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Dear Friends: In this Jewish month of Tevet, I believe the Lord is challenging His Beloved not just to grow up, but to give up! He is looking for those whose hearts are fully surrendered, or given up, to Him. God's desire for your wholeheartedness is not selfish. In fact, it is your best form of protection. Your choice can be a matter of life and death. As a Christian, the war you fight against a satanic enemy is a war over your heart. All other wars are rooted in this foundational battle over the dominion and territory of the heart. (See James 4:1-4.) God wants you to win this war. Yet in order to win the war, you must humble yourself and surrender to God. To fail to surrender is to become God's enemy. The Lord once said to me: “A surrendered heart is all I need. No matter what you are going through, your surrender to Me is the key to victory. You may not have all the answers; you may not even see the way ahead of you, but a simple surrendering of yourself once again is the yieldedness that will allow Me to move you forward.” DEMONIC DECEPTIONWe are living in a time that the book of Jude describes as filled with great deception. This deception looks like love but infiltrates the ranks of believers with antichrist agendas founded on compromise. Daily now, we face choices of whether to surrender ourselves to compromise and complacency or to give our unconditional obedience to Jesus Christ. These choices are increasingly becoming a matter of life and death to our spirits, souls, and bodies. Many Christians do not realize the power of their intimacy with Christ! Nor will they take to heart Christ's words to believers (this is us!) living in the end times. For example:
The enemy knows that every compromise and partnership with unholy things renders you useless and unfruitful in your power and witness for the Lord. Therefore, whether faced with lovelessness or lawlessness, you must remain part of this spiritual war's "resistance" effort. The only way to resist a spiritual enemy is to submit to God. INTIMATE SUBMISSION
Because submission is unpalatable for most people outside of true intimacy, the Lord gave me a word several years ago of what intimacy and submission look like to Him. As the Lord spoke this word, I saw two visions: the first was of the Lord dancing with His Bride; leading her across a dance floor with His steps. Although they began at one end of a crowded, chaotic room, as the Bride surrendered to the Bridegroom's lead in the dance, she was automatically led to the opposite end of the dance floor. This side of the room was quieter and refreshingly empty. Without even realizing it, the intimacy of the "dancing" the Bride deposited her in the place of peace she needed to be. Yet her gaze had been solely on her Beloved! The second vision was of a child's game: a “trust walk,” where someone is blindfolded and must yield and listen to the guidance of the one who sees. In this vision, the voice of Jesus was guiding His Bride. I heard the Lord say: “When you cannot see what I am doing, you come to trust more deeply in My gentle touches, which become a love language more powerful than any words can convey. I am sensitizing you to the slightest movements; the slightest impressions of My touch, so that you are able to instinctively follow where I lead without needing to see or understand. Your responses will become automatic and there will be less need for explanation simply because you trust Me deeply. “The enemy would like to frustrate you in places where sight is hindered. Instead of yielding to his pressure and frustration, yield to the gentle impressions I am giving. Lean into what you know is of Me, and your sensitivity to My promptings will grow stronger, even in the face of demonic taunts. “You will not perceive your own progress at times; it will seem to you that you are going in circles, when in fact you’ll find that I have all the time been moving you across the floor, out of the crowded chaos and into a place of intimacy and peace with Me. “Do not fear the darkness. Fear losing touch with Me!” As times grow darker, my prayer for each reader of His Inscriptions is that you will win the war through a continued willingness to surrender. May you never fear the enemy, and may you never reject the kind of intimate submission to God that counters demonic deception. If you keep your gaze on God, He will always guide you, even silently with His eyes (Psalm 32:8). He has promised never to leave you without support (Hebrews 11:3). May your gaze be so fixed on the Lover of your soul that every form of war, chaos, and confusion falls subject to the beauty and intimacy you share with only Him. Deborah |
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Deborah Perkins 
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January 2023
AuthorA severe hearing loss from childhood caused Deborah Perkins to develop what she now calls her secret weapon: tuning in to God's voice. A Wellesley College graduate and an award-winning writer, Deborah is now a wife and mother of 3 boys. Deborah has devoted over 25 years to professional and lay Christian ministry in New England and beyond. Her passion is inspiring people to cultivate greater intimacy with God. 
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