Month: July 2024

²⁷ PEACE I leave with you; MY PEACE I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14

Jesus said this to the disciples in connection with the coming of His Spirit. When it looked as if defeat had come upon everything they’d hoped for He told them to remain in His Peace. This may be relevant right now for the Body of Believers in these unsettled times. I listened to a broadcast by Andrew Whalen last night on Elijah Streams, where he spoke of seeing a huge killer whale coming to swallow up unsuspecting people. He was trying to warn them of the danger but just then the whale opened its mouth and he saw it had no teeth! He said it was a ‘gummy’, it didn’t have any bite. Things may appear very frightening in the days ahead, but the enemy has lost much of his bite, or  ability to harm us. God is removing the power of the wicked.

On a different tack, but still relating to Peace, I’d like to share a test which may be of help in discerning the true motives of people who come to us. The late prophet Kim Clement said, ‘Right words, wrong smell’. The words people used sounded alright, but there was a false odour/bad smell emanating from the speakers. It’s important to discern the spirit behind the words we hear and God will give us insight, if we’re uncertain and ask Him.

Derek Prince, Word from the Word 23/3, entitled a Messenger of Peace, makes a noteworthy remark. In this short word, Derek warns people to beware the ‘Hard Sell’, both in the Material and the Spiritual. Once again he says that people’s words can sound very persuasive, but then he says that when they’ve gone the ‘Peace of God’ may also have gone. After they’ve left we begin to sense that they were speaking out of a wrong spirit and the God’s Peace wasn’t on their words. The loss of that peace is a warning not to buy into whatever they’re trying to sell us, Material or Spiritual. Don’t go there! That’s why a ‘cooling down period is often valuable’. Don’t be rushed into agreeing to something hastily, take time to consider.

Decide in haste, repent at leisure.

God protect us from the deceit of the enemy and wicked people in these days.

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

Wisdom bestows well-being

 

⁸ Produce fruit in KEEPING (Demonstrate genuine change) with repentance. Matthew 3

The little word ‘KEEP’ is in common use in our language today and it is also found many times in scripture. In the verse above, John the Baptist demanded that the religious people of the day demonstrated that their repentance was genuine and not just a form of words. The Believer’s actions should also line up with our words.

Some of the common meanings of ‘Keep’ in use today are insightful.

– continue to follow, a path or course; honour or fulfil, keep our promise

– the strongest or central tower of a castle, acting as a final refuge

Ultimately we need the Lord to help us and keep us, but we must set our hearts to follow Him. The Old Covenant was Law based and was external, but the New Covenant is internal, based upon God’s love for us, through Christ’s sacrifice.

Some of the many scriptures in the Gospels which speak of things we should KEEP in Christ.

Watchfulness

³⁵ ‘Be dressed ready for service and KEEP YOUR LAMPS BURNING, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. Luke 12

⁴² ‘Therefore KEEP WATCH, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Matthew 24

¹³ ‘Therefore KEEP WATCH, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25

The Gospels exhort us to be alert and watchful in our time here in this world, things can change suddenly and we need to be aware when change is happening. God gave Israel prophets in the Old Testament to warn them and the Church has still has the prophets in our midst. However, all believers have the Spirit of God within to help and guide us, so we can all discern things around us as we walk with the Lord in our daily lives.

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

God didn’t leave it up to the priests what words they must use to confer blessing upon the Israelites, He gave them the beautiful words they should speak over His people. Those words began with a promise TO BLESS AND KEEP HIS PEOPLE IN EVERY SITUATION, despite the plots of their enemies. Amen

May the Lord Bless and Keep us today. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

²⁰ David also said to Solomon his son, ‘Be strong and courageous, and do the work. DO NOT BE AFRAID OR DISCOURAGED, FOR THE LORD GOD, MY GOD, IS WITH YOU. HE WILL NOT FAIL YOU OR FORSAKE YOU UNTIL ALL THE WORK for the service of the temple of the Lord IS FINISHED. 1 Chronicles 28

This was a time of transition in the leadership of God’s people, often a risky time. King David was stepping down after forty years as leader of Israel and his son Solomon was to succeed him. God had sustained David and His people in the face of constant hostility by many enemies and given David victory over them all. But now the time for change had come and a young Solomon, whose name means “peaceful” and “friend of God”, would rule in his place. The hard lessons David had to learn as a guerilla fighter and military commander would no longer be applicable. Solomon would build on the foundation of his father’s work, but his reign would be very different and he would lead in his own way.

⁶ We have different gifts, according to the GRACE GIVEN  TO EACH OF US. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; IF IT IS TO LEAD, DO IT DILIGENTLY; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Romans 12

Paul by the Spirit pointed out in Romans 12 how New Testament believers were to function ACCORDING TO THE GRACE GIVEN TO EACH ONE. The mark of the leader should be diligence, WHICH APPLIES TO EVERYONE, but especially to those with a leadership calling. The young Solomon at the beginning of his reign asked God for, ‘wisdom and knowledge that I may lead this people’. 2 Chronicles 1:10 God anointed Solomon so he might be a blessing to the people he ruled over for God.

^23-24 Riches can disappear fast. And the king’s crown doesn’t stay in his family forever—so watch your (business) interests closely. Know the state of your flocks and your herds; Proverbs 27 The Living Bible

²⁸ “Now it’s up to you. Be on your toes—both for yourselves and your congregation of sheep. The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people—God’s people they are—to guard and protect them. God himself thought they were worth dying for. Acts 20 The Message

The Bible warns us that in both the business world and in the things of the Kingdom we need to be constantly alert. The devil wants us to fall, but God wants to give each of us His Grace to succeed in every situation.

”Pray like it all depends on God, but work like it all depends on you”, may be good advice for Believers.

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

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

 

¹ Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
    to you our vows will be fulfilled.
² You who answer prayer,
    to you all people will come. Psalm 65, of David 

David begins this psalm by extolling the worthiness of God to receive worship, in many of his other psalms he’s so beaten down by enemies and dread that he has to build himself up to praise. Sometimes we too may have to wait in God’s presence to have our eyes lifted above our immediate circumstances, but on this occasion David started out praising God’s worthiness to be praised.

The next line of the psalm highlights another virtue of our God towards mankind, He’s the God who answers prayer. It’s so easy to take this for granted but the creator of the universe actually wants to answer prayers on our behalf. David continues this thought, with a prophetic statement, ‘to You all people will come’. The people of this whole world will come to the God who answers prayer. It’s interesting that the Bible records when people first began to pray and call out to God for His help and support.

²⁵ Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, ‘God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.’ ²⁶ Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord. Genesis 4

The influence of religion is widespread among believers today and many see God as a tyrant waiting to pounce on people’s mistakes, nothing could be further from the truth. God wants relationship with us and is continually working to bridge the gap between Himself and the people He created.

³ When we were overwhelmed by sins,
    you forgave(covered) our transgressions.
⁴ Blessed are those you choose
    and bring near to live in your courts!
We are filled with the good things of your house,
    of your holy temple. Psalm 65

The second part of the psalm refers to the power of the God of all creation and His intervention in the nations of His world. God stills the roaring of the seas and the seas are a picture of humanity, there’s much disturbance in this world today, but God’s moving to impose His peace and presence in it.

⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

The final part of the psalm is a beautiful picture of God’s care for His creation, despite the plans of the wicked to corrupt and pollute it. No matter what the environmentalists say, God will not allow man to destroy His creation. His words will stand in the face of all schemes of the wicked.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with corn,
    for so you have ordained it.
¹⁰ You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.

Our God is the God of ABUNDANCE, that’s His will for people now and soon we’ll see it manifest. Hallelujah

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

The enemy is quick to use one sin to lead us into others and before we know it we have gone far from the Father’s love. In Luke 15 Jesus spoke of three things that were lost, the sheep, the coin and lastly the Lost Son. The son was warmly welcomed back into his Father’s house when he returned humbled and in dire need, but he’d suffered greatly to learn his lesson. David also suffered for his sin, but the Lord had mercy and gave his heir Solomon after he repented.

We serve a merciful God, but the enemy has no mercy and will use everything he can to bring about devastation in people’s lives. May God grant us discernment to see danger and run from it, like Joseph.

³ The prudent see danger and take refuge,
    but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. Proverbs 22

May the Lord bless and keep you today. Immanuel, God is with us and will deliver us. Amen

⁴¹ AND ELIJAH SAID TO AHAB, ‘GO, EAT AND DRINK, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.’ ⁴² So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, BENT DOWN TO THE GROUND AND PUT HIS FACE BETWEEN HIS KNEES. 1 Kings 18

The Lord had just given Elijah a great victory before Israel (Destroying the prophets of Baal (450) and Asherah (400)) but now he’s alone again with his God on the top of Mount Carmel. Interestingly, he tells Ahab to go and feast, BEFORE the drought has broken. He didn’t tell the King or the people to fast and pray before God, but to feast on the top of the mountain in anticipation of the rain coming, ‘for there is the SOUND OF A HEAVY RAIN’.

THERE’S A TIME TO FAST AND A TIME TO FEAST BEFORE GOD, BOTH ARE APPROPRIATE AT A GIVEN MOMENT!

²³ The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. … ²⁶ There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling-place. 2 Chronicles 30

Hezekiah led the people of Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unlevened Bread for two weeks, a double period of feasting, before their Lord.

Returning to Elijah on Mount Carmel, we see him withdrawing from the people to humble himself before God and intercede for the rain. It was Elijah who had declared to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.’ 1 Kings 17 Elijah had a responsibility before God to cancel the words he’d declared breaking the drought over the land and call for the rains. His business was on his knees while the people celebrated God’s mercy and goodness, soon to be literally poured out. Elijah persisted seven times, the number of completion, before the breakthrough came, ‘a cloud the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea’.

There will be times in our own lives when it’s right to earnestly seek God in prayer, but there are other times when we should praise God for the answer.

At one of Kathryn Kuhlman’s miracle crusades she stopped ministering and said someone was grieving the Holy Spirit by crying out to God for a healing that had already been granted, a child with severe eczema, I believe. There comes a time when we should praise God for His goodness and believe that the rains or answers are coming. Hallelujah

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

 

¹⁰ Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife;
    quarrels and insults are ended. Proverbs 22:10

¹⁰ Throw out the mocker, and you will be rid of tension, fighting, and quarrels. The Living Bible 

¹⁰ Kick out the troublemakers and things will quiet down;
    you need a break from bickering and griping! The Message 

This scripture verse may be for someone in difficult circumstances right now. It may also be speaking to us about the need for separation from the ‘slave mentality’ onto a ‘Kingdom mentality’.

The Bible identifies that the root cause of trouble, ‘fighting and quarrelling’ in certain situations may be down to one troublesome individual and the suggested remedy is forceful eviction. This may not be a pleasant option but for the sake of peace and harmony in a home or a group it may be the only choice. On such occasions we may well be told we’re not behaving as Christians, meanwhile the person causing the strife has no intention of changing their behaviour and all around them continue to suffer. If there’s no intention to change then it may be that the time for separation has come.

Abraham had two sons, Ishmael born to the slave woman Hagar by natural means i.e. Abraham and Sarah’s solution to getting a son and heir. Later Isaac, the son of the Promise was born to Sarah, the free woman.

²⁴ These things may be taken figuratively: the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: this is Hagar. ²⁵ Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. Galatians 4

Paul, by the Spirit explained the distinction between the two sons, one was born into slavery, while Isaac, the child off a miracle birth was born to be free and to inherit his father’s name and estate.

²⁸ Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. ²⁹ At that time the son born according to the flesh PERSECUTED THE SON BORN BY THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT. IT IS THE SAME NOW. ³⁰ But what does Scripture say? ‘Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.’ ³¹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, WE ARE NOT CHILDREN OF THE SLAVE WOMAN, BUT OF THE FREE WOMAN. Galatians 4

We are Children of God by supernatural birth through faith in Christ. We live on this earth for a time but we come from another realm and as the Scriptures say we are citizens of heaven. Many believers today are earthbound or consumed by the things of this present world. These two sons are fundamentally different and will never share the same destiny, a final separation must come.

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

 

¹² ‘Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be REFRESHED OR RESTORED. Exodus 23

God built cycles of rest into the lives of His people Israel, because He cared for them and the Jews still keep Shabbat to this day, in fact today is the eve of Shabbat. The previous verse also speaks of a cycle of rest or refreshing for the land of Israel.

¹¹ but during the seventh year let the land lie unploughed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. (Built in welfare system for people and animals) Exodus 23

This world system wants to abolish the Sabbath, the Day of rest from work. They don’t want people to have time to rest and be restored and most of all to give thought to the things of God, but God never intended for us to work incessantly. It’s very debilitating to work for prolonged periods without any rest. The words of Ana Werner return again, ‘GOD DOESN’T WANT SLAVES, BUT LOVERS!’

¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, THAT TIMES OF REFRESHING MAY COME FROM THE LORD, Acts 3

There have been many occasions in Church history when God has poured out His Spirit on the Body of Believers to bring refreshing and restoration. Sovereign moves of God to bless and help His people, however those outside of the Lord may never experience these blessings, how sad to miss out on all this.

³² so that I may come to you with joy, by God’s will, and IN YOUR COMPANY BE REFRESHED. Romans 15

¹⁸ FOR THEY REFRESHED MY SPIRIT AND YOURS ALSO. Such men deserve recognition. 1 Corinthians 16 (There are people in the Body who are Refreshing to be around, Barnabas was the Son of Encouragement. Unfortunately not everyone does.)

¹⁶ May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because HE OFTEN REFRESHED ME and was not ashamed of my chains. 2 Timothy 1

Paul was quick to note and commend those who Refreshed him and others. Their names are recorded for us in God’s word, a lasting memorial to their building up of the Body, which is also a mark of the prophetic ministry. 1 Corinthians 14:3

I believe that times of Refreshing are coming again to God’s people, may we all drink deeply when the Spirit of God is poured out in power on the earth.

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

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

 

¹⁰ My son, if sinners ENTICE YOU,
    DO NOT GIVE IN TO THEM. Proverbs 1

We must learn to ‘SAY NO’ and mean it, Jesus did!

Jesus first public appearance was the baptism scene at the Jordan river where He convinced His cousin John to baptise Him. Next we’re told that He was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

¹⁵ For our high priest is able to understand our weaknesses. HE WAS TEMPTED IN EVERY WAY THAT WE ARE, BUT HE DID NOT SIN. ¹⁶ Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4, New Century Bible 

The devil was given the right to tempt, OR ENTICE THE LORD while in His humanity here on earth and it happened more than once e.g. when Peter tried to persuade Him not to go the way of the cross. Matthew 16:22

Sometimes the temptations were straight forward,

‘³ The tempter came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Matthew 4

At other times they were more plausible, when scripture was quoted, or more accurately misquoted. We must discern the spirit as well as the words spoken.

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw yourself down. For it is written:

We’ve already mentioned when the devil used Peter, one of those closest to Jesus, to try and get Him to forego the suffering of the cross. When the stakes were highest the devil used someone very close to plant his own suggestion. We can be sure Peter said it forcefully because it meant the end of the Lord’s time with the disciples on earth, inconceivable to them at that time.

There’s a well known story about Smith Wigglesworth waiting for a bus and a lady coming for the same bus. She was being followed by her little dog and she spoke kindly to the dog and told it to go back home. However, it kept following her and then she became cross, stamped her foot and told it sternly to get home. Wigglesworth laughed out loud and said, ‘that’s exactly how we should speak to the devil’. When we slam the devil’s doors shut we can find all the Lord has for us.

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, ‘AWAY FROM ME, Satan! For it is written: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Matthew 4

When we learn to SAY NO and mean it, then we can discern God’s good, pleasing and perfect will for our lives. I would add a footnote to this, don’t live vicariously I.e. by someone else’s faith and revelation. Build your own relationship with the Lord, just we read in Hebrews 4 above, He wants us to know Him personally.

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