defecate to fertilize roots of bitterness growing all around you — until all your good intention is snuffed out and you are controlled by self-defense, bitterness and fear.
“You have a choice to make, My children. You can either play into the enemy’s hands or resist him, crying out to Me ‘Lord, deliver me from evil!’
“I am asking you to choose. Will you let go of the past, forgive and embrace a life of forgiveness? Or will you stubbornly hold onto the failures of others? Understand, what little vestige of bitterness you entertain or bury without resolution will affect your future. You will make choices based on avoiding these past hurts and may very well cut yourself off from life. Many times the very place your destiny lies in — many times — that is the very place where you will be most attacked.
“Satan has ways of knowing when you are destined for something, and he will plan and engineer many a trap to spring on you and cause you to abandon that way, cutting you off from your destiny and forcing you to choose another path, rather than the one I had for you.
“Yes, it is up to you, very much up to you. You cannot advance in My Kingdom without tremendous effort in the area of humility, charity and forgiveness. It is simply impossible. I will not use a bitter vessel to carry My choice wines. The vessel must be clean and sweet, lest the wine I died to procure for you becomes bitter. The rewards are out of this world, but the work of dying to yourself, knowing yourself, admitting your failures and weaknesses, is not for sissies. Either you are brave and relentless in taming your carnal nature or you are weak and cowardly, and run from it. In which case, it takes over and controls you.
“You all have a choice to make. I see to it along the path of life that opportunities for self-will, self-love, and selfish ambition are put before you. I allow you to live that life until you are sick of yourselves and want to become holy, a vessel fit for the King’s table. I arrange the lessons and try you over and over again. When I see that love and humility triumph, I advance you to the next level and we begin again. When I see it fail, we go round and round and round the mountain again, or you weary of Me and wander off into the world.
“Please, make your choices wisely. I am forever at your side calling you upward. But the climb is painful! Once you make up your mind to forsake your pride and defensiveness, I lift you up into My arms and carry you all the way to the top. This is My Heart’s desire. Will you come with Me? Or will you abandon Me, like so many others have done? Do you have courage, character and relentless honesty with yourself? Or are you just getting by…
“Please, make your choice wisely. I long to carry you tenderly in My arms. I long to comfort you. Please. Make your choice wisely.”
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Note from So Greatly Loved
This message, given by Jesus to Clare du Bois and shared on Vimeo, is an enormous challenge to me. I am working on it, and pray that it may make a significant change in your life too. May God bless you as we all press on together in Him.
For further information go to heartdwellers.org
So Greatly Loved 