Precipice

The Author and Finisher

Years ago, when I was struggling against self-sabotaging fears about the worth of my writing and my ability to finish a novel, I labored in prayer. I did not wish to spend a large percentage of my life writing unless it was God’s will. I wasn’t asking for a best seller or even a certain number of five-star reviews to corroborate His will. I simply went direct, as I have for many things which have borne out for me. So it was that I found some rock-solid motivation for writing fiction in God’s will. Sounds pretty pretentious to think one can hear from God on specific matters, I suppose, when you have grown up on the bland diet most churches provide. They teach that God’s will is the ten commandments and maybe the two that Jesus gave on loving God and each other. And these are God’s will, but God’s will is also that we rejoice in His grace, that we walk by faith not sight and stop consulting with what we see, feel, and hear as our primary source of peace and belief. God also has a specific will for each of us, and it can be discerned. (See John 16:13, Jer 29:11, Jn 10:27; the many examples of Paul in the book of Acts including Acts 18:9-11) Oh, that’s just for Paul, he was special. Oh no. not true. But many of us have been unable to hear from God because we trust what our senses have been telling us and not the Word.

In a moment when reading His word as the logos became reading it as rhema specific to me, I understood the verse in Heb 12:1-2 to be adaptable to my situation:

“And let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.” (NKJV)

The words rang through my mind, as the Holy Spirit spoke to me about my writing: Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of my books! I may be the author but what I write are the books He’s shown me to write from start to finish. It’s my job to keep consulting with Him. I have many ideas on what to write. I don’t suffer from writer’s block. However, I know I must write only what He has shown me to write. As the process of writing this book brought me to this place of hearing from Him, I prayed this scripture over my novels. The Lord led me triumphantly through numerous revisions to publication.

If you think about it, IF Jesus is the author and finisher of one’s faith, that means he is involved in every detail of our living it out. And since one of those details for me entails writing novels, then it can be reverently and respectfully applied to writing my novels, too. The play on words is absolutely wonderful, since author is so very applicable to the writing of a book.

You can do this with any activity the Lord has called you to, and I highly recommend it. Find a scripture or scriptures that apply with modern relevance to the work, pray them over your work as you are doing it, and it will give strength to your endeavor. I wonder what scriptures Paul would have chosen as he sat side by side with Priscilla and Aquila, making tents while staying in Corinth? I am not a betting woman, but if I were to bet, I would wager there were a few that the beloved apostle would have used, when he wasn’t writing the books of the new testament in his head, of course.

My verse is not a formula, some mantra I began to say before and after every writing session. It is far more. It is a meditation of the heart. And as I meditated on its truth while writing, the voice of God spoke to me through it. He showed me how to write, led me to resources I could learn from, directed my time as I allowed Him to.

Nor is my verse meant to imply that my books have the validity of scripture, with me as the amanuensis and Jesus dictating them. No no. In the same sense that He is the author and finisher of our faith, and the working out of it, so is He for my novels. Neither my walk nor my books are perfect, but He will make them beautiful, and He will use them. I have faith in this! Not in the books or in the other things I do as I am led to. It’s the same use of the scripture, applied specifically.

Gathering it firmly in my mind the truth that Jesus is the author and finisher of my novels helped me to rest in His guiding hand over my writing sessions. I could create with joy, in a rich flow of His Spirit. As the revisions mounted in number, so did I place my faith on the great Finisher to guide me on putting the finishing touches upon the story. Meditating and adopting this verse lets me rest in His timing for my books to find their way to the people who need them.

I haven’t met a lot of Christian authors who have adopted scriptures as a lifeline for their writing. Then again, I haven’t met a lot of Christian novelists with anything of substance who have placed their writing on the altar of God’s will, either. For this field, just as any other dubbed “christian”, including most churches, is a vast wasteland of those seeking first not the kingdom of God but the top marketing niches and numerous high ratings. They have not even considered whether their books are a heart’s direction derived from hours in the throne room of grace. They remind me of a line in one of Becky Wade’s novels Stay With Me, “But just like a set of keys you can’t find right when it’s most urgent that you locate them, she’d misplaced God somehow.”

There have been exceptions which I’ve come across; I’m sure there are others. Some started out that way and waned, others discovered God could be the Lord of their writing along the way. There is always redemption available. I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for awards and feedback and all the accoutrements of developing one’s field of influence. It’s just that for the Christian, above all else come the springs of grace from within the heart of the novelist, flowing through the novel itself. “For ye shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…” The knowledge of God that only comes with time in His presence and the Word.

The DayWolfe Imprint

“What’s in a name?” asked Juliet, pondering sadly how her beloved Romeo’s family name was so at odds with her own. I can relate to this dilemma. Born under the name Wolfe became a source of mixed feelings as I got older.

Wolfe – my maiden name – created several controversies for me growing up. But, if given the choice of a pet between other wild animals, such as the lion or the bear (David’s foes), I’d choose the wolf. Loyal mates and marvelous parents, wolves are characterized by the personality of their pack. Numerous studies of wolves have been completed at Yellowstone National Park, as part of conservation efforts to preserve them. These have revealed that only rogue wolves kill for the sake of killing. Nor are they ravenous when the ecosystem supports their feeding. Known for skilled team effort in hunting, the eat as a team, too, sharing the spoil with all the pack, not just those who hunted but also those who watched the den and the cubs. Their social structure is complex, elegant and defined. An alpha wolf will take a mate, who usually becomes the beta wolf, but if the alpha dies, the beta will often take over as alpha. This is only one example of the many complex, sensible structures of wolf society that makes them both loving and strong. When it comes to their families, wolves are very self-sacrificing, and both father or mother wolf are known to fast rather than let their cubs go hungry. Wolves have been known to adopt abandoned baby animals of other species, nurse them and raise them. Lone wolves are in fact very rare and will usually be absorbed by a pack eventually. Like people, wolves would rather not be alone. Meanwhile, let’s not forget that some dog breeds are descended from wolves, and we all know dogs are cool, right?

And yet, the bible has little if anything good to say about the wolf, or the dog, for that matter. It’s not like wolves are singled out for slander – snakes get a very bad rap as well. Lions are often characterized as ravenous, cruel and heartless. I think most of us know that these references are meant to be symbolic. One giveaway of this is the way that lions have another identity, being a symbol of holy boldness and even of the Lord Himself, the Lion of Judah!

Hollywood hasn’t done much better by the wolf. From werewolves to the series, Raised by Wolves, there just hasn’t been much good said about them. Though I did like the werewolves in Twilight. They were different, just as the vampires are in that series. But that’s another article. I have to say the giant wolves that come and pick people up for a ride to Great Wolf Lodge make quite a wonderful commercial, as well. But I’m not holding out great hopes for an improvement of the wolf’s image.

I suppose it could have been worse. I could have been named Rattler or Viper. Nothing is more identified with the satan than a snake. And yet, I have had friends with pet snakes, and while I personally wouldn’t want one, I appreciate that they are one of God’s creatures. It’s not their fault that this was the form the devil decided to take, and to a degree Jesus redeemed them when he told us to be wise as serpents.

The most important issue with my name growing up, however, was that it is Jewish. I never dreamed this would be an issue. I grew up around my Christian relatives more than my Jewish ones; so I was surprised when anti-semitism reared its ugly head toward and around me. Writing in the 1920s, Agatha Christie wrote of one of her characters who turned out to be the hero of the story, yet who had a definitively Jewish last name, that he was of “unfortunate ancestry”. I’m almost ashamed to disclose this but I think it really needs to be said that as a female, being a “Wolfe” was sometimes misconstrued by hopeful teenage boys. It was not always fun to be a wolfe on the playground. I mean, give me a break! What a bunch of heathens. And can I add that it was even a problem in bible school. But that was long ago, before the awakening to our Judaic roots among Christian circles.

So how to own the name Wolfe as a Christian? While my last name is now Read, I refuse to leave the name Wolfe behind. Like many Jews under Hitler’s regime, I refuse to bow to unclean prejudice and hide my identity. I am a Wolfe. In fact it’s precious to me, because it’s really a beautiful name when I think of all it symbolizes. It’s the name my friends used when they dubbed me “Wolfie”. And it’s the name my father bore, the man I have loved more than almost any other in this world.

Enter the imprint DayWolfe. In case you are not familiar with it, the reference “day” comes from I Thess 5 which says that we are not children of the darkness or the night, but of the day, the light. A Day Wolfe speaks of one who has been redeemed, it speaks of a God-given identity in Christ. And it speaks of my Judaism. It carries the connotations of loyalty and fealty, kindness and compassion, teamwork and passion demonstrated by wolves toward their fellow wolves, with few exceptions. All qualities of the Holy Spirit, by the way. And in a way, it is a constant reminder to choose to walk and to write in the Holy Spirit’s light which indwells me. In Christ, I am indeed a Day Wolfe. Nice to meet you.

The DayWolfe logo was created by Danyelle Wolfe Read and has been and is protected by copyright since 2019.

College: Should you go?

During the Renaissance, after the invention of the Gutenberg Press made the bible available to all, the world’s vortices of intellectual pursuit converged with the aim of developing the human mind. Institutions like Oxford and Harvard sprung up. Their mission statements clearly set forth an understanding of soul and spirit under the guidance of an Almighty Creator through the New Covenant in Christ’s blood. A quick read of their original mission statements reveals this. It wasn’t long though before they began to deviate in the name of honest inquiry (yea hath God said?). Soon – as God counts time – the door opened to the possibility that there was no God and too soon that became accepted fact. Atheism, agnosticism, and spiritual principles of the kosmos mixed with truth and weeds of doubt and unbelief were planted and have sprouted into the society we have today. And it’s only escalating.

So is this stew of bonafide information, secular indoctrination, and myths based on debunked theories worth the soaring cost for a B.A. today? Many of you have been asking this question. I’d like to propose a different, much less expensive route, yet one which puts you indisputably in the same intellectual “league” as any college grad. Here in a nutshell is one potential godly “curriculum” to launch anyone into the next level of fulfilling the will of God for their life and to being able to hold their own among the world’s intelligentsia, without the high price tag. I would add that this is a basic structure, one which may be refined and added to according to personal desire and – above all – God’s leading.

Part One: Spiritual Development.

The best development of the human mind is to be able to read and understand the bible within its context and with spiritual insight. A steady diet of putting the bible into practice develops the mind in the context of an infinite, eternal purpose; it establishes the soul in this truth: that the mind is a servant, a useful tool of the spirit. This leads to a balanced mind, a “sound mind”, which encompasses both mental and emotional stability, good judgement, and accurate critical thinking. There will be humility instead of hubris, assertiveness, not grandiosity, honor rather than self-promotion, responsive and flexible leadership over insecure croneyism, Isaac instead of Ishmael. Could we possibly see our youth receive an education which launches them into the world with joy and peace, certitude and victory, with mental acuity, yet without depression, suicidality, doubt, substance abuse, loneliness and fear. How refreshing would that be?

But I have confidence in better things for you, beloved!

Where to get grounded in God’s Word is up to you. A good bible school can be one way. Some churches are like bible schools and will provide a great grounding as well.

Part Two: Academics.

This can be taken in a secular or Christian institution. Use discernment here, and be sure that the person can handle the secular environment, if that is what is chosen.

First, embark upon the study of an ancient languages: Latin or Greek. I recommend traditional academic study, apart from or in conjunction with biblical studies at first. Two to three years of ancient Latin or Greek will develop the ability to think logically, expose the learner to ancient cultures and other ways of thinking. It will ultimately bring a deeper perspective on the modern world. As a side note, Hebrew is another option here, but I don’t recommend it for a first choice because it is almost impossible to study ancient Hebrew without studying Torah and in this case, gaining a secular perspective, yet at an objective distance, is part of the process.

You might ask, Is language study really worth my time, given that there are wonderful translation apps now? For at least one language, it is worth your time. After that, you will possess enough knowledge to exegete with an app. Take tenses, for example. A tense is the time-frame of the verb’s action. In English, the verb “save” has three possible time frames, past, present and future. Within these, four modulations are possible, simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous. In Greek, there are either 6 or 7 tenses, depending on who is teaching it, with at least 6 modulations, plus a number of “moods” which color their meaning as well. So you might say Greek has two to three times the options for verb meanings than English. This is one of the reasons it is said that reading the bible in English versus Greek is like going from black and white to technicolor. Knowing Greek will let you understand beyond what the English translation states. Even an understanding of Latin, which is less complex than Greek, will help you understand better what the Greek and the Hebrew of the bible are saying, using an app.

Today it is possible to take college level language courses without enrolling in a degree program. I am sure there are other ways to learn an ancient language, as well. To be clear, you are not aiming to become a Latin scholar or fluent in ancient Greek. A basic foundation will be enough: two years is enough, and you won’t be doing it full time.

Along with this, a useful and profitable academic course will be history, particularly ancient history. Through the study of history you will delve into the philosophical world views and sociopolitical environments of various historical eras, with insight into how these panned out. The saying, ‘those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it,’ has some truth to it.

So we’ve got secular academic and biblical studies. (If math or science is your thing, don’t worry, I haven’t left it out, I’ll address it below.)

Part Three: Learn a trade.

Vocational expertise builds a good life and a stable society. To learn a practical skill or applied science is to have the ability to make a nice living, perhaps to live off the grid, start your own business, provide a service. These basic skills and stability are something many Ph.D.’s are lacking. There is also great benefit to your community and to your nation, for a nation which produces its own goods and has trades and skilled labor is a prosperous one. Often you will wind up hiring others. In other cases, you will work closely and successfully with other people. Under the blessing of God, your income will go up and up, as will your giving. You will become a pillar in your community and your community will grow stronger. There was a reason the Babylonians took the skilled laborers back home with them when they conquered a city.

It bears mentioning that many trades involve academic study in math and the sciences. Again, go the most direct route to getting these . A course or certification for a license can be enough. As you grow, and aim for excellence, you may add more.

One other element of a college education which I’d like to address is that of instilling respect for learning itself. College will teach you how to use a library for research, so you can actually learn to teach yourself many other subjects throughout life. Originally, there were no degrees higher than a bachelors. A basic foundation was expected to impart the ability to teach oneself any other given subject. This wisdom is available at many libraries where the reference librarian and others can introduce you to various databases and rooms housing special collections. Perhaps your high school offered this, as well.

There are times when a B.A., masters or doctorate are essential to doing a job you know you are called to do. However, it would be worth investigating the field you are interested in to see if you can do pretty much the same thing with less costly and less time-consuming credentials. Exorbitant costs for less value are causing many to think rationally yet outside the box when it comes to setting up a life. New certificates and majors are springing up which serve this purpose.

PS, one other component does not have anything to do with launching into a career but everything to do with living fully, that of having a hobby. From music to painting, to sewing to gardening to tinkering in the garage, a hobby will enrich your life. Do not however, get lost down the rabbit trail that confuses your hobby with your profession. Hobbies are fun, something we are passionate about. However, passion alone is not enough to support you. Opportunity is a door opened by God through which you can bring your passion and apply it. The main thing is to be led by God as you choose what to do with your life, and where.

“I know the plans I have for you, Declares the Lord.” Jer 29:11

Seasons

The creation of seasons in nature reveals God’s pattern for all of life. “To EVERYTHING there is a season… .” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Each of the great covenants handed to us by the Creator has been a season. And each of us goes through many seasons from birth to passing into eternity.

The world will define personal seasons according to its carnal way of looking at things. A person over 55 is termed a senior, those in their 80s, “elderly”. A person in their 20s may be deemed immature or “not ready”. If you’re not careful, you’ll buy into all this. In truth, an old eagle can fly stronger and higher than a young one. Caleb was ready and able to take his mountain in his 80s. David defeated Goliath as a teenager who couldn’t fit into a warrior’s armor. A widowed Ruth left country and family to follow the God of her mother-in-law and wound up with a new husband, giving birth to a child who would become Jesus’ great grandparent. What do these have in common? They had heard from God and had the faith to carry out His directives. By doing so, they each entered their next God-ordained season.

Before I go on, I must add that if you are in a season of overcoming ill health, there are spiritual laws that promote health which are clearly outlined in the Bible, corroborated by many such as Kenneth Copeland and Dodie Osteen, Andrew Wommack (who is a youngster compared to those two), and many many many others of lower profile (to us, though not to God). Investigate these ministries and you’ll find the testimonies of living people who are enjoying the good, abundant and healthy life Jesus paid dearly to purchase for us, against many attempts to rob them of it.

But I digress.

What I’m really led to write about today are these seasons which extend from birth to our passing into glory. Now, even if you die young and broke, God is going to welcome you who trust in Jesus with open arms and dry every tear. But there is victory in living supernaturally that the world has no idea is possible and hopefully this will inspire a few people to stop settling for less. More to the point is that we respect that we are all going through different seasons, and that we do our best to honor each other where we are at. The important thing is to be asking God, and always checking in, with regard to His will for your life’s seasons.

From a divine perspective, there are seasons in a human’s life never understood or thought about by those who are not spiritual. The seasons of slaying dragons, moving mountains, going through a wilderness, seasons of learning how to wield the sword of the Spirit and how to walk by faith, of sowing and reaping, receiving and resting. In fact, there are too many to mention. No one person will live every possible season available to the human spirit, however, we are all meant to live a few, for we are going from glory to glory in this life.

For everyone, there will be change. Billy Graham, one of the greatest preachers who ever lived, had a season of retirement before he died. There are numerous people now in the ministry who had seasons of preparation and regrouping before they answered the call to ministry. And there are those who begin in one ministry and segue to another. Young worship leaders often move into preaching or teaching, for instance. Moses had to leave a pharaoh’s palace to get a fix on who he wasn’t so that God could help him understand who he was. That had to be an interesting transition, to say the least. In the same way that autumn begins to be felt at the end of summer, or spring overtakes winter, we might notice these shifts for ourselves. If you keep your ear to the ground, as they say, you will hear from the Father how to navigate the new terrain.

Our Lord Himself would do nothing without hearing from God about it (Jn 8:38, Jn 12:49, etc) and then He instructed us to abide in Him (Jn 15) so we could do the same. If it was important that Jesus listen to God, how much more so that we do? A study of the book of Acts will show how Paul consulted the Lord personally over his itineraries, even going against a prophetic warning (Acts 21) after he’d gotten the clarity he sought. (I’ve heard it preached that this was Paul being pigheaded, an example of an error in judgement. They base this on Paul’s escape from Jerusalem many years earlier and on the fact that Paul was repeatedly thrown out of synagogues in many cities. Actually, persecution is not proof of disobedience but obedience, as confirmed by our Lord and many scriptures. In fact, would we not see Paul’s message to synagogues as his way of following the pattern Jesus Himself set forth, proclaiming the gospel “to the Jew first.” There is also the fact that every time he preached at a synagogue, “some believed” despite his being kicked out, and of these, a few became fellow messianic Jews who accompanied Paul on his journeys. Paul refers to how much their support meant to him, mentioning them separately from the Gentiles on his ministry team. Unfortunately, I don’t have space here to reference the multitudinous other scriptures which directly and in principle confirm that Paul was almost surely being guided by the Holy Spirit in this visit to Jerusalem late in his ministry. As one more piece of the puzzle, before I move on, consider the prophetic warnings themselves, which never said, “Thus saith the Lord, Don’t Go!”, they simply said there would be bonds awaiting him. There’s a huge difference! But, let’s be honest, while the important points of our faith are well defined in the Bible, exegesis of this particular point will always amount to speculation by sanctified imagination. Nothing fully states Paul’s motives or God’s will concerning this visit by Paul. All we can say is “probably” to an interpretation of the event. Given the evidence of scripture as partly outlined above, it’s more likely that Paul’s determination to continue on his way to Jerusalem was probably not hubris disguised as nobility, but rather grounded in the leading of the Lord Himself.) To wit in regard to the current discussion, the scriptures show us with many other examples and teachings beyond any doubt that following God’s leading is vital, that we are each responsible to gain direction from Him, and that sometimes it will fly in the face of what others, even other spiritual people, might think or advise. If so, it’s not necessary or even advisable to argue. Stay in love, but stay the course God has called you to.

Your spiritual connection with God is inviolate. No one can tell you what God is telling you to do. There is much to learn and practice when hearing from God for guidance and direction. This becomes clearer when one starts living one’s life by it, rather than a one-off. Anyone can catch a worm if they dig enough ground up! Like any other gift, practice strengthens and refines it. Prophetic words of wisdom and knowledge given to you should resonate with what you have received from God. Similarly, your spirit, now indwelt by God’s Spirit, will not contradict the Word which is found in the Bible. We are all of a piece with Jesus!

Seasons are real, and as long as they are God-given, they will bring great blessing, understanding, peace and provision.

“Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding. For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.

“She offers you long life [and length of days] in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying [peace].

“Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.”

Prov 3:13-18 NLT

Holiness and the Prophetic In The New Covenant

The concept of holiness is actually a cluster of meanings. Its primary concept is “the other”, or “otherness”. This is meant to lead us to understand the Creator’s glory and nature cannot be humanly manufactured or earned. The fundamental understanding of holiness is that His ways are not our ways! Yet in knowing Him, we also know that He IS love, He brings peace, He is surrounded by glory, and so forth. In the idea of holiness, therefore, we also have all of who He is that we can appropriate as His children. Receive it and be holy yourself! If you do, you’ll find yourself walking in His ways. If you seek His face and His ways, you will hear from Him. This function of communicating with us is accomplished by His Holy Spirit.

As we are “filled” with the Holy Spirit, which is to say allowing Him to take the reins of our lives to the degree that we experience His infilling, we will be able to hear from Him. This last function of His Holy Spirit will grow in us. There is no replacement for time in many areas of our growth including this one. Hearing from God may come very early in our walk, but it takes time to understand His ways and know when and where and how to apply them.

Seasoned spirit-filled Christians usually make this process look seamlessly easy. We are at rest in Him so we tend not to stress. Those less seasoned may bring more drama to the process. That’s ok, because it’s still new to them. We who have walked in the Spirit for many years will walk with greater and greater ease, but with no less awe and thankfulness.

It never gets old to see the Holy Spirit work miraculously, even when it is one’s daily and hourly experience. So don’t be deceived by the seeming ease of a saint of God. Don’t confuse the natural for the supernatural. The supernatural is still operating right out in the open for you to see in their lives when you have eyes to see it.  And the eyes to see it are developed and brought into focus by functioning in it oneself. This is what is meant by the scripture “the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets.” Yet reading the stories about the prophets, Elisha for example, will reveal how it takes time to grow and develop. Elisha became the head of the school of the prophets of his day, and when it was time for Elijah to depart, his more advanced disciples knew of it. But they still hadn’t gotten the whole story the way Elisha had. Thus Elisha instructed them to be still and watch (get behind me).

Insight and revelation are sometimes learned during dire circumstances when all that is natural fails us. This is one of the reasons why you will hear preachers who do not know better preach that we “need” adversity. However, it’s also possible to focus on God’s will even when times are good, to learn all that is needed this way. And in fact, the seasoned lover of God and believer in Christ will normally always do so, no longer being deceived by natural circumstances but rather flowing with the Holy Spirit. (The Holy Spirit doesn’t lead us into the valley, we walk there all by our little old selves.)

Walking by the Spirit, God repeatedly promises He will make all natural things work together for our good and that we will prosper and be in health. Yet there is a balance because to flow with the Holy Spirit requires putting God’s Will ahead of our own. So our focus must remain on His will despite all the wonderful “things” (love, joy, peace in ourselves and in our relationships, provision, health and healing) being added to us. This beautiful interchange is best described by the relationship of marriage, with each partner putting the other first (The song of solomon is one expression of this). Except in this case your “partner” is God. I’d say that’s a little bit unequal, wouldn’t you? And yet He calls us His beloved and His bride, making us righteous, giving us all the benefits of being His which Jesus has. (the book of Ephesians talks a lot about this.)

 So don’t be deceived just because a believer’s life looks great and because they have all their needs met abundantly and seem to do this effortlessly, don’t conclude that it is because they have a great education or are smart, or some other natural thing. In fact, those who rely on such natural things will experience only a form of success but not the success of God, they will experience a success that brings many troubles and worries.

The good success of God brings the kiss of favor: joy and blessing, family and community and peace, protection, all in supernatural ways with revelation and understanding but it all may look very simple. Unless you ask, you may never realize what’s been moving that person, causing them to make the decisions they have made. Yet as those who are living in it know, this supernatural state of blessing has come because they have diligently applied themselves to learning His ways, have consistently put God’s will first and His kingdom, have been using their faith and letting the grace of God do the work, are listening to Him and to Him only, moving with Him and with Him only, have not grabbed at the many earthly blessings and favor being poured on them daily nor on the temptation to copy the zeal or callings of others, but have instead continued to take hold of God’s will, God’s leading and God’s righteousness in Christ as primary.

This is how we can continue to walk in love, even in the midst of God’s constant outpouring of spiritual and material blessing. It’s is the new covenant way of living in His holiness and in the prophetic. No drama. Just truth!! It keeps a person humble. So that, depending on their calling, you may never notice them. And if you do, you may never understand what is making them tick unless you ask.

Glimpses of Jesus bar-David Part Two

This post is part of the l’Chaim! series on topics related to the Jewishness of the Messiah Jesus and how this can further our understanding and the living under the power of Holy Spirit in this generation.

As a Jew, Jesus was capable of acting in the role of rabbi. He knew every law and tradition, and could have certainly risen to the rank of chief priest, had this been His mission. However, the mission of Jesus went far beyond that of being a Jew, for Jesus bar-David was also Yeshua bar-Yahweh, or more appropriately, Yeshua bar-Elohim, the Son of God as well as the Son of Man. I believe this is why the Savior’s own Judaism in His earthly life has easily been overlooked, because He Himself explodes out of it. No culture can contain Him!

And yet, the Creator chose a people on earth to represent Him. Their mission was to be a light to the nations. So when He came to die for us, He came as a Jew, fulfilling all that His Father had intended in setting a people apart. As many Jews today will readily agree, Jews have never existed to hoard the goodness or the revelation of God, but to share it. In Jesus, our loving God has provided a new covenant, one which when received and lived frees anyone and everyone from the curses originating in the Fall in Genesis 3. This is the Blessing! The Blessing as promised to Abraham and to his seed through Isaac, the children who come through Faith.

There are many examples of how Jesus points to this mission to the entire world in His earthly ministry: His encounters with the non-Jews as written in the gospels are probably only a few of many more times when He offered them the same blessings He gave to His fellow Israelites. A centurion (one of the Roman oppressors, no less), a Samaritan, and a woman with enough faith to plead with Him on His own terms, “even the dogs get to eat the crumbs beneath the table,” she said. There are probably many others, those who in those days were known as God-fearers, people who believed in the God of the Jews, who read and revered their scriptures.

Returning to the prophetic decree declared over Simon Peter, if we look at this with a different lens, understanding that Jesus is not only bar-David but also bar-Elohim, the son of the Creator, we understand the astounding truth Jesus is proclaiming.

“‘And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’” MT 16:16-17

Here is a truth whoever believes on the Name of Jesus can stand on! It is not only for Jews but for everyone who accepts the grace offered in Jesus as the One Who represented us all on the cross! He makes us the Church, Jew and Gentile, male and female, barbarian, uneducated, ignorant, educated and civilized, all, all, all, all, all of us who believe, we have the promise that the gates of hell will give way, and are even flimsy, compared to the might that is within us.

My friend, I understand if churches have let you down. But churches are not the Kingdom of God, they are human organizations and they have flaws. You are the Church when you believe on Jesus in a way that produces evidence and substance. You have that power to tread on serpents and see the gates of hell cave as you advance upon them.

Still, if one can put a thousand to flight, two can vanquish 10,000! Our Lord’s purpose was to build you up as part of a body. Get to a fellowship where you can experience this Church blessing if at all possible. That is to say, find a Spirit-Filled, Bible-believing church which stands in the supernatural, the anointing and the blessing you can count on.

I find myself groping for a way to get across the full import of this promise which Jesus verbally proclaimed (and I SAY to you) to Simon Peter. How many know that when Jesus says something it’s scripture? This 40-second clip from a powerful sermon by Evangelist Rev. Daniel Kolenda conveys the immensity of the truth of what Peter received and which we inherit! I encourage you to study this topic out for yourselves. Tell me if it doesn’t make you hungry to learn from our Lord how to put this into practice in your own sphere of influence.

Receive everything that is yours, dear friend and family, as you pursue the One who is always pursuing you.

Glimpses of Jesus bar-David Part One

This post is part of the l’Chaim! series on topics related to the Jewishness of the Messiah Jesus and how this can further our understanding and the living under the power of Holy Spirit in this generation.

My Jewish father used to bring us kids to Brooklyn to visit his mother. Grandma Wolfe-Cole stood at 4’11. Having escaped Hitler’s armies by emigrating to NYC, she kept a kosher household. As soon as we crossed the threshold of her modest Flatbush apartment, she would place her hands on we children’s heads and mutter in Hebrew and Yiddish, a mixture of Hebrew and German often spoke by immigrant Jews in New York. My father stopped to allow this, just as anyone else in the house fell silent, honoring, observing and agreeing. “What did she say, Daddy?” I asked and in response to my query, he would translate the beautiful prayers my grandmother had declared, ordaining blessings and peace. The effect on me was a profound sense of Adonai’s Presence.

Interestingly, speaking blessings over the children is very much alive in today’s Jewish households. A Jew may or may not choose to extend their faith in other ways, but blessing the children is one tradition seen everywhere, from orthodox to non-practicing.

Another cultural attribute is to encourage PDAs. Jews hug, men hug men and they also hug women, everybody hugs everybody. They express their feelings. Jewish men are not afraid to cry. There is good evidence that this makes people stronger and healthier, as long as it is kept positive.

Another thing which is often practiced among Jews, including my Dad, is to catch someone being good. When there may be a need to correct, it is done in a way that is not shaming.

Jesus often displays these hallmarks of Jewish culture. He was kind yet no wimp, He could express affection. He understood the ramifications of His authority, not for oppression but for service. He was a teacher par excellence, a counselor to all. His Jewishness clothed Him like a coat of many colors and sometimes we can catch a glimpse of it in the nuances of the written gospels. Here’s one example from Matthew, also a Jew:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon bar-Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 16:13-17

As many will know, “bar” is Aramaic for son. “Blessed are you, Simon bar-Jonah,” there is such warmth and brotherly, even fatherly, affection conveyed in this phrase. Imagine a tutor or an elder calling you by your full name and calling you blessed at the same time. This is Jesus gushing, it goes way beyond approval, it’s love and pride mixed together, it’s joy because here, Jesus is “catching” Simon Peter being good. He’s ecstatic to see the fruition of what He knew was in Peter.  The Savior then prophesies over him, bestowing upon him almost inconceivable honor and one of the most powerful calls anyone has ever received.

I’m not saying that Jesus was only a warm and fuzzy Jewish guy. He did a lot of rebuking and correcting, name calling and even whipped a few people at least a couple of times. He hated sickness and spiritual blindness, but lowest on His list were those who took advantage of others through religious belief. Highest were those who showed the qualities of recognizing God’s righteousness and love, faith in Him, and living out their radical faith. Actually, this is one of a few times I know of that Jesus ever gushed. The others were when He praised the woman who had given her last two mites in the offering, when the woman touched Him and was healed, and when the centurion (a non-Jew mind you) told Him not to take the time to come to his house but rather that if He simply said the word, his servant would be healed. Much as here with Peter, Jesus “marveled” at this man’s faith. (Mt 8:13). The recorded memoirs of the apostles tell us that He took greatest delight in people believing God was God. It wasn’t just that Peter’s answer was correct but that his heart was open to hearing from God, as radical as what he heard might be, which made Jesus so so happy.

Jesus was not a humanist. Every action of His short time on earth was pinned upon the axis of delivering and teaching supernatural faith which pulls us out of our self-absorption. Unlike Maslow, He didn’t put self actualization at the epitome of human achievement. He honored laying one’s life down for the revealed will of God.

That’s a very very different emphasis. He said only by Me can you find access to heaven, to God, to eternal life. And while the by product would often be many earthly joys, those should not be, and in fact cannot be, the focus for us to fully live as salt and light.

What if the Son of God had put His own “happiness” first. Would anything have stopped Him from achieving earthly fame and fortune? If He had decided to use His immense talents, gifts and power to become a general and take over the known world, He could have. His riches and His harem could have far exceeded those of Solomon. Jesus told us clearly, My kingdom is not of this world. The King of love and peace also knew what it would cost to achieve it, that His very own purpose was to come as a sacrifice, an atonement, a substitionary vessel for wrath, and as victor. Every generation of believers since Him have the overarching purpose of living out this victory, and showing the way to others. It is a cardboard facade to reduce the purpose of life to nothing more than self actualization or achievement for it’s own sake.

We are here to serve God according to how we are called. In Christ our lives are hid. This is only possible when we connect with God through the Holy Spirit after our full surrender to His salvation offered by grace and mercy. It’s only possible when we seek Him about one’s individual purpose and to hear from Him about every action, every decision, and oh thank you Jesus that it is possible! That He answers all such prayers. Wait, and though you wait, you will receive an answer in due time. Jesus honored this level of faith above all others.

This post would not be complete without an overview which the Judaic perspective would offer. Observe carefully the Body of Christ today. They are all in different stages of progress. Some are mature, these are the ones with generations of blessings that have fallen upon their descendants. They have given much, and they are reaping a hundred -fold. Spiritually blind critics may see only how much they have, not understanding how much they have given and are still giving.

Others among the fellowship are just beginning, others are at 30- and 60-fold. Jews understood this well. We too must realize that in surrendering to Jesus, there will be a return in this life, and glory in the next. There absolutely will be. I should really insert a few scriptures here. 3 John 2- “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Mark 19: 29-31 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Here we see Jesus talking about the subject of prosperity. He gives two caveats: one is that there will be persecution for living out the gospel. The other is that there will be those who seem to be prominent on this earth (even among believers) who are not so in heaven. This is making the same point that I am making, that even in having wealth as part of the blessing of God, the person’s heart stance toward their wealth, how they continue to serve God while having it, is what is weighed by God.

What we do with the 30 to 100-fold return will be dependent on our ministry and calling. Some may be led to stay on the mission field until they die, and possibly reinvest every cent into it, so they may even appear to be poor. Yet they are not. They are the ones who know how to call in the funds and resources, who have developed a deep and abiding relationship with the Father who gives beyond measure. George Mueller comes to mind here. Others who have families and wish to enjoy nice houses, and lands and cars, jewelry and gorgeous dresses, and TV ministries with only the best makeup and hair, and whatever, they are free to do so. But for many many of these people, that was not what what they were after in the first place. This is what just happens when we really live for and hear from God! (Now of course, some have gotten side tracked, but let us pray for them, God is able to get them back on track.)

Those stuck in poverty may actually have a hindrance in their souls to receiving what God is trying to get to them. This is a subject for another time and there is much in the Bible about it. Only the truly spiritual can discern the motives of the heart. Alternatively, there are people who have been poor all their lives who are coming out of this cycle by God’s grace and by faith, who are so focused on their material success that they have lost the ability to see how others who are also being blessed, maybe much more than they, are serving God with their blessings in a different way. They are bragging on their blessings because they are bragging on God! And yet, the spiritual sensitivity just is not there. These are like the nouveau riche of Christendom. They are harmless. Let them enjoy their newfound blessings. But stay the course yourself! Seek to fellowship with those who remain humble, and who share. Be one of them. Don’t be afraid to wear your expensive jacket or dress, but neither shirk from taking someone out to the grocery store or the mall and buying them a few outfits either. Give a car away if you are at that level. Yet keep it on the down low, or people will seek you out simply because of this. If necessary, give anonymously. Above all, let them see Jesus.

Angel News Headlines: Rome crumbles, Hitler loses, Woke Culture fizzles, Christ’s Followers Set the World on Fire with Love as Economies Rebound. Liberty and Justice Comes to All Nations.

The news of John the Baptist’s death hit Jesus hard, yet He ministered to the crowd of those seeking healing, rather than insist on being alone to pray. Jesus kept ministering under the jurisdiction of an insane government. This, dear friends, is how I’ve come to understand my response to be in the face of the insane corruption of the owners of various social media websites.  

As I prayed for help and guidance, the Father has brought various scriptures to my remembrance. Jesus paying taxes and Paul’s insistence that we honor and pray for governmental leaders. Paul’s preaching in the Parthenon, which is exactly like posting on Facebook or Instagram or YouTube, his teachings on eating meat sacrificed to pagan gods. The gist is we don’t shrink back in the face of evil, instead we move forward in love and take back the territory. We overcome evil with good. Light shines in the darkness and darkness vanishes. Sometimes it’s not without a fight, but we always win. God’s response to Judas was to commission a Paul. We have the promise that the gates of hell won’t stand before us. Cancel culture, voter fraud, stealing rights and undermining the Constitution and the rule of law, these are all satanic gates, attempts at setting up corruption to an inappropriate place of power. History is very clear, Rome crumbled as Constantinople rose to power, installing Christianity as its official religion. In more recent times, Israel won the 6-day war supernaturally, in the very same way Israel won many other wars in the OT supernaturally. Hitler’s march through Europe seemed to evince him as invincible. And yet, the allies did not give up, despite tragic and terrible losses, and he was defeated. God Is Greater. With all of this, there is a cautionary note to count the cost. Sometimes it’s high, sometimes it’s life itself. One day, there will be an ultimate clash between the kingdoms of light and darkness when Christ will return; things will get very dark before then. Could this be the prequel? It’s certainly a foreshadowing. But we are never to stop hoping, believing, holding fast to what is good and true. Believers have brought the world back from the brink a number of times. For the sake of all my friends, especially the young ones with young families, I very much hope that’s what will happen in our times, in America and throughout the world. However, that really isn’t our priority. It’s more a fruit that comes from living the vine life.

Here’s how I’m handling Facebook and all the other minions right now. I’m using FB on a minimal basis under a new, minimalist account, in order to be able to communicate with current events of groups I am involved with in person. I’m staying off Twitter because I value my time. I don’t watch mainstream news, I sometimes watch Newsmax, but the Epoch Times and their sister organization NTD as well as OAN are by far the most factual and least editorializing of the conservative news outlets. RightSideBroadcasting has created its own infrastructure, and is another good outlet which we’ll need if YouTube totally flakes. Instagram and Pinterest are not worth my time either but again, take them over with the good news if they are yours. (I’m posting on the venues which I list below, including some personal things.) YouTube remains very helpful though I try to go directly to the site when it too hosts the video. In that vein, God.TV has some very worthwhile programming. I’ve closed Amazon Prime permanently but continue to host my books on Amazon. In other words, it’s impossible not to be tainted by the surrounding culture. So move in on it, make it the vehicle for proclaiming the gospel, ANNEX and TAKE OVER.

Here is the promised list of alt venues, where I have an account and where you are welcome to join me. They are sometimes good sources of actual, factual news and information, as well as direct posts by some great patriots.

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/danyellewolferead  If we’re friends, hit Add Friend or simply hit Follow. This is also a good place through which to contact me. The contact page may be accessed through the link above.

Telegram – name: Holistic One   username HolisticOne

Gab and Rumble – AuthorDanyelle

Parler – @DayWolfe

If you have any trouble finding me on these, reach out to me via Goodreads and I’ll help. Also, I would appreciate your mentioning your own finds in the comments below.

In the end, the only question that matters is, Do I love the men and women who are destroying truth, justice, the rule of law and our freedoms right now? What does it matter what I feel when God does? God loves them, and by His Spirit, I can too. Does God condone what you’ve done? No, but Jesus has paid the price for it, just as for my sins, and none of us is any blacker or dirtier than another before we come to Christ. Sanctimonious? Not really, when you consider the Bible says all our attempts at righteousness are filthy rags. If I am loving you through anything other than gratitude for my redemption in Christ, it’s just dirt in God’s eyes.

Civil justice would be served if many of them spent the rest of their lives in prison. Without condoning them, God loves them. And therefore, so do I.

Listen Pray Stand

If you are experiencing anxiety right now (and any person with common sense would), it is not weakness. If anything, it attests to mental strength. But there is a better way to handle that ability. I’ve helped a lot of people overcome depression, but anxiety is a different sort of evil. It starts with a meme or an idea that takes over the soul. While it starts in the mind, it can and will pollute every other aspect of your being, emotions, body, even spirit.

The only real and lasting antidote for anxiety is to change your thoughts. I should know, I have had to fight this fight all my life. I’m here to tell you that I have won that war, though there are sometimes skirmishes. I never took meds for it, but if you have, it may be necessary, no worries. The main thing however is this: whatever the thing is that you are focusing on that is causing the anxiety, find the thing that is true regarding that same issue, and focus on it instead.

But Danyelle, you say, I keep hearing more and more facts about election fraud, the Biden/Harris actions, not to mention concealed historical crimes against the US and other countries, insane and horrific slaughter of innocent people in China, Iran, Syria, religious persecution on my job. Meanwhile, many respected preachers are saying this is the end! I can’t be anything but a mess!!!

Listen, sibling, I applaud you for doing your research in the areas of public policy and politics. I’ll try to write another blog soon listing the many alt media sites that I have found, as it is important to be informed!

The real issue is not that our country is in chaos, that you, dear friend, may be being targeted, or even that this could mark the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The real underlying issue is how to handle all the new information because how you handle it means the difference between staying the course with God or panicking, and it may even be as important to you as life and death. This has always been the case, even in peace times, but the acuity of our situation here in the US puts more pressure on every aware person and therefore increases the possibility of heading into a tailspin. No need for that!

First: Don’t hide from it. Denying the truth is worse than being upended by it. Think of how the early believers’ lives were totally changed. And yet many, most people who had been healed by Jesus turned their back on Him. No, I think I’ll go back to my safe little life, they said. Actually, it turned out not to be so safe. Go ahead and download, subscribe, sign up with apps with reputable voices on them. These may be where the censored, yet upright, people have opened new accounts.

Second: Take a break from it. Many of these new apps automatically queue notifications to your phone. You can simply mute your phone but you will still see the notifications. More effective is to turn off the notifications for these individual apps through your settings function. I log in to these apps when I am ready to take in more information. I pray about and schedule when I will do this. This is information that brings pain, grief and outrage, or it should. You must be bolstered and ready when you are reading it (see my next suggestion).

Third: Ready yourself! Start with worship, the Word, and the knowledge that God is greater than all the machinations of evil minds. You didn’t sign up for Jesus thinking this life was all there is. Keep eternity in mind. Listening to encouraging sermons from before the virus took over is also a very good idea. Find scriptures that become a living word to your spirit, and listen to the Holy Spirit. Use worship music to remember His goodness and protection over you. Psalm 91 is also great for this, as is John 14, Phil 3-4, there are many others. All of this will arm you, shield you, guard your heart and mind. As you pray, speak forth that truth and justice be done. What we say has a powerful impact, even if said in the privacy of your study. Listen and get God’s guidance. Then follow the leading of the Spirit for your own life. If you don’t do that well yet, you have many principles to follow from God’s Word. The Holy Spirit never contradicts the Word. Respect also that others may have a different call.

Fourth: There is something all of us can do regardless of your calling. You can take a stand for truth and justice by boycotting all lying media. I recently discovered that my tires were made in China! I needed two new tires so instead of buying that brand, I switched. Stop buying Chinese-made goods. Get off of Facebook, Twitter, Google and Apple to the degree that you can. Amazon Prime, cancel it! You don’t have to storm Washington, or even have arguments with your co-workers, but you can do this. Before you tell me what I’m advocating is extreme, realize this: Every time you log on, tune in or give attention to those TV and Cable channels or websites, you give revenues to people, people with lots and lots of money, enough to stop the legal system from doing its job of reviewing TONS of hard evidence that they are criminals and traitors participating in human trafficking and child sex rings. Enough to alter the results of a US Presidential election! If using a social media site is critical to your ministry or business, you have many other options. I hope to blog soon about my own migration from those disgraceful media outlets to ones that are doing a much better job and with integrity. Some I will clue you into. Others I will remain anonymous on, not because I am afraid, but because I am being led to. If you read my books or know me for any length of time, you will learn how to follow this leading for yourself. Also, if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, and want to, please feel free to contact me through my Goodreads account where I may be easily found. It would be my honor to assist you. God’s love and faithfulness never quit. I cannot imagine going through these evil times without Him. The good news is, you don’t have to!

Listen, Pray, and Stand. Inform yourself, turn your outrage into determination, your fear into courage, your anxiety to proactive calm. As you move away from anxious reactivity to responding, you will find yourself able to listen more, observe more, and possibly say something that will help someone else to become informed. Above all, you will stay in the center of God’s will with assurance, knowledge and guidance for He has you firmly in the palm of His hand.

PS Here’s a link to a book I’m enjoying right now. I am not getting any revenues from posting this! It’s a good example of what to put into your soul at this time.

https://www.davidjeremiah.org/resources/revealing-the-mysteries-of-heaven

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35273355-revealing-the-mysteries-of-heaven

The AHAV Bible

I’m excited about this Bible coming out, a rendering of the New Testament based on Aramaic, which is what Jesus and His contemporary Israelis spoke, which also Paul must have spoken, though He and many of them would have also been raised to speak and read the scriptures in Hebrew, as Jews are today. And doubtless, many spoke and understood other current languages of the day, for the empire was a vast conglomerate of disparate people groups.

As someone who speaks a few languages and have been trained in ancient Latin and even a little Hebrew, (I even dabbled in Hawaiian when I was living there – very very interesting language), I am so very aware that different nuances of meaning attend different languages. Studying languages has long been part of my love affair with words.

It will be really interesting to see what layers of meaning an Aramaic translation unfolds. An interlinear edition would probably be the next step, with a key, such as the Strong’s lexicon, which brings depth to one’s study and to which many online translations and interlinear versions are tied.*

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*Though it has been useful, this is not a blank check endorsement of Strong’s lexicon.