9. God Affirms Me

Audio Only





Inside God’s Tabernacle way, this walk into all the knowledge of God, each one of the overcomings, including Revelation 12:11, overcoming the accuser, continues to gain a deep personal meaning for each of us inside of God. We are not considering our present study of Revelation in that way now. (Though God always increases our personal joy inside of Him.)

Inside this present study, inside the Age of Tabernacles now begun, we are looking entirely at our role as the second witness of Christ, seated upon the Mercy Seat and going forth into the Church for her sake.

God Through Us. “God affirms me” means one thing to a new believer in Jesus. “God affirms me” means something quite different to a son of God defeating darkness for the sake of the Church. Nonetheless, in this session, we will go inward; then, in the next session, “I Shepherd with Authority,” we’ll go outward. What we are looking at is God through us into our world.

Now, for this next bit, when we say “God through us,” let’s think “the Energeia of Life and Love” through us. This is a flow, and we have made ourselves an open door for our Father. We must know what that means.

The Jesus Secret Page. Our Jesus Secret page will be arranged differently than normal. We will begin with “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.” This will be followed by an ask and believe, after which we will position the statements of faith. We will include a parenthesis in which we will begin a discussion of a topic that has already been introduced in Revelation and which we must know as we go forward. Finally, we’ll have a larger box titled “God Affirms Me,” with three paragraphs, the hidden manna, the white stone, and our new name.

The Prayer of Completion. If you prayed the prayer at the end of the lesson titled “A Biblical Experience” in Completion, then it is likely the second time you prayed that, because we prayed it first in the summer of 2022. You might have thought you were just speaking the words of a prayer Daniel wrote, but that’s not really what you did.

God has enabled me to accept that the words I share may well become death to some even while they are life to others. Here is a verse you read, just before “He who has an ear.” – Change your minds, therefore. For if you do not, I am continuously and actively coming to you with speed and will contend with them inside of the sword of My mouth.

An Insincere Heart. We will address it more in the next session on “the iron scepter,” but I have sent personal rebukes to readers concerning their speaking the words of demons in the midst of speaking the words of Christ. I have no knowledge that those rebukes were received.

I do not know, nor do I want to know, what it means to speak these words of Christ and especially, to pray these prayers, with an insincere heart. Yet I am certain that Jesus carries each one all the way through the darkness, each in their own season and time. My job is to give you hope and to be a provision to you of the words and the knowing of our God.

Put Your Ear up to the Door. I was fully aware, as I prayed that prayer into audio, that I was leading you into a strange and very definitive Old Testament practice, as it is now fulfilled in the Church. We speak of hearing what the Spirit says to the Churches.

And if it happens that [your servant] says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise (Deuteronomy 15:16-17).

You are that servant, and God is your Master.

Justify God. The Greek word usually translated “obedience,” in its literal rendition is actually “submission to hearing.” The Door, of course, is Jesus, and in praying that prayer, you committed yourself absolutely, with binding oath and inside of God, to hear Jesus alone – forever.

The joy and goodness of such a thing is beyond all wonder, yet I must, by the words of Jesus, also give warning. One who has prayed this prayer in sincerity of heart will justify God in all things, without hesitation. If such a one receives a rebuke from one whom God has anointed towards them, they will receive that rebuke with tears, as out from God Himself. “You, God, are right, and I was wrong.”

In Between the Word and the Hearing. In June of 2012, as I was driving north with my family to visit my mom and siblings in Minnesota, God spoke a quiet and sovereign word in my heart. “Because you have honored My word, I will honor you.”

Nothing is more important to God than His Word, and no human quality is more important to us than our ability to HEAR that Word. And in between that Word and that Hearing is a heart in utter submission to God, whatever the cost. This is not “hear to obey,” but hear to know. Knowing God as He speaks is the only thing that makes us like Jesus.

The Day of His Power. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth (Psalm 110:1-3).

This is the Day of His power; we are the rod of His strength. We have put our ear up to the door and have given ourselves forever to our God and to His intentions. We belong utterly to God. We are willing in this Day of the Energeia of Life and Love coming through.

I Hear the Spirit. I am committed to hearing the words God speaks into His Church through the Spirit. I place my hearing upon Jesus, that His voice alone might be the causation of my self story. With all sincerity of heart, I give myself to the Spirit of Christ, that His voice might shape all of my knowing of myself and that His Words in me might bring me in line with God my Father. I hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. My attention is fixed; my heart is certain. The fulfillment of Christ in His Body, the Church, is my meaning and purpose.

Completion Again. What we want to do is to reduce our prayer for Completion to its essence to fit in our box. Here are its main points. 1. We ask for and expect a knowable experience from God. 2. We ask to be sealed into God’s Pro-Determination; that is, we commit ourselves forever to hear Christ alone. 3. We ask God for the certainty that every Word He speaks is already fulfilled in our lives. 4. We ask for full Salvation from any thought of God not sharing our lives with us, from any sufficiency in ourselves.

For it is necessary for this decaying to put on, to enclothe itself with the inability to decay; and this dying to put on, to enclothe itself with the inability to die (1 Cor. 15:53).

Ask and Believe. Lord Jesus, You say that I hear You through the Spirit and that I come over into knowing You in me inside Your Church. Lord Jesus, I ask that You would seal me forever into God’s Determination. I ask that you would give me the certainty that every Word You speak is fulfilled in me and in my every next moment. I ask that You would save me from any imagination that God is not sharing my life with me, for You are my only sufficiency. And in asking these things, Lord Jesus, I am certain that I put You as incorruptibility and immortality upon myself. I hear by Your Spirit; I am committed to Your Church.

The Enflowing of Faith. I walk in full assurance of faith. I speak forth an eager two-edged sword, the Words that are Christ. My words are the ability of Christ through me, for I hold fast the name of Jesus and I hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.

I have overcome through faith. I receive the hidden manna, my own personal word. I receive and give a vote of confidence and affirmation. I receive my name brand new; I know my name. God affirms me even as I affirm others; I overcome.

The Opposition. Throughout these letters to the seven Churches, the Lord Jesus speaks directly to a number of different dark things found throughout the history of the Church. In our study leading up to the seven seals being removed, we are concerned with the spirits of anti-Christ operating in the Church, preventing Christ from being known. Once we are past that point, beginning with the sounding of the trumpets calling us to war, we will turn to our defeat of the other five outward things that make up “the world.” To the first Church, it was “fake apostles” and the “Nicolaitans.” To the second, it was “those who are not.” And in this letter, it is “Satan’s dwelling place” and Balaam.

Those Who Are Not. Because of modern technology, we must reference those in our world today, who claim to be something they are not, with indirect terms. Who they claim to be, we will call “the seed of Jacob.” They are not the seed of Jacob; technically, they are “Ukrainians.”

Thus it was in 1948 that “Gog and Magog” descended upon the mountains of Israel. We will call the false “nation” they created “Palestine,” even though most Palestinians driven out are actually the seed of Jacob. By their culture and religious way of thinking, we will call them “Pharisees” and “the doctrine of the Pharisees.” Finally, the city they falsely call “Jerusalem,” God calls “Sodom” in John’s vision.

Certain Ukrainians. Throughout the entire Roman time-period, the center of the culture and population of the seed of Jacob was Babylon. When Babylon was destroyed, the seed of Jacob came west and, by Moses Maimonides direction, the last of the Pharisee writers, they became enemies of Christianity. It was the seed of Jacob that came with William of Orange to found the bank of England in 1688.

But then something strange happened, from 1776 to 1815. In all the opposition against God, certain Ukrainians, claiming to be the seed of Jacob, overwhelmed those who actually were, making the seed of Jacob into second-rate citizens, even as the false spread across the Christian west.

Satan and Balaam. Thus, in our day, the word spoken by Jeremiah, that the seed of Jacob would become a curse in every nation, God has transferred to a group of former Ukrainians who are NOT.

I want to ponder God’s meaning for us of the phrase “where Satan dwells.” (Having done that, God has given me understanding, which we will address next time.) The strategy of Balaam is clear, having been used semi-successfully for the last thousand years. Yet in our day, the success of Balaam has overwhelmed our world. That strategy is to use debt to entice Christian people into sexual immorality, and then God must be against them. The “drags” parading before children are typically Pharisees.

Our True Concern. We must know the actual context in which we wage war, for God filled John’s vision with that context. Nonetheless, the context is not really our concern, for it is a smoke in the wind, vanishing away. And so let’s turn back to our true concern, which is this Mighty Being now coming through us, the flow of the Living Power of Love into our world.

This third overcoming is our own personal STRENGTH, which God has made the Lord Jesus to be inside each one of us, each different from the other. My hidden manna is personal to me; my vote of approval is personal to me; my new name is personal to me. – And yours the same.

Personal to Me. This hidden manna is not word in general; neither is it “deeper truth.” Typically, it’s not the big verses of the Bible. Rather, this is Word that God has made deeply and intimately personal to me. For instance here are two such that I use often and that I cannot write except with deep emotion. “The One upon whose breast I always lean my head.” And – “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.”

Then there are those personal things God has spoken or made real to me over the years, things that are personal between God and me. Things like “Give My people hope” spoken in my bleakest moment of despair.

Our Meaning out from God. Before, these all were just special to me, but now, out from this place of overcoming, they have become so much more. They have become God’s signifier (signature) of personal STRENGTH inside of me, the only meaning out from which I come every moment. (See “The Meaning of a Life.”)

The things God has made personal to you, whether out from special Bible verses or stories, or His voice inside your own heart, these are quite different from what He has made personal to me, even though there may be similarities. Know those personal whisperings to you as God’s STRENGTH made personal inside of you, the only meaning out from which you come every moment.

God Affirms Me: My Hidden Manna. God has woven a personal knowing of Him all through the course of my life. This personal knowing includes Scriptures made deeply meaningful and alive in me and His voice in my heart guiding my every step. It includes those moments when His grace lifted me out from despair and His joy swallowed up my sorrow. I look across my days and see these personal experiences with God woven together as my cord of Strength, as the meaning of my life, my own hidden manna.

The White Stone. The white stone is simple. In the city council, votes were cast either no with a black stone, or yes with a white stone. A white stone means, “I approve of you.”

We see this gift as God gave it to Jesus at the start of His ministry – “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. Hear ye Him.” This affirmation is a critical part of sending and being sent, for how could we be about our Father’s business without it? God’s affirmation of me as His own Son in me comes first, yet out from it, I give back to God all that I am. God’s affirmation comes first, but we know it only in true surrender.

The Pivot of Our Strength. This central affirmation is actually the pivot of our strength, for we confirm God’s affirmation of us by giving our affirmation to our brothers and sisters. “I approve of you.” – “You are my beloved brother/sister in whom I am well-pleased.”

When I consider one who has refused my rebuke because they want to continue enjoying the words of demons inside of speaking Christ, I find it difficult to give such affirmation. It is here that we go under with Father, that we humble ourselves as the Lord Jesus. And then, with the Lamb Slain, we hear the greatest affirmation ever spoken. – “Because you have done this thing, I raise you on high inside of Jesus.”

God Affirms Me: My Affirmation. God approves of me. God gives me His vote of confidence. God approved of me before He ever sent Jesus into my heart, for Jesus’ Blood establishes my value to God. I have repented forever from any thought that God wants me to be “better.” I know that God wants me to be His as I am. Then, out from God’s affirmation of me, I give that same affirmation and approval back to God. I approve of God. I approve of how He made me; I approve of every next step we share together. Yet in giving back to God what He first gives to me, I approve of my brothers and sisters as well, just as much as I approve of God.

A Fake Hatred of Self. In my early years of writing this word, I observed something that felt as slippery as an eel to me, something towards which I did not have any witness in my spirit. A woman with whom we were fellowshipping concerning the prospects of community decided that her given name was “no good.” She chose a Bible first name and asked a pastor to baptize her again in water with her “new” name. Though I was there, I could not participate. Later, when she insisted on using her “new” name, I would not play that game. That was NOT God’s affirmation, but her hatred of herself, a bizarre attempt to “fix” the problems of “self.”

“Name” is not something magical; it’s something personal.

My Own Name. I bring that story in, because this “new name” that Jesus gives you is NOT a different name, but your own name which your mom and dad first called you, now made brand new inside of God. Identify that name in two ways. First, what did your mother call you when she spoke affectionately of you to someone else. It could be a shortened name or an affectionate nickname. And second, what name did your mother call you when she required your attention right now.

God’s name for me is Daniel David Yordy, made brand new. And yes, my mother used all three names when she, having grabbed my ear, intended to wash my mouth out with soap.

Sharing My Soul. When I wrote that last bit, I laughed and laughed inside the GOODNESS of God. That’s the whole point. Jesus makes my own familiar name to be brand new as a testimony on the inside of me that I have never known anything except the GOODNESS of God, regardless. My whole life is GOOD; my whole life is out from God.

Yet much deeper than the “sound” of my name, Jesus has made Himself part of every aspect of my human soul. My “name” is my deepest personal meaning as a human. And nothing affirms God made personal inside of me more than Jesus sharing my soul with me, sharing my “name.”
 
God Affirms Me: My New Name. Because I approve of God, I do not look for God to give me a different name, but rather to make the name my parents gave me brand new in my knowing. My entire life, identified by my given name, is found entirely inside the GOODNESS of God. Yet my name represents the deepest meaning inside myself, inside my self-story. And the real meaning of my self-story is that Jesus shares it with me, and that I share His self-story with Him. I know Jesus inside myself; I know myself inside of Jesus. Yet even more, Jesus shares my name with me, and that makes it new forever.

Through Eyes of Fire. To sit in the throne of God, wielding His authority, to stand upon FIRM inside the great hour of travail in which we find ourselves, REQUIRES that “God AFFIRMS me” be written all through our human consciousness.

It is the entrance of Christ alone that transforms anyone, and that entrance comes out from judgment. It comes through eyes of Fire. Those who judge Christ alone have their ears nailed to the Lord Jesus. His voice alone do they hear and the voice of no other. His words alone do they speak. As Annie saw in her vision, they are utterly pure. Let the Fire burn, for our God is a consuming Fire.

Reading for Next Time. The next lesson is titled “I Shepherd with Authority.” For that lesson, read Revelation 2:18-29 (JSV) several times. As we move forward, I am so blessed that understanding comes without any deliberation on my part. In just that way has come the knowing of the “iron scepter,” and why the brokenness must be the shepherd first, before others.

The one presently and actively overcoming and keeping watch until the completion of My works, I will give him, immediately and ongoing, authority upon the peoples, and he will shepherd and care for them with an iron scepter, broken as an earthen vessel; in just the same way that I also received from My Father.

Let’s Pray Together. The strength of our prayers increases with the increase of our certainty inside of God and of His word made complete in our lives. Our authority is the throne of God.

“God, our Father, we know the meaning of our lives out from Your personal involvement with us from the start. We know Your approval of us, even as we give that same approval back to You through our brethren. We know that Jesus shares our own names with us, our names brand new. Oh Lord God, we have given ourselves utterly to you with the commitment of sincere hearts. We hear Your Spirit alone; our hearts are set upon Your Church.

“Father, inside of Your certainty shared with us, we pray for our brothers and sisters all across this earth, caught in a web of darkness, inwardly and outwardly, that they do not comprehend. God, we approve of Your Church, regardless of her outward appearance, for we see her clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ and with no other.

“My brothers and sisters, all who belong to Jesus, you are beloved to me, for I am well-pleased with you. I know that your life has God’s meaning written across its entire span. I know that God values you above Himself. I know that Jesus shares your name, your very soul, with you. Be free, in Jesus name. Be loved inside of God.”