The Heart Of Intercession Is A Heart Of Martyrdom
Luz C Cintron
From: Luz C Cintron
Date: 12/04/05 08:22:01
Cc: upstream12@comcast.net
Subject: Heart Of Martyrdom
Note by Priscilla Van Sutphin
PLEASE READ THIS ONE CAREFULLY and CONTEMPLATIVELY! This is
MOST precious truth unto salvation and healing from the enemy of death, and
fear of death. Years ago when married, my husband had a dream that we were
called to go quickly to Russia. And we never came back he said. Out of my
spirit came " TO LIVE IS CHRIST, To die is GAIN !" It did not come
from my thoughts, but from my spirit man. I had a dream years ago of being
beheaded in a dry and arid sandy place as my son was watching the blade of a
guillotine come down on my head. Each time I go overseas, I am aware it's
possible I could not return. I know that ONLY when it is HIS time for me to go,
will He take me home. Until then, I am in His hands. Then I will be in His
arms..: ).
PTL !
Witness in the following verse means martyr !
NT:3143
KJV - take to record, testify.
martus (mar'-toos); of uncertain affinity; a witness (literally [judicially] or
figuratively [genitive case]); by analogy, a "martyr": KJV - martyr,
record, witness. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance
with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc.
and International Bible Translators, Inc.)
The Heart Of Intercession Is A Heart Of Martyrdom
Luz C Cintron
Dear Sister,
Remember how I said in the explanation of The Intercessor, that part of the ministry of Intercession as standing in the gap was to absorb part of the wrath of God part of His judgment? I said that I was not clear about how that was but a sense of truth called me into that mystery. I think I have seen a little further into that.
Since yesterday the Lord has been speaking to me about the heart of martyrdom. The early church's heart was one of a martyr. Even though not all of them died as martyrs, all of them lived as one. Mary's lifestyle was the lifestyle of a martyr. He showed me, that the reason why she was able to say "Be it unto me!" was because all in her life has already been surrendered and decisions in her life were only the embracing of His will. She had no decisions except to say "Amen!" and that is all she does when Gabriel speaks to her.
I feel that the problem I have, and many like me in the west, is that we know too much and live too little. The Gospel costs us almost nothing and grace is not a clear concept, instead of the reality it should be, to empower us into obedience and obedience into death is very distorted and difficult to understand because of our lifestyle (meaning my lifestyle). We all are dying, (believers and nonbelievers as well) what matters is how we do it. He brought unto me the scripture of Genesis 4:10
"And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. "
All blood that is spilled cries from the ground to the Lord. Because life, which was the gift of God, proceeding from Him, given into Adam's nostrils in the very breath of God, is in the blood, when it is spilled it cries unto Him. Life is a very holy thing unto Him, but that is another subject.
Here I saw that the blood spilled cries unto Him in His very presence. When Christ died one of His last words was "Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!"
Many people say that because the Jews cried that the blood of Christ were upon themselves and their descendants that they had cursed themselves and that was the reason for which anti-Semitism and extermination of their race had followed them. I don't think so. The enemy has tried extermination long before Christ was born. The book of Genesis (Cain and Abel), Exodus, Esther and every book of the old testament for that purpose, proves it. But I am beginning to see something here. Sometime ago I wrote an article on this in which I said that there was a correlation of the sufferings of Christ and the sufferings of Israel.
In the sufferings of Christ we were saved, in the sufferings of Israel all the nations are blessed. (Rom 11:15 "For if the casting away of them [be] the reconciling of the world, what [shall] the receiving [of them be], but life from the dead? ") That the day was coming in which they would recognize Him and identify with Him because they have suffered alike to bring the will of the Father to earth.
When Christ died He cried and I believe that if He was dying for the sins of mankind, and He was in absolute obedience giving His last drop of blood, I believe that the heart of the Father was not only moved but apprehended by the Son, and that as He was dying for the sins of the world it is impossible that the Father would have any other response to His petition than "You got it!" I can not picture the Father saying, "Yes, well, OK, you are dying for the sins of mankind and I will forgive all mankind, but regarding these Jews they need to learn their lesson, and I will hold their collective little feet to the fire until they come to their senses."
Christ was absorbing Gods wrath in Himself that we would not have to. He was the first to show the heart of martyrdom to its fullest expression. The intercessor has a call into martyrdom. We can't pray from the periphery, we are called to stand in the gap. We need to live in such surrender that every act is an act of death unto self and yielding unto Life, that is Christ our Way, Truth and Life, to become an open door to His will and ministry. We are given to see His heart for a nation, a matter, a people, a time, and then we are offered to pour ourselves as He did. John said in 1 John 4:17.
"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world."
The boldness of Christ was shown in the cross, in the face of His enemies, that He did not yield to the wisdom from below, but even then, He remained quoting the scriptures and before dying He asked boldly the total and complete forgiveness of His executioners. That is boldness. When we see the heart of God in a matter then we receive with it the vision to ask boldly but it will remain empty words if we speak only from knowledge, as one who quotes scriptures and promises. The life of the intercessor makes a difference because it is a life that is already pouring itself unto death so that others may live. It is a life molded into His image to become as He is to this world. Is a life that knows its ending and its purpose, to give itself as He gave Himself. The glory of the intercessor is the sharing of the crown of thorns that He bore for us, the bearing of the shame of the cross in our lives, its rejection and even its death, crucified in our self with Him that we may live not for ourselves but for those He came to save.
The church was edified in the blood of the martyrs because their blood cried out constantly not a cry of vengeance but a cry of mercy as Christ did. Mercy and Judgment are the two sides of the coin of the righteousness of God. There can be no mercy without judgment, and there is no righteous judgment without mercy. Only in God these two are balanced and perfectly bonded completing each other to reflect His glory. We do not know of this balance because we do not know perfect love that cast out fear.
I suspect that is the reason why John speaks of a boldness when he wrote that scripture. It is the boldness of Love, Perfect Love, that is Christ. These are things that can not be discerned in the natural for they pertain to the wisdom from above. Such was the wisdom with which Christ armed Himself to dispossess and uproot, rulers, principalities and the powers of the air at the cross where He exhibited them defeated.
I believe that as the time nears of His return, the bride will be given a revival of the heart of martyrdom. Total consecration demands it. It is not only how we live. We need to understand that surrender is not complete if we do not lose the fear of death. Because our deaths are a holy thing unto the Father. Psalm 116:15
"Precious in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints. "
We need to offer Him not only to live for Him as He may chose us to live but to use of our death to glorify Himself too. It is not enough that we live to glorify Him we must be willing to surrender our way of dying as well, that He may chose the way in which we are to die so that His name receive the most glory.
For months it has been the cry of the Spirit within that He does not allow my life to be in vain. For years fear kept me from meaning the timid prayer that started to rise in me, to give Him not only my life but also my death, to make a difference and to use, as He would see fit. Oh, I prayed in fear and in weakness but lately it has been becoming a cry almost a need to see it come to pass. Perfect love cast out fear, I have been so fearful of this. To surrender not only my life and death, but also the life and death of my children is not an easy thing.
After many years I have come to understand that all of our lives are lost if they are not surrendered in such a way. We shall die anyway, we must then travail in prayer that our lives and our deaths, be used by Him to make a difference. It is only death. For years the thought of beheading and the wondering of what it would be to see my own body detached from my head, how it would feel, how long can the brain live without oxygen? Scary isn't it? Or the fires, how would it feel to be burn alive or to see these things done in my loved ones. Then I am starting to understand, that is just the door. It will not last long. Like giving birth the first time, it is scary but then when the right time approaches it becomes something we long for and the pain is just something that announces the new life emerging from within. It is His glory.
"Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, [saying], I have both glorified [it], and will glorify [it] again." John12:27-28
The ministry of Intercession in the Bride of Christ is about to be renewed to reflect the glory of the Son of God. It will also be invested with power from above as Christ was, when we, united to our head in heaven, cry with His voice at once:
"But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! " Luke 12:50
That is love, that is travail, that is effective intercession. It is done and He did it. From then on, all that is left for us to do, is to become doors to His heart, to effect the will of the Father among us by following Him in His grace.
Grace and peace be upon you,
luz.
Little Love Song
Luz Cintron
All of them are gone.
Not a single friend.
The north winds are colder than usual ministering strength. So I give You
thanks.
All of them are gone
only You remain.
Their void is the shadow
that defines your light
their absence companion
that shows where You are.
Bless those that have blessed me by wounding my heart love was never sweeter
peace never so bright.
My beloved refuge
How would I have known
that there is a faithful
heart that loves me so
if they had not left me?
So I give You thanks.
The death of the winter
speaks of other deaths
but none is so dearly
behold as a friend
as the one who leads me
right into Your door,
calling me to lay down
in the tomb You laid.
So I give you thanks
Where ever I wonder
in thoughts of despair
the cross leads me surely
to your sweet embrace
my eyes seek out Yours
where I long to be
where death turns to life
and loss into gain
pain goes into sweetness
despair into hope
loneliness to solitude
can I want for more?
So I give you thanks.
So I give you thanks
from your wounded side
my refuge and stronghold
your wounding provides
I thank you for being
so given to me
for standing and knocking
and for coming in,
Coming in to rescue
coming in to hold
coming in to show me
love above all love.
I behold your patience
and your faithfulness
and I thank You Jesus
for this simple pain
that reveals my weakness
to unveil Your strength.
So I give you thanks.
Thank you my old friend!
luz
Tuesday, December 6 2005
lcintron@ameritech.net