12. The Seven Virtues

© Daniel Yordy – 2020

One of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray (Luke 11:1).

– And this is the confidence that we have towards Him, that if we might ask anything concerning the details of His desire {according to the speaking of Christ }, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, we know that whatever we might ask, we possess the requests we have asked from Him (1 John 5:14-15).

– Let it be, let it be as I say to you, whatever [anything] you might ask the Father inside of My name, He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing inside of My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy might be full (John 16:23-24).

I see now that this series is about two things. The first is that, when you look down upon your own human heart, you say, “My heart is the Entrance of God.” I don’t know that any confession of faith we have declared is more profound or wonderful than that.

There is no doubt that our understanding of what that means will increase as we go forward, but we know it personally, first.

And the second topic of this series is – “Lord, teach us to pray.”

That’s all a prophet of the fullness of Christ is, someone who knows the Father, who connects fully with His Heart as He is, who joins with the Father’s desire, carrying all through death and into life, and who puts that desire of God into human and spoken words such that Father is then free to touch and bless and heal – and even to set justice in place when it is needed.

“Prayer” has never been my strong point, and I have never taught on prayer. We did pray together to mighty effect in The River of Life, however. And the “prayer” of the Mercy Seat has changed our lives and how we see everything. I do find that I pray much better by typing the words onto my screen than either leading others in prayer or spending time in the posture of “prayer” as Christians have known.

As we go forward in this series, then, we will learn to pray, but a praying that we have never known before. It will be a praying of intimate connection between Father’s Heart and the heart of each one for whom we are praying.

This letter, and the letters that follow it, will be our attempt to join together two things. – He that has this hope in Him [that we are just like Jesus] purifies himself just as He is pure. – AND – Lord, teach us to pray.

The purity of Jesus is not human performance, but something entirely different.

To understand that difference, let’s look a bit more at the phrase, “the one presently and actively overcoming” or, as in most, “to him who overcomes.”

You see, there is no partial “overcoming,” no half in and half out. Either it’s all overcoming or its no overcoming. One who is “struggling to overcome” is not, nor are they anywhere near true overcoming.

True overcoming is utter trust in Jesus, that He is made perfect in our weakness and that we are exactly as God wants us inside of Him. And thus true overcoming is Jesus Himself proving Himself in and as us.

Then, that brings us to a second important point. In Nicene Christianity, which includes elements from Greek philosophy, there are what is called “the seven virtues.” These seven are moral virtues related to outward human performance. There is some overlap with that list and mine, but the purpose is entirely different.

We are not interested in outward human performance except that which is always coming out from the good speaking of Christ through our utter trust that He is our life. Instead, we are interested only in those things that allow Father to enter into His creation through us. We don’t want human virtue, but Father made known.

In the same way that each of the seals are stuck upon our human hearts, preventing everyone from reading what is written there, so these seven “virtues” are the open doors inside of us that allow the entrance of God into His creation out from our hearts.

God cannot enter unless He knows that it is safe for Him to do so, that every door keeping Him out has been opened wide welcoming Him in.

Thus, we see these seven virtues as wide-open doors, an open highway prepared for God.

 Virtue 1: Humility
To the one presently and actively overcoming, I will continuously and actively give him to eat out from the tree of life, which is inside the paradise of God (Revelation 2:7).

Christ as you IS humility; it is the complete acceptance of your own lowly form with no desire at all to be “better.” Humility is the full acceptance that Christ reveals Himself through our human weakness, that our human weakness, as God made us, IS the image and revelation of God.

Humility (Webster’s 1926): 1. State or quality of being humble in spirit; freedom from pride and arrogance; lowliness of mind; a modest estimate of one’s own worth. 2. An act of submission or humble courtesy.

I must bring in here a shocking definition found in Webster’s 1926 under “humiliation.”

“Humiliation of Christ: The sum of the earthly incidents and physical restrictions to which Christ was subjected, as birth, education, passion, death, as distinguished from the incidents, such as resurrection, ascension, glorification, which institute his exaltation.”

This definition is the root of the arrogant Christ; it stands as the bottom-line definition of all rebellion against God. It is a complete turning to inside out or upside down, that is, a 180 degree perversion. You see, this explanation defies Jesus’ statement, “He who sees Me sees the Father,” by defining the Walk of Atonement, not as God showing us Himself as He IS, but rather, an aberration, a momentary display commanded by SIN.

To understand this, however, lets present the truth of Christ as He is.

The Humility of Christ: The full acceptance by Jesus that He was the revelation of Father just as He was, that His weakness was the showcase of God’s glory, that humans loving one another are what God looks like inside His creation; that Father was utterly with Him, Father’s Person inside of His Person, directing every step inside of Love; it is this quality of Jesus, then, that God raises up for all to see as what God calls “great.”

A God who is meek and lowly of heart; a God who sees all others as better than Himself; a God All-Carrying.

To eat of the tree of life is to live utterly inside of John 14:20, knowing that I AM inside of Jesus and Jesus IS inside of all that is me. It is this precious and wondrous union with Christ, that Jesus is the One who comes into union with me; Jesus is the One who causes me to be in union with Him.

Humility is the joyous acceptance of human weakness as the revelation of God.

Humility as a Wide-Open Door: The complete and joyous acceptance that I am, as I am, the image and revelation of a God who shows Himself through weakness; the full surrender to Jesus that He is the One actively entering into union with all that is me; the sweet fellowship of Father with me in all things; the acceptance of my present circumstances as all goodness.

Virtue 2: Respect
One who accepts a Jesus having actively, already, and completely entered into union with one’s self, then turns and sees all other believers in Jesus as the Lord Himself, and treats them accordingly. This respect is not a fake “subservience” or self put-down, but rather a lifting up with high regard.

Love as a concept is to broad for this quality. The term, “respect” refers to our outward expression of regard for all other humans, but especially for all believers in Jesus. Respect lifts them up without any sense of superiority or fake self-demeaning.

The one presently and actively overcoming shall not act out from the second death (Revelation 2:11). 

Human action out from the second death is contempt, first, followed by refusal, pretending, and accusation. But one cannot cease to “act out from” one thing except by, in its stead, acting out from its opposite.

Respect is acting out from Father with me for the sake of others. Resect is turning all things, together with Father, into goodness and blessing for others.

Respect is little acts of kindness and gentle words of encouragement, the mightiest displays of God there can be.

Respect (Webster’s 1926): (Respect has a completely different set of meanings first. We want its second set of meanings here.) 6. Act of noticing with attention; regard; the giving of particular attention to; favor. 10. Esteem; deferential regard; state of being esteemed; honor. 12. Expressions of respect or deference; regards, as to send one’s respects to another.

To Respect (Webster’s 1926): 3. To have regard or reference to; to relate to; to be concerned with. 4. To consider worthy of esteem; to regard or treat with honor, deference, or the like; esteem; value.

To Esteem (Webster’s 1926): 1. To set a value on; to estimate the worth of; to appraise; hence, to appreciate the worth of; to hold in regard. 2. To set a high value on; to prize; to regard with reverence, respect, or friendship.

When I consider you to be worthy of all honor and esteem, I am acting out from God, I am just like God as Father with me.

Jesus said – You will not see Me again until you say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” that is, “Blessed are you, my brother and sister, for you are as Jesus to me.”

Respect as a Wide-Open Door: The complete and joyous receiving of other believers as the Lord Jesus Himself; the expression of lifting others up in honor and esteem; the demonstration of little acts of kindness and gentle words of encouragement as the expressions of God.

Virtue 3: Honor
We are using the words “respect” and “esteem” as our view of one another, but the word “honor” we are directing towards the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. This distinction of words is useful only in this layout; otherwise they certainly are interchangeable.

The one presently and actively overcoming, I will give him the manna having been hidden and I will give him a white stone {a vote of confidence or affirmation} and upon the stone a new name having been written, which no one has known except the one receiving it (Revelation 2:17).

I know the meaning of these words by my own experience. I stood against all accusation until I knew my precious union with Jesus free and clear UPON the ATONEMENT. I stood firm upon the Atonement, and from the first I have placed the Blood and Cross of Christ as without measure or boundary or limit.

I speak the qualities of Christ as my own because I honor the Blood; I speak my separation from all that separates me from God because I honor the Cross; I speak Christ as my only life because I honor the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I place the Atonement as the one and only real expression of God manifesting Himself as He is inside of His creation with – AND WE ALSO coming utterly and only out from there.

And because I honor that Atonement and hold it in highest regard, above all else, such that everything that opposes God vanishes from my sight, so God gives me such rich knowledge of the speaking of Christ, my own hidden manna, and my name, Daniel Yordy, as always and only coming out from my Father.

Honor (Webster’s 1926): 1. Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; manifestation of respect or reverence; hence, fame; credit; good name; reputation. 2. That which rightfully attracts esteem, respect, or consideration, as dignity, courage, fidelity; especially excellence of character; high moral worth; nobleness; integrity; uprightness; trustworthiness; purity; chastity. 3. A nice sense of what is right, just, and true, with course of life correspondent thereto; strict conformity to the duty imposed by conscience, position, or privilege. 4. That to which esteem or consideration is paid; distinguished position; high rank. 5. A token of esteem paid to worth; a mark of respect; a ceremonial sign of consideration. 7. A cause of respect and fame; a glory; an excellency.

To Honor (Webster’s 1926): 1. To regard or treat with honor, esteem, or respect; specifically, to show honor toward or respect for by rendering due obedience or courtesy; also, as used of God, to reverence; adore; worship. 2. To raise to distinction or notice.

Everything in the definition of “honor” as a noun applies to the Atonement wrought by the Lord Jesus. Everything in the definition of “honor” as a verb applies to our regard of that Atonement. We “render obedience” by our absolute acceptance that our utter CONNECTION with God is complete, by saying, “Let it be to me,” to every Word coming into us.

Honor as a Wide-Open Door: The full embracing of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus as absolute and profound, as all-encompassing, unlimited, and finished; the expression of standing firm upon that Atonement as the ONLY place our steps can walk.

Virtue 4: Love
The one presently and actively overcoming and keeping watch until the completion of My works, I will give him authority upon the peoples, and he will shepherd them in a staff of iron, as the earthen vessels are broken; even as I also have received from My Father, and I will give him the morning star (Revelation 2:26-28).

You and I have all authority from God to love one another and to show forth that same Love that is Father to all. Love is the authority upon the peoples; love breaks the worst of enemies.

Notice that Jesus says here, “until the completion of My works.” That word, “completion,” is telos, the same word in John 15, combined with “en” or inside of, that is, “entole” typically translated “commandment” but actually meaning “My full completion.”

This is My full completion, that you love one another just as I have loved you.

Here is an odd line from Solomon’s “love poem.” Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, the ardor of zeal as severe as Sheol; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame (Song of Solomon 8:6).

Love is the only power that defeats death. Just as death is the strongest door keeping God out, so love is the strongest opening bringing God in.

Love is a flame of fire, a most vehement flame.

Love (Webster’s 1926): 1. A feeling of strong personal attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration, by sympathetic understanding, or by ties of kinship; ardent affection. 2. Manifestation of desire for, and earnest effort to promote, the welfare of a person, especially seen in God’s solicitude for men and in men’s due gratitude and reverence to God. 3. Strong liking; fondness; good will; – usually applied to persons, as in greetings and the like; to objects of ideal regard; as, love of learning or freedom. 4. Tender and passionate affection for one of the opposite sex; also, an instance of love. 5. Sexual passion or its satisfaction. 6. The object of affection, often employed in endearing address, as in “My love.” Synonyms: Affection, fondness, tenderness, liking, friendship, devotion.

To Love (Webster’s 1926): 1. To have love for; to experience or manifest love for; to devote one’s love to; to be in love with. 2. To give or experience love. 3. To take delight or pleasure in; to have a strong liking or desire for, or interest in; to be pleased with; to like. 4. To show love for by caressing. 5. To thrive in; as the rose loves sunlight. Also – To have the feeling of love; especially to experience or manifest love for one of the other sex; to be in love.

Consider all the powers of all the Marvel “superheroes.” Not one of those powerful beings could ever stand against a Man laying down His life, setting forth His soul, for His friends.

Love is not “superpower”; love is gentle and kind.

Love as a Wide-Open Door: The liking of others; the simple delight of others in their persons and in their expressions; tender and passionate affection; setting forth one’s soul for others, that, in the midst of personal confusion and pain, they and Father can come together inside one’s heart; the very DOORWAY of God.

Virtue 5: Faith
Faith is the simple human decision to believe that God is telling us the truth in the gospel. Faith is the receiving of every word God speaks as Christ entering into us.

The one presently and actively overcoming, will this be clothed [enduo] in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the scroll of life, and I will speak his name in the presence of my Father and before His angels (Revelation 3:5).

I don’t know of anything that expresses greater confidence in God than the statement, “Jesus speaks my name, Daniel Yordy, in the face and presence of God,” unless it would be this statement, “My heart is the Entrance of God.”

And Abram believe God and it was counted to him as just innocence, that is, as an enclothing in white garments.

Faith is Mary, saying to God, “Look at me, God, I belong to You. Let it be to me according to what You mean by what You say, the Lord Jesus entering into me.”

Faith (Webster’s 1926): 1. Inward acceptance of a personality as real and trustworthy, of an idea as true and obligatory, or of a thing as beneficial, as faith in God. 2. The recognition of spiritual realities and moral principles as of paramount authority and supreme value. 3. A belief in the truthfulness and authority of the Scriptural narrative and teachings. The acceptance by the intellect, affection, and will of God’s favor extended to man through Christ. 5. Assurance; authority; credit; credibility. 6. Quality or state of being faithful; fidelity to one’s promises, or allegiance to duty, or to a person honored and beloved; loyalty; also, the duty of such fidelity.

To Receive (Webster’s 1926): 1. To take, as something that is offered, given, committed, or sent; to accept. 2. To give one admittance; to permit to enter, as into one’s house, presence, or company; to recognize the presence of; to greet. 5. To admit, to take in; hence, to have capacity for; to hold; contain. 6. To come into possession of, get,  or acquire, from any source outside of one’s self, without direct effort; hence, to experience; to be subjected to; to undergo. 7. To allow, or undergo, the imposition, or impact, of; to support, catch, or bear.

Faith is to receive Seed from God as our life, as Jesus entering into us. Faith is commitment to that Seed and to all in whom He dwells.

Faith as a Wide-Open Door: The simple act of receiving what God says as the only thing right and true; the turning away from all outward seeing and judgment and the turning to the good speaking of Christ as the only thing by which all things exist, and especially, me, personally.

Virtue 6: Honesty
Honesty is the human response to the entrance of God – Of myself, I can do nothing – We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. – My strength comes to its full completion inside of your weakness.

Honesty is the outward expression of our acceptance that we are, as humans, what God looks like, that is, being real.

The one presently and actively overcoming, I will make him a pillar inside of the temple of My God, and he shall not go out anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, continuously and actively stepping forth out from heaven from My God, and My new name (Revelation 3:12-13).

Look at me as I am and see Father, Father’s name written on my forehead, see the Body and Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, see Jesus Himself as He is; me, as I am, in and out, up and down, foolish and wise, determined and wavering, happy and sad, a human, as God made me, just like the Lord Jesus Christ.

Honesty (Webster’s 1926): 1. Quality or state of being honest; specifically, honor; suitableness; decency; fairness and straightforwardness of conduct and speech; probity; integrity; sincerity; truthfulness; freedom from fraud or guile.

Honest (Webster’s 1926): 1. Held in honor or respect; also, worthy of honor. 2. Characterized by integrity, fairness, or straightforwardness in conduct, thought, and speech; upright; just; equitable; trustworthy; truthful; sincere; free from fraud, guile, or duplicity; not false. 3. Free from fraud or deception; genuine; full. 4. Open; frank; as an honest countenance.

Real (Webster’s 1926): 3. Actually being or existing; of the nature of fact; belonging to the order of nature; actual, as distinguished from fictitious or imaginary; also, existing intrinsically or inherently; as distinguished from seeming or apparent. 4. Genuine; not artificial or counterfeit.

Being real is the true expression of accepting Jesus living as me, causing me to be by His good speaking. Being real is all things good coming out from my settled identity of my story and Jesus’ story, all entwined together.

Honesty as a Wide-Open Door: The absence of any need to pretend, but rather, in its place, the sheer delight in being human as God made us. The lack of any “need” to be something in self, but rather, in its place, the profound joy of knowing that God shows Himself with and through my weakness.

Virtue 7: Thankfulness
Adam’s original sin was much deeper than his seizing of the powers of contempt out from his sense of aggrieved superiority. Adam’s original sin was not giving thanks for his form as God made him, the very image and revelation of God All-Carrying.

And the serpent’s original sin was accusation against the Word God speaks, that God is a liar and that His Word is not true.

Let God be true and every man a liar [a fake], as it has been written, “That You may be justified inside Your words, and will overcome inside Your being judged.” – That every mouth might be closed, and the entire cosmos brought under judgment before God (Romans 3:4 & 19).

As with all of God’s other “POWERS,” this one is also simple – give thanks.

Thankful (Webster’s 1926): 1. Impressed with a sense of kindness received, and ready to acknowledge it; grateful; as a thankful heart. 2. Given, made, or done in token of thanks; expressive of thanks or gratitude; as, thankful service.

To Thank (Webster’s 1926): 1. To express gratitude or make acknowledgements to one for a favor or kindness.

Grateful (Webster’s 1926): 1. Having a due sense of benefits received; willing or glad to acknowledge or repay, or give thanks for, benefits; as a grateful heart. 2. Affording pleasure; pleasing; gratifying. 3. Expressing gratitude.

The one presently and actively overcoming, I will give him to sit with Me inside My throne, just exactly as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father inside His throne (Revelation 3:21).

I put the verse after the definitions on this one because we are speaking here of something different from Love as the authority of God through us. This throne is God Himself placing the good speaking of Christ into our mouths that we might speak the goodness of Christ into all.

Eucharist, meaning good grace or speaking good grace, usually translated as “give thanks.”

This throne, the Mercy Seat of God, is our judgment of all things in creation.

And I saw thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was committed to them (Revelation 19:4).

This is our authority to speak Christ, to be, with Jesus, the sustainer of all in goodness. This is our task as God’s in-between, our sending forth the words coming out from Father through Jesus in our lips, the words by which all things are sustained and made alive.

Thankfulness as a Wide-Open Door: The primary action that we do in speaking good grace into and for the sake of all, the practical means by which we encourage and lift up one another and by which all are defeated who yet remain in opposition to God; being the image of God.

~~~

As we have seen, the “seals” are seven locked doors keeping God out and the “virtues” or overcomings are those same seven doors inside of us, now wide-open welcoming God in.

God-In, then, resolves every human difficulty and transforms a world of death into a world of life.

Understand this as well. God has now set before us the meaning of the apocalypse, the removal of the cover that hides. This is something we are well able to do with all our hearts inside of Jesus.

We have a pattern, now for seven chapters. In these two chapters we have attempted a definition of each closed and locked door and a definition of each wide-open door. Then, for seven chapters, we will start with (1) the definition of the door as it stands open to God, welcoming Him in. We will consider (2) what God-In through that door might mean.

Following what that open door means as a call of God-In, we will look at (3) the same door closed and locked by its definition and (4) how that door works to keep God out. This will be followed by a look at (5) the false call, how that false call attempts to call God-In, but through the false definitions of God, a God forced to fit Himself into the mold of the hatred of God.

Next, we will look at (6) how the opening of the Door to God as He IS, welcoming Him in through us as we are, easily and quietly “dispels,” that is, blows away the spell of the false as a vapor that is NOT. This step will include an attempt to formulate our prayer together calling God through. And finally, we will consider (7) what God-through that particular wide-open door means inside of our world.

I can’t tell you how wonderful this layout is to me, for we are looking at the map to the Fountain of Life, not life for us for we already posses all that Life is, but Life through us for creation. Indeed, you and I, that is, our hearts ARE the Fountain of Life for creation.

I do like a good map, but I like even more following the map to where it takes us – to God made visible as “love one another.”