Your Faith Is Being Persecuted
- Administrator
- Jan 23
- 7 min read
January 15, 2025
Hello, Brothers, Sisters, and Heartdwellers family. I was still feeling disconnected from the Lord in so many ways and struggling to hear his voice. This morning the worship was different though. It really moved the veil and brought several tears to my eyes in awe at God's goodness despite all my difficulties and despite the feeling of His pervading presence. He is so worthy to be praised.
Then, my Lord’s Supper readings were all about faith.
“’This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I, myself will take a shoot from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches. 24 All the trees of the forest will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
“I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’”
—Ezekiel 17:22-24
Then my Psalm was;
Psalm 92:2-3,13-14,15-16
It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
Then my second reading was
2 Corinthians 5:6-10
Therefore, we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 For we live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
The Gospel reading was The Parable of the Growing Seed.
Mark 4:26-34
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
Immediately after reading the Gospel and pondering on what I felt the Holy Spirit trying to tell me, I heard a faint voice say, “Your faith is being persecuted”. I thought, “Could that be you, Lord?” I hadn’t heard him speak for a while—or so it felt like. I decided to finish the Lord's Supper and my prayers and then I sat before the computer in faith that Jesus would speak.
Jesus began,
“Your faith is being persecuted, you and all My brides and will continue to as the refiners’ fire gets hotter and hotter as time goes on—as you continue to walk with Me, My beloved little doves. That is why I do not want you to get dismayed or discouraged in any way. What you have been under is some intense persecution. Persecution in My church was very necessary to prune those who were bearing fruit and to cut off those who were not. Many times, persecution is seen as physical opposition and resistance against My church—against My people, but persecution can also be of a spiritual kind and that is what many in the body of Christ are experiencing.
“This dryness, this darkness, this malaise, as you call it. Yes, I have permitted it but it is persecution from the hatred of hell trying to stop My bride in her tracks, causing many to become cold, lose hope, and most importantly their faith. [For] many of you, your faith is under attack—the promises I have given to you, the inspirations I have put in your heart, the vision I have given you. Please, My beloved brides, do not lose sight of that. It is unbelief that has caused this open door and the enemy to sift you in this way. You must stand in faith. Even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed, you will be tremendously blessed because you believed. Just as it was said to My Mother,
‘Blessed is the women who believed the words the Lord has spoken’. —Luke 1:45.
“Believe, My beloved brides, believe and then press in. Do not allow doubt, coldness the lack of feeling of My presence, or dryness to stop you from coming into My presence—stop you from praying, or rather cutting your prayers short or praying from a place of going through the motions with no heart connection—but just rushing and getting through it.
“If you could see the demons that surround you, that fire arrows continuously at you and put a wall of resistance to block you from hearing Me, seeing Me, or feeling My presence. However I have made it clear to Satan and his demons, My brides are not carnal. They will love Me whether they feel Me or not. They will seek Me whether they see Me or not. They will continue to have faith in Me whether their prayers are answered or not. They will continue to walk with Me even in the Vally of the shadow of death when everything seems dark, everything seems unclear, everything seems like contradictions and continuous changing. My brides are not fashioned for this world, nor do they live for this world, but they are seated with Me in high places, on thrones right next to Me so throw your toughest persecution at them and rather watch them flourish, watch them stand, watch them keep going. Although they will fall they don’t give up.”
As an aside, guys, as I was typing this, I was like, “Tell ‘em, Lord, tell 'em!!!”. Lord help us 😊
Jesus continued
“I am unmoved or deterred by what he presents, or what he does to you so why are you? Oh, My beloved brides, I sit, watch, and laugh him to scorn every time because rather—persecution causes My church, My brides—to flourish, to grow in deeper love and union with Me without consolation or the ‘feel goods’—but they grow deeper in love with just Me for who I am to them, and not for what I can do or give them. Don’t you see, My beloved ones, when this trial comes upon you I am rather calling you deeper and to a closer union with Me. You are climbing another peak on the mountain of holiness, You are shining brighter and brighter each time this happens. So no longer be despondent or think you did something wrong, you have done nothing wrong—but rather everything right. What you are facing is just Meer opposition to stop you from climbing higher. Rather, do not let it. Keep coming, keep praying, keep climbing, and keep believing, My beloved brides. Your faith is rather shining brightly and more precious than gold. It is storing up for you, untold treasures in heaven as you await the harvest to come.”
That was the end of Jesus' message.
I went to The Bible Promises Book to confirm this word, and I got JOY. But the scripture I love stood out to me.
1 Peter 1:8
“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.”
What a beautiful message—from Jesus—to us.
May we all persevere under this persecution and continue to stand in faith and press into the Lord.
I do want to share an update about the sponsorship program we started. Wow! What a response. Thank you so much for responding! We now have 11 kids sponsored and we have remaining 2 families and 11 children who are still in need of sponsorship. Please family it's only $35 a month, it truly changes these children's lives and the lives of their families.
We had an issue with our mobile site which I was unaware of. Our site looked jumbled, and none of the buttons, especially on the sponsorship page, were working. Please forgive us for that.
We also are having issues with our email setup and are still working on that. But the mobile site is fixed and working just like the desktop site. So, you can now use your phone to go to https://www.heartdwellersafrica.org/sponsor-a-child-or-family and pick a child to come alongside their journey and be Jesus to Jesus to them, assisting them financially, to ensure they go to school, and their future is bright. Also, if for whatever reason, PayPal doesn't give an option of putting a note on your donation, I ask you to please email heartdwellersghana@gmail.com. Once your donation is completed and inform us of the name and number of the child you have chosen.
I look forward to your response, my dear family. God bless you until the next message.
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