Calmly pause and think about the following food for your soul:
It is written:
18 This is where wisdom is needed; those who understand should count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person, and its number is 666. ~ Revelation 13:18
The above verse is one reason we cannot substitute our western world’s English names for the days of the week for the numbers YeHoVaH gave to them. I explain what I mean here in the end note.
Revelation 13:18 says the Mark of the Beast is the number of a man (a person) and that number is 666. Now many people have tried to decipher this verse by using their own interpretations when Scripture tells us that only the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) knows all truths and reveals YeHoVaH’s Truths that are in His Word. The biblical truth, then, is that YeHoVaH gave us the answer to Revelation 13:18 in the Old Testament.
It is written:
26 Then YeHoVaH said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in the likeness of ourselves; and let them rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the animals, and over all the earth, and over every crawling creature that crawls on the earth.”
27 So YeHoVaH created humankind in his own image; in the image of Elohim he created him: male and female he created them.
. . .
31 YeHoVaH saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day. ~ Genesis 1: 26-27, 31
It is written:
7 Then YeHoVaH, God, formed a person from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being. ~ Genesis 2:7
(Note: Verse 4 in Genesis 2 tells us that Genesis 2 is the history/generations of how the heavens, the earth, and mankind began.)
Now, in the Hebrew languages, the singular form of Elohim is Eloah. In Genesis 1:27, Elohim, the plural form, is used here to not only describe the one and only God of Israel, whose personal name was revealed to Moses as YeHoVaH, but also to tell us that the image of Elohim is a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit image – a Godhead image, which means YeHoVaH’s image is a triune (three in one) or tripartite (consisting of three parts) image.
The Scripture says this triune God created man in His three-in-one image on the sixth day. Therefore, Revelation‘s 666 should be seen for what it is – the number of a tripartite man/person.
Man (i.e., the first Adam) was created on the sixth day, and Scripture says the sixes in Revelation‘s 666 represent a man/person. The number 6, then, is mentioned 3 times in Revelation 13 because, just like the image of Elohim is a triune image, so is the image of man because he was made in Elohim’s image. Therefore, 666 represents the man (the first beast that comes out of the sea – out of the Gentiles, specifically, out of the Muslims because Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, was by the Muslim woman Hagar), and this first beast is the anti-Messiah. It is his image that people worship, and his image that 666 represents. Furthermore, the second beast is the False Prophet, the one who comes out of the earth – out of the Middle East, possibly Israel. He is the one who makes people worship the image of the anti-Messiah, and it is the False Prophet who creates the Mark of the Beast, which is the number of a man.
The anti-Messiah initially is a man, and all men come from the original man (Adam) who was made on the sixth day. It was on the sixth day that Adam was given: 1. a BODY (created from the dust of the earth), 2. a SPIRIT (breathed into his body), and 3. a SOUL (became alive, a living being or living soul because YeHoVaH gave him a functioning brain or a soul that consists of his personality; this personality is created in man’s mind and by his will or desires and his emotions).
A tripartite man (created with a body that houses his spirit and soul) who will be a Muslim anti-Messiah – Revelation 13’s beast from the sea – is what 666, the number of a man, means. Selah!
End NOTE:
Clearly, since man was made on day 6th of Creation, Revelation‘s 666 cannot be interpreted as Friday, Friday, Friday. (For the people who think they can give YeHoVaH’s numerically described days of the week in the Bible our western world’ English names for our days of the week. Ref. The Christians and non-Christians who declare the seventh-day Sabbath is on Saturday.)
So if you were raised along with the Messiah, then seek the things above, where the Messiah is sitting at the right hand of [YeHoVaH]. 2 Focus your minds on the things above, not on things here on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in [YeHoVaH]. 4 When the Messiah, who is our life, appears, then you too will appear with him in glory!
5 Therefore, put to death the earthly parts of your nature — sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed (which is a form of idolatry); 6 for it is because of these things that [YeHoVaH’s] anger is coming on those who disobey him. 7 True enough, you used to practice these things in the life you once lived; 8 but now, put them all away — anger, exasperation, meanness, slander and obscene talk. 9 Never lie to one another; because you have stripped away the old self, with its ways, 10 and have put on the new self, which is continually being renewed in fuller and fuller knowledge, closer and closer to the image of its Creator. 11 The new self allows no room for discriminating between Gentile and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, foreigner, savage, slave, free man; on the contrary, in all, the Messiah is everything. ~ Colossians 3:1-11
Female blacks have been dehumanized and depersonalized for centuries. My maternal grandmother and her sisters have known about these seeds of slavery, but they buried the atrocities their ancestors faced right after the last remnant migrated northward.
My maternal grandmother and her sisters moved to Pennsylvania from Georgia. However, their belief that they were free from slavery’s horrible aftereffects was not enough to keep their ancestors’ atrocities buried. It also was not enough to obliterate the Deep South’s psychological invisibility – the feeling blacks get when their individual abilities, personality, and worth are disregarded because of the dominant culture’s imposed prejudice.
Feeling invisible is a common phenomenon for black females. The southern dominant culture had always disregarded or devalued female slaves’ unique traits that did not reflect whites’ privilege status. Whites hid blacks’ conflicting attributes behind the cloak of psychological invisibility. When female black slaves realized their real worth, personalities, and incomparable abilities were hidden, each individual developed an inner intuition – a sixth sense – that was activated whenever the dominant culture set up an invisibility barrier.
Though my grandmother and her sisters were almost a thousand miles north of the Deep South, they soon discovered that those seeds of slavery they had hoped they would escape were watered more in Wilkes-Barre and Philadelphia than the seeds of freedom. There, in the North, they learned that the same stereotypes that were forced on them and their ancestors in the Deep South still continued to conceal their true identities and values. As a result, my grandmother and her sisters were forced to decide how they would make themselves visible.
***
During most of my life’s first seven years, I pondered what was wrong with me. I wondered why most of the people who loved my white friends didn’t love me the same way. My answer finally came in the still of the night when darkness was thick, oppressive, and almost unearthly.
On the longest, darkest night, I was unexpectedly awakened by the commotion that was coming from the neighboring driveway. I sat up. My eyes scoured the room, hunting for something familiar. Nothing was visible – not even my hands in front of my face. The darkness had enveloped me, so I groped about blindly. Seconds later, I found the light switch above my bed. Immediately, the light masked the blackness but not before the darkness showed me that I was invisible.
My hiddenness did not result from a sleight-of-hand trick. No sorcerer’s prestidigitation could ever be responsible for the exclusions and marginalizations that were later explained to me. Certainly, my invisibility would need more than a waved magic wand or verbal summons to make me visible. My hiddenness would also need more than the flip of a switch to shed light on why the dominant culture failed to see me.
***
While my value and identity went undetectable for the nine consecutive years that followed my first seven years, solitude became my closest friend. I chose to retreat to my sanctuary of solitude – my bedroom – after school. It was the only place I could feel visible. It was the only place I could find peace. It was the only place I could feel safe to ugly cry.
Although I had friends and was close to several cousins, I never felt accepted or important. I never was popular or part of the in-crowd.
My parents were poor. My parents were also alcoholics for most of my childhood. That is why I often didn’t eat healthy food and didn’t wear fashionable clothes or shoes. I also didn’t have the necessary school supplies or other things many children my age never had to give a second thought.
I was laughed at for not having any Christmas gifts to bring to school for show and tell, laughed at for bringing soiled brown paper bag lunches to school, laughed at because I wore outdated Salvation Army and Goodwill clothing, or laughed at for wearing clothes I stitched together from McCall’s, Simplicity, Butterwick, and other such patterns.
I was called a crybaby because I had my maternal grandmother’s teary eyes that ran whenever there was too much wind (freezing, warm, or hot), too much sunshine, or too much pollen. My eyes teared whenever they were too tired or whenever I looked at something too long.
Other strikes against me were my plainness, independence, morality, and wise and mature attitude toward life. I could not comprehend why any of that intimidate the same age and older people in my hometown, but it did.
***
Nine years after the night my invisibility was revealed I was crushed when, in the main hallway beside high school lockers, all my friends were talking about their dates to the annual spring dance. I was the only silent one because the boy I hoped would ask me asked someone else. Even though I smiled as if it was no big deal, inside I felt mortified.
That evening, in the solitude of my sanctuary, I vented in unfiltered honesty. With my face pressed against my safe haven’s window, my squinted eyes swam in tears. I ugly cried while praying to my God.
I wailed, “I don’t get why You did this to me. Why did You make me so unlovable and unattractive? Why am I always the only one who is left out?” Pink-eyed and lachrymose I pleaded, “Please make me loveable and likable to everyone I know. Surround me with family and friends who really see me and absolutely love who they see. Also, please send me a special guy who will love me and want me, forever.”
Just then I was startled by a sudden brightness. I opened my eyes in time to see the dazzling streak of light that had pierced through the smothering clouds. The light shocked me because when I started praying the sky was gray, cloudy, and stormy – like my emotions.
At the same moment that the radiant light appeared unexpectedly, so did the wealth of love I soon saw and felt. The sky paraded my God’s Love while He spoke to me. The Voice that I heard told me that I would be loved the way I deserved to be loved. I was speechless and filled with joy.
***
In the 55 years that followed the evening YeHoVaH spoke His Words to me, a then sad 16-year-old girl, I have remained invisible to most Americans. I am still unpopular, unfashionable, and unimportant. No one listens to the wealth of wisdom I received in those 55 years, and I have no man in my life who loves me the way I deserve to be loved. However, my life is the best it has ever been, in spite of a divorce and the loss of Ade, my oldest son.
How is that possible? Well, with YeHoVaH, all things are possible.
Suffice it to say, it was not until I understood that, from the day I accepted Yeshua as my Lord and Savior, it was YeHoVaH who loves me, and had always loved me, the way I deserve to be loved. In fact, He loves me more than I deserve to be loved. Knowing this truth is why I am more content than I have ever been.
I actually enjoy my current solitude and singleness because I know that my new identity and new value come from YeHoVaH through His Son, Yeshua. So, even though I also know that being treated as invisible by the dominant culture is a common phenomenon for black females, it is my spiritual hiddenness that I embrace.
Now, since my spiritual life is invisible, that makes being treated as a joint-heir in the Kingdom of YeHoVaH by my fellow spiritual sisters and brothers another common phenomenon – one that all black females who are in Yeshua have come to know. However, because my spiritual life’s new identity and value are hidden with Yeshua HaMashiach in YeHoVaH, there isn’t anybody who could see the real me without first seeing YeHoVaH and then seeing Yeshua.
This spiritual discernment won’t mean that a reborn and saved Yeshua believer cannot or should not desire earthly things. It simply means that since he or she is one with Yeshua, and Yeshua is One with YeHoVaH, the saved and born-again believer’s focus and desires should be on and about this person becoming the best child of YeHoVaH he or she was reborn to be.
This truth was why I had to learn to focus on living my new life the way YeHoVaH wants me to live it. It was possible to do because it was not in His Will that the dominant culture’s invisibility barriers (physical or psychological) would have power or authority over my spiritual life’s reborn and saved new identity and value.
For sure, the Kingdom of YeHoVaH’s spiritual hiddenness is more powerful and has more authority than every earthly dominant culture’s racially unjust and unholy cloak of psychological invisibility. Then too, the Kingdom of YeHoVaH’s spiritual hiddenness elevates Yeshua believers’ privilege status above every earthly dominant culture’s spurious privilege status. For me, what that means is, as long as I remain faithful and obedient to YeHoVaH and His Law, my God will allow me to be the head instead of the tail. Selah!
For with [YeHoVaH] nothing is impossible. ~ Luke 1:37
I’m invisible. I am unseen but only because most of America’s men and women refuse to see me. Furthermore, far too many of theworld’s inhabitants refuse to see me because to them I really do not exist.
The world’s dominant cultures’ imposed stereotypes are why I am invisible. As a result, I am easily misunderstood, disrespected, and loathed.
I was six years old when I first realized I was undetectable. Now, my invisibility was not the result of a sleight-of-hand trick. No sorcerer’s prestidigitation could ever be responsible for the seven decades of exclusion and marginalization. My hiddenness, therefore, would need more than a waved magic wand or a verbal summons to make me visible.
For the record, feeling invisible is a common phenomenon for black women. The dominant culture in America has always disregarded or devalued black women’s ancestors’ unique traits and talents – especially those that did not reflect privileged Whites’ ideal human images. Many Whites hid black women’s assumed conflicting identities and collective worth behind the cloak of psychological invisibility – their imposedstereotypes. When black women’s ancestors realized that their real personalities, as well as their incomparable abilities and talents, were hidden, each individual woman developed an inner intuition – a sixth sense – that was activated whenever any dominant culture used its invisibility barriers.
It is 2022. Unfortunately, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
Sadly, I remain invisible to certain people. This truth is why I am thankful for my sixth sense. Because I know with YeHoVaH all things are possible, I let Him take control of my life. He gives me a psychological resilience (mental fortitude) that daily helps me handle life’s challenging invisibility barriers while hoping this world’s dominant cultures will soon choose to accept, understand, respect, and love my true identity and worth.
Now without faith it is impossible to please [YeHoVaH]. For the one who comes to [YeHoVaH] must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.~ Hebrews 11:6 (The bracketed words are my emphasis.)
My debut novel is a faith-based book. It contains spiritual visions, rebellion, demonic attacks, a spiritual wilderness journey, reconciliation, and restoration.
Although my literary fiction deals with marriage and divorce, in this novel, I focus on how divorces are like amputations – how they both always leave people missing a piece of themselves. This focus is why the narrative highlights the demonic attacks that cause marital and familial struggles and losses prior to Triston’s and Zemora’s amputation of divorce – severed souls and spirits – and highlights their heartbreaks, losses, griefs, and afflictions that happen after their divorce.
Triston’s and Zemora’s presumed faith walk is tested. They find out why their lack of faith made it impossible for them to please YeHoVaH.
This novel is a good read for believing moms. It also is a great gift for Mother’s Day, as well as a fabulous gift for any holiday or special day.
Is anything too difficult for [YeHoVaH]? ~ Genesis 18:14a
“Ah, my Lord [YeHoVaH]! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm—nothing is too hard for You! ~ Jeremiah 32:17
And looking, Yeshua said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with [YeHoVaH] all things are possible. ~ Matthew 19:26
I belong to several authors’ groups on Facebook and Twitter, and I am a member of these groups primarily because I want to increase the number of readers who would be interested in buying my new book. Many of the authors in the groups I’m a member of published their latest books either a few weeks before or after I published Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored on January 29, 2022. Sadly, most of these authors are more concerned with promoting their own books than they are concerned about helping to support my novel, which I understand.
The same is true on Instagram, where I also follow some of the authors who are in the said Facebook and Twitter authors’ groups. Additionally, I am a member of various authors’ groups on Goodreads. Again, my reason for joining was to create a target audience.
Honestly, there is nothing I would love to do more than to support as many authors as I can who are in the groups that I joined. I wish that I could buy every author’s book(s) – especially if the genre is one I love to read. However, I am a 71-year-old author with a limited income, so I can’t afford to put money in other writers’ pockets without being sure they will return the favor.
As I mentioned in a few of my Facebook postings, I would love to sell more copies of my debut novel that I self-published on a wing and a prayer. The reason this book is unlikely to attract the attention of book buyers and, thus, unlikely to become a bestseller is that I couldn’t afford to hire a reputable book marketer, advertiser, publicist, or any other skilled professional who could have helped me successfully launch my book, helped me to increase sales, and/or helped me to eventually become a bestselling or award-winning self-published author.
Yes, I still write for the thrill of it. However, I also write to create valuable books and blog articles, as well as write to be the best author I can be – not necessarily a best-selling author. Yet, I doubt that there is a published author who would say he or she truly couldn’t care less if a book he or she published didn’t make a bestseller’s list. I know I would care, but I wouldn’t obsess about it.
Be that as it may! Since I am a self-published author, the sad truth for me is that I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of making either The New York Times’ or the Wall Street Journal’s bestseller lists if I can’t afford to hire skillful professionals who can help me attract some much-needed attention for my book, as that attention could mean my sales might increase. Likewise, I don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming a bestseller on Amazon, if I can’t increase the number of potential readers who might buy my book.
If my novel does better than I alone was able to achieve, it will be because it is YeHoVaH’s Will. Therefore, I am hoping for a miracle and trusting that YeHoVaH will perform it today.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil, my cup overflows. ~ Psalm 23:5
On January 29, 2022, I published Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored. At that time, I was 70 years old and had been divorced for 23 years.
I wrote the original manuscript in the fall of 2003. Years later, about three months after I had lost my oldest son to diabetes complications in 2017, I looked at the original manuscript. However, instead of working on it, I wrote a short memoir – Untimely Farewells – and published it in 2018.
It took COVID-19 and being quarantined to motivate me to revisit the 2003 manuscript that became Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored – my debut novel (literary fiction). Thirty-six days later, I turned 71. Shortly after that, YeHoVaH blessed my debut novel with a five-star rating. Then, on Saturday (April 2, 2002), my novel received its second 5-star rating AND its first book review – a glowing review.
Now, it is possible that Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored might never be an Amazon bestseller because most people, Christians included, don’t want to read preachy books about divorce. Sadly, many of the people who steer clear of books that preach against getting a divorce won’t take the time to discover that Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored neither preaches marriage nor divorce.
Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored shows how divorce is like an amputation – how they both always leave people missing a piece of themselves. That is why my debut novel’s narrative focuses on the demonic attacks that cause marital and familial struggles and losses prior to Triston’s and Zemora’s amputation of divorce – severed souls and spirits – as well as focuses on their heartbreaks, losses, griefs, and afflictions that happen after their divorce.
Nevertheless, even if Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored never becomes an Amazon bestseller, YeHoVaH has abundantly blessed me this late in my life with two readers’ 5-star ratings and one reader’s glowing book review. Hallelujah!
Thus says YeHoVaH God of Israel, ‘Write in a book all the words which I have spoken to you. ~ Jeremiah 30:2
Did you know that most of Amazon’s self-published authors will never get rich from their book sales?
Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) allows authors to publish their hardcover books, paperback books, and eBooks for free. Additionally, Amazon KDP allows self-published authors to own all rights to their books, which traditional publishing houses don’t usually allow.
However, although Amazon KDP doesn’t charge authors to self-publish their books, Amazon KDP does have a fixed royalty rate for authors. That rate is 60% of the authors’ list price. In addition to the 60% royalty rate, Amazon KDP charges self-published authors the printing costs for each sold paperback and hardcover copy. In other words, (royalty rate x list price) – printing costs = royalty.
I only sell paperback copies that use black ink, so the printing price for every paperback copy is based on the online Amazon marketplace my book was ordered from, the ink type (black or color), and the page count. In my case, that means Amazon KDP will keep 60% of the $17.99 list price for each book that I sell and, on top of that, will subtract an additional $6.18 from my royalty percentage every time a copy of that book is printed. So, Amazon KDP will receive about 75% of my $17.99 book price each time a paperback copy of Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored (published January 29, 2022) is sold and printed.
Now, you might be asking: Why are you thrilled about that? Well, first, I am thrilled to publish something I created and thrilled because I published it without receiving any rejection letters. I am sure I would have gotten some had I taken the traditional route. Then too, I am thrilled to own all rights to my self-published books.
Secondly, because I have a few loyal friends and family members who actually believe in me as a writer, I am thrilled because several of them purchased my book almost the same day it went live on Amazon. So, even if my number of sold copies isn’t large, I am thrilled because my faithful friends and family members didn’t disappoint me.
Thirdly, I didn’t write my book because I had “making a killing” in mind. Did I hope that it would do well, financially speaking? Yes! Did I pray that YeHoVaH’s Will was for me to become a bestselling author? Yes! However, in my heart, I am prepared to remain humble no matter if I do or don’t achieve financial success with this book.
The bottom line is that I have always understood that any success I achieve with this book isn’t of my own doing. Any success would be because of YeHoVaH’s Help and His Will. That is why I am grateful for true friends who have supported me by purchasing and reading my book. Lastly, I am grateful for the following unexpected support:
Tonya’s Facebook Comment 3-4-2022Saw This First Amazon Rating By An Unknown Person On 3-7-2022Sylva’s 3-7-2022 Text To Me About My NovelLarry’s 3-12-2022 Black Authors Network Comment – Facebook Group
While I know that to some people these examples of the unexpected support I have received since Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored went live on 29 January 2022 aren’t worth much, to me they are priceless. They are precious to me because I didn’t buy or beg for this support.
All the above examples of the support I have received are the reasons why I write for the thrill of it. Furthermore, because some friends and a few family members support my writing ventures in more than one way – like they have done for my newly released book – this is the reason why I also give YeHoVaH all the Glory. Shalom!
1Loved ones, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from [YeHoVaH]. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 You know the Ruach Elohim by this—every spirit that acknowledges that Messiah Yeshua has come in human flesh is from [YeHoVaH], 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Yeshua is not from [YeHoVaH]. This is the spirit of the anti-messiah, which you have heard is coming and now is already in the world. 4 You are from [YeHoVaH], children, and you have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world, so they speak from the world and the world listens to them. 6 We are from [YeHoVaH]; whoever knows [YeHoVaH] listens to us, but whoever is not from [YeHoVaH] does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. ~ 1 John 4:1-6
Overcomers are believers who truly are more than conquerors; they clearly are the faithful and obedient victorious members of the Body of Yeshua — the faithful and obedient spiritual conquerors. Notice that, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Yeshua never addresses the entire Body of Believers — His whole Ekklesia — as overcomers. Nor does He address one entire ekklesia (one assembly or one “church”) as overcomers.
While speaking individually to the seven “churches” (more correct translations of ekklesiae are assembly and community), Yeshua only promises benefits and rewards to the saints who OVERCOME, even though He uses only the singular pronoun. Yeshua repeatedly says, “He who overcomes.” Therefore, Yeshua is making it clear that not all saints — not all members in His Ekklesia — are or will be OVERCOMERS. These overcomers in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 are saints who shine like the stars that are far and above the spiritual corruptions or spiritual problems Yeshua mentions to Revelation‘s seven “churches.”
I know what I said above is an uncomfortable truth, but the Divine Truth is that there are Bible verses that prove the overcomers — the ones to whom specific benefits and rewards are promised/offered and to whom these promised benefits and rewards will be given — are separate and distinct types of saints. If we read closely, we see that in every one of the seven “churches” Yeshua mentions in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 there were — and, indeed, there always will be — the kind of saints who were faithful believers in Yeshua and the kindof saints who were unfaithful believers in Yeshua. There were — and there always have been — the kind of saints who were obedient children of YeHoVaH and those saints who were disobedient children of YeHoVaH. In other words, there were then — and always have been — spiritual and carnal members in the Body of Yeshua. Therefore, there also always were (and always will be, including right now) holy overcomers AND the kind of saints who were or are overwhelmed, worn down, and defeated. To put it differently, from the beginning of Yeshua’s Ekklesia, there always have been those believers who have become spiritual conquerors and those believers who have been spiritually conquered!
Again, the Scriptures prove that Yeshua only promises EACH spiritual conqueror in each of Revelation’s seven “churches” that if he or she is a faithful and obedient overcomer; that is, if the spiritually mature man or spiritually mature woman in each “church” continues to fight against Satan’s fiery darts, his destructive deceptions, and his toxic lies, AND WINS even if his or her resistance leads to his or her death, then that OVERCOMER is the believer in Yeshua who will receive the following specific benefits and rewards:
1. The Tree of Life
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradise of [YeHoVaH]. ” ~ Revelation 2:7 (Ephesus)
2. The Crown of Life
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities. The one who overcomes shall never be harmed by the second death.” ~ Revelation 2:10-11 (Smyrna)
3. The White Stone
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities. To the one who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone—and written on the stone a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.” ~ Revelation 2:17 (Pergamum)
4. The National Authority
To the one who overcomes and guards My deeds until the end, ‘I will give him authority over the nations and he shall rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are broken into pieces.’ Even as I have received from My Father, so I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities.” ~ Revelation 2:26-29 (Thyatira)
5. The White Robes
“But still, you have a few people in Sardis who have not stained their clothes. They will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. The one who overcomes thus will be dressed in white clothes; I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and will confess his name before My Father and His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities. ~ Revelation 3:5-6 (Sardis)
6. The Permanent Pillar
The one who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the Temple of My God, and he will never leave it. And on him I will write the name of My God and the name of the city of My God—the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God—and My own new Name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities.” ~ Revelation 3:12-13 (Philadelphia)
7. The Throne
To the one who overcomes I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I myself overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities.” ~ Revelation 3:21-22 (Laodicea)
He or she who has an ear needs to hear that Yeshua’s overcomer is not just the run-of-the-mill kind of saint, who gets into Heaven with the smell of smoke on him or her (see 1 Corinthians 3:15). To get these mentioned benefits and rewards, a saint must be a spiritual conqueror kind of overcomer — a faithful and obedient even unto death kind of saint.
and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate.” ~ Matthew 19:5-7, TLV
But Yeshua said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment! But from the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate!” ~ Mark 10:5-9, TLV
Well, praise YeHoVaH!
On January 29, the day my dad was born, I am happy to announce that my literary fiction novel went live on Amazon. This achievement – my first published novel and sixth published book – is so exhilarating.
Torn Asunder: What Happens When YeHoVaH’s Will Is Ignored is an inspirational, emotional, and spiritual literary fiction debut novel that follows Triston and Zemora Lansing’s inner stories. This character-driven story begins from a dark interval of paralyzing depression. Set mostly in Georgia, the story is preoccupied with the convolutions of its major characters’ personalities and their stormy journey through a prolonged spiritual wilderness season that is plagued by frequent demonic warfares, crumbling spiritual houses, and inconceivable human sufferings.
Literary Fiction Facts:
Literary fiction is character-driven instead of plot-driven. Moreover, literary fiction follows the main characters’ inner stories. These two facts are why every bit of action in a character-driven story impacts the main characters. Furthermore, understanding how the action affects the characters is the whole point of telling the story.
Since the characters have to react to what is happening in the story, literary fiction is always a study of the human condition. Additionally, literary fiction often includes political criticism, social commentary, and reflections on humanity. Because literary fiction either explores the difficult political or difficult social issues that control people’s lives, literary fiction is generally considered more serious than genre fiction.
Unlike genre fiction – romances, thrillers, science fiction, etc. – literary fiction doesn’t follow a formula. In fact, Iiterary fiction displays an irreverence for storytelling norms. As a result, a story’s arc may or may not be present, a satisfying ending is no guarantee, and the line between the hero and the villain is often blurry, as is what they are trying to accomplish. Because there is no tidy plot to spell out every character’s motives, literary fiction’s intangible details – metaphor, symbolism, imagery, etc. – play a larger role in telling the story.
10 Using the grace YeHoVaH gave me, I laid a foundation, like a skilled master-builder; and another man is building on it. But let each one be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Yeshua the Messiah. 12 Some will use gold, silver or precious stones in building on this foundation; while others will use wood, grass or straw. 13 But each one’s work will be shown for what it is; the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire — the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. 14 If the work someone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward; 15 if it is burned up, he will have to bear the loss: he will still escape with his life, but it will be like escaping through a fire. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
In the above verses, apostle Paul compares himself to a skilled master builder who laid Yeshua the Messiah’s Ekklesia (Community of Faith) Foundation. Then Paul warns that the preachers and teachers who build on the foundation he laid are responsible for their own work – they will be held accountable for their top-quality work (metaphorically speaking, whatever they built with materials made of gold, silver, and precious stones); likewise, they will be held accountable for their poor-quality work (metaphorically speaking, whatever they built with materials made of wood, hay, and straw). What Paul is saying is that some building materials are better than others. This truth is why he also warns each present and future Gospel preacher or teacher who builds on top of the Foundation he laid to use materials that won’t be consumed by Fire.
Apparently, the Ruach HaKodesh had revealed to Paul the real reason why choosing the best building materials was the wisest decision a Yeshua follower could make – especially if he or she functioned as an apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, or teacher in the Kingdom of YeHoVaH. The Ruach HaKodesh, no doubt, wanted Paul’s contemporaries and successors who preached and taught the Gospel of Yeshua to know that they would be departing from the Foundation, which Paul laid, whenever they built on that Foundation with fables, idle stories, and corrupt doctrines of men that were mingled with the unadulterated doctrine of Yeshua’s Gospel. This kind of building – using fables, idle stories, and corrupt doctrines of men as their building materials – weakened Yeshua’s Gospel. This truth is also why the Ruach HaKodesh, no doubt, wanted Paul’s contemporaries and successors who preached and taught the Gospel of Yeshua to know that their other gospel – their departure from the Gospel apostle Paul taught – would cause those who preached and taught it to suffer loss. Without exception, their building work would fail the Fire test.
The other bad news is that, in addition to the preachers and teachers’ inferior building materials failing the Fire test, these preachers and teachers also would be held accountable for the ways their substandard building work affected the Yeshua believers they preached to and taught – especially if their preaching and teaching made or kept Yeshua’s believers spiritually immature and unfaithful. Lastly, their poor-quality building work also would cause them to lose the heavenly rewards that overcomers earn. However, the one good news is that the apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers who preached and taught a wood, grass, and hay gospel were still saved, despite the fact that their substandard building work was (or would be) consumed by Fire.
The inconvenient truth is that everyone today who is born again and saved has been called to be an evangelist. Even so, it is irrefutable that each believer in Yeshua is either a preacher or teacher (or both). As such, Paul is speaking to every evangelist about the top-quality or poor-quality building materials that today’s evangelists use to build on Yeshua the Messiah’s Ekklesia (Community of Faith) Foundation that Paul laid. For this reason, every preacher and teacher should always build with top-quality materials – should always preach and teach the kind of Gospel that helps to make believers in Yeshua’s Community of Faith spiritually mature and faithfully obedient. If they don’t, these preachers and teachers will suffer loss.
Gone Fishin' 