a letter from jesus

Virtual Appendix for the book Triumphant Surrender, Chapter 8

Three Paragraphs from Triumphant Surrender, pages 121-122:
     "Another four days passed before my pen shed its first ink on this assignment. We had attended Saddleback Church earlier in the morning. There were no TVs on the premises, so I was not distracted with any football games. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon. Then it happened!
        I sat down at the dining room table, pen in hand, with my journal and my Bible and went into what I can only explain as a Holy Spirit blackout. I do not remember any of the details, just a flourish of writing. It lasted only thirty minutes. I had no time to assure the right words were used. I had no time to avoid grammar errors. I did not have much time to research many scriptures. As God would have it, I had no time for my pride’s perfectionism. He did not allow me that. The output of this homework assignment was going to be unexplainable except for the Holy Spirit’s intervention.
        When it was over, I looked down and had six handwritten pages, single-spaced, in my hands. Quickly reading back through it, I began crying. Where had this come from? Then I read through it again and counted at least thirty scriptures referred to in the six pages. I knew exactly where it had come from! This was really my letter from Jesus! I have not edited it since the day it was written. Here is a sampling for you. The entire letter is posted on triumphantsurrender.com."

Full Version of "A Letter from Jesus" as it was Originally Written:

​Tony,

I have meant to write you this letter for a long time, but your heart has been in a different place.  Now is the time!

You have struggled to overcome your many strongholds by yourself, the most evident one being alcohol.  However, much less evident to you, yet of greatest concern in heaven, is your strong tendency toward self-absorption.  Pride, the sin the Father hates the most, has fueled your regular lapses into sin.  As a result, you have lost your way from the light and have unknowingly supported the dark.  This lack of discipline and focus has pleased Satan immensely!

I open this letter with such conviction to share how common it is even for my followers to surrender their days to their own lordship rather than surrendering them to My Lordship.  Daily devotion to me, every morning anew, is the only way to live life free from this world’s bondage.

I came to save you … not to condemn you.  I came to set you free indeed … not to leave you in captivity.  You must truly believe these things.  There is no condemnation, my son, since you belong to me.  And, because you do, Holy Spirit power will free you from the power of sin that leads to death.  I came so that you could have life abundantly – a life with an abundance of My Father, My Holy Spirit and Me.  You must have daily faith to approach our throne of grace with confidence, not haunted by shame.

You know the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, ready to devour you.  He is out to kill, steal and destroy the magnificent calling the Father has planned for you!  Consider the shame he has continued to fuel inside your head.  Shame has no place in you once you realize how righteous you became upon receiving the blood I shed for you.  Since you treasure the sacrifice I made for you, the Father will always see you as holy, blameless and without a single fault.  Yet, Satan never wants you to live in that assurance.  He hopes to keep you hostage by filling your head with shame, distracting you from the Father’s everlasting love.  Understand that Satan has no strength over you except the power you give him when you believe in and submit to his lies.

I call you to grow mustard seed-sized faith in the following eternal truths: 

My Father, the Most High God, has loved you from everlasting to everlasting.  He knows you love Him … and having been called according to His purpose, He will work all these things together for your good.  Most importantly, He loves you so much that He sent Me into the world to die for you.  His amazing grace gives you access to all three of Us.  Get to know Him, really know Him.  You will find no greater joy than spending time in the Father’s presence.

My Holy Spirit, the Breath of the Almighty, has resided within you since the moment you first believed.  He is your supernatural counselor – the Spirit of truth.  He will teach you all things – including the mysteries of the Gospel – and remind you of every one of my teachings.   He will anoint you fully with His baptism once you seek it with a broken spirit and a contrite heart.  Humbled surrender is critical to usher in a double portion of Holy Spirit power.  Yet, never forget this!  When you stray from communion with us and fall back into sin, it is the Holy Spirit whom you grieve.  Any willful sin can quench the Holy Spirit’s fire inside of you for a season.  Surrender yields faithful obedience.

And, it is I, the Lamb Who Was Slain, who gives you the greatest gifts of all from My Father.  As you believe in me you gain direct access to God, you receive Holy Spirit power, you are assured eternal glory in heaven and can also live the victorious life here on earth day after day.  I wiped your slate clean and instantly took on your every sin against the Father.  It is for freedom that I have set you free.  No longer give the devil a foothold in your life.  Tapping into Holy Spirit power will make this liberty a reality in your life.  I am yours … and you are mine.  I am your Alpha and your Omega.

As I called Paul out on the road to Damascus, I call you out, too.  As you more deeply realize how lost and dark this world is, you will better understand Our greatest calling:  For you, Tony, to bear great Kingdom fruit by sharing the good news of My saving grace.  The gospel is everything!  I despise a lukewarm believer.  So, live a gospel-centered life.  Your God is a consuming fire – may He be contagious through you!  Be my witness inside your family, in your church, in your community and to the ends of the earth.

Nothing is more important.  I love with agape love.  There is no greater love than what I offered in dying a criminal’s death on the cross.  I did it for you!  You became justified with God the Father on August 6, 1999.  At that very moment, we wrote your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  You will be glorified when the time comes that We’ve chosen to bring you home to heaven.  However, you play a very proactive role the rest of your earthly life to become more and more like Me.  Your sanctification will require your continuous surrender to the Holy Spirit’s power.  In doing this, you will pursue the renewing of your mind, confess all sins you recognize and repent by turning away from them.  No longer conform to the things of this world.  Instead, be willing to let the Holy Spirit transform you from the inside out.

We have great plans for you … join Us fully!  Before the beginning of time, you were planned for the Father’s pleasure.  Worship Him by loving Him back and getting to know Him.  You were formed for Our family, My Bride.  Make sure you fellowship with other believers.  You were created to become like me.  Pursue discipleship through the teachings of my Word.  You were shaped to serve God.  Pray faithfully to discover your spiritual gifts for serving.  And, you were made for a mission.  Verily I say, you are called to evangelize to this lost, dark world.

A final warning:  Beware of the deceiver’s schemes!  He is out to destroy all testimonies of God’s glory.  As you often quote, “We overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony.”  Satan can’t rob you of my blood.  Yet, he wants nothing more than to render your testimony powerless.  Be baptized in the Holy Spirit.  It will fortify you greatly.  And, rebuke Satan out loud with the authority of My name, the name above all names … and by my precious blood.  As he tries to distract you with insecurity (the fear you won’t be provided for), learn, believe in, dwell upon and live out the promises of the Father.  In them, you are forever secure.  As he tries to distract you with inferiority (the worldly fear you don’t measure up), learn, believe in, dwell upon and live within the magnitude of what your identity is in Me.  You can find nothing more superior.  Wake up every morning and put on the full armor of God, wielding the Sword of the Spirit to batter hell’s gates.

In closing, you are the Father’s masterpiece, created in Me to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do.  He chose you before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.  Thus, I call you to return to childlike faith.  Stop over-thinking it all.  Open the eyes of your heart and let My truth show you how incredible agape love feels.  Once you feel it, you’ll want to share it with the rest of the world.

It gives me great joy, Tony, that you believe.  Surrender ever deeper and allow my Holy Spirit to help you overcome your unbelief!  Now, go forth and finish strong.

Your Savior and Lord,
Jesus the Christ


​- Tony Green, author of the book Triumphant Surrender