Month: October 2023

¹¹ FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU,’ declares the Lord, ‘PLANS TO PROSPER YOU AND NOT TO HARM YOU, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29

Don’t let the world, other people, or the devil, mainstream media, write your script!

Judah had been taken into exile for seventy years to Babylon, but the enemy and his agents were still trying to write their script or dictate the direction of their lives even when they were so far removed from God’s calling.

In the previous chapter, Jeremiah had to confront the False Prophet, Hananiah, in Jerusalem. He prophesied that those in exile would return with the articles of the Temple and restore worship in Jerusalem, but he was lying.

¹⁵ Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, ‘Listen, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you, YET YOU HAVE PERSUADED THIS NATION TO TRUST IN LIES. ¹⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord says: “I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.”’ Jeremiah 28

Hananiah was the voice of the enemy within God’s people and God judged him. The enemy has many voices speaking into the lives of God’s people to this day. We must discern and resist them. Authority figures who know nothing of the Lord, may try and speak the plan of the enemy over our lives. Cancel negative, fear inducing words and call upon God for His Plans alone to come forth.

¹¹ ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, THOUGH YOU ARE EVIL, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ Luke 11

Fallen people give only good gifts to those they love, how much more does a Holy God want to bless us, but the enemy will seek to tell us lies. God must be the dominant voice in our lives today.

We recently had the pleasure of listening to a couple of saints who had been mightily used of God, impacting untold multitudes from the nations. The husband said before the work really began to grow that God had told him two things. God wanted his mornings, the first part of his day and he was to hang around or associate with anointed people – impartation. GOD WANTED THE FLOW IN HIS LIFE TO BE A POSITIVE FLOW. Constant listening to the media and being with negative people will diminish and destroy the flow of God’s Spirit in our lives, TAKE NOTE!

God bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

It’s not just what we do, it’s how we do it! The spirit with which we work.

⁷ Instead, WE WERE GENTLE AMONG YOU, like a MOTHER caring for her little children.

For you know that WE DEALT WITH EACH OF YOU as a FATHER deals with his own children, ¹² encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. 1 Thessalonians 2

Paul likens their preaching to that of A MOTHER nursing her children and also A FATHER encouraging and comforting his children. The closest family relationships demonstrate the right spirit, with love, for those for sharing the message of God’s Kingdom.

A saying often attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi,

“Preach the Gospel at all times and if you must, use words”.

Our lives witness for us as well as our words. Lord help us, May your life be truly revealed through us today.

Please pray for the people of Israel today, 600 dead and may young people among them. Pray for those taken captive by Hamas, that they would not suffer unduly and that God would deliver them.

God bless and keep you today.

34 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. 2 Chronicles 34

As a result of the assassination of Amon, by his officials and in his own palace, Judah had another boy king, a figurehead only until he reached maturity. Josiah, his name means, ‘God supports and heals’, WAS THE LAST TRUE KING OF JUDAH. Several others succeeded him for brief periods, but the Bible says very little about any of them. Josiah was the last ruler who showed any fear or respect before the God of his fathers. He postponed God’s retribution during his lifetime, but eventually the exile to Babylon happened.

The account of Josiah, shows similarities with that of Samuel and even the Lord. They grew, ‘in wisdom and stature and in favour with God (First) and man’. 1 Samuel 2:26

³ In the EIGHTH YEAR of his reign, while he was still young, HE BEGAN TO SEEK THE GOD of his father David. In his TWELFTH YEAR HE BEGAN TO PURGE JUDAH AND JERUSALEM of high places, Asherah poles and idols. 2 Chronicles 34

⁸ In the EIGHTEENTH YEAR of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the Lord his God.

As Josiah grew so did his impact for the Kingdom of God, he removed the false from the land of his people. A lot of times the removal of distractions, opportunities to indulge the flesh, are key steps on the road to restoration. The good kings of Judah kept the wickedness out of their kingdoms.

³³ Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he had all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. AS LONG AS HE LIVED, (JOSIAH WAS A  BULWARK FOR THE WORSHIP OF HIS GOD!) they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their fathers.

That’s probably as good a place as any to conclude the history of the kings of Judah. Some were bad and some good, but Josiah stood in his time as a bulwark against evil and the protection of his people. God help us to be the same and more in our days!

God bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

²³ But unlike his father Manasseh, he did NOT HUMBLE himself before the Lord; Amon INCREASED HIS GUILT. 2 Chronicles 33

The Bible account of King Amon lasts only five verses, but the lessons/warnings are important to note or repeat. Unlike his father Manasseh, who began as a very wicked king, Amon did not HUMBLE HIMSELF AND SO HE INCREASED HIS GUILT! Believers today are told we should, ‘KEEP SHORT ACCOUNTS’. When we confess OUR SINS to God they’re never held against us. Manasseh in the pain of exile discovered this and met with the God of his fathers. He literally had a CHANGE OF HEART and God RESTORED him to his land and his kingdom. Self-humbling is little talked about in the Church in the West today and even less acted upon. It’s not a popular concept today.

²⁴ Amon’s officials conspired against him and ASSASSINATED HIM IN HIS PALACE. ²⁵ Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place. 

Those closest to Amon assassinated him, in his palace. Amon should have been safe in his own palace, but he was slain there. We said yesterday that CHARACTER ASSASSINATION might be a more common form of this attack today. Believers ‘Cross a line’, when we attack the Character of brothers and sisters in the Lord! God accepts us with all our faults and then with great patience and skill begins the process of changing us into the people He knows He created us to be.

⁴ Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Romans 14, NIV

⁴ They are God’s servants, not yours. They are responsible to him, not to you. Let him tell them whether they are right or wrong. And God is able to make them do as they should. Romans 14, Living Bible

We are in a new era today and we must be careful how we speak about Children of God. In the Old Testament, David wouldn’t lift his hand against Saul, ‘the Lord’s anointed’, though Saul blocked him from becoming king. It wasn’t a matter of his own shabby treatment, but God Himself had appointed Saul and he dared not forget that; he FEARED GOD MORE than he wanted the position.

Humbling ourselves is something we alone can do (God won’t do that for us!). Character Assassination is something we should never do, the Fear of the Lord should overrule and keep us from it.

God bless and keep us today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

¹³ He heard Manasseh’s prayer and found it sincere; He returned Manasseh to the throne in Jerusalem. From that day forward, Manasseh never doubted that the Eternal was the True God. 2 Chronicles 33, The Voice Bible

God did a full work of Restoration for Manasseh, He brought him back all the way from Babylon AND Restored his throne to him. Religion, living by a system of Rules, can never understand or accept the kindness and generous Spirit of a loving God and Father. We also noted yesterday, in the first verse of Chapter 33, that Manasseh reigned in Jerusalem for fifty five years. God blessed the now humbled King with a lengthy rule over the remnant of Judah.

I trust that we will meet Manasseh someday in the future.

Manasseh’s son Amon succeeded him as King and the account of his life is very short.

²² He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshipped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. ²³ BUT UNLIKE HIS FATHER MANASSEH, HE DID NOT HUMBLE HIMSELF BEFORE THE LORD; AMON INCREASED HIS GUILT. 2 Chronicles 33

Verse 23, reveals an interesting outcome for the two kings. Manasseh eventually HUMBLED HIMSELF (he chose to do it while in exile and misery), but Amon INCREASED HIS GUILT. We also have the  choice to bow our knees or to go on increasing our guilt. No other options are mentioned.

²⁴ Amon’s officials conspired against him and ASSASSINATED HIM IN HIS PALACE. ²⁵ Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.

It’s an unfortunate fact that many times people close to us are the ones who commit the most dastardly crimes. In the Church today we might consider Character Assassination as a more common work of the enemy! How many times do we hear believers attacking brothers and sisters behind backs. (Don’t listen to them walk away)

²¹ The tongue has the power of life and death,
    and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18

Don’t be guilty of the sin of assassination (Character) of the Lord’s flock and especially not the leaders of the flock. Let the devil find someone else to do his work for him.

God bless and keep you today in all your ways. Immanuel

¹³ And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; SO HE BROUGHT HIM BACK TO JERUSALEM AND TO HIS KINGDOM. THEN Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. 2 Chronicles 33

No matter how far we go down, God will answer earnest prayer!

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king after his father Hezekiah. He must have been guided OR MISGUIDED by older advisers. He basically set about undoing all the good work that his father Hezekiah had done in Jerusalem and Judah. He personally committed terrible sins against his own family put idols in the heart of the Temple of God in Jerusalem.

⁹ But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. 2 Chronicles 33

God has borne the sins of mankind for many generations, how patient and loving is our God. A line from Eric Liddell’s father in the movie, ‘Chariots of Fire’, “He’s a dictator, but a benign dictator.”

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people but they didn’t listen and so he went into exile to Babylon, ‘with a hook through his nose and bronze shackles’.

¹² In his distress he sought the favour of the Lord his God and HUMBLED HIMSELF GREATLY before the God of his fathers.

‘The way up is down’, by Derek Prince.

Manasseh had strayed a long way from God, but when he decided to HUMBLE HIMSELF AND SEEK GOD’S FAVOUR, God brought him back all the way from Babylon AND RESTORED HIS KINGDOM. God alone knows when people have gone beyond His reach and I’m sure many times when religious people have turned their backs on them, God’s Grace is still available!

Don’t stop praying and declaring freedom for those whom God lays on your heart. The Lord’s reach is long and, ‘He is mighty to save.’

¹⁵ He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. ¹⁶ Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank-offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. 2 Chronicles 33

Manasseh threw out the false and brought back the worship of the Lord in Judah again. The first verse of this chapter talked about his reign beginning at twelve years, but it also says he ruled for fifty-five years. Once he turned back to God, the Lord blessed him with a long reign in Jerusalem. The God of Judah honoured the repentance of the king!

God bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us.