This was a word God spoke to me in my journal in August of 2008.  I re-read it today and again the words pierced through the veneer of offenses and frustrations that I have been wrestling with.  I wanted to pass the breakthrough on to all of you.
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“You delight Me with your perseverance and desire to know me intimately.  I long for the soon coming days when I will be as real to you as the pages upon which you are writing these words.  As you are seeing, things do not always (in fact, quite rarely) work out the way you think they will or are supposed to.  You are beginning to learn what unconditional love is–and it has at its core forgiveness and, as Paul said, it bears all things.

Understand this: it is not my will nor does it please Me when others accuse or persecute or attack you.  What pleases Me and is My will is when you bless them in spite of the attacks…when you pray for their salvation and deliverance in the midst of and after they have slandered and falsely accused you.

True humility is submitting to love when everything in you wants to lash out and react on your own behalf…when every fiber of your being knows that you are being wronged, but instead choosing to forgo being your own defense and trusting that vengeance is Mine alone, and that I will vindicate you before those who have wronged you.

It is My great pleasure to see you growing in mercy.  Learning to love mercy and to do justice, not the other way around, is a major key to unlocking hidden and ancient doors in My Kingdom.  When those I came to save put nails through My hands and watched Me die, understand that they truly believed they were doing the will of the Father.

That is why the religious spirit is so destructive…at its murderous core there is a great deceiver that perverts the minds of its victims to believe with their whole heart that the evil that they are doing is actually pleasing to Me.

It stems from a root of unbelief…and hearts that are not truly surrendered to Me.  I delight in your abandonment of your agendas to My purposes, but know that there is an increase of abandonment that I am going to require, and soon.  Do not worry…I am yours and you are Mine and because you continue to pursue Me and intimacy with Me, the process will be a smooth transition.

The things I am going to ask you to leave behind are merely the things that you already are aware of that steal your attention from Me.  You are truly learning to rest in Me…by trusting that I AM that I AM and that I will never leave or forsake you…allowing My Peace and the assurance of My Love for you to be your constant companion–that is resting in Me.  It results in great and uncontainable joy, even in the midst of great trials and frustrating circumstances.

The enemy was defeated over 2000 years ago–it is your responsibility to act accordingly.

To keep in constant communion with Me means spending a lot more time speaking with Me than speaking to the devil.

I only addressed him when he would try to directly interfere with something the Father wanted to do through Me.

You, go and do likewise.

I am going to teach you about this.

Keep praying.

Love Mercy.

Do Justice.

FORGIVE.”