Month: August 2024

¹¹ The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
    but the TENT of the upright WILL FLOURISH or THRIVE. Proverbs 14 

¹¹ The work of the wicked will perish; the WORK of the godly will FLOURISH. Proverbs 14:11 The Living Bible

God announces that the ‘house’ of the wicked will be destroyed. A house is much more solid and substantial than any ‘tent’, but God declares that He will bless the righteous and cause them to Flourish. I like that word Flourish, it’s a picture of blessing, vibrant health and abundance.

The Living Bible translates it, ‘the WORK of the godly will Flourish’. God blessed Abraham, the Father of the Faith’, in All Things. There wasn’t any area of Abraham’s life that didn’t exhibit the blessing of God. The people of the land of Canaan called Abraham a mighty Prince because God’s blessing rested upon him. God’s Blessing marked Abraham’s life, he stood out as someone carrying the Favour of the Lord on his life.

24 Abraham was now very old, and the Lord had blessed him in every way or in everything. Genesis 24:1

I believe that we are going to see the Favour of God on His children as never before, people will be looking at us just like Abraham and asking what is the source of the blessing on our lives.

28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands that I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. ² All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: Deuteronomy 28

Deuteronomy 28:3-14 lists the Blessings that God is willing to pour out on His people when they walk in step with His will for their lives and they are mighty Blessings.

Derek Prince wrote a ‘Proclamation for God’s Protection’ and these are the words of the last paragraph;

“Finally, Lord, I thank You that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, I have passed out from under the curse and entered into the blessing of Abraham whom You blessed in all things: exaltation, health, reproductiveness, prosperity, victory, God’s Favour and God’s Friendship. Amen”

I believe that a massive upgrade is coming to the children of God and also a severe downturn for those who have no place for God in their lives. We can begin to walk in His Favour in much greater measure as we declare His blessing upon our lives.

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

 

⁶ Jonathan said to his YOUNG armour-bearer, ‘Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. NOTHING CAN HINDER THE LORD FROM SAVING , WHETHER BY MANY OR BY FEW.’ 1 Samuel 14

Jonathan, son of King Saul, DECIDED to go over to the Philistine outpost at the Pass of Michmash. Saul was staying at the outskirts of Gibeah, but Jonathan DECIDED to go out to the enemy and face them. Then we have this powerful statement, ‘Nothing (absolutely nothing) can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by FEW’. God often looks for one or two faithful ones to do his bidding and open the way for many others into the victory. We should never be downcast by small numbers, God is well able to give us the victory we need.

It’s interesting that Jonathan chose his YOUNG armour-bearer to accompany him on his mission. The YOUNG are often more ready to step up and face risk and uncertainty because they carry less baggage than older people. Jonathan didn’t announce his intention to the whole camp and have a committee meeting about it. He told his young friend and they stepped out together, but Jonathan was looking for the Lord’s helping hand throughout their venture.

⁸ Jonathan said, ‘Come on, then; we will cross over towards them and let them see us. … ¹⁰ But if they say, “Come up to us,” we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.’

¹² The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armour-bearer, ‘Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.’

So Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, ‘Climb up after me; THE LORD HAS GIVEN THEM INTO THE HAND OF ISRAEL.’ 1 Samuel 14

Jonathan wasn’t doing this to make a name for himself, for he said, ‘the Lord has given them to Israel’. One man of courage stepped out to face the enemy of his people and God was able to use his bravery and his young supporter to route the enemy. God needs bold people, people of faith in these days to step up against the enemy. He can still use them to achieve great victories and drive back the enemy in every area of society. God may be calling some of us to stand for Him in these days, age and status are no barrier to our God.

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

 

¹ It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
² TO PROCLAIM YOUR LOVE IN THE MORNING
    AND YOUR FAITHFULNESS AT NIGHT, Psalm 92

The psalmist urges us to begin our day speaking to God of His Love – then we’ll be more likely to experience it and take His Love with us into our day – and to proclaim His Faithfulness at night. What has the Lord done for us during our day, perhaps small and unusual blessings and sometimes remarkable moments. Jesus healed the ten lepers, but commented that only one came back to give thanks and he was a foreigner. Luke 17 God appreciates our thanks for His many kindnesses and it’s good to bring closure to our day by remembering what He’s done for us. Amen

²¹ YET I CALL THIS TO MIND (REMIND MYSELF)
    AND THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE:

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for HIS COMPASSIONS NEVER FAIL.
²³ THEY ARE NEW EVERY MORNING; (Hallelujah, God’s mercies are new each and every day)
    ‘GREAT’ IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS.
²⁴ I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.’ Lamentations 3

Even Jeremiah in the midst of terrible troubles in Jerusalem eventually returned to Praise God for His Compassion and His Faithfulness. Judah was about to be swept into exile and Jeremiah had warned them many times of the coming judgment, but in the midst of all that he begins to praise God for all His Goodness. Only believers serve the God who has revealed Himself as a loving Heavenly Father, who cares for small details in our lives as well as the large. Take some time and praise Him today for both, it will lift your spirits, no matter your situation.

(As an aside we declare the last verses from psalm 92 most days, verses 12-15, because we want these things to be activated in our lives)

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

 

⁴ After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, DO NOT SAY to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, IT IS ON ACCOUNT OF THE WICKEDNESS of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. ⁵ IT IS NOT BECAUSE OF YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS OR YOUR INTEGRITY that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, Deuteronomy 9

The name Deuteronomy is derived from two Greek words ‘deutero’ meaning second and ‘nomos’ meaning law, the second giving of the law. All the adults (excluding Joshua and Caleb) who’d come out of Egypt had died in the desert and so the next generation had to be brought into covenant with God under the law for a second time. As we’ve seen before Christ rebuffed the devil in each of His temptations by quoting from the Book of Deuteronomy. There are many New Testament quotes from this Book, some scholars say eighty direct quotes, so it’s very significant.

The late David Pawson, in his teaching on Deuteronomy available on YouTube, gives an intriguing example of how God spoke to Winston Churchill through the above verses. Churchill had just been made First Lord of the Admiralty, chief of Britain’s shipping in WW 1, it was a momentous time for the nation. Apparently his ego had become inflated by this appointment. He was spending the night in a large country house with a Bible, perhaps a Gideon Bible, by the bedside. Churchill read these verses, where the Lord said it’s not because of your righteousness that I’m going to defeat Britain’s enemies, but because of their wickedness. He never forgot those verses and that may have been part of the reason God was able to use him to stand so mightily for freedom in two World Wars.

We too must keep this in mind when the Lord delivers us from the hands of the wicked in this present time.

Ascribe greatness to our God, the rock,
his work is perfect and all his ways are just.
Ascribe greatness to our God, the Rock,
his work is perfect and all his ways are just.
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
good and upright is he.
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
good and upright is he.

Deuteronomy chapter 32 is known as the Song of Moses, words from a well known modern chorus given above. (Deuteronomy 32:3,4) Moses was the third person still alive after leaving Egypt, but he would not cross over with them into the Promised Land. Before he died he sang these words to the Lord and later blessed the tribes, prophesying to each one in turn. (Simeon was not given a blessing by Moses, but did inherit with Judah in Canaan). It’s always good to worship the Lord, but it may be particularly important for us to remember His ‘Goodness and Faithfulness’ in our own day.

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

 

⁴ But in the seventh year the land is to have A YEAR OF SABBATH REST, A SABBATH TO THE LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. ⁵ Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Leviticus 25

¹⁰ Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. IT SHALL BE A JUBILEE FOR YOU; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan. Leviticus 25

The Lord built periods of Rest into the lives of His people and also into the land they were yet to occupy. The seventh (Sabbath) year was to be a Rest Year for their land, no cultivation of the land and no harvesting during this year. Then at the end of seven Sabbath Years there was to be an additional JUBILEE ‘FOR YOU’, every fifty years.

The Jubilee year – occurring after every seventh Sabbath year, thus, every 50 years – is an economic, cultural, environmental and communal RESET, when the land and people rest, and all those who are in slavery are set free to return to their communities. (By Tear Fund Australia)

There has been much talk about a COMING RESET (OR REFRESHING) which the wicked have tried to bring about for their own purposes, but now God is in the process of RESETTING EVERYTHING FOR US HIS PEOPLE. (It’s interesting that this year 5784 on the Hebrew Calendar is described as the year of the Open Door, Release for those in servant hood). God never intended unending slavery for His people and even before they the land He’d set out for them He established the concept of a RESET every fiftieth year, A JUBILEE.

Last night on Elijahstreams Johnny Enlow said he’d been getting ‘the number Fifty and the word Silver’ for several weeks. He felt that he’d been given the interpretation before he came live on the show. Silver speaks of Redemption and Fifty is the number of Jubilee.  He said that when Silver reaches Fifty (presumably dollars per ounce) it will be a marker that we have crossed into Jubilee. (He felt that silver could even go higher, I think it’s about thirty at present).

This world has been in slavery under a Babylonian system for a long period, but that system is coming down – a Grace Crash! The slavery is coming to an end and new days of blessing and prosperity are coming for many. There will probably be some turbulence to go through before it’s established but the old slave system has to come down. (It’s noteworthy that a major platform lost fifty billion dollars in recent days!)

May God help us in the transition from these difficult days through the RESET and into days of freedom and blessings ahead.

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

 

⁷ Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and JUMPED INTO THE WATER. John 21

Once Peter saw Jesus he JUMPED INTO THE WATER, AN UNSTABLE ELEMENT, TO GET TO HIM. Sometimes if we’re going to get to Jesus and all that He has for us we will have to JUMP OUT OF THE BOAT AND INTO THE WATER. It may feel very uncomfortable leaving the security of the boat, but Jesus may well be calling some of us to ‘Take the Plunge’ into the unknown for him. The Lord JUMPED out of Heaven and came to the earth to rescue mankind. He laid aside His Divinity and put on humanity so that He could fully identify with us and open the way back to the Father.

The Lord knows our strengths and weaknesses, He knows what each of us is capable of doing in cooperation with Him for the Kingdom. It may stretch our current faith, but as we step out with Him and doors begin to open our faith can grow stronger and we can carry more. The old analogy of climbing a ladder step by step, starting from the lowest rung, still holds true. Then again, the step we’re being led to take may seem small and insignificant, but the scripture tells us ‘not to despise the day of small beginnings’. Zechariah 4:10

47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.

³ As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴ He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. ⁵ He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in – a river that no one could cross. Ezekiel 47

Johnny Enlow spoke on this recently and said that the Church needs to be stepping out into ‘swimming waters’ in these days. While we stay on our own feet in the shallows we’ll never enter into all that God has for His Church at this time.

To return to Peter at the lakeshore on the Sea of Galilee when he and the others met the Lord for the third time after His resurrection.

¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and DRAGGED THE NET ASHORE. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. John 21

Peter was the one who landed the miraculous haul of fish. Peter had not yet been received nor restored by the Lord, yet he was the one who landed the fish. The Lord went on to fully restore Peter and he led the disciples on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand came to the Lord in Jerusalem. I believe that the Lord will use many who are estranged from Him at this time to bring in great numbers of people or fish in coming days. These ones will be able to reach people who would never come into a church, yet are very precious in God’s sight.

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

¹³ You will seek me and find me WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART. Jeremiah 29

God spoke these words to His people Israel after He’d sent them into exile. He encouraged them to turn back to Him and PROMISED that they would find Him again when they earnestly sought Him. In physical terms, Babylon was a four month journey from Israel, but God told them to seek and find Him there.

The other interesting thing was that it was the people whom He’d sent out of their land who were the ones who would survive and carry on the purposes of God. Sometimes painful separation is God’s only way of delivering us from bad motives and bad situations! He removes us for our own good but it may seem very painful for a time.

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
    my highest joy. Psalm 137

Like the exiles from Jerusalem our hearts may yearn for our former home but God has wrought a separation and moved us on. Babylon was never God’s best for His people but the enemy had gotten such a grip in their own land that He had to take them away from everything they knew and start again, ‘In a Strange Land’. It was an alien culture and they would be under different rulers but God had to break things off them for their own sake and for His purposes.

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

Jeremiah 29:11 is a well known verse, God’s encouragement to His people in a totally strange environment. He reassured them that His intentions towards them were only for blessing, but they had to accept their new circumstances and He would continue to bless them as they lived there. That’s Good News, God can and will bless us in every situation where we find ourselves. The enemy may do all in his power to make life difficult, but God’s blessings rest upon His people wherever they may be. Hallelujah

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

⁹ AND DAVID BECAME MORE AND MORE POWERFUL, BECAUSE THE LORD ALMIGHTY WAS WITH HIM. 1 Chronicles 11

‘DAVID GREW AND GREW IN POWER, WITH GOD THERE IS NO LIMIT’! HOWEVER, HE HAD TO GO THROUGH MANY TRIALS AND AT TIMES EVERYTHING LOOKED LOST, STILL HE PRESSED ON AND PREVAILED! SO MUST WE.

David’s rise from shepherd boy, to the commander of Saul’s troops and finally King is very instructive for us in the present season. He had to stay in the process until God gave the final victory.

I watched a rowing race in the Paris Olympics yesterday which had a remarkable finish. (The winning margin was 0.15 seconds) A young woman from N.Ireland, Hannah Scott, was in the crew of four and I believe their leader. She was like David in some measure, because an Olympic medal winner from N.Ireland had previously told a reporter to watch this young girl and his words proved prophetic, she won a gold medal. The race was very fast and the amazing thing was that their boat was behind throughout the race until they crossed the finish line, in the photo finish they won at the line. While commenting on their win, Hannah said she’d had a dream, very Irish. She also said they’d stayed in The Process, kept doing what they’d trained for until they crossed the line. (It’s been a remarkable Olympics, as three people from a little place like this, have won Gold Medals, Daniel Wiffen won the Gold Medal for Ireland swimming in the men’s 800m freestyle)

Sometimes we just have to dig in and continue to play our part until we get across the line so to speak. I’m sure it was agonising for the four women in that boat, but somehow they kept going and won.

3 The war between the house of Saul and the house of David LASTED A LONG TIME. David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. 2 Samuel 3:1

David had to stay in the Process, but as he did he grew stronger and his opponents grew weaker. A similar situation is being played out now, but many people are finding the struggle wearisome and wish it was over. Just like David and the boat crew we must keep going until God grants us final victory.

⁴ Mordecai was prominent in the palace; his reputation spread throughout the provinces, and HE BECAME MORE AND MORE POWERFUL. Esther 9

Esther and Mordecai also prevailed in the face of great danger, an attempt by the enemy to destroy the whole Jewish nation and prevent the coming of Messiah. They prayed and fasted, no food or water for three days and then Esther went unannounced to the King. She was the one who pleaded for all her people and rescued them from death.

The finish line may seem to be far away but God’s timing is perfect and His Plans and Purposes will be established on the earth in our days. Don’t give up, our God will prevail and we will celebrate victory. Hallelujah

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