Month: March 2021

Happy Saint Patrick’s day to one and all!

THAT TIME has passed, OR HAS IT? 2 Kings 4

Elisha had his servant, Gehazi, call the Shunamite woman to his upper room (Jesus’ disciples also waited in an upper room for the coming of the Holy Spirit).

12 He said to his servant Gehazi, ‘Call the Shunammite.’ So he called her, and she stood before him. 13 Elisha said to him, ‘Tell her, “You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?”’

She replied, ‘I have a home among my own people.’

14 ‘What can be done for her?’ Elisha asked.

Gehazi said, ‘She has no son, and her husband is old.’

Elisha, the man of God, offered the woman two similar choices, namely, can we speak to someone in authority on your behalf? LIFE OFFERS US CHOICES AND OUR RESPONSE TO THEM SHOWS OUR HEARTS. A man of God presented this woman, who’d helped him, with a chance to get something for herself, but she refused. There’s no value in taking something offered to us if we don’t need it and the Shunammite lady declined.

Elisha seemed at a loss to know what to do for her, but the answer came through his servant’s practical observation. God often guides us through circumstances and not always by spiritual direction. We shouldn’t overlook the obvious when we’re seeking guidance in our lives; if there’s an obvious way try it and keep looking to God.

This Shunammite woman had a need so deep and personal that she didn’t or wouldn’t even mention it; she had no son.

15 Then Elisha said, ‘Call her.’ So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. 16 ‘About this time next year,’ Elisha said, ‘you will hold a son in your arms.’

‘No, my lord!’ she objected. ‘Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!’ THIS WAS A SORE POINT FOR HER!

17 But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

The woman COULDN’T BELIEVE THE WORDS of Elisha and there’s nothing to tell us what happened after he spoke those words to her, but A YEAR LATER God blessed her with a son. Some of us may have received a genuine offer of something but deep down it’s not really what we want or need. May I suggest that we turn to God, who knows all things and seek that which our hearts truly long for. The Shunammite may not have believed, but God blessed her faithfulness. Hallelujah We can’t put our lives on hold indefinitely and if the answer hasn’t been birthed, BEGUN TO APPEAR AFTER ONE YEAR, give it back to the Lord and move on.

Give some thought to what you’re asking as it could change the course of your life.

May the Lord bless you as He blessed this lady. He has no favourites and you are as important to Him as any of His children.

God bless and keep you today.

The prophet was coming their way – HELLO!

9 She said to her husband, ‘I know that this man who OFTEN COMES OUR WAY is a holy man of God. 2 Kings 4

IF we want to do ‘More’ in the Kingdom look out for those who are crossing our paths! I know a mature prophet in Ireland who was asking the Lord for someone to work with and travel with in ministry. He met an older brother from Canada with a very different type of teaching and preaching ministry and they did a couple of trips together. The Irish prophet was talking to the other brother and actually said to him that he needed a ministry partner  to travel with. To which the older replied, ‘what do you think I am?’ A perceptive prophet overlooked the obvious, the man who’d ‘Come his way’ from God. The packaging or outer appearance may be different from what we expected, but God knows the end result He needs to achieve.

SOCIAL STANDING IS NOT KINGDOM AUTHORITY!

Social standing amongst people does not equate to authority or status in the Kingdom. When we look with our natural eyes we won’t see as God sees and may completely miss God’s paths. The Shunammite lady was someone of standing and she could feed the prophet and make a simple room for Elisha on the roof. Elisha carried the authority of God on his life and as we saw yesterday, she came to him when she was called. She had to leave her place and go up to him to receive her reward from the Lord. Take Note, In Kingdom matters the natural roles were reversed.

41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. Matthew 10:41

The kindness and faithful service of the Shunammite to a servant of God, literally OPENED A NEW DIMENSION TO HER LIFE AND THAT MAY BE WHAT GOD WANTS FOR YOU. Sacrificial Service doesn’t mean giving up our place in the Lord, but recognising and honouring someone else’s standing.

We also need to recognise God’s chain of blessing operating in this account. The Shunammite supplied or helped the prophet, but she in turn needed a miracle to bring forth new life, a son. Elisha was her only possibility of fulfilling that deep desire/need and if she’d failed to honour him the new life would never have come forth. A sober thought on which to end a beautiful story.

Who or what are you sending into my life today Lord – don’t let me miss them. Help me to recognise and respond fully to your messengers.

God bless and keep you today.

If you have ‘Room’ on the roof, you may receive your ‘Greatest Blessing’. 2 Kings 4

The story of the unnamed Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4 is a powerful testimony of God’s goodness and faithfulness.

This woman was wealthy and invited Elisha to ‘stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat’. Elisha the prophet was stopping at their house to eat with them, but this woman decided she wanted to DO MORE than just feed Elisha.

9 She said to her husband, ‘I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then HE CAN STAY there whenever he comes to us.’ 2 Kings 4

Initially she fed the prophet and his servant, but she was prompted to do more, to make a place for him ‘to Stay’. Are we satisfied with what we’re doing for the Kingdom or do we feel we could do more? This woman, with her husband’s agreement, she was able to involve him, wanted to do more. The results from the ‘more’ were that Elisha, the prophet of God, bringing the presence of God, ‘Stayed Longer’ with her. When we’re doing something for and with the Lord, it’s easier to know His presence.

Elisha was on the roof, above the household (so was Peter when he had his vision about Cornelius and the Church Acts 10:9). He’d been given the highest place. In old farmyards in Ireland, there were often lofts above stone barns, with steps up the outside for access. People are building these again today in modern homes, sometimes with living accommodation and I know of one place, where they’ve called it the ‘Prophet’s Barn’. I imagine Elisha’s room also had separate access, outside the main house.

The prophet’s conversation was with the woman who helped him, he honoured her. She was a notable lady and his host but the prophet sent his servant, ‘Call the Shunammite’, and he called her and she stood before him. The woman had to leave what she was doing in the house below and attend the man of God. She had to ‘Come Up’ into his presence. Elisha had decided to repay her kindness, but she had to Come Up where he was, he didn’t go to her. We may have to do the same to receive our blessings from the Lord!

On the blog last Friday we noted that the Wedding Feast in Cana, stood out because the best wine was the last wine. Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, said, ‘the woman has no son and her husband is old’. Elisha called her and declared over her, ‘this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms’ and she did. A ‘son’ can represent many things, God is not finished with us yet. If you have unfulfilled dreams, He may have given them for Truly He does keep the best/choicest wine to the last.

The woman began feeding the man of God, but then she made a place for him, at the top, to stay or abide.

God bless and keep you today.

Jesus first miracle at the Wedding Feast at Cana, was it unintentional or part of God’s perfect will? John 2:1-11

We read yesterday that Moses met with his ‘Family First’ in the tent, away from all the Israelites. Exodus 18

Jesus and His disciples were invited to this wedding (Family Wedding?) and His mother came and told Him, ‘They have no more wine’. It seemed from their conversation that Mary had sprung something upon Him, but perhaps not. It was His mother who made the request to rescue the hosts’ reputation; people gathered to celebrate and no wine left. Jesus’ first miracle was to allow people to celebrate and not have the wedding day tarnished.

A wedding usually signifies ‘Love and Covenant’ and also hopefully the coming of Family. This miracle only appears at the beginning of John’s Gospel and John was the beloved disciple, very appropriate. The context is ‘Love and Celebration’ within the Family setting and Jesus’ Public Ministry began right there.

Once the miraculous change of the water into wine (gallons of wine in those 6 large stone jars) had taken place, Jesus told them to take it to the master of the banquet to taste. He must have tasted some poor wine before, because the quality of this wine surprised him. There are two implications here; the world may offer something attractive but in the end it disappoints (Cheap wine). The Kingdom of God keeps the best until last, important if you’re no longer a young person.

Another point was that this was a celebration with joy and laughter, there would have been a wedding and vows exchanged, but no religious duty to warrant the gift of all the choice wine. The Lord in His graciousness provided ample for the people to enjoy their wedding, without religious ritual.

The outcome of the Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee, the Wedding guests celebrated with ‘choice wine’, Jesus Revealed His Glory and His disciples put their faith in Him. The Bible recorded all the outcomes from the Feast were positive, not always the case with the scriptures.

Finally, we should note that heaven is planning it’s own Wedding Feast at the end of the Age, with Jesus’ bride/His Church in Heaven and what will that be like for the guests

Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.’
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

9 Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.’ Revelation 19

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We need Godly priorities and to focus on our individual callings! Exodus 18

After the battle with the Amalekites and before the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, the Bible recorded the visit of Jethro and Moses family. Seems a minor matter, but was it?

5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’ sons and wife, came to him in the wilderness, where he was camped near the mountain of God.

Jethro arrived and they went into the tent and Moses told him all that God had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians and how He had rescued Israel along the way. Moses ‘caught up with Jethro and we presume his wife and sons’. They spent TIME ALONE TOGETHER, so the Word records Moses met with his FAMILY FIRST – they were First Priority.

Jethro praised God for all He had done and declared, ‘Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the other gods’.

12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses’ father-in-law in the presence of God.

Jethro then ate with the leaders of the people in the presence of God. The COMMUNITY CAME SECOND after the time with the Family. They ate together, still often the way when leaders and officials meet today; a way for people to meet and bond outside of a purely business agenda.

13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood round him from morning till evening.

17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, ‘What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. …21 But select capable men from all the people – men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain – and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Let them serve as judges for the people at all times, but let them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, YOU will be able to stand the strain, and all THESE PEOPLE will go home satisfied.’

THIRD came the Administration of Justice or we might call it Business. Jethro gave Moses and the people good advice and I believe Godly advice. Burnout would have been a disaster for Moses and Israel. God was about to issue the Law and bring in a new dispensation, but he adjusted the administration of Justice first. Trusted members of the community dealt with the day to day problems and Moses still judged major disputes.

Family first, community/Church second and business third – the Bible’s order for dealing with life. Focus on our own strengths and callings.

God bless and keep you today.

Don’t be shocked if the enemy counter attacks, God is training us to be overcomers.

Moses and the large company of Israelites(possibly 2 million people) may have hoped for a quieter time after escaping Egypt, but they’d just changed one set of problems for another, so often the way.

As we saw in an earlier blog, a series of events occurred in those first three months, ‘to the day’. Exodus 19:1 Moses leadership was tested to the fullest, from within and without. After travelling 3 days in the Desert of Shur without finding water, they came to Marah, means bitter, but couldn’t drink the water until God healed it. Then the Israelites complained about the lack of food and God sent them quail and manna(bread from heaven). A further episode with no water occurred in the Desert of Sin and Moses struck the rock at Horeb with the Staff of God and water came out of it. Moses called it Massah(testing) and Meribah(quarrelling), the people not happy with life.

Then a new problem appeared, ‘the Amalakites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephedim’. Exodus 17:8 Israel were thrust into their first battle without warning and they had no alternative, but to fight. Moses told Joshua to choose some of their men and go fight the Amalakites and tomorrow he would stand on top of a hill with the Staff of God in his hands.

The battle was fought in the valley but won from the hilltop!  Men were needed in the valley(battleground) but authority was required on the hilltop.

As long as the Staff of God’s authority was held up, by Moses, supported by Aaron and Hur, the Israelites were winning. Once it came down, their enemies had the upper hand. Moses needed support to see the battle through to victory at night fall and so may we. I’ve been privileged to be part of international Prayer Teams going to pray in other nations. The leaders carried powerful authority in the Lord, but they always valued the support of others to help win the battles. It’s good to have support if you’re standing against enemy opposition, like the Amalakites. Moses had a strategy for the battle, just like teams on a sport’s field have a strategy for their game. Seek the Lord for His plan before you enter the battle and then go in full confidence in the Lord.

This was Israel’s first physical battle, unfortunately the first of many, even to modern times. I feel it is significant, for one main reason, God worked with His own people to ensure victory. There will be conflict before the Lord returns and on many levels, but the ‘authority of heaven and the Church on earth, working together in close harmony will win the day’. Israel needed the support and direction of heaven to be victorious over powerful enemies and so will we.

God bless and keep you in these days.

WE CAN’T HAVE OUR HEAD IN THE WORLD AND OUR HEARTS IN THE LORD.

God divided two peoples at the Red Sea, completely and irrevocably. It’s significant that Israel lived for 430 years in Egypt and maintained their own identity, a separate people living in a separate place, Goshen. They may have been viewed as an underclass of slaves, undesirable for the wealthier Egyptians to mix with.

Jesus coming was heralded by very distinctive words from two different men, Simeon and John the Baptist. Simeon guided by the Holy Spirit entered the Temple just as Jesus was brought in by his parents.

34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’ Luke 2

…He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ Luke 3 (John the Baptist)

Both men prophesied that Jesus would bring a sepation or make a distinction between the people of His day. At the end of His life, while being crucified on the cross, Jesus was still fulfilling that word.

18 There they crucified him, and with him two others – one on each side and Jesus in the middle. John 19

42 Then he (one thief) said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’

43 Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’ Luke 23

The author of Psalm 1, perhaps King David, used the same analogy of ‘the wheat and chaff’ to distinguish between the wicked and the righteous. The psalm opens with two different sources of counsel;

Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither –
whatever they do prospers.

WHO ARE WE LISTENING TO/GETTING OUR COUNSEL FROM IS A VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION TODAY? For many of us it’s the world’s voice or media. We can’t spend our time absorbed in the voice of this world and wonder why we’re not hearing more from the Lord. Switch off the media, normally speaking fear and disaster. Tune in to God and life will be more positive and more blessed.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Take time with the Lord in your life and get His direction, it’ll pay you in the coming days.

God bless and keep you today.

Are our hearts set on ‘Following’ Jesus or are we held in place (stuck) by the reassurance of the ‘Familiar’?

Israel finally came out of Egypt, with all the wealth of Egypt and crossed through the Red Sea on dry ground – a miracle from God. Exodus 14 It’s interesting that we read the events of the next 4 chapters of Exodus, 15, 16, 17, 18; Israel’s new journey with God through desert lands. Israel had suddenly changed from being a settled, enslaved people (being told what to do and when, No ‘Freedom’) to being nomads and journeying as they were led by God. Exodus 19 begins;

On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt – on that very day – they came to the Desert of Sinai. 2 After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. Exodus 19:1,2

All the events of those 4 chapters of Exodus 15-18 were compressed into a period of just 3 months, to the very day! God’s timing is amazingly precise when He chooses to be. Israel had been slaves in Egypt for 430 years to the very day! Exodus 12:40, 41 They had grown from a family of 12 brothers to twelve tribes and a nation under God.

Israel had cried out to God in their captivity and He’d heard them and brought them out of Egypt (represents the world system) with powerful acts of judgement. They’d lost their ‘Familiar Lives’, where they knew how to navigate and were now in a strange world, unknown to them, but God was with them.

The world today has changed for many people, even most people and may never return to what it was before. Some Prophetic Voices are declaring it’s a new Era, the Era of the Coming Kingdom of God. The big question for the Believers today is will we go forward into the New Day or will we look back to the Familiar?

In Luke 17:20, the Pharisees asked Jesus, ‘When the Kingdom of God would come?’ He later told His disciples that just at it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. Luke 17:26

Jesus warned His disciples and us not to try to hold onto our lives, perhaps we could say, ‘past lives’.

Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. Luke 17:32, 33

We must be willing to give up the ‘Familiar and Follow the Lord’ into what He has for us – ‘Freedom’ in our true destiny. Remember all that we see today is temporary but the unseen is eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:18

May God bless and keep you and make His face shine upon you, in these coming days.

Move on in the Darkness to know Deliverance in the dawn!

‘Tell the Israelites to move on’ Exodus 14:15 Israel had to be willing to move in the time of darkness (that’s Faith) and God delivered them at daybreak. Exodus 14:27

Sometimes praying is not the answer or the whole answer (‘why are you crying out to Me?’), sometimes we have to ‘Move on’. Both parts of the same verse, Exodus 14:15.

I’m going over this again because some of us may be waiting for God, but God is telling us to move on and HE’LL HELP US AS WE GO FORWARD.

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17

James goes on to give two examples of people who demonstrated their Faith in God by their actions.

You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. James 2:20-24

Abraham, the Father of all who believe, was considered righteous ‘by what he did and not by faith alone’.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Rahab, the woman in Jericho, who helped the spies escape and saved her whole household was also credited with righteousness – she literally put her life on the line believing her actions would save her family.

Nehemiah 6, he was rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, under threat from various enemies. Four times they tried to get him to stop the work and talk to them. Then the fifth time they sent another message, accusing Nehemiah of conspiring to become king of the Jews. Nehemiah did not go down to talk to them – we shouldn’t be drawn away from our work to talk with those who oppose us! In fact we shouldn’t talk about our work for the Lord, even to other believers. God can bring the right people alongside to help us as it’s necessary.

Be wise and ‘move on’ with the Lord, He’s faithful and will bring us through our circumstances and into our destiny.

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God bless and keep you today.

Did you ever think that God may have provoked the crisis in your life?

We saw yesterday that God didn’t just release His people from the hands of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, He led them by a safe way to the shore of the Red Sea. God went with them every step of the way in the Pillars of Cloud and Fire (He doesn’t abandon us either, but as we mature we’re encouraged to assume more responsibility for our lives, like young people growing up).

Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to TURN BACK and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, …They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” Exodus 14:1-4

Turning back (suggested confusion here), except from sin, is rarely of the Lord! He doesn’t take us the wrong way the first time, so He doesn’t turn back. Even if we take a wrong turn He will work it for our good and redeem it for us. Amen Romans 8:28

God arranged one final confrontation with Pharaoh and the Egyptians. He’d kept His people away from the warlike Philistines, but now He was arranging a final showdown with all the might of Egypt. We need to understand that if we’re following God, He may bring us to conflicts that we’d run from (David and Goliath type encounters, confrontation doesn’t mean we’ve got it wrong), but He considers trivial. Revelation speaks ‘of those who overcome’ in all 7 churches, so there are going to be struggles in our walk of Faith.

The people accused Moses of trying to get them killed, but he told them, ‘to be still and God will fight for you’. Ex 14:14

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to me? TELL THE ISRAELITES TO MOVE ON’. Exodus 14:15

God’s Warning – if we’re in a confrontation, DON’T STOP, EVEN TO CRY OUT, MOVE ON!

Moses had to raise his staff and part the sea, speaks of taking authority over the situation. We may need to speak out and command the waters/circumstances to part for us. Israel crossed over ‘on dry ground, prepared by God’. NB Israel crossed at night, in a time of darkness, God opened the way for His people! We may also have to move forward in a dark or tough time, but there’s no turning back.

26 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.’ 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing towards it, and the Lord swept them into the sea.

God commanded Moses to stretch out his hand again and the Sea came back, destroying Israel’s and God’s enemies.

It was daybreak, a new day and Israel were on the other side of the Sea and the Egyptians were gone – no turning back any longer. God had finished the job.

Israel were free to move towards God’s destiny for them, the Promised Land.

Confrontations may come, don’t mean you’ve got it wrong! Don’t stop, keep moving forward. Continue to speak into the problem, exercise your God given authority and trust God to move powerfully on your behalf.

God bless and keep you today.