Month: January 2022

We saw yesterday that Moses commanded Israel’s new judges to judge with Fairness/Impartiality, even between Jews and foreigners, rich and poor.

 ¹⁷ DO NOT SHOW PARTIALITY IN JUDGING; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, FOR JUDGEMENT BELONGS TO GOD. Deuteronomy 1

He ended with a powerful statement, ‘FOR JUDGEMENT BELONGS TO GOD’. All judgement by men on earth is an extension of God’s Justice in Heaven.

Jesus’ enemies tried to trap Him by saying they knew He judged justly and what was His answer to a simple question;

They came to him and said, ‘Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?’ Mark 12

They believed Jesus had to either compromise God’s Justice or break Caesar’s law, but His answer did neither.

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. ‘Why are you trying to trap me?’ he asked. ‘Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’

‘Caesar’s,’ they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.’ Mark 12

In the letter to the Romans, Paul also speaks about judging wisely and not putting ourselves into a place where judgement will come upon us.

2 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, FOR AT WHATEVER POINT YOU JUDGE ANOTHER, YOU ARE CONDEMNING YOURSELF, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Romans 2:1

(Committing this verse to memory would act as a brake on much judgement in the Body today).

⁹ There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; ¹⁰ but GLORY, HONOUR AND PEACE FOR EVERYONE WHO DOES GOOD: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹¹ FOR GOD DOES NOT SHOW FAVOURITISM (But He does show Favour to His Children!) Romans 2

God wants to bless His children and His Favour is the best thing we can ever have here on earth. May we seek Him to know more of His Blessings today.

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Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, FOR GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER. 2 Corinthians 9:7

The Lord is no man’s debtor, Hallelujah.

God rewards those who give to Him, don’t miss out on your blessings, give to Him today.

We are available to seek personal words of direction and encouragement for those who want them. Please contact us on our webpage above. We can also provide counselling online, contact our webpage. A donation is normally required for this service.

The Lord bless and keep you today.

 

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realise how true it is that GOD DOES NOT SHOW FAVOURITISM ³⁵ but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. Acts 10

Peter’s first words to those gathered in Cornelius’ house, before the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles and the Church was birthed. Other versions present his words as;

God does not show partiality NKJV, God is no respecter of persons KJV, God treats everyone on the same basis TPT, and God does not love some people more than others WE.

This truth is repeated in multiple places through the Word, so God has emphasised this aspect of His character and dealings with mankind.

Moses referred to this when he had judges appointed for Israel, another significant time for God’s people.

¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the disputes between your people and JUDGE FAIRLY, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you (foreigners had the right to be heard in court!) ¹⁷ DO NOT SHOW PARTIALITY IN JUDGING; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, FOR JUDGEMENT BELONGS TO GOD. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.’ Deuteronomy 1

We hear much talk today about the goings on in places of judgement, like the Supreme Court of the United States, or the European Union. I wonder how many who sit in these courts realise that ‘judgement belongs to the Lord’ and is an extension of His authority in Heaven? Moses told the newly appointed judges to judge small and great alike, impartially and to fear no-one.

¹⁴ To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.

¹⁶ Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, WHO SHOWS NO PARTIALITY AND ACCEPTS NO BRIBES.

The verses that follow the Supreme Authority of God in the heavens and His justice,  show that He is also a Caring God.

¹⁸ He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you are to LOVE THOSE WHO ARE FOREIGNERS, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Deuteronomy 10

God commanded Israel to Love the foreigner, because of all they had experienced in Egypt. Sometimes our own lives equip us to show love and kindness to people of whom  others are unaware. A cousin and his family came home for a visit, from Namibia, south west Africa and the children’s nanny accompanied them (indigenous Namibian). As she walked along a main street in Belfast, another couple from Namibia recognised her features and spoke with her in her native tongue, an amazing coincidence. We may also recognise something in others and be able to connect with them when they may feel alone.

God shows love to all people and His justice is righteous towards all. He calls us to be like Him.

God bless and keep you today.

God had to Alter a Mindset (SET of the MIND) before He could Birth His Church. Acts 10

Someone I used to know said, ‘an Altar is where we go to get Altered’. Our minds and beliefs are changed as we worship the Lord! Christians are not immune to the influences of the world and the devil; God’s Spirit works with us to change us into the image of the Lord.

Cornelius, the righteous centurion, had a visit from an angelic messenger telling him to send for Peter. (Jesus also praised the faith of another centurion who sought healing for his servant – the land was under military occupation, little understood today).

⁷ When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. ⁸ He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa. Acts 10

⁹ About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. ¹⁰  …he fell into a trance.

Almost simultaneously Peter received a vision, repeated three times. He saw a large sheet coming down from Heaven containing all kinds of animals and heard the command,

¹³ Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

¹⁴ ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’

¹⁵ The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’

¹⁶ This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. Acts 10

God’s Spirit spoke to Peter three times that day to ‘Shift’ his Jewish/religious mindset. When the vision ended, the messengers from Cornelius arrived and talked with him. The Gentiles needed the apostle, (apostles lay foundations) but God’s Spirit had to work with Peter and Alter his whole ‘world view’.

¹⁹ While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you. ²⁰ So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.’ Acts 10

Peter obeyed and took six brothers and went to the house of Cornelius, contrary to Jewish teaching. (He was later criticised for failing to keep himself pure. Acts 11:3) The Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles gathered there and Peter ‘ordered that they be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ’. Acts 10:48

God’s Spirit didn’t want the ‘Old traditions’ brought into the new dispensation but the Jews with a religious background, particularly those from the Pharisees, opposed this. Acts 15 The apostles had to convene a Church Council in Jerusalem and make a ruling on the matter of circumcision. Paul and Barnabas told of all the signs and wonders they had witnessed among the Gentiles, confirmation of God’s approval. The Jewish religious traditions did not carry through into the Church, a New Day had begun.

We live in a time of great change and personal freedoms have been eroded, much like the Roman occupation during the New Testament period. God was still planning to move through His Church and that would shake the world. When God moves again we need to ensure we follow the Spirit and not just religious traditions; some of them will not survive the coming Shift.

May God bless and keep you today.

If you want to open a door into something new in 2022, Give to that area. Where we sow we shall surely reap!

The account of Samuel’s birth gives us an insight into a rivalry in the house of Elkanah, (interestingly means ‘God has purchased’). His wife, ‘Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none’. So Peninnah taunted Hannah, ‘year after year’ when they went up to worship the Lord at Shiloh. Hannah was heartbroken at her lack of children, but the Bible says ‘God had closed her womb’. Hannah suffered deeply and for a long period of time, but then in her desperation she was moved to take the matter to the Lord.

⁹ ONCE when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up… ¹⁰ In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. ¹¹ And she made a vow, saying, ‘Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, (Heartfelt Prayer to God) and not forget your servant but give her a son, (Spehcific Request) THEN I WILL GIVE HIM TO THE LORD ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE, (A Lifelong commitment, she’d never have him back) then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.’ 1 Samuel 1

Hannah Gave Unconditionally that which she most longed for to God. She gave up all rights to her first born son, Samuel, perhaps Elkanah’s name, ‘God has purchased’ was prophetic for the situation. God needed to raise up a son at Shiloh, to restore purity of worship at the Tabernacle, for His people. Giving is not always about money, but there will be a cost to the Giver, however no one can out give God.

²¹ And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord. 1 Samuel 2

The lazy man will not plow because of winter (The season NOW in the north); He will beg during harvest and have nothing. Proverbs 20:4

It’s foolish to expect a crop if we haven’t put any seed into the ground and as we said at the beginning, we’ll harvest where we sow.

I’ve shared before that I sent a gift to my late brother Kjell from Sweden after he ministered in N.Ireland. This opened a door for me to travel to the nations with Prophetic Prayer Teams. The Lord also provided a job in this season with annual leave to make the trips. God is faithful if we’ll do our part.

Fathersloveministry is a faith based ministry, please Donate on our webpage today and help support the Father’s work;

fathersloveministry.co.uk

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, FOR GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER. 2 Corinthians 9:7

The Lord is no man’s debtor, Hallelujah.

God rewards those who give to Him, don’t miss out on your blessings, give to Him today.

We are available to seek personal words of direction and encouragement for those who want them. Please contact us on our webpage above. We can also provide counselling online, contact our webpage. A donation is normally required for this service.

The Lord bless and keep you today.

³³ BUT SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6

We’ve been considering in this week’s blogs how Giving God First in this month can determine the outcome of our New Year. God’s word to Tomi Arayomi, recently moved to Nigeria, ‘Give me this First Month and I’ll bless all the other months for you’.

Jesus told the people of His day and our day to ‘Seek First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and ALL THESE THINGS WILL BE ADDED TO YOU’. Not just one or two things would be added but ALL THESE THINGS!

When Solomon asked God for a discerning heart to govern God’s people, God was pleased that he hadn’t put himself first. In ADDITION TO what he’d asked for, God gave him riches and honour, without equal and a long life. 1 Kings 3

We can choose to work for things OR we can Give God First and trust Him to Add to us at the right place and time. Only God’s Children have the opportunity to do this while here on earth and in time. When we leave this realm we won’t need to choose to give to God, but we can here and now.

The widow of Zarephath had been chosen by God to care for His prophet, Elijah, but she seemed unaware that she or her son had any future left.

⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ⁹ ‘Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I HAVE INSTRUCTED a widow there to supply you with food.’ 

¹² ‘As surely as the Lord your God lives,’ she replied, ‘I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – AND DIE.’ 1 Kings 17

The widow gave Elijah First as he’d asked and opened the way for God’s provision in a desperate time of life or death. When we give to God we’re sowing for the future, not just the present. So what can we give God now in the First month that will secure His blessing throughout this Year?

God may not require a huge sacrifice, just a small piece of bread saved the widow and her son, but she gave Elijah First. Solomon asked for God’s people First and God blessed them both. Consider how we can honour God in the beginning of the year, to walk in blessing throughout it.

²⁷ ‘So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.’ Numbers 6

In yesterday’s blog we discussed how the Lord had spoken to two believers about putting Him first in this coming year – WHATEVER WE DO FIRST MAY FRAME OUR WHOLE YEAR!

The Lord told Prophet Tomi Arayomi, recently moved back to the land of his forefathers, Nigeria, to GIVE HIM THE FIRST month of this year. God told Tomi that if he gave God the first month, then He would bless the other eleven months for him. They would be busy setting up home in a new country, but God said GIVE ME FIRST AND I’LL TAKE CARE OF THE REST FOR YOU.

He has set aside the dates 10-31 January to fast unto the Lord.

Luke’s Gospel includes some unique accounts not included in the other Gospels.

Luke 15 contains three parables of things that were lost, the sheep, the coin and most importantly the lost son. That son ‘squandered all his wealth in wild living’ and then a famine came. In desperation he hired himself out to look after pigs, the lowest job for a Jew and he was starving.

¹⁷ ‘WHEN HE CAME TO HIS SENSES, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸ I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: 

His terrible circumstances forced him to go back to his father and repent, but his father RAN TO MEET HIM AND SHOWERED HIS SON WITH LOVE AND THE BEST GIFTS HE COULD GIVE HIM. Does God want to meet with us at the beginning of this year? Will we take the time to seek Him in this first month and set the tone for the whole year?

Luke 16 ends with the account of Lazarus and the anonymous rich man. (Also only in Luke’s Gospel)

¹⁹ ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. ²⁰ At his gate WAS LAID a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores ²¹ and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

Lazarus was laid at the gate and he was starving, no energy. He couldn’t do things for himself and had nothing to do all day, but HE HAD LOTS OF TIME TO THINK, even in his distress. The account moves quickly to the deaths of both men and their final destinations; Lazarus being comforted with Abraham and the rich man tormented in hell. It wasn’t anything that Lazarus did that allowed him to go to Heaven, but who he was. Something IN HIS TIME lying at the rich man’s gate opened the way for him to get to Heaven. The rich man pleaded for his five brothers in his father’s house. He came from a large, wealthy family and no doubt there was a lot happening, with many responsibilities of wealth. But he and they, mustn’t have had any TIME FOR GOD and that told in the final account.

The outcome of this year, success or failure, may be determined in the way we spend the opening days/month.

May God bless and direct us in these important opening days of the New Year.

 

⁹ Honour the Lord with your wealth,
    with the FIRST FRUITS of ALL your crops;
¹⁰ then your barns will be filled to overflowing,
    and your vats will brim over with new wine. Proverbs 3

³³ But SEEK FIRST his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6

Two scriptures, one from Proverbs, Wisdom writings in the Old Testament. The other, Jesus Words in the Beatitudes, from the Gospel of Matthew (the Gospel of the King). Both scriptures contain a Promise, with a Condition. The Condition is that we put God First and the Promise is that He will add to us if we do this.

I have been impacted by two very different Christian voices already this year 2022, speaking about putting God First.

The first, a lady (Robin R Bullock), said when she woke up on New Year’s morning that she felt a ‘Check’ in her spirit to be careful of the First Words she uttered, because they would frame her day and her year. I’d never thought of that before, that our First Words could help frame our destiny! Would this be true for other ‘First Events’ e.g. meeting new people, starting a new job, a new role in ministry?

The second man, prophet Tomi Arayomi, who has moved his family back from the U.K. to Nigeria in obedience to the Lord. He gave a prophetic word to the nations for 2022 (available on YouTube, lasts just over twenty minutes) and included in that word he spoke of a Promise the Lord had given him with a Condition. The Lord told him to give Him the first month, January, and if he did this then God would look after the rest of the year for him (important in a new location). In response to this, Tomi has decided to go on a fast from the tenth to the thirty first of January and asked for people who’d like to join them, to sign up/commit online.

On a personal note, THE LORD ENABLED ME to give the first month’s salary to Him several times whenever I changed job. That was a way for me to ‘honour the Lord with my income, the First Fruits’. He gave me those jobs and they were great blessings for different seasons of my life!

The account of Elijah meeting the poor widow of Zarephath in Sidon, was Challenging, but secured both her and her son’s lives. Elijah made a demand of her;

He called to her and asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?’ ¹¹ As she was going to get it, he called, ‘And bring me, please, a piece of bread.’ 1 Kings 17

She told the man of God, that she only had enough meal left to make some last bread for herself and her son, but Elijah challenged her in her need to give him some First.

¹³ Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But FIRST MAKE A SMALL CAKE OF BREAD FOR ME from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. ¹⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.”’ 1 Kings 17

The widow OBEYED AND LIVED! Could it be that the Lord is challenging some of us to Give something to Him at the BEGINNING of this New Year, to secure provision for us and our loved ones for the year ahead?

May God bless and keep you as you follow Him this year.

 

 

¹⁵ Catch for us the foxes,
    the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,
    our vineyards that are in bloom. Song of Songs 2

I wakened with this verse in mind this morning. I believe the  Book of Songs is referred to by the rabbis as the ‘Holy of Holies’ (Place of greatest intimacy, closest to God) in Torah. A beautiful description of two people deeply in love with one another, a picture of perfection. However, there is a reference to the ‘little foxes’, who will destroy the fruit of the vineyard if left unchecked.

Jesus paid the way for us to have that beautiful relationship with God, but sometimes there are destructive things at work in our lives that would destroy the blessings of God. A New Year, or New Season has begun and it may benefit us to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal that which would rob us of our blessings. No need to spend a long time soul searching, just ask God to reveal any foxes operating in our lives and kick them out or close the doors to them.

May God bless and keep us in this New Season.