THE SOUND WE CARRY

Lesson 62

Remember, light contains no darkness. God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. We are children of the light and are to walk in the light of His countenance.

To have our mind in the clarity of a silent pond without ripples, spelling perfect peace, we need to identify and deal with the under currents of negative input that move around in the sub-conscious and deep unconscious parts of our soul.

In my understanding and awareness, we can carry unresolved issues in the deep “unconscious” memory without knowing it. These are often deep hurts or shame that we have “buried” because we do not want to deal with it. These wounds in the unconscious mind can cause blockages in our growth, mostly through fears that prevent us from moving forward in the liberty of the Spirit.  

Asking God to free us from all hindrances by bringing these issues to light, will give us the opportunity to deal with it by His grace, receiving freedom and healing so that we can move forward into our destiny.

The subconscious mind usually carries anxiety and stress about things that currently concern us, which also prevent us from living life to the full. These stresses are just below the surface, hidden away from the people around us, but yet our behavior patterns, tone of voice, pre-occupation and “absent”-mindedness are the tell-tale signs of their presence.  Sometimes they will surface when we open our mouths, revealing the subconscious “sounds” that we carry.

Things that brought turmoil and trauma in our lives need to be dealt with by repentance and forgiveness, asking the Lord to wash it out of our memories by His precious blood and also cleanse our emotions from trauma.

Having done so, we still have to daily deal with the things that we pick up along the way: Worries, fears and concerns show that we do not really trust God with the details of our lives.

As He puts the light on it, we can hand it over to Him to take care of, putting all our trust in the Lord.

Defilement in the form of bad reports, violent visuals (like something in the news media), an encounter with an offensive person or any situation where we have had a bad attitude, words, reactions, or such have to be dealt with in order to be saturated in light.

As we come before the Lord before going to sleep, asking the Holy Spirit to shine His light on anything that could have grieved Him during the day, the cleansing goes deep through repentance, forgiveness and cleansing by the precious blood of Jesus.

Adopt this as a daily practice to make sure that your soul (mind, will and emotions) stay clear and transparent in the light so that God can drop His thoughts into your spirit, filling our whole being with His light and glory.  

Now the sound that we carry will be abandoned praise, songs of joy and celebrations to our Lord and king!

WHOLENESS

Lesson 53

Shalom is the Hebrew Word for peace, which denotes wholeness for spirit, soul and body.

When we abide in Christ, peace is our portion, because He is the Prince of peace, Jehovah Shalom. 

In this place we can hear God’s voice clearly, because our whole being is absorbed in Him, tuned to the frequency of His heart.

The key is to keep our mind under His reign, completely unified in Him, tuned to Oneness. 

When we worship Him in His Name, Johovah Shalom, His peace floods our souls and permeates our whole being.

In Shalom we will experience Kingdom emotions of thankfulness and joy resulting in new songs of the Spirit rising up to Him, causing us to come in a flow of illuminating revelation of the God-head, pulsating with life.

Our mortal bodies are quickened with the “energeo” of the Holy Spirit in rejuvenating vibrancy and the whole of our being is in harmony and soundness.

John 15/2 Cor.10:4-6/Is.11:2

WHOLENESS IN OUR SOULS

Lesson 48

The degree of wholeness of your soul can be measured by the measure of peace and joy that you

walk in - in spite of the storms that swirl around you. 

Being rooted and  grounded in God's unfathomable love provides the perfect shelter against the storms of life. It is our dwelling place where we abide in His presence under the shadow of His wings. 

If you have been tossed around by the winds of adversity, come and get still in His presence where Love reigns. This is the place where we are strengthened by the Spirit to rise up in authority against the enemy of our souls, subduing him by the power of the blood and the name of Jesus, bringing the Kingdom of heaven into our situations for the glory of our Lord! Hallelujah!  

LIVING STRESS-FREE

Lesson 46

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health,

 even as thy soul prospereth." 

3 John 2(KJV)

There is a clear understanding here that the state of our soul is deeply linked to our health.

From this lesson onwards we are going to focus on the state of our souls in relation to sickness and disease.

God's perfect will for us is that we walk in health and in this scripture He gives us the key: See to it that your soul prospers! After we have appropriated God's provision for healing if we are sick, we need to maintain soul health in order to keep our healing.

The soul consists of the mind, emotions and will.  

The Word also states that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7). This implies that the condition of your body is directly related to the state of your soul. Sickness is imbalance, dis-ease, lack of peace and "soundness". 

Let us start with the greatest enemy of our well-being, which is stress. Some would say that stress is inevitable, yet if you look closely it is very intricately related to the mind and we have the ability to choose what we think and how we react. We stress because there is an underlying element of fear that things will not work out the way we think they should and are especially time-related. We stress because we put ourselves under pressure to reach the deadline in time. We stress because we fear the opinions and reactions of others.

Negative thinking patterns have a chain effect, affecting the emotions; then show up in our behavior patterns and from there it has affect on the adrenal glands, which in turn secrete toxins which have a damaging effect on the body.

Heart diseases are mostly related to stress and fear; so is high blood pressure, nervous disorders, digestive disorders and many others.

Some other mind-sets that are related to the spirit of fear, are rejection, self-rejection, fear of rejection, fear of man, phobias, fear of the unknown, fear of death and many more. 

Self-rejection works against yourself and becomes your worst enemy, often resulting in auto-immune diseases. 

"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind." 2 Tim.1:7

Take some time out, get still before God and wait on Him to give you His divine perspective on your life-style.  

If you discover bad habits of allowing stress to "get" to you or causing yourself to be stressed because you squeeze too many things into a short period of time, rethink!  Is this rectifiable by a few tweaks?

Mostly it is! Adopting a life-style where you intentionally give yourself more time to finish a project, taking the pressure off and also intentionally enjoy what you are doing, you are going to do yourself and your health a big favor. Simply refuse to live under pressure. Choose to relax, laugh and take time to enjoy the things and the people around you - experiencing the love of Father God, living a life of worship.

Tension in relationships come when things are not working out the way you expected. Simply remove demands and expectations from others and give the unexpected disappointments and frustrations to the Lord. Let Him take care of it and refuse to get upset about anything! Worry and stress do not change a thing, but it is very detrimental to your health and that is something you cannot afford. Therefore, opt out of it!  It is a quality decision, but something that will need discipline of the mind. If you let go, let go!  Don't pick it up again! 

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Phil.4:6-7

Adopt a new habit of releasing all your worries, concerns, fear, anxiety and stress to the Lord. Pray earnestly for Him to take care of it, thanking Him for it. Now leave it in His hand, putting your trust in Him to work it out. Then, if you think about it again, start praising Him to work it all together for good because of your love for Him. You will experience a wonderful peace in your heart and mind.

FERVENT LOVE FROM A PURE HEART

Lesson 45

"Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Pet.2:22)

It is amazing how easily we can take offense or react negatively to the ungodly behavior of others, forgetting that the enemy’s prime purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.  This he can easily accomplish by contaminating us with an offense, which leads to bitterness and anger - becoming a stronghold in our minds that can become an impregnable fortress. 

This will inevitably hinder our prayers and open our lives for backlash from the enemy to steal from us.

It is important that we take time every evening before bed to ask the Holy Spirit to show us anything that has contaminated us during the day. Then, in obedience to the truth, we can purify our souls unto unfeigned love of the brethren (by repentance and forgiveness) - choosing to love everyone unconditionally with a pure heart - fervently!

Sometimes it is hard to get past our negative perceptions, but when we choose to obey the commandment of love, the Holy Spirit enables us to walk in the freedom of love from a pure heart.

It is a costly thing to hang on to bitterness and unforgiveness:

Matthew 6:15 "But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  

So help us, Lord to live in love - well pleasing to You!

Entering into God’s Rest

Lesson 27

III Jn 1:2-3 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I 
rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.”

This truth refers to the person of Jesus Christ and involves walking and living in the truth of His abundant life where there is rest.

When you release your burdens to the Lord, 

                         1.  He will give you rest:

Matt. 11:28 - 30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, 
and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my 
burden is light.”
                         
God wants to bring us into His rest and His invitation is to come to Him with all our heavy burdens of past, turmoil of the present 
and fears of the future and to roll our cares upon Him, so that He can take care of us.

                          2. He will open a way for you:
Ps. 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord (roll and repose each care of your load on Him); trust (lean on, rely on, and be 
confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.” –Amp.

Let go of your burdens, your today and your tomorrow and release it in the hand of the Almighty.  He will take care of it, for He 
cares for you.
·                          3. He shall sustain you with His faithfulness:

Ps. 37:3 “Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed 
surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.”

·                          4. He shall direct your paths:

Prov. 3:5-6  “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways 
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

The question is, “Do you REALLY TRUST ME?  If you fear, you do not trust Me”.

ENTERING INTO HIS REST

We have been called into quietness and rest in Him to find strength while putting our confidence in Him.

Is. 30:15 “For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and 
in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”

His grace is sufficient in our weaknesses and it is activated the moment we release our striving, worry, anxiety (which are all 
fruits of fear) and self-power.  God will patiently wait on us until we come to that place of releasing our situations to Him by faith, 
trusting Him fully and completely.  His eyes are searching for those whose hearts are fully trusting Him and He will show Himself 
strong on their behalf (II Chron. 16:9).

As long as we hold the reigns, He will not move.   But as we release our cares into His faithful care, entering into His rest in that 
assurance of faith, waiting on Him in thanksgiving and praises and worship, He works things out behind the scenes for our good 
– far above what we can pray or think – and will bless us with His favor and grace.

Is. 30:18 “And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he 
may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.”

HOW DO I RELEASE MY CARES AND WORRIES?
Simply get quiet before the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to show you all the things you stress about, even sub-consciously.  You 
will be surprised to see how many cares, concerns, worries and stress you carry and they are all related to fear.

The way to victory is by RELEASING EVERYTHING INTO GOD’S GRACE - the people involved, the issues which you have no 
answers for (trying to figure it out yourself) and with that every fear, worry, concern regarding any person, issue or situation of 
your life.

Now make a list of them and repent of not trusting God.  Then simply hand it over to Him and release it fully into His grace. Now 
PUT YOUR TRUST IN THE LORD regarding each topic, exercising faith in His Word.  Thank Him now and rejoice in His mercy 
and grace.

Phil. 4:6 - 7 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests 
be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds 
through Christ Jesus."
By faith we enter into God’s grace by which we stand.  When we eat from the Tree of Life, we will be filled with faith and peace 
and thereby know God’s grace and the sufficiency of it.  As we spend lots of time quietly waiting on Him, He opens up the 
treasure house of His wisdom and releases His rhema into our spirit, which will clearly show us the way to go.  Simply put every 
new issue into the care of our gracious God, praising Him and rejoicing in His loving care.  Now stand your stand in faith to know 
that He is not a man that He should lie, but He will guide us and lead us as we trust Him and fulfill every promise in our lives.

Rom 5:1-2 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we 
have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

MAINTAINING A PLACE OF REST IN HIS GRACE – in perfect PEACE
We need to live so abandoned to God’s grace, that it becomes a life style. This place of resting in His grace is a place that is 
under assault of the enemy, and we need to be watchful over our hearts and minds and emotions, withstanding any and every 
attempt of the enemy to steal our joy and peace.

I Pet. 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he 
may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren 
that are in the world.”

As we now know, the battlefield is in our minds and we need to keep our minds fixed on the truth, casting down every vain 
imagination, taking our thoughts captive in Christ.

II Cor. 10:4  “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong 
holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and 
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD, ENJOYING HIM!
Ps. 37:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart”.

The word “delight” here means to be soft and pliable.   The Lord delights in us as we are pliable and yielded to submit to His 
Lordship and rule and reign in our lives.   This ties in with taking up His yoke and His burden, which is easy and light – simply 
meaning that we do His will and let Him have His way in our lives.

It also ties in with the Sabbath rest, where we rest of our works and only do what we see our Father doing. Let us be careful not 
to pursue His Presence and power as a “work” and a “striving effort of self”, but learn to just “be” in His Presence, quietly 
enjoying Him, resting in Him and delighting in Him.  In His counsel we receive the blueprints for the works He has prepared for 
us to walk in (Eph. 2: 10).  All our self-initiated works are just hay and stubble and will not stand the test of the fire, so let us 
stop striving to make things work the way we think it should be.

Jesus is looking for a bride that will lean on her Beloved, trusting Him fully.

Now ascend on Eagle’s Wings

Is. 40:29 - 30 “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths 
shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon LORD shall renew their strength; 
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

Once we have gained victory over the flesh and have brought the soul (will, mind and emotions) in subjection to the Spirit, can 
we enjoy the glory of Kingdom living under an open heaven!

Fully secure in His love, walking in perfect union with the Godhead, in fullness of joy in His Presence, we become co-laborers 
with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, walking under an open heaven, establishing the Kingdom of God as we go – for His 
glory alone!  

Halleluiah!

Live in the Still Waters of Rest

Lesson 12

Psalm 23 Amplified Bible (AMP).  

The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me], I shall not want. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters. He refreshes and restores my soul (life); He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.

When I am led by the Lord, I find myself walking beside the still and quiet waters with the Shepherd of my soul where my soul is refreshed and restored in communion with Him. 

The Lord reminded me of a time when I was swimming in very murky, turbulent waters in the ocean.  I couldn't see what was in the water and felt very uncomfortable. Then I remembered another place in the Florida Keys where the water was blue and totally transparent. He started bringing revelation to me, teaching me as follows:

Once you allow the turbulence of stress, fear, resentment, anger, etc. to disturb the peace in your soul, you become storm-tossed and the waters of your soul can no longer reflect the divine image.

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance." Psalm 42:5

It is a matter of living in ongoing surrender of every issue that surfaces, putting all our trust in the Lord to let His kingdom come into our circumstances.  Giving it to the Lord and taking my hands off (not trying to fix it with my wisdom and understanding).  This is the strategy to receive His peace and stay in His rest. Matt.11:28-30)

When you open your heart to the Lord in adoration, the Wellspring of Life will flood your soul, an flow like living waters inside of you, refreshing, strengthening and empowering you with His glorious and peaceful Presence. In this place you can hear His voice, receiving clarity and strategy to deal with negative situations around you in the authority of His Name.

At one occasion when I found myself in the river of God in the spirit, enjoying this refreshing, He said to me:

You can come here often for refreshing, breathing in the refreshing of My rest in thankfulness - infused with joy, rejoicing and strengthened with My joy in the Spirit to conquer, to reign in authority in oneness with Me, seated IN ME.

Enjoy this place of peace in the river of My glory provision, getting all stress removed and breathing deep into My provision of life – the heavenly breath (which is His Ruach - the sound from the Throne Room).

I found that I had fresh perspective and received the Word from God to speak into my situation, waiting for Him to perform it.

I was admonished by the Lord to be watchful over the waters of my soul, not allowing the turbulence of the world and fleshly people to invade my consciousness, spilling debris into my soul.  Keeping our gaze fixed on the Lord, will keep us in perfect peace and light will shine on our way. (Is.26:3) 

PRAYER:

Lord, I just want to WAIT on You, to get tuned to Your heart.

Father God, thank You for teaching me how to maintain sparkling clear, restful waters in my soul by keeping a single focus on the Lord Jesus. I ask that You help me to stay watchful and alert to not lose my peace or my joy in the Holy Ghost. 

Lord, let Your glory light shine on me, into my soul to expose every work of the enemy; then to banish it by Your truth!  Let Your glory light also shine into every cell of my body; let the glory light frequency recalibrate my sound into fullness of JOY in the Spirit.  Let my spirit, soul and body SING Your praise!

In Jesus' Name!