Psalms 8:1 and 16:2.

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and led me back into Luke 20 to speak with me further about the “watchers” and the “spies”:

Luke 20:20 ¶ And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.

They “feigned themselves just men.” We so commonly abuse the word “just” that one might think the Spirit is saying these pretended to be “only” men. They pretended to be righteous, men of character, holy and just. They were wicked, unholy, coniving, scheming—an underhanded lot.

Along the still waters, I thought of Democrats today, whose leadership pursues the righteous like the wicked pursued David:

Psalms 35:20 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

Psalms 35:21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.

The wicked hated the “son of David,” Jesus, the Christ, for His words, which exposed their evil hypocrisy, and took away their ability to hold the people under their power by deceit. With Jesus going about speaking truth to everyone, they could no longer control the narrative. To protect their power, they needed to shut Him up. They tried everything, but to no avail. In Luke 20, we learn they plotted to find some occasion to accuse Him before the governor. The Democrats are the Pharisees today, and every man who speaks truth is a threat to their power.

We need to be discerning, and only GOD can know the hearts of men. We cannot go about thinking evil of our neighbors, but we must be aware that some will pretend to be “just men” who, in fact, are traitors against righteousness. Jesus “perceived their craftiness” and answered wisely; we need Jesus to help us be perceptive and discerning. To discern the spirit of another, we must be filled with the Spirit of Christ.

In the valley, kneeling in the shadow of His cross, at about six am today, I pleaded for the fullness of His Spirit. I presented this body as a living sacrifice, my thanks, the sacrifice of praise, my prayer, the sacrifice of incense, and dedicated my service to Him, the sacrifice and service of my faith. Satan, the prince of the power of the air, is the spirit that works in the “watchers” and “spies” who pretend to be “just men.” The Holy Spirit is our only sure defense. Jesus reminded me that the only way to navigate through this world safely is to “follow Him.” He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). I obeyed!

At His table, He graciously anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. He reminded me: If I said, “try the spirits to see if they be of God”(1 John 4:1), then I will expose “their cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14). We test the spirit of these enemies by the Scripture, which is a “discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Goodness and mercy appeared, Jesus arose, we followed Him into the Harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live as soon as I can get the livestream set up.