Month: December 2024

²⁶ Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin (LED ASTRAY) by foreign women. Nehemiah 13

Take heed, WRONG RELATIONSHIPS CAN LEAD TO Wrong gods!

Our relationships or friendships are very important as we go into the New Year. God may be challenging some of us to look at our relationships for the year ahead. Be careful not to ignore the voice/leading of God’s Spirit. Solomon was known as the wisest king who ever lived, yet even he was LED ASTRAY through his WRONG RELATIONSHIPS. Heed the warning of scripture regarding bad relationships and walk away from them in the year ahead.

May the Lord bless and keep you in 2025. Immanuel, God is with us.

A Psalm of David.

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? Romans 8

 

 

⁵ “Look among the nations! Observe!
Be astonished! Wonder!
Because I am doing something in your days—
You would not believe if you were told. Habbakuk 1

¹⁴ “For the earth will be filled
With the knowledge of the GLORY of the Lord,
As the waters cover the sea. Habbakuk 2

In January 2001 I spoke with a mature English lady on Shabbat in Jerusalem and she gave me the verse from Habbakuk chapter 1. I’ve kept the small note she wrote it on in my Bible since that time. Last night Johnny Enlow finished his session on Elijahstreams with this verse. He concluded that God was saying and doing this at the present time and that the Glory of God would be seen, but mankind had to be ready for this and a lot of sinful attitudes and actions had to be removed before God’s Glory can come. Wickedness has held control in many places but that is being broken. Johnny and other prophets have pointed to the significance of Israel taking full control of Mount Hermon, a natural high place (9,250 feet) and the high places of wickedness being exposed as never before. Once again Israel and the Church are running in parallel, God is on the move in and through both of them.

The other thing I felt myself and it came up again last night is the need to walk in love during this Christmas season. Many families come together at this time and that can bring all sorts of challenges for people to stay in peace and harmony. I have asked the Lord for Grace during this time, to guard our words especially while in each other’s company.

Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13 are especially important,

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. 

May the Lord bless and keep you during this Christmas season. Immanuel, God is with us.

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas and much blessing in the New Year.

 

 

The psalm ends with the truth that God is eternal and worthy of our praise forever and ever. Hallelu Yah

May the Lord bless and keep you during this Christmas season. Immanuel, God is with us.

 

26 The Ziphites went to Saul at Gibeah and said, ‘Is not David hiding on the hill of Hakilah, which faces Jeshimon?’ 1 Samuel 26

The Ziphites were from the tribe of Judah, David’s own tribe, yet they went to Saul twice to betray David. They ignored the fact that David had been given prophecies that he would be the next king of Israel after Saul. They sought to help Saul find and kill David for their own interests, but God prevented it. There are still those today who believe they can stop God’s purposes from coming to pass, but their actions will also come to nothing. Saul had three thousand chosen soldiers around him and yet his life was placed in David’s hands for a second time.

² So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph, with his three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search there for David. ³ Saul made his camp beside the road on the hill of Hakilah facing Jeshimon, but David stayed in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul had followed him there, ⁴ he sent out scouts and learned that Saul had definitely arrived. 1 Samuel 26

David saw Saul with his army around him, but chose to go down into the camp with Abishai, Joab’s brother. God honoured them and when they got to centre of the camp everyone was asleep.

⁷ So David and Abishai went to the army by night, and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp with his spear stuck in the ground near his head. Abner and the soldiers were lying round him.

Abishai would have killed Saul right there, but once again David refused to lift his hand and take his pursuer’s life. Instead he took Saul’s jug and spear and withdrew to a hilltop away from the camp. Then he taunted Saul’s soldiers for not protecting the king, telling them he had been right beside the king’s head.

¹⁶ What you have done is not good. As surely as the Lord lives, you (Abner) and your men must die, because you did not guard your master, the Lord’s anointed. Look around you. Where are the king’s spear and water jug that were near his head? 1 Samuel 26

Saul recognised David’s voice and once again acknowledged that he was in the wrong for trying to take his life. David even returned the king’s equipment so that no one could mock Saul nor belittle him for losing his own jug and spear during the pursuit.

God didn’t have to put anyone to death to defend David, instead they fell into a deep sleep. Remember, God doesn’t always need to raise His hand to defend His children, He often just closes the eyes of those who would harm us. It’s the same today, there may be no powerful displays of God’s power, yet the enemy cannot hold back His purposes. Hallelujah 

An old movie called, ‘Inn of the Sixth Happiness’, starring Ingrid Bergman, about Gladys Aylward, a missionary in China, gives a good example of God’s silent presence around those He loves. Perhaps, if you’ve some spare time over Christmas, it would be good to watch it. (Available on YouTube)

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

 

² It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, (Knowledge can safeguard us)
    nor to be HASTY and miss the way. Proverbs 19

I was impacted by the word, Haste or Hastiness, as I read this morning.

Some definitions of Hastiness – the ACT OF DOING OR SAYING THINGS IN A HURRY WITHOUT NECESSARY CARE OR THOUGHT.

DONE WITH EXCESSIVE OR CARELESS SPEED.

Similar words, Rashly, Impetuously, Impulsively.
Another thought might be, Knee-jerk reaction – react in a very predictable way without thinking.

TAKE TIME FOR ALL THINGS: GREAT HASTE MAKES GREAT WASTE. Benjamin Franklin (One of America’s founding fathers)

A further damning reference in Proverbs says that even the fool has less chance of falling than someone who speaks in haste.

²⁰ Do you see someone who speaks in haste?
    There is more hope for a fool than for them. Proverbs 29:20

Two Biblical examples of haste and its consequences was Israel’s treaty with the Gibeonites, who tricked them. Israel didn’t seek God but believed the evidence of their own eyes, which was false. They made a treaty with people whom God wanted removed from the land, so that Israel would not be influenced by the worship of idols. Things that appear harmless to us may in fact carry the seeds of great devastation and pain, or Great Waste as Ben Franklin declared.

¹⁵ Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

¹⁶ Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbours, living near them. Joshua 9

A further Biblical example of acting ourselves without God’s mandate is the birth of Ishmael. God had promised Abraham and Sarah a son, but they didn’t conceive. Sarah then gave Hagar, her maid, to Abraham to bear him a son and that action has caused their descendants great trouble to this day. They didn’t wait on the fulfilment of God’s promise and they’ve experienced great pain down the centuries for this one impetuous act. Genesis 16 & 21

The Bible speaks of Jeremiah the prophet, ‘Ten days later the word of the Lord came to him’. Meanwhile, the prophet and the people had to wait. Jeremiah 42:7

We live in a very different world to our ancestors, everything has been accelerated by cars, planes and computers. We live in an ‘age of rushing’, but we can’t sacrifice speed of action over taking time to consider things before God. I believe the words of Benjamin Franklin are more relevant now than ever.

TAKE TIME FOR ALL THINGS: GREAT HASTE MAKES GREAT WASTE.

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

 

Some thoughts from Proverbs 30, where the teacher instructs us from nature.

²⁴ ‘Four things on earth are SMALL,
    YET they are extremely wise:
²⁵ ants are creatures of LITTLE STRENGTH,
    YET they store up their food in the summer;
²⁶ hyraxes (cronies) are creatures of LITTLE POWER,
    YET they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts have NO KING,
    YET they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
    YET it is found in KINGS’ palaces. Proverbs 30

The teacher mentions four types of creature that aren’t naturally gifted or possessed of great ability. However, every time he continues with the little word ‘YET’, despite few natural advantages, we can still learn something from them. (I remember while growing up on a farm in rural Ireland and occasionally finding tiny newts in the house, during the summer months.)

²⁶ For consider your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 1 Corinthians 1

The other thing to note is that the teacher twice makes a connection between these insignificant creatures and the KING! Speaks of the verses in the first letter to the Corinthians and our association with Almighty God.

²⁹ ‘There are three things that are stately in their stride,
    four that move with STATELY BEARING:
³⁰ a lion, mighty among beasts,
    who retreats before nothing;
³¹ a strutting cock, a he-goat,
    and A KING with his army around him. Proverbs 30

The next picture of the natural creatures, changes to those ‘with a stately bearing’. They all have something impressive, or dignified in the way they carry themselves and once again there is the reference to the KING, arrayed for battle. We serve a great king and our association with him gives us standing in His company.

³² ‘If you play the fool and exalt yourself,
    or if you plan evil,
    clap your hand over your mouth! (THE SOLUTION TO FOOLISHNESS)
³³ For as churning cream produces butter,
    and as twisting the nose produces blood,
    so stirring up anger produces strife.’ Proverbs 30

Finally the chapter ends with two physical examples of what’s produced in nature when things are stirred up, namely butter from cream and blood from a twisted nose. These are likened to the producing of strife (Anger or bitter disagreement, conflict). Stirring things up or Agitating will often result in strife. Pastor/Mrs Robin Bullock once said that believers should treat strife like a serpent and give it no place in our homes or lives.

It’s noteworthy that the penultimate chapter of Proverbs concludes by drawing the reader’s attention back to the simple things of God’s creation. I’m sure He still speaks to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear through His natural world. Hallelujah

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

 

⁹ For those who are evil will be destroyed,
    but those who hope in (wait for) the Lord will inherit the land. 

³⁴ Hope in (wait for) the Lord
    and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
    when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it. Psalm 37

These two verses in Psalm 37 give us a Conditional Promise from the Lord concerning our Inheritance, namely we have to Hope/Wait for Him.

HOPE IS THE CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF GOOD.

There are many references to Hope in the Psalms;

¹³ I REMAIN CONFIDENT of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
¹⁴ WAIT FOR THE LORD;
    BE STRONG AND TAKE HEART
    AND WAIT FOR THE LORD. (Repeated Twice) Psalm 27

David spoke personally of his faith in his God, ‘I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living’. His enemies and his circumstances weren’t going to triumph over him, God was with him and He’s with us and in us now.

There are many references to Waiting/Hoping in the prophet Isaiah, but one that will always stand out for me;

²³ Then you will know that I am the Lord;
    THOSE WHO HOPE IN ME WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED (PUT TO SHAME). Isaiah 49

I was approaching marriage to my first wife, now in Glory, and I was trying to book a hotel in the English Lake District for our honeymoon. I had written to a good hotel with my budget for one of their superior rooms. It was only a couple of weeks to the wedding and I’d heard nothing. I awoke on a Saturday morning and had a flood of thoughts in my mind, ‘you’ve nothing booked for your honeymoon and it’s going to be a disaster’. Then, almost immediately, I heard the above scripture, for which I had to look up the reference. I felt certain God had things in hand and the following week the hotel contacted me with a keen price for the room I wanted. PS they also left a front door key outside, for two perfect strangers, as we were arriving on a late ferry from N.Ireland after the wedding. GOD IS SO GOOD!

There may be some today, including ourselves, who need to hear afresh, THAT THOSE WHO TRUST IN THE LORD WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED – WE SERVE A FAITHFUL, LOVING FATHER.

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

⁸ For this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘After he has honoured me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you – for WHOEVER TOUCHES YOU TOUCHES THE APPLE OF HIS EYE – Zechariah 2

People still Covenant together and the best known form of Covenant today is the marriage ceremony, which is two people coming together to the exclusion of all others and for life. Covenant is different from a contract, in that it is PERSONAL AND IMPLIES THE GIVING OF ONESELF TO THE OTHER. All Covenants are Binding Agreements, usually for life. We have previously seen that David and Jonathan entered into Covenant, even though Jonathan was Saul’s son and rightful heir.

³ And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. ⁴ Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt. 1 Samuel 18 and 20:16, 17

The Bible gives us five main Covenants between God Himself and mankind. God has actually given His Word and Covenanted to do certain things which He cannot go back upon. The main one I want to review today is the Covenant with Abraham given in Genesis, thousands of years ago, but remember, ‘a thousand years are like a day in God’s sight, 2 Peter 3:8.

12 The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

Why am I writing about the ancient Covenant between God and Abraham at the present time? Israel has recently announced that it is closing its embassy in Dublin, because of the stance taken by the Irish government, against Israel.

‘Israel said it will close its embassy in Dublin over “the extreme anti-Israel policies of the Irish government”.

Its foreign minister Gideon Saar said the Republic of Ireland had crossed “every red line”.’ (BBC News quote)

Ireland has joined with South Africa’s attempt to have the definition of Genocide altered by the International Court of Justice, to include Israel’s actions in Gaza after the unprovoked murder of 1200 of its people by Hamas. Ironic that the world is now trying to pin the tag of ‘Genocide’ on the people whose fellow countrymen were slaughtered in the their own homes. Millions of Jews, perhaps eight million, were also tortured and murdered at the hands of the Nazis during World War 2, in the greatest Genocide ever.

Ireland also recently joined with Spain in recognising Palestine as an independent state.

Derek Prince also quoted a book written by an Irish man called Edward H Flannery, ‘The Anguish of the Jews: Twenty-three centuries of Antisemitism’.

Lord have mercy on Ireland and the United Kingdom in these turbulent times. Send a fresh wind of your Spirit to blow through these islands again.

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