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For instance, we might be praying for Robert. “God, please help him. I am troubled about him. He’s going through a lot right now. Would you help him, Father? Please bless him…”

We want God to answer our prayer. But our perception of where God answers from, and how He answers is askew. We think that our Father is separate from us, that He is apart, like our earthly father is. By our words to God, in our prayer we approach Him as if He is an entity that is away from us. Like we are here standing on earth, and He is far away in the heavens somewhere.

Conversely, when we receive the Spirit of truth within us, we now have our Father inside of us, inside our hearts. The Father “is a Spirit,” and “God is love.” When we obey Christ’s New Commandments, the Father loves through us. Obeying His New Commandments exercises His love, thus manifesting God in human form once again, and thus fulfilling His purpose of reproducing Himself—Agape Love.

How Does This Work?

The answer to our prayer for Robert lies in obeying the New Commandments. The answer to the prayer above is answered in the application of agape love through keeping the New Commandments. Christ commanded us to forgive. Let’s say that Robert has rejected our witness to him in the past. So we now forgive Robert. We don’t judge him. We wipe the slate clean through the power God has given us. Christ commanded us to “give.” So we give to Robert—our time, our acceptance, our help, money. Like the Good Samaritan we offer our assistance to Robert and help him.

The point: Obeying the New Commandments exercises the Spirit within us. It takes agape love to forgive. Many think that receiving the Holy Spirit in their lives is for them to have joy and peace. No. We are to be channels of the Father’s love, conduits of the Spirit’s care and mercy. It is all for Him and others. One of Christ’s commandments is “Pray for them who spitefully use you.”

The Spirit of truth is the answer to all prayers and all our problems. For it is the Spirit within us that obeys Christ’s New Commandments. When they are obeyed, the Spirit within us is doing it. The answer to our prayers is the Spirit inside us. God answers prayer by His Spirit within us forgiving, giving, not judging, believing in the meaning of His name, abiding. This is how agape love is formed within us; this is how God grows inside us unto the “fullness of Christ,” unto the “manifestation of the sons [and daughters] of God.” Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Ordering My Free Books in Paperback

When we really believe that the Creator of the Universe, our Father, is in complete control of every one of the human beings that He has created, it takes the burden off of us. We have been told that life on earth is a complete train wreck, an Edenic experiment gone terribly wrong. But the scriptures of truth say that “He does all things well.” God did not make a miscalculation in the Garden of Eden. Things went down just like He planned it. When we believe this, we do not feel the need to go out there and take personal responsibility to make sure that every person in the world “gets saved” before it is too late. That is such a heavy burden.

But Christ said that His “burden is light.” When we truly believe that the Father is in control and that everything is going according to His plan and purpose, then the burden becomes much lighter. There was a hit song back in 1957 called, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” It  was #1 on the top 40 songs of the nation. (This shows us how far U.S. culture has slidden toward the pit). It is all in His hands. “He’s got you and me, brother, in His hands. He’s got you and me, sister, in His hands…”

It is not that we do not care about the lost. We, the elect of God, indeed do. But God has not given us a mandate at this time to save every person that we meet. Many “on fire” Christians tear out with evangelistic fervor, literally huffing and puffing, and they burn themselves out. They seek for numbers of souls brought to Christ, thinking that without their effort, the lost will stay lost. “So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.” And who gets the mercy from above? It is to whomsoever He chooses to be merciful to. “Therefore, He has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom He will He hardens” (Rom. 9: 16-18).

We need to come to grips with this fact, that God, the Hebrew God, is in charge, and that He “rules in the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4: 25; Psm. 103: 19). Vengeance is His but also mercy. We should hold Him in reverential awe, for He can harden our hearts in unbelief, or He can shower mercy upon us to satisfy His good pleasure. He is that much in control. We just think we are.

What Should We Be Doing Then?

We should first give thanks to Him for His mercy in revealing to us His plan and purpose of reproducing Himself, and including us in it. We then need to “study to show ourselves approved unto God,” that we could be conversant with His doctrines, the teachings of the early apostles. We need to add to our faith seven qualities that characterize the “divine nature,” found in II Peter 1. In a word, we need to “wait on our ministering.” Our time as His elect is in the near future when the “manifestation of the sons of God” sweeps the earth.

Right now God is dealing with His remnant. They will be His cadre of sons and daughters that He will use in the retaking of this earth from the clutches of Satan. He is calling and choosing His overcomers for this last generation. They are the first fruits of His harvest. They will be the first to receive immortality upon His return to earth. They will be the first people that He will use to reproduce Himself in.

These who have a position in the “manifestation of the sons of God” are at present awakening to this holy calling and election. They will see that now is a time of preparation for the spiritual battle that is coming. Now is the time to sharpen our spiritual Sword and check our armor to see if it is complete and in order. Right now God is allowing the adversary to be in charge of the kingdoms of men. But after His spiritual army of sons prepare and receive their immortal orders from the King, they will rise up and fulfill their destiny to be that “royal priesthood,” to be kings ministering love and healing to the inhabitants of the earth during the 1,000 year reign of Christ. The point: He is sovereign and is bringing it all to pass, for it is His will.

All of this should be studied in a matrix of faith—His faith—now “once delivered to the saints.” For we now live “by the faith of the Son of God,” not our puny faith in Him. And besides, there is only one faith (Eph. 4: 5). Christ’s faith, now imputed into our spirit, is a faith that believes in the sovereignty of the Father. He talked about it all of the time.

Without a firm grasp of what His sovereignty means, the scriptures will not open to our understanding. We will remain partially blind, our white cane feeling its way along, bumbling and bumping into a brick wall of false doctrines.

God Planned It All Out—Good and Bad

The sovereignty of God means that everything is His baby. The universe and all that is in it are the work of His miraculous hands. He has meticulously planned everything out, and He is executing His plan and purpose in every detail.

This is what we have to believe in order to continue walking on the road to immortality. But there is a sticking point. It is here that many will turn away from the deeper walk. He is the Creator of every “good” thing that happens, and He is the Creator of every “bad” thing that happens. The Spirit said, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD (Yahweh) do all these things” (Isa. 45: 7).

Everything that we humans deem as “good” emanates from His mind and heart. And everything we humans deem as “bad” or evil, He instigates it—for our perfection/maturity. He administers good and evil into our lives, as it is needed to further His plan and purpose—not ours. Go back into your memories when you were hurt the worst; it is usually a betrayal of some kind. It may seem like a curse to you, but it is an opportunity to forgive the betrayer. This develops agape love within us. This is God love, not our puny human love. For only God can forgive the unforgiveable. That is why Christ said to love your enemies.

But our minds fight this kind of love. This is why we must keep His plan and purpose of reproducing Himself in us –we must keep it foremost in our minds. He is reproducing Himself in a group of people that He calls His elect, or chosen ones. They did not earn this right to be in this first fruit company. It is total grace on His part. You cannot buy a spot in the elect, nor can you earn it. It is all His doing. The elect will be the first group to grow to full maturity in His likeness.

Many of you reading this now have been called to this honor. We all need to make our calling and election sure. You may have an indifferent spouse or other family member who is steeped in the things of the world. They may think you are crazy for following this way; they may withstand you at every turn. Just know that God has placed them in your life. Resistance builds strength and patience, two good qualities of the divine nature that God is putting together in your life. Forgive them and you will be loving them with agape love. He is in control of both you and them.

Finally, believing in His sovereignty is believing that our God is doing what is necessary to effect His purpose. He will use both good and evil to do this. That God uses both good and evil in our lives is essential knowledge to be added to the virtue that He gave us at the beginning of our walk with Him. This knowledge helps us to grow and not sit there spinning, wondering why God allowed all of the “bad” things that happened to us. He does it for our good. This is a big part of the addition of knowledge.        Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Thanks to Garrison Russel and his book Son-Placing, for clarity on the “knowledge of good and evil.”]

Chapter 1 of New Book, The Additions to the Faith

Vision is not man looking through his own eyes at God executing His will on earth. Nor is it us looking through God’s eyes. But rather vision occurs when God looks through our eyes. When our eyes are but His oculars through which, unclouded by the stains of earthly wisdom’s tainted presumptions, He assays His creation, and brokenheartedly sees the need for justice, love, and mercy. And He sees that from these three pools of water must He now use our hands and hearts to minister moisture to a parched and famine infested land.

For “where there is no vision, the people perish.” Where no man gives his eyes that He may peer our sad present world, then the vision is dim and the people suffer. But after He has made His abode in many, then in the presence of choirring angels He at last will stride forth across the domain of His kingdom here on earth, righting wrongs held seething in hearts for ten thousand years.

But first, those called to surrender their own regal aspirations and dreams of their own greatness must abdicate and throw all attempts at self glory on the “dung heap.” For in comparison to their calling to be one of God’s sons, seated fittingly on the throne with Christ, their present vainglorious dreams do futilely fade.

For the dreams of mortals are not worthy thoughts for the immortal children of the Immortal King. Surrendered eyes, directed by allegiant hearts bring vision to the earth. For the King will then see through our unencumbered eyes the needs across the land. It is the need for love and balm and a gentle touch to heal the sores of many nations and peoples. And He will bring it through the unveiling of His offspring. For they are His princes and princesses, full of His Spirit, soon to be immortalized with their “house from heaven,” their spiritual body.

They Must Prepare Themselves

In preparation for that glorious day, these elect of which we speak must educate and consecrate themselves by holding to John Baptist’s adage. They “must decrease, and He must increase.” The Spirit must increase to a point that it would no longer be them that looked out of their own eyes, but the Spirit of the King. 

To be fruitful and to attain this heavenly vision, the elect, you and I, must add attributes to God’s faith within them. Outlined in II Peter 1, these are not spiritual things about God, but rather they are integral, distinct qualities of His divine nature. When these are  added to His faith in us–by faith–He will then feel welcome to come into us and make His abode with us and look through our eyes.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

{For more content like this, order The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It is free with free shipping. Its contents transcend the concept of buying and selling. It is for His people, to help them on their walk through the “valley of the shadow of death.” Just send your mailing address to my email: wayneman5@hotmail.com   Be sure to mention the title. If you prefer a pdf of the book, please specify}

{Continued from 8-10-19}

All of the illustrious people of the Bible looked for the heavenly city of their spiritual birth. Abraham, the father of our faith, after his first visit from Yahweh, began to look for this city. “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise…For he looked for a city whose builder and maker is God.”

Abraham looked by faith because that city was invisible to mortal eyes. Yet he along with his offspring believed in the promises of God that the heavenly city was real and was their future home, and that its center would touch down where Old Jerusalem is. They were persuaded by God’s promises, and they embraced them “and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth…But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.” That “better country” is the city of God New Jerusalem (Heb. 11: 9-10, 13-16).

At present neither do we have this city on earth, “but we seek one to come” (13: 14). If we are of the same faith of Abraham, we will look for her. For the “Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Gal. 4: 26).

New Jerusalem is our spiritual mother. She is above, and we now are “born from above.” We are now a “quickening spirit,” the second man, who came out of our mother New Jerusalem.

Christ is our example. We are to walk in His steps. What did His steps entail? He existed in a spiritual body before His earthly incarnation. He existed before the earth existed, for He created the earth and all things therein. Christ visited Abraham about 2,000 years before His earthly walk took place. He told Abraham about the New Jerusalem, how he was spiritually born there and how he would end up there. After all, we have dwelt with the Father through “all generations” (Psa. 90: 1).

Here is a closing thought on these matters. Christ said, “I am from above.”  Then He promises that we His disciples are as their Master (Lk. 6: 40). He came from above; we came from above.   “He that comes from above is above all,” said John the Baptist (Jn. 3: 31).

We come from above, from New Jerusalem which is above and is our spiritual mother. We are “above all.” We are above Satan and every evil spirit this world nurtures. If we really believed all of this, what confidence we would walk in! What authority! What compassion! What gratefulness!

Tell me what you think about these extraordinary things.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Our mothers are universally dear to us humans. We Christians are no different. We love and honor our earthly mothers. On the spiritual side, we love our Father who dwells in heaven, and we praise Him. But we rarely have anything to say about our spiritual mother. No one has ever told us that to be “born of the Spirit,” one needs a spiritual mother. Some will say that they have never even heard of a spiritual mother. Their preacher evidently has not heard of her either. Then some will say, “I’ve read something about it, but I didn’t get the revelation.” Then a Catholic might ask, “You mean the Virgin Mary?” No. Definitely not.

Who Is Our Spiritual Mother?

Our spiritual mother is the city of the great King, New Jerusalem. She is foursquare, roughly 1,500 miles wide, tall, and deep. She will come down out of heaven and land on the earth from the Nile to the Euphrates Rivers. She carries herself in stupendous beauty, “the joy of the whole earth.” She will descend out of the heavens, and when she lands, we will know why they have called that spot on earth The Holy Land. Holy because it has always been set aside as the landing zone for New Jerusalem (Rev. 21).

Living in this wonderful “city of the great King” is what “going to heaven” is really all about. Heaven on earth. “But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all [those of the freewoman, the sons and daughters of promise like Isaac]” (Gal. 4: 26).

If I could speak a special mystical word that would ignite a fire of understanding about New Jerusalem and what she means to those walking upon this earth, I would. But I cannot make anyone understand our relationship with our mother New Jerusalem. Only the Father can reveal these secrets to whomsoever He will. But I will endeavor to explain how we came forth out of her.

The Real Meaning of “Born Again”

In order to spark a bit of warmth toward our spiritual mother, we need to visit a worn out Bible verse that all scholars admit was mistranslated, thus introducing much confusion. That verse is, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3: 3). This is an absolute mainstay for much of Protestant Christianity, and it takes a brave soul to question its use today. My question was spurred by reading the footnote on the words “born again.” It said, “from above.” We have to be “born from above.”

New Jerusalem is from “above.” So here is our first real clue. She is from above, and if we are to be in the number who will live in New Jerusalem with the King, we “must be born from above” (John 3: 7). God has chosen a few to fulfill this; they are on a spiritual trip of a lifetime.

Their origin is a place and time no mortal eye has ever glimpsed. For God’s elect at present reside in houses of clay, destined to melt back into the earth from which they came. But their spiritual destiny is to be housed in an eternal glorious body.

Yet, through the current rough seas of perplexity, His chosen ones have been brought by Him to the peaceful shores of light. They rest there, but their hunger for the bread of understanding yearns within their hearts.

They have been assured that they are “born again,” seldom knowing its true meaning, “born from above.” Or, You must be engendered from on high.

Why did the King James translators say, “born again” when the Greek clearly says “from above”? They must have looked at themselves and said, Yes, we started out in our natural bodies that need saving. Our present existence in them is first. And our spiritual bodies promised by the Savior is the second man. Thus born first naturally and then born again spiritually. But what they did not see was that the first man and the second man are the witness to a heavenly record where dwells our spiritual bodies (I John 5: 7-8).

The standard concept is based on the mistranslation “born again.” It implies that our first birth is the fleshly, earthly one, and then comes the spiritual birth. But “that which is to be”—the spiritual birth—“has already been,” and “there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecc. 3: 15; 1: 9). Our spiritual bodies, at present in the heavenly city, was before we as prodigal sons came physically to the swine pits of earth [more on this later].

“Names Written in Heaven”

Before we were ever born from our earthly mother’s womb, our names were “written in heaven.” The disciples were marveling that the evil spirits were subject to them. Christ told them, Don’t rejoice about that; that comes with the son’s territory. Rather, “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10: 20). This is before their conversion and salvation. Their names were already written down by God in His book of life! Before they were born here on earth, God already knew their names in a previous heavenly existence! This is proof that they had a pre-existence with Him before their earthly sojourn ever began. They were known by name by their Creator. And so are we.

Jeremiah’s testimony confirms this. Yahweh came to him and said, “Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations” (1: 5). Jeremiah’s name was written in heaven before his earthly birth. He was “born from above.” And so are God’s elect of our generation. We were “born before the wind.”

Since we are “born from above,” let us rejoice in our Father’s will that we attain this knowledge of our spiritual mother. Let us bathe in the light of New Jerusalem’s celestial glory. Let us by faith look for this heavenly city as did Abraham. Let us praise the King for His great mercy in restoring this knowledge—knowledge about our home and our spiritual roots. Let us be grateful to Him for choosing us for so great an honor—to be His sons and daughters, citizens of the Kingdom of God.       Kenneth Wayne Hancock   [To be continued…]

As I stare into the mirror, I see objectively—sans ego—a weathered face that has endured seventy-two summers and winters. I see a body that is betraying the ghost that moves this pen. Each day, each hour, each minute, time seems to abrade my exterior with debilitating constancy.

The apostle warns us of this betrayal, this inevitable breakdown of the earthly body. Paul calls it a “bondage of corruption.” Not an ethical corruption of the spirit for us the elect, but an enslavement to a deteriorating earthen house. At present, it is as if we are existing in an adobe house that is melting down, back into the elemental clay.

Our bodies are betraying us. Not by accident, “but by reason of Him who has subjected the same [us, the creation] in hope.” God has ordained a certain amount of suffering for all of us to go through. Solomon wrote about it in Ecclesiastes. Living on earth is like chasing the wind. “All is vanity.” Every earthbound endeavor is unprofitable in the end because of one thing–death.

But God has subjected us to the sufferings of living on this planet in hope. Yes, hope. God’s great hope is that because of our sufferings of just being humans on earth, we will seek Him and find Him. And we will eventually “be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8: 21).

The key word is “glorious.” We are attaining that state of glory that overcomes the betrayal of our earthly bodies and brings us to the liberty and freedom from having to die—released from death! We are talking about the defeat of death. For “the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (I Cor. 15: 26).

Nevertheless, as I stare into this mirror I am literally groaning in pain, as is the whole creation. We are all suffering—if not physically, then emotionally and spiritually. What we all must realize, however, is that as we are groaning, we are “waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (Rom. 8: 23).

Redemption—not just of our soul and spirit, but our body, soul and spirit. This is the redemption that translates us from mortality to immortality. Our great Creator, Savior, and King has bought us out of the slavery to sin and its inevitable fruit, death. He has prepared for us a spiritual body, impervious to the ravages of time and the elements. He has granted us a body that sustains life forever and ever—an everlasting life in a never dying spiritual body.

It is a new spiritual body that we cannot see with our eyes right now. If we only look at the surface of things here on earth, we will miss it. Ironically, we are not to look “at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” like our new body. Our father of the faith Abraham looked for an  invisible city “whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10).

That is why we are admonished, “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col. 3: 2). Above—think on things above. The Father is above (Eph. 4: 6). And much is said of our heavenly Father. Our Father, according to His own purpose, has called and chosen us because He foreknew us long before we came into these deteriorating earthen vessels. He knew us in our spiritual bodies. “He also did predestinate us to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8: 28-30). He gave us a destiny in Him before we came to the earth.

The apostle Paul says that we have an immortal spiritual body reserved in heaven that will at the “last trump” replace the old earthly body (II Cor. 5: 1-4). We have a great spiritual Father, who has promised us so much, but a question still arises: Who is our spiritual mother? Every son and daughter has a mother.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

God is reproducing Himself in His elect. That is what it is all about.

This is His “eternal purpose,” to magnify His nature of agape love through a body of consecrated human beings. God’s elect are the ones He has chosen for this honor, long before the worlds were created. “He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world…having predestinated us” for this honor (Eph. 1: 4-5; 3: 11). One cannot work for this honor of being used by God for His self-reproduction. One can only respond to the calling and election.

To expedite all this, He has forgiven us our sins and trespasses and has commanded us to walk in the Spirit that He has given us. The “Spirit of truth” will lead us into all truth about this process and will take us to a spiritual place where His eternal purpose takes center stage in our earthly sojourn.

Since “God is [agape] love,” and since He desires to reproduce Himself in us, then it is evident that we need to manifest agape love. Actually, we are given a command to add to our faith agape love.

We the elect are to add seven attributes of God’s “divine nature” to our faith. These are lined out in II Peter 1. We call them the additions to the faith (vs. 5-7). Adding them is being “partakers of His divine nature” (v. 4). Adding them is how “to make your calling and election sure” (v. 10). Adding them ensures an entrance “into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ/Yahshua (v. 11). So, yes, they are extremely important.

The greatest of the seven additions is agape love. If we do not have this one operating in our lives, we will live in vain. Our words about God to others will be just a “sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.” Why? Because we will have come up short, having not done what was needed in order to add agape love, thus fulfilling God’s purpose of reproducing Himself. But if we are part of His elect, we will respond. He has a way of getting what He wants out of us. He knows how to tighten down the screws. Just think of the prophet Jonah, who was chosen and sent to Nineveh, but refused to go. Look what he suffered. And, yes, he finally went after his ordeal.

How to Add Agape Love

When we suffer wrongs against us, God has provided an opportunity to forgive the person who wronged us. Only agape love—God, in other words—can forgive a betrayer. Only the love that God is can forgive someone who has destroyed your reputation with lies. Only God-is-love can forgive them for being Adamic old nature men and women.

In order to grow agape love within our new heart, He asks us to forgive…everyone. All seven billion of them. Every human being on the face of the earth, and some who are under six feet of earth. He is asking us to forgive everyone who hurt us in any way, and forgive those who we imagined had hurt us. I am learning to just pre-forgive everyone who I might meet today. That changes me and alleviates the problem that I create when I do not forgive that person for just being a flawed human being. Love alleviates the problem. For the problem is me—when I do not forgive [1].

By forgiving, we sacrifice our old self, letting it die on the cross with Christ. To forgive is the principal power that God has given us. If we do not forgive others their trespasses against us, precious little other powers will be entrusted to us.

By forgiving others, we “present our bodies a living sacrifice” thereby adding agape love to our walk in Christ. When we deliberately go about our day forgiving our parents, our spouse, our children, our siblings, our friends (oh, yes), our acquaintances, we will have an opportunity to “love our enemies.” What? Yes, our enemies. Christ warned us that “a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Matt. 10: 36; Micah 7: 6).

Furthermore, as we practice forgiveness, we become more like Him, for He forgave us all. In so doing we become that living sacrifice and a servant to others. Christ is our example and we are admonished to have the same mind. He did not make a reputation for Himself. He became a servant and humbled Himself and became “obedient unto death.” He has given us the power to be that “living sacrifice,” to be dead unto our old self, but alive unto God.

He urges us to “present [our] bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is [our] reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Rom. 12: 1-2). This places Christ’s mind within us—when we forgive.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[1] Russell, Garrison. Son–Placing, pp. 364-390.

Those of us with ears to hear the “high calling” to be the sons and daughters of the King of the Universe—nothing less—have a “calling and election” to be made sure. To be the offspring of a King, it is understood that we must have the same spiritual DNA as the King Himself. Why? Because the children of kings are expected to grow from being princes and princesses into kings and queens, wielding the same power as their Father.

This, brothers and sisters, is where we are in the Father’s plan and purpose. He is so big and magnificent and grand that it is difficult to begin to wrap our tiny minds around the concept of who He really is. He is behind everything and in front of everything. His omniscience is staggering, even to knowing how many hairs we now have on our heads. He even knows when a sparrow checks out and becomes permanently grounded. And He knows our hearts, what we think and do or don’t do. Hey, He wrote the book of life and knows every jot and tittle of our thoughts. He even knows our futures and how we will get there—things we are clueless about—He knows.

He knows what each of the elect needs to fulfill our calling. We must remember: “The LORD gives and the LORD takes away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” That quote does not just refer to the life and death of our current earthly lives. It means also He gives into our lives both “good” things and “bad” things. He takes the good away from us when we have had too much, like us monitoring how many sweets a child needs. And He supplies pain and sorrow when it is needed to effect the outcome that is written in His book about us. He has said, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isa. 45: 7).

If you have ever found yourself in a spiritually dark place, a place of grief and sorrow, Yahweh did it, for He has created darkness and evil. If you came out of the darkness, even temporarily, into a peaceful lull of tranquility, then Yahweh did it. For He is the Creator of peace. It is He who prescribes the exact right amount of “good” and “evil” that we need in order to grow. Too much glorious sunshine will dry up and kill the plant. Too much rain will drown it. He is the husbandman; He knows how much we can take of each, to make us grow up into Him

Understanding by Books

The body of Christ grows as its members supply nourishment one to another. “…Every joint supplies…[and] makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4: 16). He has created us to be givers and sharers of His truth to each other.

A book called SonPlacing by Garrison Russell has supplied a much needed truth in order to help this vessel to continue growing. He describes agape love, how it is the full maturity that we all need to fulfill God’s purpose in our lives. Agape Love is God. It is what we are to love mankind with. But how do we do this? How do I love mankind like Christ did? What do I do to place agape love into my life? [1]

To forgive any slight is a big first step. For He forgave and has commanded us to forgive those who have harmed us in some way. To be His child, we must do what He did and does: He forgives. We have all forgiven slights and oversights by those we love. But when God sees that we are ready for the big time, when He hears our prayers asking Him for more and deeper truths, then He will administer pain so deep that we will at first run from the very thought of it, like Jonah ran from going to Nineveh. We must remember that He is the Creator of both good and evil, and He will use both to accomplish His will. Just ask Job.

To enable growth, He allows “bad” things to happen to us. For it is only the act of forgiving the “bad” thing done to us that will cause agape love to grow within our hearts. I am learning that forgiveness is agape love.

The production of the fruit of agape love within us is only realized by forgiving those who sin against us. This is heavy stuff; someone has wronged you, hurt you, shamed you, ridiculed you, abused you, mocked you. These sorrows produce an aching hole in your heart. These sorrows are wounds found deep within your breast. The wounds of betrayal will be so deep that they create a cavern of dry tears. It is in that suffocating sorrow that you must choose a path out of the torture. Either you swear vengeance, or you run out of that cavern and seek an elixir to make you forget the pain, or you sink back into the darkness and give up…

…Or, you forgive the perpetrators of your betrayal and sorrow. For there is no power given except it be given from heaven (John 19: 11). God gave your perpetrator power, and He has also given you power to forgive them and thereby overcome them with love.

Look, all of us have been run over and left for dead. But one thing is certain. All the sorrows and pain and anguish and heartache and tears—all of these trials and tribulations of life will be utterly and completely in vain if we do not forgive those who trespassed against us. For all the betrayals and slights and injustices are really only God’s preparations for our future perfection, which is to become like Him. Forgiving is the first step.            Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[1] Russell, Garrison R. SonPlacing; pp. 78-137. Xulon Publishing: Juneau, Alaska. 3933 Old Garvey Road/Colville, Washington 99114